Easily Shortlist Field Service Management Software

What Is Field Service Management Software?

Field Service Management Software organises your jobs, customers, field workers, inventory, billing, and SLA data in one mobile platform. It is used by business owners, field teams, back office staff, and customers. FSM Software features include automated job scheduling and dispatch, real-time engineer tracking, digital forms and certificates, customer portals, and predictive analytics. These capabilities help to:

• Replace spreadsheets and paper-based forms like job sheets and invoices
• Record details about field assets, jobs, technicians, contractors, spare parts, quotes, and logistics when away from the office
• Plan and schedule jobs using an easy drag-and-drop calendar scheduler
• Assign jobs to the right engineer by location proximity or skills
• Ensure that assets are available for scheduled jobs to prevent delays or repeat visits
• Provide detailed quotes on jobs when on-site
• Manage and track field staff via an iOS or Android mobile app
• Increase first-time fix and job completion rates
• Issue invoices and take payments on-site

Field Service Management Software is used by businesses of all sizes. Small businesses with fewer than 10 field workers use it, as do mid-size companies with up to 100 workers and vehicles. Enterprises with global field teams operating across multiple sites also rely on FSM Software.

UK’s Best Field Service Management Software Solutions

What Are the Common Features of Field Service Management Software?

Dynamic Job Planning, Scheduling & Dispatch

FSM Software provides engineer calendar views, drag-and-drop tools, and real-time tracking. These make job scheduling and dispatch easier for business owners and managers. Good job scheduling practices mean better service to customers and higher job completion rates.

Field Service Management Software makes it easy to schedule jobs and dispatch workers based on:

• Engineer availability
• Location proximity to next job
• A worker’s skills and qualifications
• SLA and contractual priority
• Availability of spare parts, inventory, and vehicles
• Contractor or sub-contractor agreements
• One-off or recurring visits

Video: Estates & Assets Director at Serco Health, Greg Markham, talks about the future possibilities of using tech to improve the scheduling and dispatching of field workers.

Real-time Job, Engineer & Vehicle Tracking

Real-time tracking capabilities are what sets Field Service Management Software apart from pen-and-paper and spreadsheets. Mobile apps, GPS trackers, and shared calendars allow for:

• Field workers to project and estimate job completion times
• Managers to track their mobile workforce and vehicle locations on a live map
• Managers to schedule and dispatch engineers closest to nearby jobs
• Workers to update job progress and status on-site
• Office staff to see when engineers have completed a job

Tracking features are also used to plan and optimise driving routes. Workers can gauge an estimated time of arrival and pre-warn customers of any delays. Contacted them via text, email, or a customer portal.

Mobile and Desktop Apps

iOS and Android mobile apps are the foundation of modern field service management. They provide offline access to field workers, real-time data to service managers, and contact with office-based teams.

Using mobile apps means workers can stay in the field longer and complete more jobs. Instead of returning to the office after each job to collect the next job sheet. With on-hand access to maintenance checklists, service history, job details, and equipment manuals. Mobile apps also increase the likelihood of better first-time fix rates and customer satisfaction scores.

Mobile and desktop apps are designed to be easy to use for all field teams, enabling them to:

• See job information on tablets, mobiles, and laptops
• Access job checklists and scheduling calendars
• Update job progress and status
• Track spare parts and inventory
• Easily communicate with office staff
• Take customer payments and send digital invoices

Digital Forms, Quotes, Invoicing & Certificates

With Field Service Management Software, engineers can generate forms away from the office. These digital forms use pre-built templates created on a tablet or smartphone. Digital forms include quotes, invoices, receipts, safety certificates, SLAs, and proof of service. They are used to:

• Produce a quote to a client when on-site
• Total the sum of work and produce an invoice as soon as the job is completed
• Generate domestic and commercial gas safety certificates (like CP12, CP14, and Service records)
• Send forms straight to the customer via email or text

Mobile Job Sheets

With FSM Software, job sheets are digitised and accessed by engineers on a mobile app. This is designed to reduce the need to return to the office to collect job sheets. It also minimises the risks of misplacing and losing job sheets on-site. Instead, all information is secure in a mobile app and includes job details like:

• Location
• Client details
• Job details
• Images of the job
• Assets/equipment required for the job
• If the job has been paid for
• The original quote/estimate
• Expected start and completion dates

SLA and Contract Management

Service Level Agreements are easily tracked in dashboards with Field Service Management Software. Engineers and managers can see priority levels for jobs when a work request is raised. Office staff use this to track the progress of jobs against set SLAs.

