Advantages of Deploying Cloud Based Field Service Software – Part 2

Posted on August 16, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Service companies are trying to move to electronic model of providing services. Paper based operation is too slow to address customer concerns. Field Force Tracker is the most comprehensive software for field service management. It takes care of everything from customer management to the payment collection for a service company. By using this software, our clients can see major improvement in their productivity and the customer satisfaction.

In Part One of our article, on deploying cloud based mobile field service software, we saw how the cloud and the mobile applications have both brought great benefits to implementing a best of breed field service solution over an on-premise enterprise application.

We looked at the following advantages delivered by choosing cloud-based, made-for-mobile, best-of-breed applications:

IMPLEMENT FASTER
GET THE LATEST FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS
LEVERAGE INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE
PROMOTE BUSINESS FLEXIBILITY

Here in Part Two we look at the following advantages of best of breed applications.

REDUCE RISK OF IMPLEMENTATION

The modular implementation approach utilized by cloud-based, best-of-breed application providers offers companies a valuable way to improve business operations without incurring significant risk. Because implementations effect only a portion of an organization, if a problem should occur, the large majority of business transactions remain unaffected.

Cloud-based, best-of-breed solutions:

Are modular. Therefore, should an existing solution fail to meet business requirements, it can be replaced by a similar module, and supplier without significant impact to the business.
Use APIs to integrate with other applications. Should a problem occur, only users of that application module are affected. This reduces the impact of what in the past, were server, storage, network, or software outages.

INCREASE SYSTEM RELIABILITY

Application reliability and availability are critical components in any business software solution. Cloud-based, best-of-breed applications address these needs using advanced, geographically dispersed hosting solutions (like AWS – Amazon Web Services) and state-of-the-art cloud architectures designed to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions quickly and efficiently.

However, for company managers, best-of-breed applications offer an additional system reliability benefit – a reduction in application maintenance windows. Because best-of-breed solutions impact only specific organizations, maintenance (if required) requirements impact only specific users – not every organization and every process in the company. As a result, maintenance windows are reduced and application reliability and availability increased.

Best-of-breed solutions:

Incorporate the latest in web design technologies which enables them to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions quickly, efficiently and reliably.
Use the latest in web hosting services (AWS) with geographically dispersed instances to ensure high availability and fast, responsive application performance.
Enable companies to perform application maintenance (if required) in shorter time periods that effect fewer users. This helps them improve overall application availability and reliability.

BOOST COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Taking advantage of a new market or business opportunity often requires companies to move quickly – incorporating new suppliers, adapting processes to meet new business requirements and reshaping how affected organizations address the needs of their customers. Companies that rely on cloud-based, best-of-breed applications are best prepared for market change.

Best-of-breed applications enable companies to implement new services or capabilities quickly. Leveraging applications designed specifically for the new market or business opportunity, they can capture market share faster. The best-of-breed approach also allows them to implement more efficient processes – based on new application features and functions – that provide competitive advantage.

Cloud-based, best-of-breed applications:

Enable companies to be first movers in entering new markets.Their modular design and open APIs allow companies to add new capabilities for specific groups or organizations that need them – without impacting the business.

Help companies gain competitive advantage through new features in the application(s) or enhanced processes supported by the application.

IMPROVE PROCESSES

Every field service organization is striving to increase the productivity of their staff. One of the most common ways to increase productivity is through improved processes. Cloud-based, best-of-breed applications allow companies to improve business processes – one organization at a time. As a result, processes can be adapted and adopted more quickly and with less risk to the organization.

Cloud-based, best-of-breed solutions:

Allow companies to take advantage of process improvements to increase productivity and profitability.
Reduce the risk of changes in processes by limiting their impact to specific groups or functions within the organization.

Field Force Tracker simplifies field service management. The seamless integration of our mobile and web-based field service solutions, speed of implementation and ease of use will mean you are up and running immediately, so your business doesn’t standstill.

Mobile enabled, cloud-based field service software was designed to provide ease of use with incredible flexibility. Along with the ease – and speed – of our implementation and the ongoing support service that we provide we enable companies to take full advantage of today’s mobile field service.

Field Force Tracker’s power mobile apps for iPhone and Android are available to all new and existing Field Force Tracker customers. They can extend the feature set with the enhanced mobile forms capabilities, and better system integration. Field Force Tracker, a mobile enabled web-based field service management software, streamlines technician scheduling, dispatch, customer management, vendor and employee management, work orders, equipment maintenance, inventory tracking, contracts, estimates, invoices, payments and accounting. It is considered one of the most feature rich software of its kind.

About Field Force Tracker

Force Tracker (https://www.fieldforcetracker.com) is a leading global provider of its award winning mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Its solutions enable businesses of all sizes (from 1 user to 10,000 users) to meet the challenges associated with managing and running complex service operations. It helps in improving the productivity of their mobile workforce.

