HVACR Service Management Software at AHR 2019 – What Did We See This Year?

Field Service, Whitepapers

Last updated May 4, 2023 at 5:26PM | Published on Feb 6, 2019 | Field Service, Whitepapers

Post-AHR Report Software Pavillion

For the second year, Fieldpoint brought their field service software to the software pavilion of the AHR Expo 2019. This year the Expo was hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, and attracted over 70,000 industry professionals. Along with the AHR Expo, the 2019 ASHRAE Winter Conference took place from Jan 12 to 16, where more than 2,700 people registered to attend the Winter Conference at the Omni Hotel Atlanta at CNN Center and the Georgia World Congress Center.

As the world’s largest marketplace for the HVACR industry, the AHR Expo 2019 was the perfect place to soft launch Fieldpoint’s new solution for the small medium businesses that make up the HVACR industry. Our new booth reflected the new branding direction that Fieldpoint will be taking.   With a focus on finding solutions for the entire HVACR industry, Fieldpoint have developed an out of the box solution for those who consider themselves a small medium business, but who still want the functionality and opportunities a field service software will bring to their smaller organization. We can now cater to enterprise level companies and the SMB sector.

There was a lot to see at the software pavilion at AHR this year. With automation becoming more of a requirement than an option, you had many companies displaying their solutions to help businesses improve profitability and increase productivity. It was refreshing to see repeat and new exhibitors striving to offer the best product possible.

This report will focus on the trends happening in the HVACR industry, including increased competition due to industry shifts, challenges for small medium business and enterprise-level corporations, where mobility is heading, and what’s new in telematics. You will find in this report how Fieldpoint’s field service management software is meeting those challenges head on, and why are software is designed with the HVACR in mind to help you build a better service delivery strategy for your business.

It’s a Competitive World Out There

As the HVACR industry grows, so too does the competition in it. There are now more opportunities today then there was just three years ago, and this growth is shifting the HVACR industry. In 2015, the industry was worth $81.1 billion, which has grown year-over-year since then to be worth $130.7 billion through 2018. Much of that growth is on the back of new construction, which will be the largest driver of new opportunities for the HVACR industry heading into 2019, according to the 2019 AHR Expo Economic Outlook Survey. This is a shift from previous years where maintenance and replacements were the largest driver of the industry.

With 45 percent of respondents in the survey saying that new construction is going to be their largest market driver in 2019, HVACR organizations are adjusting their strategies to capture these new opportunities. At the same time, they are also securing their maintenance service work in the form of preventative maintenance contracts and predictive maintenance services to maintain a secure hold on their position in the market.

As the HVACR industry shifts, organizations need to find new and modern ways to compete for their share of that growth. Investments are being made into HVACR field service software to capture opportunities when they arise, and deliver excellent service, regardless if it’s recurring maintenance, a new installation or an emergency repair. HVACR organizations are looking to automate as many processes as they can, effectively eliminating as much wasted time as possible. This returned time means resources are spending more time on tasks that are generating more opportunities.

Where Fieldpoint Comes In

The challenge for those in the HVACR industry is that the industry is as diverse as their customers, and that being good at one thing leaves opportunities on the table. Companies that just focus on service are missing new construction opportunities, and those who focus on installations are missing the opportunity to sign competitive maintenance contracts. In this growing HVACR landscape, Fieldpoint is that all-in solution that doesn’t satisfy just one opportunity but tackles them all.

Fieldpoint comes out-of-the-box ready to handle all new installations, preventative maintenance contracts and emergency repair requests. If it’s a new opportunity you want to deliver in, Fieldpoint is there to give you the ability to deliver it with exceptional results. At the base of the HVAC field service software is the work order management system, designed to handle every service call your organizations takes. House your entire service history in one location and build levels of automation that make creating work orders fast and simple. With Fieldpoint’s contract module you can create new opportunities for recurring maintenance and ensure you never miss a scheduled call. Work orders will automatically generate, parts and checklists will be added, and be ready to dispatch.

If you’re looking at taking advantage of the new construction opportunities, Fieldpoint’s project and job costing module will prepare you to take on every new opportunity that comes your way. Plan and manage your new construction work, ensuring the project is brought in on-time and on-budget, while allocating the proper resources, equipment and parts to the job site.

