Field service technicians get their work done efficiently. And they prefer to do it with as few obstacles as possible. Their job is to fix equipment and that is exactly what they want to do without the background noise. But unfortunately, there can be plenty of background responsibilities and obstacles to overcome. A lot of it is necessary, but it takes the technician away from doing actual work. And actual working hours is what makes field service organizations money.
With modern technology and many operations moving with a digital approach to their service delivery, there is a solution. Field service mobile apps are at the forefront to giving technicians back the thing they value most – wrench time. Actual time working on actual equipment, rather than additional tasks.
In a study conducted by The Service Council, they found that technicians don’t like spending time on things that aren’t actual work. Those things include:
- Paper work and filling out work orders
- Looking for supporting information
- Traveling to job sites
Let’s look at how field service mobile apps are helping technicians reduce these problems in the field.
Reducing Administration Times with Field Service Mobile Apps
One of the most time-consuming activities for technicians in the field is filling out work orders. Paper-based work orders are slow, not readable, and take valuable time away from the technician. They must be completed, but technicians prefer to work with their hands, not with pencils. If your organization has gone the route of field service management software, mobile solutions are available to cut admin times down.
With a field service mobile app, technicians are using their mobile device to quickly fill out work orders and checklists. It’s fast, convenient and efficient, allowing technicians to spend less time doing paper-work because the field service mobile app puts it all in their hand with simple click and type responses. With the digitalization of the field service industry, a field service mobile app is a must-have to reduce technician idle times.
Field service mobile apps also come with additional benefits to the back office by removing the paper-based work order system. These include:
- No longer having to process work orders digitally from paper to spreadsheets to keep a proper service history
- Able to easily read all notes and information left on work order as there are no hand-written notes
- Get work orders back from the field instantly, as opposed to waiting for them to be dropped off or mailed
- Can produce invoices in the same day with fast work order returns
According to The Service Council’s survey, 44% of technician said administration work was the least liked part of their job. So, give them a field service mobile app and reduce that time drastically. Put them back on the road and working with their hands instead of using their hands to fill out paper work orders.
Use Field Service Mobile App to Find Information
One of the largest activities that wastes technicians’ wrench time is the job of finding information. It’s just never there when they need it, and finding it, takes them away from doing the work. There is plenty of information a technician would love to have on hand.
- What’s the service history of a certain piece of equipment?
- What problems did it have before?
- What was the solution to fix the problem?
- How much are parts to fix the problem?
- Where are the parts located?
Those are just some of the questions technicians need answers to every day. And the answers need to be fast. When on a service call, they can’t be waiting for answers when they are on the clock. Customers won’t be happy paying for idle time, and if the technician must reschedule because their technician can’t find a solution, they may just look elsewhere.
Field service software has completed the digitalization of the field service industry, but it’s the field service mobile app that is working with the technician in the field every day. With it, they can search through past work orders, find prices and stock information, and get answers fast. And fast answers mean fast service, which customers will appreciate.
Working with a field service mobile app can also increase first-time fix rates, so technicians aren’t leaving a job site without a resolution. While 31% of technicians said spending the time looking for information was one of their least favorite things about their job, another 17% said feeling isolated was also an issue. They don’t like feeling so cut off from the back office that they are alone when they need help. With field service mobile apps, technicians have a constant link to the supporting information they need, when they need it the most.
Field Service Mobile App Routing Technicians to New Job
Travel is part of field service work. Technicians have to get in their truck, drive to the next site, perform their duty and drive to the next site. Along the way they can encounter multiple issues, such as traffic, construction and road closures. They can get lost trying to find the customer, resulting in them being late, which is the single largest reason customers move on to another service provider.
With a mobile field service dispatch software, new tools are available to help get technicians to the job site, including routing tools in the field service mobile app. In the back end, dispatchers can use routing maps to optimize the routes technicians are taking. They can schedule calls in the same area to be completed in order, so the technician isn’t driving across the city multiple times a day. They can see traffic conditions and make real-time decisions for the technician, who is working on a repair and not focused on driving conditions for the next job.
When a technician does get into their truck, the field service mobile app will guide them to the job site with routing maps. This GPS map takes the guess-work out of driving and takes them straight to the job. According to the Service Council, 13% of technicians said this was their least liked part of their job. Driving can be frustrating, so any steps to take them out of the vehicle and doing their work will be appreciated.
Go Mobile with Field Service Software and Field Service Mobile App
As the field service industry turns to field service software, they are pairing it with a powerful field service mobile app. It’s not enough to help dispatch and the back office do their jobs better. It needs to start in the field with the technicians who are the front-line workers. With a field service mobile app, technicians have their tool to reduce the work they don’t like doing. That gives them time back to complete more service calls, which drives profits, and keeps them happy as they are doing the job.