Having an overview of your SLAs improves scheduling and dispatching engineers based on skill or location. Real-time updates and tracking enable office teams to communicate warranty progress with clients.

Inventory and Spare Parts Management

Parts availability is essential for ensuring jobs are completed on time and without delay. Inventory management features provide a detailed overview of:

• Quantity of spare parts in stock
• Parts on order
• Parts already assigned to jobs

This means managers can check if the right equipment is available when a work request is raised. So, when an engineer turns up to collect parts for a job, there are no unexpected issues.

Reporting and Data Analytics

Leading field service teams use data, gut and judgement to drive field service performance. Reports that amplify your field service delivery and performance include:

• Service incidents and status by customers
• Job completion metrics by technicians
• Profitable service jobs
• Loss-making service calls
• Adherence to SLAs
• Threshold ordering for parts
• Spare parts management
• Vehicle servicing management

What Are the Benefits of Field Service Management Software?

End-to-end Job Management

The main functionality of a field service solution is to provide a complete overview of the job management process, from job planning to service delivery. Having all of this information in one system allows decision-makers to understand what’s working and what isn’t in the service delivery process.

Improve Service Delivery Outcomes and Meet KPIs

By giving technicians and engineers access to the right information (like manuals and tutorials, spare part inventory lists, job information, and more) in a mobile app, the chances of a successful service delivery are greatly improved. That helps businesses to meet targets such as first-time fix rates and one-time job completion rates.

Increase Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Retention Rates

Customers expect quick and quality service delivery. By utilising Field Service Management Software tools to increase the chances of quality service and one time fixes, CSAT rates sky rocket. This leads to receiving good feedback and a higher chance of retaining that customer’s business.

Quickly Dispatch Engineers When and Where Required

Field Service Management Software allows managers to be more dynamic and flexible with job scheduling. Managers can load data into a system and automate the tasks of dispatching engineers. Looking at skills, location, and workload to assign the right worker to the right job. Tools include:

• Real-time calendar view to know which technicians are available and when
• GPS tracking and route planning to calculate a worker’s proximity to a job
• Access to a worker’s labour rate and job knowledge

Podcast: Adam Neale, former UK Field Engineering Director at BT, talks about how AI and connective technology can improve the time taken to assign, schedule and dispatch engineers before failure occurs.

Open Communication Channels Between Office and Field Staff

With Field Service Management Software, all employees have access to a shared dashboard, which includes information that both on-site and off-site workers need such as job requirements and customer information. Without a single point of access, workers rely on job details being sent via email or over the phone.

Our expert’s view on Field Service Management Software

“Without software, I don’t think you would see half of the delivery that you see in the UK now… software will quite often predict what can happen. Now, we’re moving into a world with AI. It’s becoming even better, because AI would look at it and go, “We know the M42 ran by Birmingham Airport is gridlocked between three and six normally.” So that engineer might look like he’s only five minutes away. But truth be known, he’s going to be two hours. Without [software], I think we will probably be needing four or five times the amount of people, which means costs go up for the customers.”

Adam Neale, Head of Advanced Field Services

5 Steps to Find the Right Field Service Management Software

1. Highlight Existing Failures or Opportunities In Your Field Service Management

Researching FSM Software is based on missed opportunities or failures in the current way of working. This could be:

• Not meeting SLAs
• Inconsistent job completion times
• Job delays due to inaccurate inventory data
• Missed jobs by assigning the wrong technician
• Decreasing first-time fix rates
• Losing customers due to poor service delivery
• Missing out on taking more jobs

This varies depending on the size of your business. For instance, a large business may see a gap in their data security practices. A smaller field service team wants to digitise its paper-based methods.

2. Identify Must-have Product Features and Vendor Requirements

Reasons for purchasing software are to improve productivity, meet technology needs, address security concerns, and expand product offerings. Both field service management products and vendors provide the requirements to meet these demands.

To help focus on the key product features that your office team and field staff will use, ask questions like:

• What value does this feature add to a service team?
• Can this feature be used by all stakeholders?
• Will this feature help meet KPIs?
• Is training required to use this feature?
• Are there legal requirements needed to use this feature? (compliance, GDPR laws, privacy policies, etc.)

For vendor requirements, this depends on how much assistance you will need. Does your team require detailed onboarding, training, and support? Will your office team require help with data migration?

For instance, a small field service business with no IT team will require greater implementation assistance.

