Many businesses in the Canadian service industry are adopting field service management solutions to improve service delivery. If you are thinking about using a field service management software, you are already on a path to transforming the performance of your business. It is however not as simple as it may sound. Choosing and implementing field service management software can be difficult. There is a host of factors vis-à-vis vendor-specific requirements and capabilities to be weighed before making a choice. There are certain fundamentals that the software should provide to if you want the service management solution to be of real value to your business. Here are some of the most features every field service management solution must have:
Scheduling and Dispatch to Ensure On-Time Arrivals
Field service scheduling is crucial in the management of field technicians. A service technician should be able to plan his/her day around a schedule, which means he/she needs an efficient communication tool to update work orders and assignments. Ensure that the software you choose has the following scheduling and dispatch features:
• Automobile telematics to allow management to keep track of their employees easily. This way, the most closely located technicians can be assigned emergency jobs.
• Text notifications to be used for both employee and customer announcement to let them know any developments regarding reschedules in the provision of services.
• Smart scheduling to sort technicians by availability or expertise when assigning jobs. It can also send automatic updates to employees and allow dispatchers to change up schedules easily if need be.
Clients value their time, and so should your business especially if you want to be rehired. Scheduling and dispatch have a direct impact on your clients, and the success or failure of your business could depend on it.
Contact Management to Improve Customer Communication
A contact management feature is very similar to a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Contact management provides a massive impact on a business regarding operational efficiency. You can use it to streamline communication by setting up automatic messaging to target a particular group of customers. Ensure that your field service management solution allows automated communication, customer segmentation, and an email marketing management feature. Email marketing management allows the business to set up effective email advertising techniques by tracking when customers open emails and click through them to the company’s site.
Automatically Keep Track of Maintenance Equipment with Preventative Maintenance
A good field service management software should have a preventative maintenance feature that automates and monitors the equipment in your service. This feature will help a business to maintain a positive customer relationship and increase client satisfaction at the same time. Having automated, up to date maintenance information at your disposal will increase efficiency in service delivery. For more information, you may want to consult with Miracle Service for their resources and insights.