Choosing a Mobile Device for Better Field Service

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 (http://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.

Using Field Service Software to Improve Company Sales

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.

 

work dispatch software 04

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.

  1. 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.

best dispatch software 01

  1. 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:

 

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

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

best fire alarm security software 01

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 (http://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 (http://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.

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. (http://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).

Using Field Service Software to Improve Company Sales

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.

work order tracking software 01

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.

 

  1. 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.

plumbing job management software 01

  1. 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:

 

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

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

employee tracking software 04

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 (http://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

(http://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.

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. (http://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).

Using Mobile Apps for 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.

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.

work dispatch software 04

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?

plumbing scheduling software 01

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.

roofing contractor software 04

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 (http://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. (http://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

Field Service Software – Basic Features

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.

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.

best contractor management software 04

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.

best dispatch software 01

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
    best employee tracking software 01
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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

Force Tracker (http://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. (http://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).