Field service is a crucial component of many businesses, ranging from construction to engineering and even security. In these and other business sectors, technology can make positive changes to field service management. Proactive companies are increasingly turning to technology to make fieldwork easier and more accurate. Is field service management software right for your business?
What Is Field Service Mobility?
Field mobility refers to the ability to work remotely from different sites. Some professionals might argue that mobility is already an ingrained part of fieldwork. After all, it takes place away from the office and workers need to travel to specific sites. This is true, but is the work independent of the office? Mobility allows professionals to work remotely with just a device. Depending on company protocols and their work relationships, they might not even need to make a trip to the office to get a compatible device.
While professionals scan information or fill out checklists, the data can be automatically uploaded and other professionals have immediate access. For example, a security director can note when personnel neglect to scan specific areas, which might indicate the officers did not check them. Similarly, an engineer can remotely review data submitted by a foreman inspecting a site and ensure all numbers add up.
What Is Field Service Automation?
There are many different tasks professionals must complete during fieldwork assignments. Manually completing these tasks takes time, leads to monotony and makes room for human error. Automating these tasks can make it easier to stay on track and boost accuracy.
Here are some examples of field service tasks you can automate or digitize:
- Digitizing paperwork orders
- Digitizing checklists for safety inspections
- Automating inventory and inventory turnover data
- Automating the creation of reports
- Automating tracking and data analytics
- Automating preventative maintenance notifications and alerts
How Can Companies Benefit From Field Service Software?
Technology has revolutionized the way we do business, and companies choose to upgrade for better reasons than just joining a fad. Companies that embrace the latest and greatest technology and properly train their workers to use them tend to outperform their competitors by a wide margin. Here’s why:
Provides Better Data
Every business generates data, regardless of if it relies on technology. Whether this data is digitized or centrally available is another thing altogether. Using field service web based software can solve accessibility problems. By digitizing and automating tasks, companies create better and more accurate data with fewer missing pieces.
For apps to work, an internet connection is required. This can provide external data professionals need to get their work done. Sales is one business area where data is crucial. One client using the Fluix app reported a 20% increase in its sales team’s productivity.
Creates a Full Picture
The more tasks a company digitizes, the more of that better data it has access to. When the finance department, marketing professionals or general managers need to make decisions, they have access to more holistic information. Professionals who have complete information are less likely to try to improve one aspect of the business with methods that negatively impact another. Automated reports can also create a literal picture that makes it even easier to analyze the data you have available.
Saves Time
How much time do you think your workers spend completing manual tasks while doing fieldwork? Manual labor at one step of your workflow process creates more work down the line. Someone needs physical access to that information to review it, sign off on it and then file it away. Then, there is the issue of storage. Technology can digitize and automate all these tasks, then make everything accessible via the cloud. One Fluix client shared that our field service mobile app helped the company cut inspection time by 43%.
Improves Flexibility
Agility is the new name of the game. It became exceptionally important in the wake of the pandemic. Whole industries had to pivot on a dime to meet pandemic guidelines, keep businesses open and continue to make customers happy. Fast pivoting requires agility, which is next to impossible if you have not digitized your work environment. Use technology to pivot swiftly and effectively before your competitors have time to do the same. Technology can even help you forecast future performance levels or conditions, so you can plan ahead.
Increases Customer Satisfaction
Mobility and automation help countless organizations to reduce overheads. Some companies have been able to suspend physical business operations completely. Regardless of where your business falls on the spectrum, lower costs can help you pass on savings to customers. Faster service and more accurate data can also help you provide a better client or customer experience, which is sure to improve customer satisfaction.
Improves Emergency Response
If an emergency occurred on site, how quickly could your team respond? Would you need all hands on deck or would it be possible for one person to visit the site and collect information first, so you can decide who needs to be physically present? Using apps for mobile service field technicians can help you better create an emergency response plan and execute that plan. Instead of a crowded site, you may even resolve the issue with a handful of workers at the location. Then, a team of professionals can review relayed information and provide instructions.
Reduces Errors
The fewer errors your workers make, the lower the likelihood of emergencies occurring on site. Some errors can even cost workers their lives or cause disabilities. Others may compromise client satisfaction or cost the company thousands of dollars. Whatever the consequences, errors are costly. Automation and digitization can reduce errors and improve safety. Artificial intelligence thrives with repetitive tasks with clear parameters, which is exactly what people tend to struggle with.
Provides an Affordable Solution
There are many ways businesses of any size can improve efficiency and accuracy. For example, factories can invest in larger and newer machines that operate faster and produce higher volumes. Similarly, some companies need to hire architects to change the workspace design and accommodate a new workflow process. These are excellent options, but they are also expensive. Imagine paying as little as $20 per month to achieve similar results instead. That’s the cost of Fluix’s digital field service management app.
How Can the Fluix Field Service Management App Help?
Fluix is a lightweight app that helps you rethink your approach to fieldwork. It allows you to streamline your workflow without installing complex and intimidating solutions, such as an enterprise maintenance management system or a computerized maintenance management system.
Fluix is also an excellent tech companion for business owners who value the power of proactive thinking. These owners or managers take preventative maintenance seriously and focus a great deal on the ability to forecast accurately. Our clients have used Fluix to keep equipment up to spec. This, in turn, improves machine reliability and reduces downtime.
A common and legitimate concern that managers have is how safe it is to store their data online. Your clients may also have concerns about digital invoices and contracts. We provide secure storage. While no online medium is immune to attacks from hackers, we take all recommended steps to ensure your data remains secure and confidential.
Fluix serves businesses across a wide spectrum, from aviation to insurance. Find out how we can serve your business and request your free demo today.
