ERP-Based Field Service Management Enables Better Labor Utilization, Faster Billing

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies

Sentry Control Systems has eliminated paperwork and reduced its billing cycle from weeks to days thanks to a mobile field service solution.

Sentry Control Systems, headquartered in Van Nuys, CA, is a national parking solution and technology provider. Sentry provides everything from parking guidance, occupancy sensors, and access and revenue control equipment, to validation management technology. While they provide high-tech solutions for their customers, their field service operations were still mired in manual processes and paper forms.

The company used what CIO Lisa Flanagan calls an outdated software product that was heavily modified to perform necessary operations. Everything related to field service and maintenance operations was paper-based, including work orders and time sheets.

“Inventory control was handled via paper transactions, and therefore it took us quite a bit of time to get the inventory posted and bill everything out,” Flanagan says. “Part of the delay in posting and billing was due to people physically having to bring the paperwork into the office and/or scan, e-mail, or fax the documents.”