For a lot of contractors, “field service software” is a pretty generic term. What kind of software? What does it do, exactly? And why on earth do I need it?
Let’s start with some basic definitions.
Business Software:
Generally, any software program that helps a business increase productivity or measure their productivity (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_software).
Right. Productivity. Business. Powered by software. Good.
Field Service Management:
An attempt to firstly schedule, secondly optimize for, and thirdly dispatch for service processes and information needed by companies who send teams of technicians or other staff “into the field" (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_service_management).
Wait, service processes, information needs, what?
Service processes are the systems your business uses to provide the services. So if you're a landscaping company, you provide lawn care as a service. What systems support your business in delivering that service to your customers? Scheduling, routing, and giving your crews the information they need to do their job, and doing it as efficiently as possible, is the optimizing part.
So. Business Software is all about productivity. Field Service Management is all about optimizing your business (managing your crews efficiently). Field Service Software simply combines the two.
Schedule efficiently. Route efficiently. Manage crews efficienctly. Manage your business efficiently. It all comes down to information. Information on your customers' systems and locations, your crews' capacity, their existing productivity (and your productivity goals). This is pretty critical stuff, because the more information you have the more you can do.
Information allows you to:
- Provide better customer service
- Control fuel cost and windshield time (which is non-productive time!)
- Manage labor cost
- Monitor productivity
- Price yourself correctly
- Stay competitive
But what does it all mean? How does it actually do all those things? Stay tuned, there's more coming.