Field ServiceÊManagement defined
Field service managementÊisÊthe management of services providedÊat or close to the property of clients, rather than on company property. Examples include managing employee activity, scheduling and recording of work, and integrating the management of such activities with invoicing and other back-office systems. Field Service usually refers to companies who need to manage installation, provide service at a clients premises or carry out repairs of systems or equipment. It can also refer to software and cloud-based platforms that help in field service management.
Field Service Trends
Trends that we see in Field Service include
Cloud – To be effective Field Service systems need to be in the cloud so that remote workers have access to the latest information about the client and also have instant access to historical information such as previous maintenance work carried out
Mobile – Some companies provide their workforce with Laptops, some with tablets but almost all workers have access to aÊsmartphone. The worldwide trend of mobile outstripping desktop usage over the last 12 months is mirrored with Field Service.
Global stats fromÊStatCounter showing the rise of mobile versus desktop over the last year.
Process Automation – Some companies will call it Artificial Intelligence or AI. There are many processes around Field Service that can be automated to achieve efficiencies. Examples include Client and customer being automatically notified when a service is due. Client receiving a summary of work carried out and being automatically invoiced once they have signed off on the work.
Internet of Things –ÊExamples of where this is impacting on Field Service is where machines would notify a Field Service engineer depending on particular triggers. They require a service. Certain minimum or maximum readings are reached. Combined with the process automation, a machine could update the system to notify that it needed a service and automatically schedule that service to the engineer that is nearest the machine and has time available.
At MindaClient we do Cloud, Mobile and Process Automation but we leave the Internet of things to others!
MindaClient Field Service features
Depending on the industry and the company’s needs Field Service Management systems will vary.
In order to give an example of how Field Service works, here is a sample ofÊhow MindaClient Field Service Management would work for maintenance and repair jobs.
- Client calls for repair
- Company records the details in MindaClient and schedules the work for an Engineer
- The job instantly appears on the Engineers phone as a scheduled job
- The Engineer calls on site and records their start time
- They carry out the work, record the details of the work and record their finish time
- they can record details of what materials they use for the service or repair
- They can take a picture of the work done for record purposes and that is stored in MindaClient
- They can show the client the work who will then digitally sign off on the work done
- Details of the job can be emailed to the client from the engineers phone
- A vat invoice can even be generated and emailed to the client before the engineer even leaves the premises