3. Calculate the Value of the Product and Your Expected ROI

Leading field service businesses set clear goals when determining the value of a product. For instance, if a business receives 300 job requests a month, its total service management costs will be £400,000. The average service time would be 90 minutes.

But, with a field service system in place, a business can improve its targets. Instead, it can set a target to reduce field service costs to £300,000. Whilst also reducing the average service time to 60 minutes.

It’s important to set out in advance what you want to gain from your software purchase by setting ROI goals. Example goals look like this:

Clear and fact-based ROI will get you the speed of decision-making. Taking a numbers-based approach to get the Buy-in is the easiest way to get the tool you want. For example, a business has budgeted £23,000 on Field Service Management Software. They know that this tool will save them £38,000 each year. Meaning they’ll recover their investment in nine months.

Use our ROI calculator to see how Field Service Management Software increase jobs and revenue per month:

4. Research and Shortlist Field Service Management Software Options

Whilst most field service management products look similar, there are key differences. Each variation makes a big impact on a product’s ROI. For instance, some systems will prioritise ease of logging job details. Others may focus more on real-time fleet tracking.

When finding a solution, you should have a list of products to compare. Ideally, this list should consist of five different solutions. Once listed, an evaluation team will compare each field service management tool:

• Does it match core requirements?
• Is it easy to use?
• Would it be a good industry fit?
• Is it easy to deploy?
• Support and training offered (Indicates a vendor’s quality of support and how quickly they’ll resolve issues)
• The type of solution (web-based, cloud-based, on-premise, or open-source)
• What contract agreements are in place? (How much storage space, what happens to your data when payments stop, etc.)
• Is there a free trial or product demonstration? (validate the product in real-time with the use of your own data)

Be sure to keep researching products during this stage as your initial values may change. 83% of software buyers make changes to their initial list after doing research.

5. Make Your Purchasing Decision

Once you’ve chosen a Field Service Management Software product, you should recommend it to the management team. Ideally, this product should:

• Offer features that match your field service operation
• Provides value to your field service processes
• Fit within your budget
• Be easy to use for all office team members and field workers

Once recommended, the negotiation and contract agreements begin. Followed by the implementation process.

Bonus: Key Considerations While Searching For FSM Software

Before starting the research journey for Field Service Management Software, you should consider:

• Your field and office teams’ digital experience of using software. Determine how much training and support will be required.
• The simplicity of your requirements. Know exactly what you want from a solution and avoid needlessly complex requirements.
• Clarity of your FSM Software goals. Determine the value of the tool and if it has delivered on expected ROI.
• End user’s expectations. What do your field workers, office team, managers, and customers expect?
• The speed of implementing and rolling out a new system. This can take between 4 weeks and 9 months, so plan for realistic expectations

This is also an opportunity to understand your current way of working, by asking:

• How do end customers log service requests?
• How are jobs scheduled (priority, availability, parts availability, or completion time)?
• How do field staff communicate with office-based staff?
• Are services updated by the customer, job status, or billing?
• How do office-based teams process service requests and information?
• What are the top 3 gaps in your field service management?

Who Uses Field Service Management Software?

Field Service Management Software is used to connect, assign, and dispatch workers in the most efficient way possible. The features found in FSM Software allow it to be used by anyone working in the field service sector. This is key for providers that regularly move from on-site to off-site locations, including:

• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Energy providers
• Landscaping
• Pest control

Small Businesses (SMBs)

Small businesses use FSM Software to focus on areas such as:

• Recording jobs, quoting for jobs and completing jobs
• There’s less emphasis on complex planning and scheduling of jobs
• Van stock, insurance, and completing jobs on time and for a profit are often the priorities
• Basic reporting

Medium Businesses & SMEs

Mid-sized field service teams and SMEs will use field service management tools to:

• Provide clarity about field service jobs to office-based teams and field technicians
• Moderate planning and scheduling based on skills, availability and cost
• Quotation creation and approval processes
• Time, Labour and Parts invoicing
• Fleet availability
• Van Stock
• Notes and messages management between field and office-based teams
• Reporting on jobs, first-time fix rates, spare parts, invoicing, and KPIs set by the field service teams

Enterprise Field Service Teams

Field service management for enterprise businesses is often complex. Enterprise FSM systems provide tools to:

