5 Reasons to Use Field Service Software to Effortlessly Manage Work Orders
The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic has been brutal, especially for businesses. It has visibly transformed how companies operate from their daily tasks to significant ones. Field service management, particularly for work orders, has become more dependent on work order management software and other tech-forward solutions.
With remote services and software gaining recognition over the past 2 years, the landscape of field service has changed for good. As a service business owner, you might have observed how digital tools are simplifying business operations like work order management. Traditional methods have taken a backseat and artificial intelligence and machine learning have ushered in new ways of handling work orders. If you’re just getting started, discussed further are reasons why you need field service software.
5 ways in which field service software enhances work order management
In today’s scenario, upgrading field service from paper-based to digital systems is essential. Field service software is what you need if you want to reduce errors, improve quality and make customers happy. Other important reasons to use the software are:
1. Scheduling and dispatching
The best use of field service software in work order management is that it helps in scheduling and dispatching orders. Instead of wasting human labor on the time-consuming tasks of arranging work orders, the software can maintain checks. It assigns each task to the concerned field worker based on their expertise and availability.
Field service software also monitors the location of field workers and appoints them to dispatch duties. A calendar on the application enables people to see schedules and the live status of work. This not only helps the back-end team but also prevents overbooking and other overlapping activities. With efficient management of scheduling and dispatching processes, work order management becomes hassle-free.
2. Creating invoices and estimates
Estimates calculate the costs and other charges before the delivery of a service or product. The creation of an invoice happens after the task completion. Estimates are first sent to the customer so they have a rough idea of the expense, which they can approve or disapprove. Customers must pay for the Invoices without fail after the delivery of the service. In this estimate and invoice business, field service software eliminates manual tasks and creates them instead.
The financial side of work order management is strenuous as not all customers pay on time. This leads to service getting postponed or canceled, eventually leading to revenue loss. With work order management software, the invoices and estimates are calculated and cleared timely. This helps workers to complete their work faster and leads to an increase in the profits made by the company.
3. Tracking work orders
The field service industry thrives on timekeeping efficiency. Delays in services and orders will immediately lead to a loss of customers and profits. For proper work order management, field service software has a real-time tracking feature that checks the technician’s work status, available resources, and location of the service request. It also has timekeeping cards that help in maintaining a proper system concerning technicians’ work hours and on-site job status.
With proper timekeeping, your company can stay on top of things concerning the status of all pending service requests and the people assigned to them. You also have an added feature of updating dispatchers of their work orders on the calendar. You will soon have a smooth-running infrastructure that keeps processes up and running and sustains the business in the long run. An increase in productivity also implies an increase in profitability.
4. Making reports and dashboards
For all services, analyzing services in the past and checking the speed of processes is important. With field service software, you get access to reports and dashboards that keep you in a loop of how things are going in your company, especially in the field. You can see which business processes are lagging and quickly fix them to avoid further loss.
Dashboards maintain a proper database of your employees and reports let you know their performance. Historical statistics, be it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, are essential to the well-being of people and the company. The constant monitoring of data will empower your decision-making abilities for the betterment of the company.
5. Acquiring and retaining customers
Customer acquisition and customer retention are two fundamental aspects of any business which determine its longevity. Without customers, everything you create, do, and provide in the market will become useless. Here, field service software helps maintain a platform that stores essential data concerning your customers. This further helps you in improving the quality of services and understanding their needs.
Work order management becomes seamless because consumers have a portal where they can check the status of their service requests or work orders. Similarly, the portal maintains an open communication channel between customers and the company at all times. You can make changes, if needed, and serve clients in the best way possible. Managing work orders is simple when you have the best interests of your customers at heart.
Make work order management a breeze
There is no business where work orders don’t take place. In the field service industry, work orders are vital for the lifecycle of the company. You can boost your customers, company value, services, and revenues with well-equipped field software. When you uncomplicate work order management, you improve the operational efficiency of everything else. Use field service software to achieve your business goals.