Managing your mobile field service workforce presents unique challenges. For one, the employees are not housed in a single location, and they are constantly on the move. Finding and allocating jobs that are aligned to their skills and location requires careful planning and analysis. To get the optimal productivity from this workforce requires a software that is able to handle many unique needs of the field service management. What features should you look for when choosing a field service management software?
- Schedule Optimization – This is the most important feature in field service management software. You have multiple jobs in various locations, and the workforce to perform those jobs also dispersed. The service scheduling software needs to be able to analyze this data and allocate jobs to the right people based on their location, skills and other factors so that you are able to handle most jobs with optimal number of employees. Your productivity and financial profit are dependent on the software being able to optimize the schedules.
- Tracking – You need to be able to know where your employees are so that you can get in touch with them in case of emergency or other needs. The software should be able to track their locations and display them in the centralized console so that the dispatcher is able to track them and locate them anytime.
- Invoicing and Payments – Any business needs to be able to invoice customers and accept payment via number of digital payment systems. The software should manage customer database and be able to send invoices with the touch of a button. It should also be integrated with the payment systems so that the invoices are reconciled appropriately.
- Customization – No software will provide all the functionality that a business would need in a field service management software. Every business will have a unique need, which means the software should be able to handle them through customization. It should have plug and play interface so that the customization does not need programming knowledge.
- Inventory Management – A business using field service management software will need to manage the tools and parts that are being used to service customers. Managing this parts inventory is critical to ensure you do not lose track of them and find them easily as and when needed. The software should have good inventory management capabilities to handle this need.
Any business in field services business needs software that can help them manage it effectively. Make sure your software has these features to do so.
