FleetMatics, the software-as-a-service company specialising in mobile asset software, has launched its field service management software, Field Service Manager into the UK market - to provide complete management of a services department.
Field Service Manager gives businesses in the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, and other service engineering sectors a solution that allows service departments to better manage field-based engineers, by automating service call management, job dispatch, signature capture and invoicing through one easy to use, integrated system.
According to industry analyst, Gartner, the percentage of technicians with wireless access to formal packaged field service management solutions will increase from 12 per cent to 40 per cent over the next two years.
Using Field Service Manager, field service departments can increase visibility and productivity, reduce overheads, ensure faster receipt of payment, and increase customer satisfaction by enabling engineers to complete multiple (and often complex) forms relating to a specific job on a smartphone, PDA or other mobile device.
'Field service departments in many industries face a number of challenges in running an effective team of service engineers. Not least is the problem associated with paper-based job/work processes, such as accurate and timely invoicing. With Field Service Manager, we can cut the average time down from six weeks to a matter of hours,' according to Derek Bryan, Sales Director at FleetMatics.
How Field Service Manager works
Using the GPRS network, Field Service Manager is the only software solution available today that allows multiple job forms to sit on the device itself, which means that even when an engineer is out of network range he can continue to complete the form and send it back to his service department once he is back online.
Derek Bryan explains, 'Our product is unique, as it allows engineers to get on with the job and complete the necessary forms regardless of whether they are online or not, unlike most field service management software solutions, which offer web-based forms. This is critical for companies where service engineers are down in basements, in lift shafts, or where network coverage is patchy - it means job processing does not stop even when the mobile network is down.'
Field Service Manager sits as a software application on any hand-held mobile device that runs on Windows Mobile 6 or Google Android. It operates by connecting to the service department's back-office system via GPRS. This back office system appears as a dashboard to the service department, and is accessible through a web portal.
From the dashboard, customer jobs are logged and issued to the engineers. Once received and completed, the engineer then completes the relevant forms about the job via their mobile device and sends the information back to the service department so that it can be invoiced straight after the job has been completed.
Field Service Manager is designed and sold using cloud (on-demand) computing. Customers pay a monthly subscription and the service is completely flexible, putting the customer in control. This software as a service (SaaS) model now makes software solutions previously only available to large organisations available to businesses of all sizes.
Cross Refrigeration uses Field Service Manager to manage its service department. Chris McFadden, Operations Director, Cross Refrigeration says: 'It has changed the way we do business. It is reliable, easy to use and enables us to invoice our customers immediately. We would not run our service department without it.'
For more details visit
www.fieldservicemanager.com/uk