Job scheduling software is not a novel idea. The tech has been around for quite some time and the basic principle behind it has to do with clearly identifying the day, time, and location of an employee in regards to their tasks.
The needs of modern field service management businesses go far beyond this basic idea. Nowadays, service scheduling software needs to account for a number of variable factors prior to generating the schedule for the day. Here is a brief list of those factors:
- Sick leave
- Traffic
- Weather conditions
- Urgent reactive calls
- Real-time customer feedback
When researching for a scheduling solution, you’re no longer looking for a platform that syncs your tasks to Google calendar. You need a solution that is going to alert you about changes, advise you about the course of action you should take, and help you save time, and valuable administration time.
What is Engineer Scheduling Software?
Field engineer scheduling software allows businesses to plan, organise and manage the timetable and workload of their engineering workforce in order to ensure engineers complete jobs as best and as punctual as they can.
The software efficiently automates and optimises scheduling processes, allowing businesses to meet KPIs, address first-time fixes, stick to maintenance schedules, and avoid misunderstandings like a double booking.
The goal of a modern solution is to create transparency between management and team members, reduce admin costs and increase the capacity of the field workforce. By digitising the work schedule, operations managers have complete control over the workflow. With detailed information about the nearest available engineer, customers and tasks, they can allocate resources in real-time, making more efficient use of field engineers’ skill sets.
What value does Engineer Scheduling Software provide for your business?
The real value of the solution comes from the fact that it can help with decision-making. It can help managers make the best decision based on business objectives and tie it to what’s unfolding in real-time during the day.
What’s more, it helps companies move into a completely paperless environment, where all job information about employees, clients, and productivity is centralised. No more folders, paper invoices, post-it notes, and unnecessary phone calls. By drastically reducing the probability of human error, you’re instantly increasing the ability to schedule work with accuracy and precision.
Last but not least, field engineer scheduling software creates transparency and visibility as to what’s going on throughout the day. Managers and engineers can access all the information at all times, ensuring they are on the same page.
Engineer Scheduling Software Benefits
The benefits of field engineer scheduling software are countless but we listed the ones that will impact your business almost instantly:
- Track and monitor work orders from request to completion
- Eliminate paper and manual-based processes
- Less time spent by engineers, traveling back and forth to the office
- Get notified when the time, location, or requirements of a task have changed
- Provide analytics about the productivity and performance of different teams
- Save on costs as routes to jobs are optimised based on traffic, weather, or road works
- Hit project milestones and meet deadlines
- Improve communications between the office, field engineers, and customers
Frontu as an Engineer Scheduling Solution
Frontu is an end-to-end field service management software that helps you reimagine your entire operational structure and workflow. One of our platform’s strongest competitive advantages is the scheduling module.
Users can leverage the map on the Frontu system to see distance and traffic insights to plan technician routes more efficiently. You can find the nearest available engineer to speed up customer service and save costs otherwise spent on fuel and long travels.
Our integration with Fleet Complete gives our users the luxury to do things like:
- Get real-time updates on routes and tasks
- Access vehicle info like model, license plate, and location
- View details like employee start and end time
- Optimize routes and schedules based on the weather forecast
- Access trip history
- Centralize operations for easier access and better management
Give your engineers the chance to realise their potential and be more productive by giving them the right tools to work with. Try Frontu for free and see the results for yourself.