With Field Force Tracker customers can create service schedule and route quickly, dispatch sooner, collect correct information at once in the field and invoice faster. The field service software makes it easy for users to eliminate waste, get more done in less time and be more profitable.

Field Force Tracker is a wholly owned unit of Rapidsoft Systems Inc. (https://www.rapidsoftsystems.com). Rapidsoft Systems, Inc. has its main office in Princeton, NJ, USA, a US R&D Center in Mercerville NJ, and sales, support and development offices in Palo Alto, CA, USA, Singapore, Dubai (UAE), Bombay, and Noida (India).

Advantages of Deploying Cloud Based Field Service Software – Part 1

Posted on July 17, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Until recently, field service organizations seeking to take advantage of a mobile environment often found they had to choose between an on-premise enterprise software solution and a ‘best-of-breed’, specialized field service solution. The on-premise solution delivered numerous and all-encompassing capabilities but was expensive and lengthy to implement. A cloud based solution provided unique features, flexibility and cost advantages but wasn’t easy to integrate into existing systems.

The choice was therefore often difficult as the advantages – and disadvantages – of each were fairly even. Two innovations however, have shifted this balance – and the benefits – to the side of the best-of-breed application:

The Cloud which allows companies to implement applications in weeks – not years
The ‘API Economy’ (Application Programming Interface) that enables best-of-breed, cloud-based applications to integrate with legacy applications – and other cloud-based applications – quickly and easily.

The flexibility and speed of the cloud, along with the APIs have in fact, virtually eliminated the main advantage of the enterprise solution suite – integration of all components into a central data store.

APIs can be delivered by the application provider or through third-party services and enable companies to implement a modular approach for their field service solutions. They can choose the best field service application, then integrate the data across their organization with APIs. As a result, field service organizations can leverage all the benefits of a best-of-breed approach while seamlessly integrating data across the organization.

Here we look at the ways that field service organizations can benefit by choosing cloud-based, made-for-mobile, best-of-breed applications.

IMPLEMENT FASTER

Cloud-based, best-of-breed solutions can be implemented in just weeks – not the months, or even years that are required for a complex, on-premise application solution. Cloud-based applications can be implemented much faster because they:

Eliminate the need to purchase, or make changes to, existing data center server, storage, security and network infrastructure.
Impact the operations and processes of the field service organization only.
Reduce data back-up and recovery requirements (delivered as part of the service by the cloud-based field service automation provider).
Require a smaller, more finite set of data for import into the new system.
Use subscription-based pricing (pay-as-you-go) that enables a phased approach (installation by group or geography)

GET THE LATEST FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS

Cloud-based, best-of-breed field service automation solutions are focused on one thing – delivering the features and functions that field service organizations need to be more productive and profitable. Additionally, these solutions are flexible and can be adapted to incorporate a company’s existing processes and procedures.

A cloud-based, best-of-breed solution:

Is designed specifically for field service organizations
Includes features and functions that are unique to field service organizations – like mobile work order management, field-based quote and estimate creation, customer asset management and field-based inventory management.
Continues to add new features and functions – without requiring customers to purchase software upgrades or invest in expensive software maintenance contracts.
Offers flexible features like custom fields and a standards-based API that allows the application to adapt to almost any existing process or procedure – and readapt itself as processes and procedures are altered in the future.

LEVERAGE INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

The companies, and people, that deliver cloud-based, best-of-breed applications have extensive experience in and with the field service industry. They’ve implemented solutions for hundreds of organizations and helped thousands of end-users to become more productive – and the company more profitable. As a result, companies that provide best-of-breed applications are often able to help their customers uncover additional ways to leverage mobility within their organization or manage customer information more effectively.

Cloud-based, best-of-breed solutions enable customers to:

Leverage the knowledge and experience of the provider to improve their organization’s productivity and profitability.
Discover new ways to manage work orders, satisfy customers, improve processes, increase efficiency – and mobilize their workforce.

PROMOTE BUSINESS FLEXIBILITY

Cloud-based, best-of-breed applications enable companies to implement the capabilities they need – when they need them. They can be ‘plugged-in’ as they are needed, which enables companies to meet the needs of their customers more rapidly and expand into new geographies more aggressively.

Best-of-breed applications:

Can be implemented quickly, enabling companies to adapt to shifts in markets or customer preferences.
Are, using today’s API technologies, ‘plug-and-play’, allowing companies to address the needs of specific groups, organizations or even specific individuals, quickly and cost-effectively.

