Many field service businesses struggle to cope with today’s complex business environment. The main reason— continued operations with outdated software or manual methods. These systems increase inefficiencies, raise overheads, and degrade the customer experience. 

There are solutions in hand, though. Field service scheduling software speeds processes, streamlines workflow, reduces customer waits, and boosts work efficiency. Here are five ways field service scheduling software can help field managers operate smart and drive more success.

1. Automated Job Assignments

In a traditional set-up, field service managers assign jobs over the phone or via messenger apps. Moreover, they heavily rely on Excel sheets to manage data. This complicates collating different assignments and coordinating with multiple field operations, making work more stressful. 

Field service scheduling software streamlines the process, making assignments easy, friction-free, and fast.

a) Assign Multiple Jobs With Ease

Field service scheduling software comes with integrated dashboards that centralize scheduling. Service managers can create jobs and assign them to work teams with just a few clicks.

Built-in calendars offer integrated views of assigned jobs and free slots. Managers can identify technicians available to take on jobs, drilled down to a day, week, or month. They can assign an open job to technicians after considering:

• The technician’s workload. 
• The technician’s skills and competencies make them a fit for the job.

Employee burnout and turnover decrease as technicians get optimal workloads.

ReachOut’s calendar dashboard goes beyond offering integrated views of assigned and pending jobs. Managers can click, drag, and drop schedules to the calendar, making job assignments and reassignments effortless. Assigning multiple jobs also becomes easier and faster, with managers able to drag all jobs in one go.  

But seamless scheduling goes much beyond the initial job assignment. A bigger challenge is the ability to handle changes. The best field service scheduling software enables dynamic scheduling.

b) Dynamic Scheduling

Schedule changes are inevitable in field service. The reasons could include last-minute technician unavailability, emergency jobs, or customer preferences shifts. Such changes are a big pain point, though. The field service manager has to consider the various permutations and combinations all over again. They often skip some variables, resulting in chaos.

The field service scheduling software offers built-in flexibility to adjust schedules.  Service managers can make changes based on priority and evolving needs. They can, for instance, refer to the calendar to identify the nearest technician to a new critical requirement. 

ReachOut allows field service managers to edit the calendar. They can, for instance, edit the job description or specifications, add tasks, or mark employee leaves. The calendar becomes a single source of truth. Everyone has access to up-to-date information.

c) Automated Appointment Reminders

On job assignment or reassignment, the software sends automated notifications to technicians. Side-by-side, service managers can update customers with an accurate ETA. When customers receive real-time status updates, they feel engaged, valued, and satisfied. 

The best field service software offers benefits that go far beyond seamless job assignments. Another huge positive is route optimization.

2. Route Optimization

Field service success depends on minimizing travel time to attend service calls. The more time the technician spends reaching their work location, the less time they have to complete the job.

A modern field service scheduling software that integrates with Google Maps to optimize routes can guide technicians to the best routes. The system plots the best routes, taking into account distance, traffic, and other relevant factors. Empirical evidence suggests maintenance businesses are able to complete 25% more work per day than before, after implementing route optimization.

Top suites such as ReachOut go a step ahead and offer dynamic routing capabilities. The system adjusts routes for schedule changes and saves routes for future use.

Route optimization enables more service calls per shift, reducing customer wait time and improving asset use ratios. There is substantial fuel savings as well. Fuel is a major operational expense, and even small savings impact the bottom line.

But seamless scheduling and route optimization deliver the intended benefits only if there are no mix-ups. Find out how field service scheduling software pre-empt scheduling conflicts.

3. Avoiding Scheduling Conflicts

Field service scheduling and mix-ups often go hand in hand. Some of the common instances most field enterprises face from time to time are:

• Failure to assign a technician to a work order.
• The assigned technician not turning up.
• Multiple technicians are assigned to the same job.

Field service scheduling software eliminates such conflicts. The integrated calendar views list open jobs and jobs assigned to a technician, avoiding conflicts.

ReachOut’s integrated calendars give field service managers a single view of each job. Managers can view jobs, sorted by their status – open, pending, closed. They can also view all open jobs by priority – low, medium, high, or critical, to make appropriate scheduling decisions.

A big reason for scheduling conflicts is managers assigning technicians to jobs when they have pending work. Technicians engaged at a place cannot keep the appointment for new work, leading to backlogs and confusion. The job tracking functionality resolves such conflicts.

3. Job Tracking

Field service managers often work blind. They do not have direct access to the work that gets done in remote field locations. The field service scheduling software removes such a handicap to a large extent.

The software allows service managers to track job progress and control remote field operations. Managers can compare progress with baseline benchmarks and intervene if they notice a lag. They can get a realistic timeline on when a specific job will get completed, to manage dynamic schedules better.

ReachOut offers a progress bar that shows the technician’s progress throughout the shift. The app’s geofencing capabilities ensure technicians remain within their work sites. It also logs the time spent on a job to automate client billing.

The improved visibility and insights enhance decision-making and ensure process integrity.

4. Data-Driven Decisions

The benefits of centralized scheduling go beyond scheduling, route optimization, and avoiding conflicts.

Integrated dashboards provide managers and technicians with a single source of truth. It also provides data that enables high-quality, data-driven decisions.

Technicians get all the information they need at their fingertips. They can use the mobile apps to view service history, product specs, and other valuable data. Such insights allow them to make service or repairs on an informed basis. They can make the right decisions when faced with conflicting options at work.

At the backend, operational data is proof of work done and eliminates attendance-related disputes.

Service managers can access performance and productivity data. Such data becomes useful for training and other performance management interventions.

Business managers can access operational data to identify patterns and pain points. They can, for instance, identify periods and areas of high demand. Or a process that always takes more time than estimated. Such insights help them to prepare better and make realistic timelines. They can, for instance, approve leaves during periods of low demand and have everyone working during peak times.

FAQs

1. What Is a Field Service Scheduler?

A field service scheduler is a software tool that streamlines job scheduling for field service businesses. Top suites, such as ReachOut, make job assignment easy and effortless. It matches job requirements with technician availability and skills, and optimizes dispatching. The job assignment system ensures technicians complete as many service requests as possible per shift. It pre-empts conflicts and sends automated reminders.

2. Which Is the Best Field Service Software?

There are several field service scheduling software in the market, each with its own niche and USP. One of the best suites in the market, suitable for all businesses, is ReachOut. ReachOut cloud-based field service scheduling suite software offers comprehensive features. The sleek UI and robust back end ease scheduling pain points and deliver huge efficiency gains.

3. What Are the Main Benefits of Deploying Field Service Scheduling Software?

A good field service scheduling software ensures seamless field operations through

• Automated job assignments.
• Route optimization.
• Avoiding scheduling conflicts.
• Tracking real-time job progress for improved decision-making.
• Enabling data-driven decisions.

4. How Does Field Service Scheduling Software Ease Pain Points Associated With Job Scheduling?

The biggest pain point in field service scheduling is inefficiency. The field service scheduling software enables automation to remove obstacles that impede efficiency. Schedulers can assign jobs with ease, matching jobs with technician skills and availability. The job assignments also become dynamic. Managers can change schedules fast to cater to the evolving business requirements. Automated appointment reminders keep everyone in the loop.

Conclusion

Field service scheduling software speeds up things and streamlines operations. Technicians spend less time idling, and travel time and fuel expenses are reduced. This translates to lesser customer wait time, improved productivity, and optimal asset use. The business becomes more efficient and competitive.

Click to know more about ReachOut field service scheduling software and how it can benefit your business. Sign up for a free trial.