Field service management is crucial to the success of any project, as it is what ensures that field work is completed in accordance with the client's expectations, within budget, on time and within quality specifications. In other words, good field service management is what determines excellence in the customer experience.

For many companies, fulfilling a high quality project that, in addition to being on time and cost, is profitable and efficient, is not an easy task. Especially if we think that historically, these types of companies were governed by collaborators who complete work orders on paper, task dispatchers who work on spreadsheets and internal communication systems that involve phone calls, SMS messages and emails. 

Three real and instant benefits of incorporating geo-management software 

The impact that mobile technology has had on companies is undeniable. Particularly in facilitating the adoption of software, applications and automation systems applied to field services.

Thus, processes such as scheduling and programming, data sending, task distribution, collaboration, route optimization and work order management have become more complex to the benefit of companies that have achieved a new, more efficient and profitable work model. 

The benefits are enormous, let's take a look at the three most important ones:

1- Increased service revenue: A recent study on field services conducted by TSIA showed that leaders in the field services sector earn almost twice as much service revenue compared to their peers.

2- Operational efficiencies: a study by Aberdeen indicates that simply enabling workers with mobile devices results in a 7% increase in productivity.

3- Improved metrics: An Alcatel study shows that, among best-in-class organizations, field service management along with CRM, knowledge management and portals and similar solutions are key to improving first-time fix rates and customer satisfaction.

First steps to adopt managed services and achieve operational excellence 

Optimize and automate core processes. 

The main focus will be for managers to optimize routing and improve delivery times by providing visibility into field operations. Automating dispatching and scheduling systems allows routes to be reviewed and compared while taking into account road construction and peak traffic times. It is also important to link account review, case management, and work order creation processes to make the process seamless and less prone to errors and miscommunication.

Employee training is a crucial step

Empowering employees means giving dispatchers the tools they need to make informed decisions and automate tasks. It is important that the management system provide manual, automated and optimized scheduling and routing options to give schedulers the ability to optimize field technician utilization.

In turn, we will have the ability to provide field service agents with proactive handling instructions, guided workflows and checklists, and the ability to take pictures and capture a customer signature from their mobile devices. They will also have the opportunity to program order tracking directly from a mobile application.

Use and exploitation of data

All the information collected and unified by the management software, such as work orders, timestamps, GPS data, customer feedback, technical skills required, costs and revenue, is a set of valuable insights that shed light on the effectiveness of the service provided and the efficiency of the automation.

 Taking these insights and analyzing the data for constant improvement paths is one of the main benefits of implementing this type of field service management system. 

Through the analysis of this data, managers will be able to extract and detect trends and patterns that will translate into substantial improvements in operations, which will then be reflected in the experience and value of customers. 

It is clear that adopting geo-management software such as GoDoWorks for field services is not only affordable and easy to implement but is highly cost-effective as the benefits are immediate. The important thing is always to ensure that efforts are focused on improving and automating workflows, enabling productivity with intuitive solutions, and collecting and leveraging data to ensure that the business is continuously improving.