In Part Two of The Eight Advantages of Cloud based Applications we look at the following ways that organizations can benefit by choosing cloud-based, made-for-mobile, best-of-breed applications:

REDUCE RISK
INCREASE SYSTEM RELIABILITY
BOOST COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
IMPROVE PROCESSES

About Field Force Tracker

Proven Strategies for Field Service Mobility Success Using Field Force Tracker

Posted on June 10, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Today’s customers require quick service, efficient response and courteous solution to their service needs. All field service companies are trying their best to serve the customers. However, it is not easy to run a service business if you don’t have a proper field service system like Field Force Tracker in place.

Streamlining Field Service Management

Field service often involves managing time, parts, assets, people, schedule, estimates and invoicing. Some jobs are recurring jobs and some are team jobs. Some time customers are requesting jobs that are different locations than them. These are very complex requirements. But, a good field service software like Field Force Tracker can easily manage them all.

If you want to be the best in the field, you need best tools. It is therefore very important to have the best quality field service management system in place for your organization. Without it, your business runs the risk of having unsatisfactory customers. Unmanaged, unsupervised, and untracked work orders could lead to confusion and loss of business reputation with customers. Right now is the time to start looking into mobile strategies and deploy field service technologies that can boost your service industry to maximize your organization’s opportunities for optimal revenue generation.

Here are 3 steps you can take towards optimizing the productivity of your field service organization:

Field Service Mobile Application For Job and Client Visibility

A good, well designed modern field service mobility solution like Field Force Tracker can help in improving company communication. It can resolve many barriers in communication and communication systems. The leading mobility solutions include apps that can run on a variety of platforms, such as android, iOS, and Windows. Technicians and dispatchers should note that they need mobile scheduling apps that provides the information of clients and work orders on their finger tips. Mobile app should include both the front end and back office data support to manage various business processes. The mobile app can cut the time, improves efficiency and improve the customer satisfaction. Most importantly it can help you save cost.

Mobile App Makes Field Service Information on Your Fingertips

Customized reporting and dashboards should be available to gain insight into your company’s capacity, utilization, customer information, and field service management metrics. Quality field service management systems should function on a stand-alone, centralized platform that provides full visibility to reporting and analytics. One important feature that should be included in your system for optimal service is high-speed KPI tracking.

Field Force Tracker Includes Powerful Dashboard

It’s easy to get lost in all of the information and details that need to be remembered. Quality service software has a variety of features that enable dispatchers to use an auto-routing system that finds the best route for technician to get to their assignments. Visual dispatch features like assigning jobs should also be available for dispatchers to assign tasks to technicians according to their location, availability, specific skills, and experience. The quick assignment feature is also good for allowing dispatchers to make adjustments when needed, and in sending out automated alerts to technicians and dispatchers when updates have been made to the system.

As technology advances, it is important for field service organizations to be aware of the latest software and computer system features that would benefit their business the most. While all of the above features could simply be completed by manual means or without the app, they are truly a means to speed up and improve a field service organization’s workflow and productivity. Moreover, with the exponential speed of technological advancement, many of these elements will soon become expected features in most field service and mobility management solutions.

Looking for more ways to boost your Field Service business?

Field Service Mobility – Benefitting with Field Force Tracker Mobile Solutions

Posted on June 9, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Field Service a Mobile Applications

If your organization is providing any field service to the clients, you know that it has become very competitive to operate a business. You need to be more efficient to succeed. You need modern tools and software like Field Force Tracker to plan your service operations, assign jobs, keep track of your employees and manage your clients etc.

With mobile in every hand, service mobility has become easy to imagine. As we speak, companies are achieving a mobile and connected field service based operation because the technology building blocks are firmly in place. Even the small and medium businesses are able to embrace the inherent automation of a robust mobile solution. If right now is the best time for your company to embrace Mobile Field Service, then it is quite natural to ask yourself … what’s in it for me? How can your field service business can have more efficiency using modern tools like Field Force Tracker?

Mobility, enabled by the ubiquitous smartphones and tablets of Android and Apple, is real and easier than ever to use. The interface and workflows are intuitive and the steps to properly execute a Job, Work Order, Project or Service Ticket are all in place, and driven by commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications such as Field Force Tracker from Rapidsoft Systems Inc. Field Force Tracker is a custom designed system built to meet all kind of needs of the customers. It only include all the functionality that your teams will need – from work order, dispatch, estimation, invoicing and even or even a custom built job/ticketing system.

In the past companies were limited by the need to work offline. There were limits to the mobile device scanning capabilities and processing power. The mobile devices were clunky, slow and cost prohibitive. Smartphones and Tablets were limited in their available applications, and the required enterprise level security.

One by one, these limitations have dissolved making this the ideal time to embrace the power of mobilizing your Field and Depot/Warehouse workforce. Enabling them to communicate Field activities such as inventory receipts, transfers, returns, truck cycle counts and job completion in real-time. The value of this is becoming apparent to all of your cross-functional stakeholders: your Field Technicians/Engineers, Accounting/Finance, Warehouse/Depot personnel, Operations, IT and Executives. And each stakeholder is naturally asking themselves … what’s in it for me?