When new opportunities present themselves, your HVACR software needs to be able to adapt and help you win more of those opportunities. With Fieldpoint, all those opportunities can be capture in one field service software and help you deliver efficient and effective service.

HVACR Software That Caters to All Sizes of Companies

HVACR companies come in all shapes and sizes. From the smallest users who have minimal resources and a traditional local presence, to large enterprises that employee hundreds and thousands of skilled technicians on a national and international scale. But no matter their size, they all strive to deliver effective service to satisfy their customer’s needs, while also looking for additional growth opportunities.

As small medium businesses grow, they have increased demands on their field service software. Typically, they would start with a simplistic HVAC software and as they grow, migrate to a larger version with integrations to ERP systems and accounting software. This can be expensive, both in purchasing a new system and time spent training employees how to use the new software. It can also result in the loss of information if older data can’t be transitioned over.  

With such diversity in company sizes, HVAC businesses are searching for a solution that will solve their challenges today. But they also want a field service software that will help them grow their organization tomorrow and successful transition with the growth of the company without requiring a drastic change in software or their current system.

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Where Fieldpoint Comes In

Fieldpoint has developed their HVACR field service software for the HVACR industry, regardless of the size of the company involved. Fieldpoint can manage the complete lifecycle of the HVACR industry, from installation to recurring maintenance and emergency repairs. Whether you have 10 technicians or 100 technicians or more, Fieldpoint will drive productivity in your workforce and increase the utilization rate of your technicians, which for small medium business, can mean dramatic growth.

With a customizable enterprise model that has integrations with NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics GP, CRM and QuickBooks, Fieldpoint can cater to any size of organization with our field service software. For the small medium businesses, Fieldpoint comes scalable to the size and requirements of your organization. As you grow, Fieldpoint grows with you, as additional functionality, more integrations and customized experiences are added to your out-of-the-box solution. Our specialized integration with QuickBooks Online provides our customers with financial visibility while streamlining sales and service operations.

Have your field service software grow with you and be the catalyst for future financial growth in your business. With an easy implementation, Fieldpoint isn’t solving just the problems of the small medium businesses or enterprise-level organizations, but rather, offering a complete solution for the entire HVACR industry.

Subcontractor and Workforce Management Systems

As the workforce continues to age, HVACR companies of all sizes are dealing with the reality that their most experienced workers are getting ready to retire. The problem is, there is a talent shortage across the industry, and finding skilled technicians is becoming a growing concern. It has forced many in the HVACR industry to change their business model and look at subcontracting, as opposed to direct hiring. Subcontractors have proven to be a viable option for the field service industry, because they are only hired when needed, which reduces the associated costs with hiring a new in-house technician. It’s also allowing HVACR companies to take advantage of new opportunities, as they can hire subcontractors with specialty skillsets, certificates and training, or hire within a region they currently aren’t working in, which allows for expansion of the business without increased expenses.

Where Fieldpoint Comes In

Fieldpoint’s subcontractor management portals give your organization the ability to expand beyond your geographical location and skillsets of your current technicians, by accessing a greater work pool through third-party vendors. Fieldpoint’s field service management software is the all-in-one option for subcontractor on-boarding, accepting their bids and quotes on jobs, and pushing work orders to them in the filed using the same mobile apps as your in-house technicians use. This allows them to close out calls faster, which speeds up, not only the invoice to the customer, but to the payment voucher to the subcontractor. In cases where your enterprise already has an external system to manage subcontractor on-boarding, such as WorkMarket or Service Channel, or you have an internal portal that your subcontractor’s login to when completing work orders, Fieldpoint can integrate with those system.

With many in the HVACR industry looking to add more service calls to their schedule, without having to increase the expenses of full-time technicians, subcontractors are being utilized more often, with some HVACR organizations using an entire subcontractor workforce in the operation of their service department. Fieldpoint’s platform allows service managers to stay inside one service platform to access the extended workforce, as built-in integrations provide the needed connection to third-party portals, limiting the amount of time needed to get work orders out to available subcontractors.

