What is Field Service Management (FSM) Solution?
FSM solutions use technology to automate and track various components of field service operations on a centralized platform. The system typically involves allocating workers to clients’ locations to install equipment and maintain or repair them.
The field service management ERP systems allow field technicians to have constant access to the service tickets and change in requests, if any. Accessibility and swiftness in information delivery have entirely changed the way field service workers perform.
Additionally, these systems help organizations manage their field resources and coordinate with them to have a complete understanding of the status of work, whether in progress, completed, or pending. And as customer requirements continue to become more complex along with their demand for fast resolution, FMS solutions prove to be efficient gear for empowering field service practitioners to deliver proprietary services to clients.
What are the Must-have Components of Field Service Management Software?
Field service management focuses on tracking and managing onsite workers and resources. So, the field service ERP software used for handling these needs to be embedded with proficient tools to streamline business processes and ensure they are managed flawlessly.
The core features of field service management software are:
Work order management - It is used for assigning and tracking complete details of all service work orders from creation through completion and invoicing.
Service scheduling and dispatch – It is used in arranging for a field service technician or specialist and allocating work assignments, keeping track of employee schedules, service requests, and work order completion timelines.
Contract management – It is used for managing service contracts, preventative maintenance schedules, and customer relationships while ensuring SLAs’ are met.
Inventory management – It is used for keeping record of spare parts and supplies, including the transfer of products, consumption, adjustments and more.
Projects and job costing – It is used for tracking and monitoring of all expenses incurred in each project.
Why Do Service Businesses Need an FSM Software?
Effective field service management needs a software solution to integrate data from office premises and remote locations to ensure on-time service delivery and happier customers. An efficient field management software directly benefits with this along with improving your business growth by:
Increasing equipment uptime
Excessive unplanned maintenance often leads to unnecessary equipment damages, which impact their efficiency.
Equipped with a wide range of interfaces and technology, a field management system collects the right data at the right time for earlier identification of necessary repair of the equipment that is always-on operations, drives high levels of performance, and reduces downtime in them.
Shortening work order lifecycle
FMS ensures that the right technician is assigned to a task and is provided with accurate data. This not only facilitates the digitization of your work orders but it also enables you manage the lifecycles of each service request more efficiently.
With a field management system, you would be able to specifically view the progress status at each stage of the work order and gain real-time insight into resources utilized and their availability from a single platform. Optimized work orders shorten their lifecycle.
Improving First-Time Fix (FFT) rates
First-time fix rate is the matric to measure the field technician’s ability to deliver the required service to a satisfactory standard the first time, without the requirement of any additional assistance or return trips. So, the higher the first-time fix rate, the better the field workforce is performing. This would increase the percentage of happy customers and improve sales revenue.
The connected field service integration provided by FSM software significantly improves first-time fix rates. An up-to-date software provides predictive insights into the received requests for maintenance and repair jobs, which helps you better equip service technicians in advance. As a result, the given issue is successfully resolved in the first go. Ultimately, saving your resource costs that would otherwise incur due to technicians visiting multiple times to complete the same task.
Empowering technicians with information
FSM system provides technicians with self-service portals to offer them remote assistance and swift access to necessary information. This helps the field service employees know customer requests, be compliant, stay safe, troubleshoot and complete assigned tasks efficiently.
Reducing field service costs
Field service management software includes multiple features that dramatically increase the efficiency of field operations.
This optimizes scheduling and routing, which greatly reduces the technicians' time spent on travel. The unnecessary expenditure on both fuel and resource maintenance is avoided. A decrease in expenditure leads to an increase in savings on service costs.
AI-Enabled scheduling and routing
Improper task scheduling makes service technicians face several issues and often they reach their given job site without sufficient information or resources. As a consequence, they require making multiple trips to complete a single task.
AI-enabled FSM software eradicates this challenge. It facilitates service technicians with all information determining the resources and time required beforehand to be appropriately equipped for completing their assigned job.
Increasing Customer Satisfaction
Creating an intuitive customer experience requires meeting their expectations, responding promptly to their concerns, and keeping them informed about unexpected delays.
AI-enabled field service management solution comes integrated with chatbots that interact with customers and are available round the clock to schedule technicians’ appointments for onsite services. This improves customer service, increases their reliability and enhances their satisfaction.
Get the Best Field Service Management Solution
The right field management solution would help you improve your business's operational efficiency. However, selecting one can be daunting. If you are looking for a solution that can make your field service management a breeze, we are here to help you get it.
Focus Softnet is trusted for providing efficient field service management software in Singapore. We have teams of experts working to ensure you have the best solution for your field service organization. Fill in the form to get started.