The Field Technician can now complete a job or “ticket” in one trip due to min/max replenishment to their trucks so they always have the inventory they need to complete their tasks – JIT. Mobile automation through an app on their smartphone or tablet eliminates hours of decoding their hand written notes from the day or working from memory, and firing up the laptop to begin their nightly or weekly data entry. Or alternatively, this mobility greatly reduces calls to customer service for repetitive data entry. Think of it as more efficient approach to Field Service. Did you find yourself outside of cellular or wifi range? No problem you can take the WithoutWire Field Service app into batch (offline) mode, continue your work and re-sync when you are back in range!

The Depot/Warehouse Manager has real-time visibility to the inventory wherever it exists within the 4 walls, other branches, in-transit, in trucks, trunks, storage lockers and job sites! JIT inventory now becomes a reality through powerful software tools connected to the ERP accounting system and the Job/ticketing system. The result is integrated, real-time enablement of quicker, more accurate business decisions.

Accounting has the ability to purchase supplies for JIT delivery to the Depots. Returns can be tied to jobs and reconciled quickly and accurately. Consumption of inventory against a particular job is scanned and tracked in real-time. Real-time information means same day invoicing and better use of your precious cash resources!

IT can now achieve enterprise level security with their field team’s use of smartphones and tablets. You can limit the available apps to your field techs and provide the necessary secure protection.

Real Time Field Service With Field Force Tracker

As an Operations leader you are no longer making decisions from old and inaccurate data. The real-time flow of information and visibility to the furthest of your inventories and job status’ mean your time is spent working on strategic decisions rather than crunching static spreadsheets with dated information.

Field Managers discover that one technician has the inventory that another technician needs; without your intervention, they can view GPS truck coordinates and direct a transfer (technician parts swap) in real-time. This minimizes shipping costs, extra labor and delays in closing field jobs.

And finally as an Executive leading a Field Service organization, you have the satisfaction of enabling an enterprise class organization at an optimal level of efficiency, communication and empowerment to meet the time, cost and quality expectations of the Customers that you serve! We all know that repeat business is less expensive to obtain than finding new customers. Field Service mobility has an attractive ROI based on labor savings, inventory reduction, elimination of re-work, data entry mistakes and it can drive world class time to cash cycles!

So you ask, what’s in it for me? I think it really comes down to teamwork, selecting the right scalable tools and applications to get the job done and cross-functional empowerment at all levels of your organization.

The Best Field Service Software

Field Force Tracker (https://www.fieldforcetracker.com/) is a leading global provider of its award winning mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Our solutions enable businesses to meet the challenges associated with managing and running complex service operations. It helps improving the productivity of their mobile workforces.

With Field Force Tracker customers can create service schedule and route quickly, dispatch sooner, collect accurate information immediately in the field and invoice faster. The field service software makes it easy for users to eliminate waste, get more done in less time and be more profitable.

Field Force Tracker is used for service management in a wide range of industries including HVAC, Property Management, Cleaning, IT services, Contractors, IT management, and Maintenance service firms.

Field Force Tracker Mobile Apps – Why Users Love Them

Posted on June 8, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Across the world, field service industries are moving to using mobile to deliver better services. Field Service companies are using advanced Mobile software from Field Service Tracker to manage their field work service operation.

Field Force Tracker is a product of years of research and development. Our Mobile apps are designed to take care of most of your technicians needs in the field. Employees can see their daily, weekly and monthly schedules, update their work orders and manage their invoices and estimates in the field with field force tracker mobile applications. Our team, at Rapidsoft Systems Inc., spent over 15 years perfecting the art of mobile applications development before we developed Field Force tracker for our clients.

All kind industries around the world are witnessing a push to make full use of the conveniences afforded to us by advancements in mobile technology, weighing risk versus reward in an effort to keep up with the times. Financial, medical, Information technology, Oil Field Productions, Equipment repair and government industries have all embraced mobile technology, and the field service industry is embracing new technologies pioneered by products like Field Force Tracker to automate the field service business.

Time is money; so the speed to deliver the service to your customers is very important. When working in field service, having the right mobility solution is as vital to an organizations success as the technicians in the field. That is what we considered when we designed the field force tracker software.

Key Features of A Good Field Service Mobile Software

Field technicians will only use an application if it is intuitive to use. Field Force Tracker has spent over 15 years designing software for mobile applications. Therefore, we added all the required features and usability in the apps.

Imagine being able to connect with your colleagues and the rest of your staff from any customer site. You can check any information and communicate in real time with dedicated servers. Field Force Tracker allows you to see available personnel on a virtual map and assign tasks and clients to them right using a Dashboard. These scenarios are now completely possible with Field Force Tracker Field Service Management software.

