Open the app store and you can find an app for any area that you want to automate or explore. Whether they are branded apps, informative, health, fashion, socializing – you can find them at the app store. You literally have the world at your finger tips.
How Extensible is Your Field Service App?
Venturing into the field service mobile app world, the question keeps popping up – how extensible is your mobile app? Can you add smart forms, incorporate logic and workflow to your field service mobile app? Can you configure your workflow to manage your downstream activities to suit your technicians needs? Is the app serving as an extension of your back-office operations?
If the answer to the questions above is yes, then you are on the right track with your field service management. FSM applications ideally offer flexibility so that everything the technician does digitally can be integrated into a single user experience which avoids cases where technicians must use and access more than one application.
How Enabled are your Technicians, Back Office and Customers?
Some user interface add-ons include – mobile checklists, maintenance/compliance checklists, collect equipment and site evidence. For back office users, such as dispatchers, supervisors, contract and invoice administrators and executives, Field Service Management (FSM) applications must offer the ability to modify the user interface and add/modify workflow and other components. An additional benefit is being able to adjust the branding / look and feel so that the users have a clean, comprehensive experience with the app. This is particularly beneficial to users that utilize multiple applications.
An exciting piece of functionality that benefits the user and customer is embedded GPS visualizations, intra-site directions, equipment history, customer communications, location sharing, purchase requisitioning and quoting tools for technicians. These prepare and empower a technician to deliver a positive and efficient customer experience independently.
A field service mobile app that merely digitizes the traditional paper-based work order debrief (capture of labor, parts used, tasks completed, customer signature and recommendations) is important, but is no longer a differentiator. Technician enablement capabilities help build the trusted adviser relationship between the technician and the customer. FSM products should automate capabilities that help organizations provide better preparation information.
A technician in a “trusted adviser” role must also react to unforeseen requests from the customer or results from diagnostics. FSM products should provide tools that simplify workflow initiation for new work quoting and approval, additional parts purchases, and even changes to contract coverage. For cases when work is not able to be completed properly or at all during the first visit, FSM tools should help the technician minimize surprises to the customer by helping to automate communication, escalations, and remote reviews and sign-offs. Are you seeing the following benefits and advantages with your mobile field service app? If you aren’t sure, contact us today to discuss how Fieldpoint can help.