Buyers Guide

Table of Contents

• What is Field Service Management Software?
• What are the features of Field Service Management Software?
• What are the types of Field Service Management Software?
• What are the benefits of Field Service Management Software?
• How much does Field Service Management Software cost?
• How to choose the best Field Service Management Software?
• What are the common questions to ask Field Service Management Software vendors?

What is Field Service Management Software?

Field service management (FSM) software, or field service software, helps businesses manage and schedule field operations, such as assigning tasks to field workers or managing inventory and parts. The tool assists with tracking the job progress on site and communicating with the field workers to eliminate hiccups.

FSM software helps businesses improve the quality of on-site services, leading to enhanced customer satisfaction.

What are the features of Field Service Management Software?

• Dispatch management: Track the movement of resources, such as vehicles or workers, to the customer sites to ensure the completion of assigned tasks.
• Scheduling: Plan the availability of resources and assign specific time slots for each task. Optimize the resource alignment based on progress and performance to ensure continuous customer service.
• Work order management: Create work orders for customer service requests. Align technicians to complete the tasks and provide the required documents and resources. Close the completed work orders and optimize the overdue ones.
• Billing and invoicing: Generate bills and invoices and share them with customers. Track the payment received against an invoice and send reminders to the customer to make the payment.
• Contact database: Maintain a centralized database with detailed customer information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and service history.
• Service history: Track the job performed, resources used, technicians involved, and service type for every customer.

What are the types of Field Service Management Software?

• Dispatch management software assists with scheduling and dispatching field workers or vehicles for transportation. The tool automates work order assignment, route optimization, and task list creation. You can use the tool to monitor field operations in real time. Dispatch management software offers features such as time tracking, scheduling, an analytics dashboard, a customer database, and billing and invoicing. The software solution is further sub-categorized into service dispatch management, fleet tracking, and transportation dispatch management.
• Work order management software aids in managing and tracking work orders for the maintenance and repair of vehicles, equipment, and electronics. The tool automates capturing service requests and aligning them with the technicians based on availability. Work order management software offers calendaring, workflow management, prioritization, and other features that streamline work order management activities.
• Asset tracking software enables generating barcodes to label assets, monitor the utilization of assets, track the asset location, and create accurate usage reports. The assets include electronic devices, machinery, and vehicles. Asset tracking software offers features such as real-time tracking and reporting that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the asset management process. You can use the asset tracking and management system to assess the performance of deployed assets and schedule maintenance or repairs accordingly.
• Mobile workforce management software helps manage and coordinate the activities of a remote workforce via a mobile application. This includes field technicians, sales representatives, and workers outside of traditional office space. Mobile workforce management software offers features including communication, collaboration, time tracking, workflow automation, file sharing, and more. The tool is used in various industries, such as construction, transportation, and healthcare, to streamline job alignment for remote workers.

What are the benefits of Field Service Management Software?

• Improve efficiency and productivity: You can optimize the field service operations by automating the alignment of tasks and capturing time utilization. This process reduces the administrative workload, eliminates manual errors, and improves the productivity of field workers. You can generate bills and invoices to share with customers and accept online payments via debit card, credit card, internet banking, or online wallet.
• Enhance customer satisfaction: You can use the tool’s customer relationship management (CRM) system to speed up responding to customer inquiries. Allow customers to submit their service requests with detailed descriptions and pictures. This process assists service providers with better analysis of the problem and correct resolutions. You can also track customer service history to identify the root cause of a prevailing issue and prevent its recurrence.
• Provide better administrative visibility and control: You get access to real-time insights into the progress of field operations. This includes delayed tasks, on-time completion, parts or document requirements, additional services, and more. You can also track the location of the field workers and the availability of the equipment or machinery to ensure on-time task completion. With better visibility, you can improve your decision-making by identifying and addressing potential problems.
• Reduce travel costs for field workers: You can use the collaboration tools of the software to update the field workers on new and ongoing tasks. Send real-time alerts on new task alignment, share documents and other customer information, or connect via chat or phone call to discuss the issue in detail. This process eliminates the need for field workers to travel between the office and the customer site, reducing travel costs.
• Automate redundant administrative tasks: You can automate routine activities such as preparing invoices and quotes for customers, tracking time or attendance of field workers, or responding to customer inquiries. This process prevents manual errors and inefficiencies and frees up the service managers to focus on improving the team's productivity.
• Access the centralized repository of documents: You can use the centralized documents repository of the tool to manage service-related documents. This cloud-based storage lets you give access to field workers with role-based permissions, such as read-only or read-and-write. This process allows field workers to use the documents in completing their job.