So why are more companies choosing Field Service Software Here are some core features of our Field Force Tracker Mobile Software.

Simple and Easy to Use Menus

Investing in mobile technology is useless if your employees can’t use them. The features of mobile apps are more important than the simple interfaces and fast controls. The basic requirement is that personnel should be able to readily access information, but they should also be able to capture high-quality data while at sites and upload that data to the company’s cloud servers.Cloud services have transformed the way we share data, and it’s essential to have an app that makes full use of this feature.

Field Force Tracker app is one of the simplest and most intuitive application to use.

Data Security and ConfidentialitySince field service personnel regularly deal with the personal information of clients, it’s of utmost importance that apps come with secure encryption. However, it’s also important to note that one of the appeals of mobile business solutions is the ability to get your work done right through your own device, and striking a balance between securing your company’s data and allowing your personnel the privacy they need is essential to using mobile technology successfully. Many of today’s mobile business solutions have been able to segregate the personal data of employees from corporate data, making it much easier to manage the security of clients’ information.
Speed of Data TransferBecause field service personnel regularly travel to places where there is very limited connectivity, it’s essential that your mobile service solution do not transfer meaningless information and if possible can synchronizing with servers as soon as connectivity is regained. It’s also important to invest in an app that functions across all devices so all members of your staff can have access to both the app and the information they need.

Mobile field service solutions are still relatively new, and many companies are able to function without dedicated apps for their businesses, relying on the built-in features of mobile phones and tablets to get their work done. Today’s generation of mobile phones makes this much easier to manage your field service with Field Force Tracker applications.

About Field Force Tracker – Field Service Dispatch Software

Field Force Tracker is used for service management in a wide range of industries including HVAC, Property Management, Cleaning, IT services, Contractors, IT management, and Maintenance service firms.

Choosing a Mobile Device for Better Field Service

Posted on May 17, 2015November 23, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Field Force Tracker is designed to manage your mobile Field Workers Using Mobile apps. The mobile apps let you manage your work order in the fields, invoice customers, update the job status and do many other things.

Mobile Field Workers can use their mobile Phone to manage entire cycle of the job. They can change the state of the job; they can invoice a customer in the field and they can create new estimates.

Field Force Tracker Mobile Apps For Field Service Management

We provide Field Force Tracker Mobile apps on iPhone and Android phones or tablets. So you can use your favorite device to use the mobile app.

Field Fore Tracker Mobile apps are designed for the ease of use. You can use them without much training. Features are well laid out. Graphics user interface is easy to use and self intuitive.

They are the most powerful apps for the field service operation.

How to Choose Mobile Device For Field Service

With so mobile device out there, how do you choose the right one for your field technicians? Above all else, you need a mobile device that will work for your technicians in the environments they are working in. You will also need to make sure that your software and mobile apps operate seamlessly on any device. This ensures that they can get the most flexibility and productivity out of the device.

Best Mobile App for Field Service — Best Mobile App For Field Service

Key to Mobile Selection For Field Service Operation

Every one has a mobile phone these days so it is better to use what your employees already have. It can save you cost of new devices. But, if you are planning to buy new field service devices for your field force here are some ideas for mobile device selection.

UNDERSTAND IMPORTANT TASKS FIELD TECHNICIANS NEED TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THE MOBILE

Every Field Service Business industry is different because every equipment requires different tool set, skills and operating paradigm. The most important criteria is to understand what you need from technicians or what you expect them to do in the field.

Mobile devices can be used for many useful applications.

Do they need to do a lots of data entry in the field? Capture signature from the customers at the end of field service? Calling the customer sites and supervisors? Are they familiar with the service area or do they need to relay on hands-free navigation in the phone? Do they need Bar code scanning for the equipment identification or they need ? Do they need Camera capabilities to capture after or pre-service photos? Do your field technicians need GPS/hands-free navigation? Having a full list of these tasks is key, and confirm with both your hardware and software vendors if those capabilities are available on the device.

For your information Field Force Tracker mobile apps provide all these capabilities and more.

If there is a lot of entry or more complex use required, your technicians may prefer the extra real estate of a tablet versus a smart phone. If traveling light is a goal, have a technician or two test out doing the data entry/debrief process on a smart phone (and don’t forget about the voice-to-text feature).

UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR FIELD SERVICE OPERATION

Some field technician’s work involves visit to air-conditioned offices and buildings. Some technicians need to go to dusty construction sites.

The important to consider is the service environment. Is there any place safe to put down a laptop or tablet? Or do your techs need to keep the device in a pocket? Will they be operating from a tight ladder or in a tight space? What kind of durability is needed? Are there any rules about using certain devices (for example, no cell phones near hospital equipment, or only non-sparking equipment near a gas pipeline).

