A technician’s time is valuable. Any moment they’re not at a job, you’re losing money. Paperwork is also a waste of time for technicians. Instead of focusing on a job, they’re burning hours filling out forms before, during, and after every visit.
A field service app makes a tech’s life simple by letting them focus on the job at hand and move on throughout their busy days. And when connected to a cloud-based all-in-one operations platform, you empower them to be more productive before, during, and after every job.
Before the Job
Dispatchers have the responsibility to schedule a tech’s day effectively. They should minimize job travel time and ensure techs don’t burn out. You don’t want them to spend half their day driving to different jobs. And you also don’t want to overload their daily schedules with more jobs than a single tech can handle. Your techs are an important part of your business success equation.
Tracking total job time with the field service app gives you information about how efficient tech schedules are. It creates productivity metrics that every tech needs to meet. The data shouldn’t only include the time spent on the job but also travel time because that can affect how well a tech performs at a job.
You can’t expect techs to have peak performance if they spend an hour and a half stuck in traffic with 3 more jobs to go before the end of the day with another 2 hours of driving. Techs are people and their well-being is valuable.
The field service app will already contain all job data like customer address and point of contact. It should have a safety checklist and the entire job task list so the tech knows what to do when they arrive and include parts and equipment for the job.
During the Job
Techs use the app to track their work. This records and monitors job length. Since the app already has job info, the tech can quickly see the information before getting started. An optional safety checklist ensures that the tech protects themselves (and your business).
The task list makes sure the job meets company standards. Gated workflows hold techs responsible for each step. Gated workflows also decrease callbacks by creating steps techs have to check off before they can close a job. Owners can even require photo and video uploads in the app to prove the step is done.
Media uploads and checklists help in case of customer problems. And by requiring customers to sign on the app, you put the responsibility on the customer that they’ve reviewed the work and approve it. What used to require a lot of paperwork is available within an app, saving hours week over week.
If the tech sees an issue, the field service app can also allow them to create pull-through work quotes on the spot. Customers don’t have to wait for a quote, and techs can capitalize on every opportunity.
After the Job
After the customer electronically signs off, the tech closes the job on the app and starts the next one. All job info syncs to the all-in-one operations platform, and the tech can focus on the next job in the queue.
Using the field service app to standardize workflows makes any after-work frustration disappear because their part of the job is complete. The office reviews the job and prepares the electronic invoice to send to the customer in minutes.
Mobile Apps are Key to Business Success in 2022
A field service technician app is one of the most vital tools for your business. It simplifies the technician workflow and shares real-time data with the office. Real-time syncing ensures the office has visibility into every job the tech is doing.
Technician tracking through the app shows productivity levels, job efficiency, and pull-through work metrics. Owners and managers need to know which techs are performing at their best and who are burning hours by wasting too much time in traffic or spending too much time on a job.
No one likes paperwork, and a field service app fixes that problem. Digitizing their work experience adds hours to their week to complete more jobs. And while it’s making their jobs easier, it also gives you important performance data on your technician staff.