Field service dispatch software helps companies enhance productivity and reduce operating cost. However, while selecting, you must look for some specific attributes. The field service dispatch service software has enabled business managers to integrate various aspects of their businesses.
It gives centralized access to information about the various niches of their business. This helps business managers in the scheduling of orders or appointments, dispatching products or technicians, preparation of invoice etc.
It is a democratic solution
The utility of this software is not limited to the service industry. It extends its benefits to widely distributed businesses as well. Businesses like refineries, mining, transportation etc are some very widely distributed businesses. Keeping track of inventories, taking orders, raising invoices, ordering raw materials etc, are some of the essential aspects of these businesses as well.
So field service dispatch software can contribute significantly to this industry. However, to reap the benefits, this software needs to have some attributes specific to the industry as well as some common characteristics.
It must be easily accessible through mobile devices
The personnel in the field, be your sales team or technicians of a servicing agency, need to be constantly updated about their schedules with customers, clients requirements, sales etc. The most efficient and convenient way of keeping them updated is to use their mobile phone.
The field service dispatch software must be accessible through a wide range of portable handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones. Without this feature, the software can’t work to its potential.
It must provide real-time updates
The personnel in the field must also fulfill their part religiously so that the software works to its potential. If it is a servicing concern, it must make sure that personnel in the field update their status after completing each schedule.
If it is an electronic appliance servicing agency, it must advise its field technicians to update their status after fulfilling each order or request. This will keep the database updated and help managers in scheduling through the field service dispatch software without any hiccups.
A cloud-based system is always better
A cloud-based field service dispatch software is not only cheap, but also more efficient. In server-based systems, you need to physically download the software. This makes the system tardy.
This also makes the system costly, since you need to invest in a robust disaster recovery infrastructure. In a cloud-based system, this problem is mostly done away with. In such a system, the software is in the realm of the internet. Your personnel can access it anytime. You don’t even need to invest in a disaster recovery system. Updating of the database also takes place in the cloud.
Select the most suitable attributes for your kind of industry
The needs of industries are different. While the service industry needs robust scheduling of the same kind of manpower, a construction or some other industry may need scheduling of different types of manpower and components. If you are installing a machine in your factory, you need to schedule the entire gamut of operations, from earthwork to test run.
You need to do ground work first, call electrical technicians for installing power cables and switches, schedule an engineer for installing the machine, and test run after everything is complete. In short, this calls for collaboration between various functionalities in the entire operation.
So decide what kind of functionalities you need in the field service dispatch software. Do you need just scheduling or a complete collaboration between a diverse set of entities?
Integrated customer relationship management
Business solutions are incomplete without CRM elements. Customer Relation Management is an integrated part of any business these days. Without attending to customer queries, a business may lose sight of the prevailing scenario in the market.
So you must see that the field service dispatch software has an integrated CRM module. It needs to have integrated customer relationship management aspects, in order to give you an overall picture of the supply and demand.