How much does Field Service Management Software cost?

Most products in the market are priced on a per-month basis and can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price.

Price ranges:*

• $46 - $88
• $89 - $225
• $225+

*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on December 14, 2022. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products.

The above list summarizes pricing for the base plans of most products. An enterprise or premium product that is priced higher may include additional features such as drag-and-drop scheduling, paperless invoicing, in-app employee chat, and customized text notifications.

How to choose the best Field Service Management Software?

• Opt for a customer portal: Look for a field service management solution that enables customers to submit service requests, check details of their service appointment, and track the progress of service completion. They should also be able to communicate with the field service technician via call or text message. The portal should let customers upload and download service-related documents, such as contact details, a list of parts, or bills and invoices.
• Assess the document management system: Check if your selected field service management software offers centralized document storage. The storage should be accessible by the administrator and service provider with role-based access (read and write or read-only) to protect from data loss. You should be able to share the documents in real time, make changes to the information, and leave comments for the technicians to address.
• Look for a reporting dashboard: Find a field service management solution that offers access to real-time insights into field service operations through the reporting dashboard. You should be able to customize the dashboard with metrics relevant to your role in getting the job done. In addition, the tool should allow you to create and download reports from the dashboard in the desired format (PDF, Word, or Excel). Also, check if you share the dashboard with multiple administrators.
• Consider electronic signature: Check if your selected field service management solution allows electronic signatures to approve digital documents. You can use the feature to e-sign bills and invoices or approve any changes in the service request. Customers can approve the service documents or e-sign the payment receipt after the service completion.
• Look for asset location tracking: Find a field service management solution that can track the location of the assets, such as vehicles or electronic equipment. This is done using a variety of methods, including GPS (global positioning system) trackers, RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, and barcode scanning.
• Analyze the collaboration abilities: Check if your selected field service management solution enables collaboration between the administration team and technicians. The features include chat, audio/video calls, note-taking, calendars, and more. Also, look for document collaboration abilities such as sharing files, commenting on documents, or notifying document owners about changes.
• Assess workflow optimization: Check if your selected field service management solution lets you create and optimize workflows for customer service requests. You should be able to add or delete tasks, change the technician alignment, add more technicians to a task, or set the start and end date of the request. The tool should send real-time alerts to the stakeholders involved in the workflow each time it is optimized to prevent communication gaps.

What are the common questions to ask Field Service Management Software vendors?

• Does the tool allow integration with other field service management solutions? Ask the software provider if you can integrate the selected field service management solution with an existing business application used for asset tracking or dispatch management. This process will allow you to directly import or export customer information, asset inventory, technician job history, and more.
• Does the tool offer a mobile application for field technicians? Ask the software provider about the mobile application for field service management software. The application can be used by field technicians to check service details and access related documents. Mobile applications are free with the desktop version of the software and chargeable as a stand-alone option if available.
• Does the tool allow generating barcodes to label the assets? Ask the software provider about the field service software’s ability to generate barcodes for assets. You should be able to create and print the barcodes to label the assets before they are deployed at the customer’s site.
• Is the customer portal web-based or mobile application-based? Ask the software provider if your selected field service management solution offers a customer portal. Also, check if the portal is accessible online or via a mobile application. Most field service management solutions offer both accessibility options.
• Does the tool offer chat abilities with internal team members? Ask the software provider about the chat feature of the selected field service management solution. You should be able to send updates, documents, photos, and more to the technicians. Also, check if you can integrate the field service management solution with a third-party chat application.