Field Service Management Software: When To Take The Next Step

By Tom DeVroy, service management center of excellence executive, IFS North America, www.ifsworld.com

As a field service organization grows in size and complexity, field service management software needs move from basic to advanced.

A single field service management (FSM) application that integrates customer communications, technician dispatch, parts inventory, and work order management can improve the efficiency of any size service organization. As a service organization grows, its FSM software requirements will change from basic to advanced. It’s not always obvious when a company should expand its FSM software investment, but there are some basic indicators.

SMB Service Organizations
SMB organizations have rather simple FSM software needs. Since the field service workforce numbers into the dozens at most, management has direct knowledge of the technicians and workload and can assign work accordingly. Little technology is needed to track worker location or manage scheduling needs. At this stage, basic FSM technology for generating invoicing and parts management may help to more profitably run the operation.