Any company with a sizeable field service crew can benefit from automating the flow of information in the field-service process. The following list of features and benefits is just a sampling of what is possible. The unique circumstances of your business almost certainly mean that other significant benefits are can be realized.

 

Feature	Benefit
Automatically download daily work schedule	Field service personnel does not need to check-in at the office to start work.
Track against schedule with real-time information.	Any changes to the schedule are immediately known, making it possible to inform customers of delays, or utilize idle time. A missed schedule could mean that a field worker in a remote area has been injured, so early warning of this could improve worker safety.
Check availability of parts and order them on-line	Can be done more efficiently than over the phone, especially if parts are bar-coded or tagged with RFID. Reduces needs for office support staff and increases order accuracy.
Provide access to customer service history	Field service personnel are able to use historical information to diagnose problems more quickly. Customers get a more consistent service experience.
Enter information about service performed directly into a hand-held or tablet PC.	Eliminates need to re-enter data at the office, resulting in more accurate and timely information. No need to worry about lost service slips or illegible writing.
Automatically print customer receipts	Customers have a paper record of transaction.
Take customer credit and debit-card payment. Customer can sign their name directly on touch-screen of a data-collection device.	Improves cash-flow. Paying for service on-the-spot is more efficient than invoicing and collecting payment later for both you and your customer.
Images and audio can be recorded on the data-collection device, associated with the service record, and up-loaded to the office computer system.	Images could be used for proof of service done, or document damage. This could help your case with legal or insurance matters. Audio could be used to record ‘notes’ instead of writing them out or typing them, thus saving valuable time.
A field-service application could make use of GPS or Barcode/RFID (if servicing a number of pre-defined locations) to automatically record the location of the service activity.	Provides a 100% accurate record of where service was performed. Allows you to monitor performance of field service personnel.

 

 

In addition to these generic features and benefits, there will be ones that are unique to your business. For example, BC Hydro uses a Field Service system to collect estimated times needed for repair directly from field service personnel, and makes this information available to customers through an automated phone-in system, thus letting them know when power will be restored.

 

Working closely together with you, we can come up with the ideal design to maximize all the benefits that a Field Service system can provide to your organization.