David Younger http://www.theservicemanager.com 5m 1,147 #automation
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Comparison: Manual Processes vs. Field Service Management Software
It is difficult to argue with the concept of focusing field service management efforts to make life better for your employees and customers. In order to set your business apart from others in today’s technologically advanced work environments, it is essential to consider the quality of service that you have.
With the demand for field services, these days, starting to rise, how can field service managers control the increasing workloads? What efficient ways can they integrate into the process so that they can effectively manage a growing enterprise?
Like coaches, field service managers are the ones in charge of searching out information that could help their enterprise get the upper hand and develop an efficient management program. Naturally, if the method for collecting valuable data is outdated, it will not help improve the profitability of the company.
As a manager, what can you do to update your field service methods? Instead of depending on inefficient manual processes, you can efficiently automate your field service tasks to provide the enterprise the edge it needs. Whether your enterprise needs an increase on capacity, to speed up ROI, a boost on profitability, or to remove unnecessary operating costs, you can benefit from an automated field service management system that accommodates your workforce.
The Service Manager has outlined a brief comparison between manual and automated field service processes — from job scheduling and time tracking to invoicing and documenting.
![Manual Processes vs. Field Service Management Software [Infographic]](https://cdn.confessionsoftheprofessions.com/infographics/manual-processes-vs-field-service-management-software-comparison-infographic.jpg)
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Manual Processes vs. Field Service Management Software: A Comparison
In today’s intensely competitive and technologically advanced work environments, what will set your business apart from the competition is the quality of service you offer your customers.
However, as the demand for field service management services rises, managing increasing workloads becomes challenging, pushing managers to find more efficient ways to effectively manage a growing enterprise.
FIELD SERVICE MANAGERS SHOULD ACT LIKE A COACH.
Prior to the team’s game, it is critical that the coach has properly scouted out their opponent to be able to get the upper hand. In the same manner, you must collect information that highlights areas for improvement in order to develop an efficient management program.
If you have outdated or heavily manual data collection methods, you probably have room for change to improve profitability.
There are many ways you can improve inefficient processes such as ultimately scheduling, outdated manual processes, inaccurate or late invoicing which can seriously poke a hole in your field service management profitability.
Instead of relying on inefficient manual our outdated methods, efficiently automating your field service processes can offer the company the edge it needs.
To give you a better understanding of the differences, outlined below we compare manual vs automated process for some common field service tasks.
TIME TRACKING
CALL-TAKING AND SCHEDULING
| MANUAL PROCESS: | AUTOMATED PROCESS: |
| In the long run, keeping this accurate error prone and time consuming, particularly in a growing company. | Easily drag-and-drop jobs onto your visual scheduler calendar offers managers and dispatchers a convenient way to manage the field staff and service requests.Dispatchers can also easily plot and print the technician’s movements and current location in Google Maps. With a color coordinated assignment calendar, employees can easily view daily tasks, time entries as well as determine the status of each job.The software centralizes the scheduling details, and updates in real time so the staff can view job sites, access client history, and check work order statuses immediately. |
INVOICING
| MANUAL PROCESS: | AUTOMATED PROCESS: |
| Conventionally, billing details are updated at the back office once the paperwork is returned and the job is completed. | The software allows you to collect signatures digitally and bill clients on-site. |
| Time delays are often incurred leading to late or inaccurate invoicing or worse, not invoicing at all. | The ability to produce invoices accurately and electronically within seconds after completing a service improves the business’ cash flow by cutting down waiting time, shortens your payment cycle, and improves professionalism and customer satisfaction. |
| Managing this puts a strain on employee productivity and stress levels. Moreover, if the invoice is late, this may increase unpleasant customer disputes and delay payment. | Once invoices are created, you can easily post them to your accounting program. |
WORK ORDERS AND CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT
| MANUAL PROCESS: | AUTOMATED PROCESS: |
| Work orders, client information and other data collected in the field are usually re-entered at the back office. | FSM software digitizes documents and forms and organizes customer information such as service request history and payment details in a secure location. |
| This method increases administration errors, introduces time delays and causes inaccurate, stale, or missing analytics data. | Whether the employee is out in the field or at their desk, the software can keep track of each work order in every stage, helping dispatchers and field reps give accurate estimates.And since customer details can be accessed in real time and organized in seconds, the time employees spend on managing existing clients is reduced, thus more time is spent on bringing new ones in. |
REPORTING AND DOCUMENTING
| MANUAL PROCESS: | AUTOMATED PROCESS: |
| The typical documentation capture method calls for the dispatcher or manager to file paperwork gathered in the field in file cabinets. | With FSM software, the data collected on the field is immediately available for searching and reporting so that managers can access and track statistics about what goes on in the company in an instant. |
| So if someone needs to backtrack — whether on previous work orders or for project completion — he or she needs to sort through files of documents by hand, which takes time and can lead to inaccurate project estimates. | It also allows dispatchers to quickly view individual technician stats, find completed work orders, search inventory reports, produce historical analysis reports (profitability, productivity) or print whatever report is needed. |
PARTING THOUGHTS
Ultimately, automating time-consuming process in a busy field service business will equip your staff with the ability to give a consistent, professional, and timely voice to your clients.
By integrating field service management software into your business, you can reduce inefficient practices freeing up your administrative staff to easily manage an increased workload as your company grows.
With the right field service automation tools in place, you can not only provide professional services, you are able to improve the bottom line profits, maximize employee productivity, and keep the company expenses under control.
Have you implemented an automated field service management solution for your business? If you have, is it time to upgrade to something better? Besides the processes mentioned above, what other processes could be improved with field service management software?
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