Need to assign jobs to engineers or look up customer details whilst away from the office? Field-based management is your solution.
This blog will explain what field management is. We’ll also go through the top features to look out for in service management software.
What is Field Management?
Field management is a strategy for managing and organising a company’s onsite activities. It involves the management of all business operations occurring out in the field. Field management is a key administrative process for any field service business. It involves everything from scheduling team members to coordinating service appointments and resources.
Top Field Management Features
Field service management software helps streamline your field management. Its features can impact choosing job management software for trade businesses. Here are some top field management features you should look out for.
1. Dashboard
With a unique field software dashboard, you can keep track of important data. Check how your business is performing at a glance.
Customise widgets and reports to best suit your company’s targets and goals. The dashboard is completely configurable for each user. This way, your engineers or customers can see what is relevant to them. Display the number of completed jobs or monthly revenue and costs. Add graphs that show outstanding jobs by status and more.
2. Job sheets
Creating and managing job sheets on the go is straightforward with management software. You can fill out details and email them to your clients. Utilise templates for repeat work and speed up the entire process.
Access a web-based platform from any device. Capture signatures and photos when onsite to add to your job sheets. Add client details straight from your database, link equipment and more.
3. Maps
You can use a Google Maps integration to speed up management processes. Track engineers, find unassigned jobs and locate site addresses and directions. With only a few clicks, you can assign engineers to available jobs based on their location. This makes it straightforward to select the right engineers for the right job.
4. Customer login
It’s not just your workforce that will be able to keep an eye on their ongoing work. You can also give your clients their unique login with customer portal software. It gives them access to all the data they need in one place. This helps improve field service customer experience.
Customers can view and raise new incidents, access site history and view quotes. You can control exactly what your customers can and cannot view in their dashboard. Assign specific reports and templates to provide a personalised service.
5. CRM
The heart of any management system is the CRM (customer relationship management) module. It safely stores the important details about your customers and suppliers. With remote management software, you can access your customer database anywhere. This works even when you’re away from the office to make sure you have the information you need.
View contacts, sites, past communication and activity history in an easy-to-navigate layout. Utilise a powerful search bar to locate what you need when you need it. You can view anything with a few clicks and create job sheets from the selected result.
6. Force task completion
Managers can set specific tasks for engineers to carry out before they can mark a job sheet as complete. Tasks can include adding work notes, completing an action list or adding signatures. This then reminds the engineer there are still incomplete tasks. They’ll need to carry these out before they can complete that job.
Some examples of tasks they need to carry out before completing jobs include:
- Complete action lists
- Add signatures
- Add documents
- Add time items
- Add work done
This improves the quality of your job sheets. It helps ensure you capture the correct information every time. Consistency then improves the engineer’s productivity for future projects.
7. Accept and reject quotes
Following on from the customer login, a key feature of that system lies in the quotes module. You can give your customers the option to respond to their quotes and provide follow-up notes. Within their login, they can look through pending quotes and either accept or reject them.
Set up customisable notifications to alert you when the status of a quote changes. This way, you can ensure the customer receives an up-to-date quote for them to reevaluate.
8. Diary
The diary is where you can organise your entire organisation in one place. View upcoming site visits, contract callouts and internal meetings. With a customisable colour key and reminders, you will never miss another appointment.
Customers can access diary management software within their unique logins. From here, they can see all their upcoming jobs on an easy-to-read calendar. They can quickly find the job details they need, without asking for regular updates.
9.F-gas
Proper management of f-gas (fluorinated gases) is crucial. If you work on equipment containing f-gas, you must manage them efficiently. Maintaining f-gas log records is a key field management feature for trained technicians.
With field management software, you can:
- Check equipment for leaks
- Log refrigerant transfers
- Refill f-gas cylinders
Clik’s Field Management Software
Clik’s field service management solution, Clik Remote, is a web-based solution. It helps your managers, engineers, customers and sales teams organise growing workloads. Clik Remote’s essential field service management software features bring your team together.
Try out Clik Remote for free today to see first-hand how it can help your business.
This post was first published in August 2019 and has been edited with updated information.