Smart phones are the obvious choice in a tight environment, but certain environmental requirements like these may require specialized equipment or a ruggedized laptop.

Despite some initial hesitancy about how brittle iPads might be in the field, many field service users report very little breakage both with and without cases like the Otter Box. Techs love iPads, treat them with great care, and the majority of users report that replacement costs are less than they budgeted for initially.

KNOW WHAT ELSE THE TECHNICIAN NEEDS TO ACCESS

A device that can be used for things other than field service can do multiple roles.

Most organizations want to move to smaller devices and free the technician from having to carry a full load of equipment like a laptop, but sometimes other applications (often for calibration or schematics) are a requirement. If this is the case for your organization, you have two options – put everything on the laptop together, or utilize a two-device strategy. Laptop for some apps and any heavy duty data entry or complex tasks, and a smartphone (which they probably need to carry anyway) for simple tasks like driving directions to the site, signature capture, calling the customer, light debrief, or parts lookup.

“Smartphones are the obvious choice in a tight environment, but certain environmental requirements may require specialized equipment or a ruggedized laptop.”

About Field Force Tracker – Field Service Dispatch Software

Field Force Tracker is used for service management in a wide range of industries including HVAC, Property Management, Cleaning, IT services, Contractors, IT management, and Maintenance service firms.

Using Field Service Software to Improve Company Sales

Posted on May 14, 2015November 23, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Built on Cloud, one of the most feature rich customer service platforms, Field Service Tracker enables companies to deliver mobile, intelligent customer service from phone to field. With Field Service Tracker, companies can totally automate their field service operations. Field Force tracker software includes many important features such as: automated intelligent scheduling and dispatching software, customer history, service contracts, field employee tracking, asset management and financial software.

Field service is a competitive market whether you are in a hvac service, pest control or electrical services business. Chances are, you spend a lot of money to ensure that potential customers think of your business first when they need service. Once a prospect finds you, the pressure is on to close the deal before they move on to the next company. Technology can make all the difference in this lead-to-revenue process, helping you increase efficiency, reduce mistakes, and maximize the ROI of your marketing dollars. Here are five of the ways a lead management system, sometimes referred to as a CRM, can help you turn more leads into customers.

Automatically Assign Leads to Salespeople

In the service business when a potential customer calls or fills out a form on your website, odds are they want help NOW. The faster you respond, the more likely it is that they will choose your company over the competition. Having a system in place that automatically assigns and notifies a salesperson (based on whatever criteria you define) removes any uncertainty over who is responsible to get in touch with the prospect.

Reinforce (or Create) a Repeatable Sales Process

It’s likely you follow a similar process each time a potential customer contacts you. Mapping out this process, then using software to automate it, can help you better understand your pipeline and ensure that leads are handled in a consistent, efficient manner. Each step in your sales process can have it’s own estimated timeline and related tasks, and you can define different sales processes for different types of services and/or locations. Here’s an example of what a sales process for general pest control could look like:

Qualify lead (speak to them to confirm their interest, budget, etc.)
Schedule sales appointment/estimate (if you typically go on-site to give pricing)
Complete sales appointment/estimate
Send proposal
Collect signature
Close lead and schedule service

Identify Potential Problems, Before They Cost You

No business is perfect. Odds are that your employees occasionally make mistakes and sometimes leads “slip through the cracks.” They key is to be aware of these situations and act quickly, before you end up unnecessarily losing valuable leads. With a lead management system, you can set alerts so that your are notified at certain milestones, for example, when a task associated with a lead becomes past due.

Understand and Correct Bottlenecks

A good lead management system will help you to easily understand where all of your leads are in the sales process at any given time. In addition to helping with planning, this visual view of your lead statuses can highlight any stage in your sales process has the most “stuck” leads so you can make adjustments. Are 60% of your leads sitting in an “Agreement Out? You may want to add a reminder task for your salespeople to follow up with the customer after 24 hours of sending out the agreement.

Analyze

The best way to close more leads is to understand what has worked in the past and what hasn’t. By understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) like average sales value, close rate percentage by salesperson, service type and other criteria, and average time to close, you can create benchmarks, identify areas for improvement and continually optimize your sales process. This feedback and optimization loop will help you turn every (or almost every) lead into a paying customer.

Field Force Tracker software includes a very well designed Dispatch, Tracking, and Scheduling Board. Service agents have a 360-degree view of the customer, jobs, and field technicians. They can create a work order from any case and track mobile employees. Mobile employees in the field now have access to the customer’s full service and buying history, empowering them to easily resolve any issue that may arise and upsell the customer on another product.

Customer service moves fast and forward-thinking companies need real-time access to their service data. Field Service Tracker enables all service employees to update work orders, issue change requests and adjust job status, anytime, anywhere and on any device. A staggering 65% of field service workers still print out their service tickets and bring them in their vehicles, slowing down the service process.

