Field Technicians need tactical information to be able to do their jobs. They need the ability to know where they are going, what they are doing, the time and date, customer background information and the ability to capture data anytime and anywhere. Capturing field information is not just about mobile workforce management. It has to be an integrated service management software solution to provide detailed insights into utilization rates, revenue leakage, job costs, and profitability.
Data that Must Be Captured by Field Technicians:
Calendar / Schedule Information
- Job and appointment dispatch. Field Technicians have full visibility into their schedules and ability to accept or reject an incident or service request based on pre-defined business rules like availability, location, rate, etc.
Travel Time and Mileage Expense
- Capture the distance traveled and the duration it took to get to the job site
Flexible Time Entry Details
- Allocating time against a job – enter time details on a work order form
- Entering time information directly into a calendar view
Rate Details
- Flexible rate adjustments
- Rates may change based on the time of day i.e., regular work hours, after hours, holiday hours and even different rates for peak versus low season
- Rates can change based on length of service i.e., first hour at x rate and second hour at a discounted rate
Work Order Details
- Parts and Materials used to complete the job
- Time allocation
Customer Signature Capture
- Sign off on work completed with full work order details
Invoicing On the Spot
- Create an invoice and close off the billing loop
- Or create a purchase order and have it push to your financial system
The entire process has several software components working in conjunction with each other. On average to complete the process described you would need at least five different systems speaking to each other.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to house your customer information
- Workforce Management System (WFM) to manage resource pools, skills, time, schedules and expenses
- Work Order Management / Service Desk system for dispatching jobs, managing work orders, tracking assets, parts, and materials
- Mobile Solution to aggregate the data to a mobile device
- Financial Management System to manage billing, purchase orders, inventory and payroll
A point solution for field scheduling or timekeeping is not scale-able and has several integration challenges. To understand the complexities of the service industry a full round-trip software solution is required to optimize field resources, customer interactions and service margins. The solution for field technicians must encompass CRM, WFM, Service Help Desk, Mobility, and Financial Management integration.
