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When a Field Service Management Software becomes essential

When a Field Service Management Software becomes essential

Thursday 06 february 2020

In a traditional workplace, such as an office, administration, hospital, etc., managers oversee teams and are able to directly ensure that everything works properly. When a problem occurs, these same managers are able to react quickly, to find, offer and implement a solution in order to get back to a controlled situation. That is the “executive” role, the person in charge of the good execution of a set of tasks within a company.

The specific case of maintenance providers

However, this mission is becoming much more complicated when the majority of employees work in the field. And for a maintenance provider, almost 80% of the teams are mobile workers. That is the daily life of  heating-installers, air conditioning specialists, plumbers, electricians, gardeners, ascensorist and more generally of all repair and maintenance companies, all of which together send millions of technicians outside their premises every day to install, repair and maintain materials in customers’ homes and workplaces, in factories, in leisure, cultural, educational and public spaces and wherever there is technical equipment contributing to the comfort and safety of users.

The Field Service Management Software (FSM)

A Field Service Management Software (FSM) manages the resources in the field, first and foremost, of course, technical teams, but also material resources, spare parts supplies, or even vehicles. The solution will plan / organize / optimize / communicate automatically and in real-time with clients and managers / historize events / provide performance indicators. Needless to say, the change from the previous situation is radical. In the past, it is still the case in some companies, the managers were required to follow this information manually, using spreadsheets, scoreboards, paper transactions, a multitude of phone calls with the technicians, the clients and significant organizational difficulties.

From now on, the best solutions facilitate planning, reduce administrative work, free up managers while giving them access to ever complete and more detailed data. 

Differentiate yourself with a Field Service Management Software

With the help of permanently updated schedules, integrated mapping, notifications, managers and planners are able to track each worker in the field. They can manually and automatically optimize the tours and itineraries. This results in increased efficiency, reduced delays and wasted time, improved customer experience, cost savings and financial gains for the user company.

The "nice promise" that a technician will come at any time within 8 hours is still common, leading to new requirements from clients who want to be precisely informed about when the technician will arrive. The best tools have automatic callback solutions, that send either SMS or emails the day before the intervention “We would like to remind you that you will receive a visit from our technician tomorrow” and the same day “Our technician will come at your home in 25 minutes”. Anything is now possible in terms of messages and the level of information offered to customers. This complete, automated communication between a maintenance service provider and its customers is now becoming the standard in terms of service quality.

The winning ticket: cloud and SaaS model

Go straight to the cloud. Information is centralized and immediately shared. Every collected data is simultaneously accessible and available for each authorized user. And with the SaaS model, no server purchase, no upfront investment, a simplified and very fast unboarding, transparent and continuous improvements. The notion of Return On Investment becomes obsolete since you can see the productivity gains and savings from the very first days of use.

A simple FSM or a CMMS ?

Excellent question and very glad I asked it. It all depends on your activity, the company’s culture, and the development strategy. If it is not a priority to identify and monitor the installed equipment, if your contractual activity is very limited, if strictly speaking you  have not a catalog of maintenance ranges and if your business strategy does not show any interest in evolving in these directions, then Field Service Management will be sufficient. Otherwise, you will be very quickly limited by a simple Field Service Management software and it's in your best interest to immediately opt for a CMMS. At Yuman, we can do both very well.

Improving the customer relationship 

In the field, your technicians are your brand image. Their presentation, the quality of the work carried out, their ability to meet schedules, their level of information are as many determining factors for the satisfaction of your customers which is the key to loyalty and recommendations. A mobile application will demonstrate to your customers your modernity and the importance you give to work organization within your company, a confidence pledge. Adopting a digitalization solution will not only result in substantial savings but will also help you accelerating your growth.

By the way, our ambition is to offer an unparalleled user experience. Check it out right away: try CMMS for free. Within 2 minutes, the time it takes to create your account, you'll discover what's newest in this category of software.

You can also benefit from a demonstration led by one of our consultants: book a videoconference

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