Now, an employee in the field can see their open work orders on their mobile device; update them throughout the day as they complete jobs, and all the information is seamlessly updated in System.

Field Force Tracker (https://www.fieldforcetracker.com) delivers a complete service experience across a wide range of modern contact center channels including web, phone, email, chat, social and the in-person field service interaction, all powered by the latest technology. This cross channel, connected and mobile service experience is something that competitive products do not deliver.

“We are just beginning to see what customer service can look like in the era of mobile and IoT,” said Mark Robinson, Director Sales at Field Force Tracker. “Field Service Tracker gives companies tools that are designed for them to deliver exceptional customer experience. The amazing set of features in Field Force Tracker let them manage all aspects of their service operations with ease and at a very low cost.”

Field About Field Force Tracker

Force Tracker (https://www.fieldforcetracker.com) is a leading global provider of its award winning mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Our solutions enable businesses of all sizes (from 1 user to 10,000 users) to meet the challenges associated with managing and running complex service operations. It helps in improving the productivity of their mobile workforce.

Using Field Service Software to Improve Company Sales

Posted on May 14, 2015July 4, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Automatically Assign Leads to Salespeople

Reinforce (or Create) a Repeatable Sales Process

Qualify lead (speak to them to confirm their interest, budget, etc.)
Schedule sales appointment/estimate (if you typically go on-site to give pricing)
Complete sales appointment/estimate
Send proposal
Collect signature
Close lead and schedule service

Identify Potential Problems, Before They Cost You

Understand and Correct Bottlenecks

Analyze

Now, an employee in the field can see their open work orders on their mobile device; update them throughout the day as they complete jobs, and all the information is seamlessly updated in System.

Field About Field Force Tracker Force Tracker

(https://www.fieldforcetracker.com) is a leading global provider of its award winning mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Our solutions enable businesses of all sizes (from 1 user to 10,000 users) to meet the challenges associated with managing and running complex service operations. It helps in improving the productivity of their mobile workforce.

Using Mobile Apps for Field Service

Posted on May 12, 2015November 23, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Field Force Tracker is the most comprehensive software for field service management. It takes care of everything from customer management to the payment collection for a service company. By using this software, our clients can see major improvement in their productivity and the customer satisfaction.

Using Mobile Apps for Field Service

Moving to a truly mobile way of working means your teams are better connected at all times. This ensures an improved workflow, with access to the right information and seamless updating of data in real-time.

Mobility is one of the fastest growing technologies in the world and whether you are looking at developing your mobile strategy or starting out, how do you choose the right solution with so many on offer today?

From working with a range of companies, we’ve found that there are some common principals and here we outline what those are to help you make the move to mobile field service.

Ease of integration is key. You don’t need to have to think about changing your whole field service solution. Extending the life of your current systems is all important so look at mobile solutions which will leverage and expand their use.
Implementation needs to be as quick and straightforward as possible. A lengthy implementation process will defeat its objective. So being up and running in days, not months, should be the realistic goal – delivering a much faster ROI.
Any mobile solution should be easy to use. Overly-complicated systems will be bypassed and worked around or ignored all together. The easier to use, the quicker the adoption and the better the ROI.
All mobility software needs to be agile and able to move with the next generation of mobility. Developments are moving fast and keeping up to speed with these changes is important.
It is crucial for any mobility solution to work across mixed digital devices. The apps will need to work across different operating systems too.
Vitally, mobility is about the anytime, anywhere access to information and it is essential that your solution makes it as easy as possible to achieve this.

Field Force Tracker leads the way in simplifying field service for companies.

Our made-for-mobile, cloud-based field service software was designed to provide ease of use with incredible flexibility. Along with the ease – and speed – of our implementation and the ongoing support service that we provide we enable companies to take full advantage of today’s mobile field service.

About Field Force Tracker

Force Tracker (https://www.fieldforcetracker.com/) is a leading global provider of its award winning mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). Its solutions enable businesses of all sizes (from 1 user to 10,000 users) to meet the challenges associated with managing and running complex service operations. It helps in improving the productivity of their mobile workforce.

Field Force Tracker is a wholly owned unit of Rapidsoft Systems Inc. (https://www.rapidsoftsystems.com/). Rapidsoft Systems, Inc. has its main office in Princeton, NJ, USA, a US R&D Center in Mercerville NJ, and sales, support and development offices in Palo Alto, CA, USA, Singapore, Dubai (UAE), Bombay, and Noida (India).