A Mobile HVACR Industry

There are various reasons that field service companies are turning to subcontractor management systems. There is the aging workforce factor that contributes to a field service talent shortage, as well as newer business models that suggest that subcontracting can be easier and faster than direct hiring. There is also the upcoming theory that subcontracting can offer you some warranties, whereas hiring someone directly will require additional efforts from you, not to mention the long-term costs associated with hiring a new in-house technician. All this, along with the obvious assumption that employing subcontractors or third-party vendors can be a great way to expand your company’s number of technicians, or spread your presence geographically without hiring dozens of new technicians, it looks like enterprises are starting to require subcontractor management as part of their field service software. Whether the subcontractor system is part of their service management system, or offers an integration with an external workforce management software, depends on

Where Fieldpoint Comes In

As the industry trends towards more accessibility in the field, Fieldpoint is continuing to evolve their field service mobile app to be that open line of communication. Technicians, now more than ever, are more engaged with their head offices because of the Fieldpoint mobile app. Mobility is more than just accepting work orders on a mobile device, completing advanced checklists and making the business paperless. It’s about giving technicians and subcontractors as much access to information as they need to help in repairs. Through the Fieldpoint mobile app, technicians have access to the complete service history of customers and equipment. This allows for greater collaboration between service technicians, as well as offering inexperienced technicians the knowledge of those that came before them.

With customer-demands shifting, technicians in the field need all the information readily available, from inventory to services to past repair records, a technician needs to be able to answer questions on-site. With Fieldpoint’s mobile app, all that information is now readily available in their mobile device. Coupled with integrations to additional software they use daily, the mobile app is now the most powerful tool in the technician’s toolkit.

Telematics

Last year’s trends focused around customized telematics tracking devices and systems management technology. Telematics looks to take center stage over the next couple of years, as HVACR companies look for greater visibility into their technician’s day to day activities. Advanced GPS tracking in field service management software is improving service response time by tracking vehicle and equipment locations. This allows dispatchers to efficiently dispatch service based on real-time data coming from the field via a GPS connection. The end goal is to deliver a complete solution to transform work processes and efficiency for customers.

 

Where Fieldpoint Comes In

Fieldpoint is taking control of resource tracking with the new resource routing application, designed to give dispatchers that tool they need to make smarter dispatching decisions. Powered by real-time resource tracking, dispatchers now have a live look at where their resources are located, what routes they are taking and where their service calls are located. This allows them to optimize their schedules to limit unnecessary driving and idle times, while also reducing wear and tear on service vehicles. With real-time traffic information, dispatchers are now able to make the best scheduling decisions possible with a full view of their entire service landscape. With GPS location and the field service mobile app, dispatchers can monitor the progress of their workforce and make adjustments and additions as needed.

A Better Mobile Solution with Fieldpoint

Fieldpoint’s mobile app can be utilized by in-house technicians or subcontractors, offering them a simple application that provides all the details of a service call in the palm of their hand. With routing tools, expense and time capturing, and advanced checklists that manage workflow through the creation of smart and recurring answers, the Fieldpoint mobile app is a tool that works along with your field service software, as opposed to a standalone application, and feeds real-time data into your software. From the field, the entire field service management software can be accessed, as a responsive layout configures the look of the software to the size of your device, giving complete enterprise-wide accessibility to your technicians.

Fieldpoint’s advanced checklisting functionality allows you to build and design your own checklist templates for any type of compliance inspection, report or service repair on a piece of equipment. Those checklists can be attached to specific work orders and used with the Fieldpoint mobile app to control workflow for your technicians. Smart questions and required answers respond to the technician’s input on their device, and changes their workflow based on their answers, requiring the technician to complete the entire checklist before closing out a work order.    

Fieldpoint – An Integrated Software for Enterprise Service Delivery

Fieldpoint also helps to build a complete enterprise with our built-in integrations to multiple systems that HVACR organizations are using. From accounting software, such as Microsoft GP, NetSuite and QuickBooks, to tax software, CRM and ERP systems, and workforce management systems such as WorkMarket and Service Channel, Fieldpoint comes prepared to work along with any piece of software you use through Fieldpoint’s open API and data transfer service. The ability is available to connect any software your organization utilizes, and have it communicated with Fieldpoint’s field service software for a complete end-to-end solution.