Field service technicians have direct face-to-face coordination with your customers. Hence, it is very important they know how to represent your brand and perform the job effectively. From HVAC operations, cleaning, or carpentry – many jobs are remote, which makes it difficult to keep track of on-ground staff execution.

To ensure the utmost customer satisfaction, it is important to gain execution visibility – which field service management software provides.

Challenges faced by field service technicians in performing their jobs

Your business should look for 5 challenges when managing your field service workforce:

1. Technical knowledge: with the changing technological market, your workers need to upskill to perform better on the job. New joiners too need to learn on the go to gain practical experience – but this may not go down well with customers who expect a solution.
2. Administrative tasks: updating timesheets, adding time off requests, sharing proof of work, or updating managers take up necessary time which a worker can use for doing tasks at hand.
3. Deadlines: customers can get impatient for their emergency field service requests. Workers have to meet service delivery expectations and also achieve a first time fix to avoid rework in a given time.
4. Communicating with customers: if the field service technician is unable to fix the job, they may have to face angry customers and explain the issue. They need to coordinate with managers to sort it out as well. Adequate training for handling customer support is also required for them.
5. Health hazards: some jobs may pose exposure to rough terrains, chemicals, or remote locations leading to health hazards. Necessary safety training is important for your workers to avoid mishaps.

What is a mobile field service management app?

Field service management software is specially designed to operate and manage field service tasks across scheduling, dispatching, estimations, documentation, and much more.

Having a mobile app enhances the abilities of project managers and supervisors to track worker productivity on the job, train them, and enable customers with quick service access.

Typical features of a mobile-first field service management app include:

1. GPS technology: to track worker or inventory location and update managers in real-time
2. Open and read documents: workers can open design or other equipment documents quickly for reference
3. Real-time chats: workers, customers, and field service teams can update work status in real time via chats or video calls.
4. Dashboard access: to view job status, get updates on job details, and track progress or requests.
5. Customer feedback: capture customer’s opinions about service delivery, share updates about the job, and assign worker details instantly.

How do mobile-based field service management apps help manage the workforce?

Here are 4 key ways in which having mobile app access improves field service technician workforce management:

Implement workplace safety measures

Mobile apps make it accessible to view standard procedures and refer to compliance protocols when they perform their jobs. Some job locations may require proof of safety measures taken for the workers – which a mobile app helps take pictures or videos of. Workers can also have quick access to job checklists or special requests made by customers.

Real-time job updates

Mobile-based field service management software helps managers gain visibility on the on-ground execution by workers. They can instantly ask for supervisor help via video calling or share updates about the ‘before’ and ‘after’ job via images or videos.

You can also track the location of workers to understand their productivity. You can even guide them on efficient routes to job locations via GPS.

Create quotes on the spot

Sometimes, the job details may change when the worker reaches the location or some additional services might be requested by the customer. Mobile FSM app with a feature to create estimations helps share the quote on the spot whenever required. It also helps customers to make quick digital payments to proceed with the job immediately.

Manage timesheets and admin tasks

Workers can quickly update their timesheets digitally on mobile apps. They can also request time-offs, or raise concerns to the support team without visiting the office. Managers can also update the approval or rejection of the timesheets submitted. Digitally maintaining attendance and work records helps in compensating the workers fairly.

Explore mobile app use cases for managing field service workers

At Zuper, our Android and iOS mobile FSM app helps improve your control and visibility on the job. Book a demo today to understand how you can use Zuper’s mobile app for your business operations.

Featured image provided by Allan Mas; Pexels; Thanks!