Enhancing Field Service Operations Using Custom Mobile Forms

Posted on May 10, 2015November 23, 2024 by Field Force Tracker

Field Service Software – Basic Features

Field Force Tracker provides extensible forms capabilities to all new and existing Field Force Tracker customers. They can extend the feature set with the enhanced mobile forms capabilities, and better system integration. Field Force Tracker, a mobile enabled web-based field service management software, streamlines technician scheduling, dispatch, customer management, vendor and employee management, work orders, equipment maintenance, inventory tracking, contracts, estimates, invoices, payments and accounting. It is considered one of the most feature rich software of its kind.

Field Service Data Forms

Those working in field service understand that accurate data collection is essential for a successful business, but this is not always a straightforward task due to manual processes. How data is disseminated, collected, shared and used makes the difference between having an effective and productive field service operation or not. Paper-based processes are fraught with issues from delays in receiving vital information, to missing, incomplete information, or inconsistency in the data captured.

Field service companies face some unique challenges as some or all of their work can be emergency calls which come in through the course of the day. As the work wasn’t part of the initial schedule, the technicians may not always have the right paperwork or forms with them, so they are not working with all the information they need.

Many companies with a field service operation also cover a lot of different areas of work. These can be highly complex and workflows may have a number of dependencies which need to be stuck to, to complete the job. The field service work can cover everything from design to install, renovation, repair and service work, meaning each job is different to the last and again the use of paper-based forms to cover all work areas can prove difficult to manage.

In addition, those who work with compliance or regulatory obligations face even greater challenges in managing, recording and reporting information. It must be accurate, on time and auditable. The risks of, and penalties for, incomplete, unreliable and late reporting are just too great.

Field Force Tracker provides custom forms to help field service organizations solve some of the challenges they face in managing information. Field Force Tracker Forms is a powerful extension to our Field Force Tracker solution which allows you to embed all your forms into the mobile workflow, expanding the capabilities of your field service management. It is bringing distinct advantage to field service work.

Benefits of Field Service Forms

Here we look at the top ten reasons for moving to mobile forms – and going paperless – in your field service:

Improved efficiency – information is entered just once on the technician’s device as the data is captured at the point of service. This removes any duplication of data entry at a later stage. Photos, scanned documents and signatures can all be captured at the same time and because Field Force Tracker Forms updates your Field Force Tracker solution, your other ERP, CRM and accounting systems are all automatically updated too.
More accurate information – forms can be auto-populated and include drop-down menus, assisting data entry in the most accurate way with prompts for completion and skipping over irrelevant sections. The right, accurate information is captured first time, every time. This can be especially useful when training new starters or just ensuring that bad habits don’t creep in as corners can’t get cut.
Keeping everyone up-to-date – any updates to forms or new forms can be sent to all technicians, electronically, at the same time. There is no need to rely on technicians coming into the office to pick up the forms and then some of your teams using a new set of forms and others are using out of date forms. Version control is simplified, especially useful for those in compliance and regulatory work.
Improved compliance – data management can be core to compliance requirements for monitoring, reporting and auditing purposes. All data needs to be correctly captured, recorded and managed, Field Force Tracker Forms allows the information to be more easily collected, shared and used. This not only speeds up processes but critically ensures compliance targets are met on every job, every time, by every worker. The ability to respond immediately to customers or regulatory authorities is increased and an audit trail is in place for accountability.
Better communication – communication can be instant and in real-time with mobile forms. There is no delay, unlike paperwork being brought into offices. Forms can be customized to ensure that the information being collected is bespoke to the organization’s needs and can cover off the different areas of work that is covered.
Business intelligence – information collected using mobile forms is accurate and reliable and can instantly give a real-time insight into the business. This not only gives those making on-the-spot decisions confidence in the information they are using, but also means the data can be easily searched, extracted, and analysed. This helps to transform collected data into actionable business intelligence.
Easy access to data – the days of searching through a filing cabinet are over. Using mobile forms, the captured data can be easily accessed by whoever in the business needs it and when they need it. The ability to easily retrieve the required information not only means time and resource is saved, but also reporting, cross-checking and auditing all become much more straightforward.
Managed costs – the costs associated with paper-based processes cannot be underestimated in terms of time, resource, transportation, storage and the actual paper itself. Sending and receiving the information by using the mobile forms eliminates these costs as well as streamlining the processes.
Faster invoicing – some of the highest praise for mobile forms is the way all the information can be gathered and synced in the field, which means that the job is complete and ready for invoicing straight to customers. The sync with other systems, which integrate with Field Force Tracker, means further double entry of data is eliminated, invoices are issued immediately therefore significantly speeding up the order to cash process too.
Improved service quality – on site technicians can collect information more efficiently, with greater accuracy and in less time using mobile forms. This information can then be shared with their customers electronically to help combat their paper-based challenges too.

Field Force Tracker leads the way in simplifying field service.

Field Force Tracker Forms is a powerful extension to your field service solution which allows you to embed forms into your mobile workflow, expanding the capabilities of your field service management.

About Field Force Tracker