Field service technician scheduling is integral to the service delivery process. A large section of company resources is dedicated to meet the functional requirements of service delivery. Many field service managers face several challenges in fulfilling these requirements, mainly because they follow a paper-centric process, which is error-prone, expensive, and inefficient.
In an attempt to overcome those challenges such as scheduling conflicts caused by manual errors or lack of visibility into the processes, many field service management companies rely on field service scheduling software.
Loaded with advanced features, such types of software enable field service managers to resolve the scheduling conflict and deliver outstanding customer experience to their clients. Although not all software solutions are equal, you have to be extremely careful while selecting the software that addresses your specific business needs.
Here read on to learn more about the tips to address field service scheduling challenges.
- Shift Conflicts
Shift conflicts arise when field service technicians are not aware of their next visits or they are overworked for the day. Regular conflicts can lower the morale of field service technicians and make them work reluctantly. This directly impacts their productivity. The problem here is a lack of visibility into the work order timelines. If the field service manager could view all the work order on-the-fly at a glance, he could easily arrange the schedules by matching the time, skill, and route of the rep and client location.
Using digital tools, companies can resolve such shift conflicts and drive the productivity of field service representatives. There are many digital tools that help companies automate the rep’s schedule thus eliminating the causes of manual errors, while also increasing the accuracy.
- Route Planning
In the hustle and bustle of performing routine tasks, often things get entangled giving little time to the managers to plan on routes that save cost and time of the field service representatives. Ineffective route planning not only increases the cost of service operations but also increase frustrations among field representatives. Long-distance between one service location to another and congested routes to the client location could be the signs of poor route planning.
Most field service scheduling software solutions come with a route planner that provides on-the-fly view of the routes thus enabling field service managers to plan and select the best routes for the reps. Technically, a route planner contains GPS technology to provide real-time data related to the routes such as proximity to the next visit and traffic congestions. By effectively planning the routes, companies can save on the fuel cost and increase rep productivity.
- Tracking and Monitoring
For every field service manager, tracking and monitoring form the core of field service scheduling. Regular monitoring of service activity in the field performed by the field service technicians is an essential part of the performance analysis and to find out the red flags in the process.
A field service mobile app makes it easier for them to track and monitor the real-time activities of field service representatives and further keep a record of the data for reference purposes. Usually, the mobile app is integrated with a web-based software solution, store and process the data collected in the field through the mobile app. This data is then used by the field service managers to analyze the performance of the field service team.
Conclusion
In the wake of digital disruption, field service management is expected to witness a massive change. The industry is keen on utilizing technology to improve their processes and drive productivity across the organization.