• Store information on field assets, jobs, technicians, contractors, spare parts, quotes and logistics based on a role
• Log jobs against field assets
• Recommend solutions to jobs after they are logged
• Manual, algorithmic, automated and dynamic planning and scheduling of jobs
• Track and assign fleets
• Schedule fleet maintenance
• Carry out spare parts management
• Provide a simple framework to complete jobs
• Use augmented reality to assist new technicians on jobs
• Use Machine Learning/AI to offer predictive service management
• Integrate workflows with IoT with sensors
• Ensure jobs are taken and completed safely, with lone worker protection
• Provide a framework to comply with health and safety standards
• Ensure spare parts are ordered and made available for the jobs
• Quote on jobs
• Take orders for jobs
• Provide an iOS or Android mobile app for field service technicians
• Issue certificates
• Report on first-time fix rates, jobs completed, jobs open, warranties/SLAs, replacement parts, KPIs, and parameters
• Give analytics on improving KPIs and metrics like remote fixes, cost of services, and job assignments

Field Service Managers and Team Supervisors

Real-time tracking and fast communication have propelled the efficiency of assigning jobs. Managers can assign workers in the proximity of a job request and schedule jobs with advanced warning. And dispatch their more qualified workers to a particular job. This helps to increase the chances of a first-time fix as well as improve customer service levels.

Office-Based Staff

With the right FSM tools, on-site staff are easily able to connect with workers in the field. This helps to improve the collaboration between both teams and increase the speed of data input. Including hours logged, job status, job completions, and payments processed.

Field Workers (Contractors, Sub-contractors, Technicians, Engineers)

Workers have access to a shared dashboard with real-time updates on job locations and inventory levels. This helps to accelerate job completions and ensures each worker is prepared when going to a job. Without FSM Software, workers are reliant on manual approaches and office staff relaying job information. This results in delays and unsatisfied customers.

Just a decade ago, working off pen and paper job sheets was normal practice. There were four copies; for the customer, the technician, back office, and finance. While job sheets still exist, they are somewhat less visible.

Service technicians understand the importance of good service data. Accessing information on open jobs, job types, and first-time fix rates helps technicians to be more productive.

Most technicians appreciate that tech, not pen and paper, is the way forward. Meaning there’s increasing adoption of the use of field service mobile apps by service technicians.

Customers & Clients

Businesses have the option to share certain details regarding a job and their workers with their customers. This provides customers with real-time location updates to know when a technician will be arriving.

Cloud vs. On-Premise vs. Open-Source FSM Software: Key Differences Explained

Helpful Guides for Using Field Service Management Software

Field Service Management Software FAQs

How Much Does Field Service Management Software Cost?

The cost of Field Service Management Software depends on:

• Job planning and scheduling requirements
• Spare parts and inventory management complexities and locations
• Number of office, field, and mobile users
• Variances in the type of field jobs you offer
• Implementation complexities (e.g., do you require vendor assistance?)
• Hosting requirements
• Brand of the software product

The above components are specific for each company, hence it’s difficult to give a definitive answer. Typically, Field Service Management Software costs have four components:

1. Software costs: £10 to £300 each user a month.
2. Implementation costs: £600 to £1500 a day.
3. Training costs: £600 to £900 a day.
4. Support costs: 2 to 5% of the support costs

In general, the simpler the product requirements and implementation, the cheaper the costs will be.

How Is AI Projected to Change Field Service Management Software?

IoT-enabled job logging. Field assets connected to sensors will pick anomalies and send signals of when a job is required. In the near future, job logging will be automated by the assets themselves.

AI-driven job planning and scheduling. Using existing data, job scheduling is likely to become largely automated. Yet, it will require human supervision and intervention.

Agent-driven spare parts ordering. Using spare parts data, it’s possible to use AI agents to order spare parts on a needs basis.

LLM-driven notes and job completion documents. Here we will see AI become the most productive in the short term. Notes or documents for job logging, execution, and job completion are produced by generative AI.

What Is the Difference Between FSM Software and Mobile Workforce Management?

What Type of Field Assets Are Managed With a Field Service Solution?

Physical Field Assets such as:

• Equipment
• Machinery
• Tools
• Fleet vehicles
• People (engineers, technicians, supervisors, etc.)

Most virtual or digital assets cannot be managed remotely using a field service system. For example, software installed on your equipment or machinery cannot be remotely updated easily.

Most FSM Software offers Augmented Reality (AR) to monitor field assets remotely. The same technology can be used to train new field service technicians. For example, a senior technician can be at your office and a new starter technician can be on site. Using AR, the senior technician sees what the junior technician is seeing and guides them.

What Applications Can Be Integrated With Field Service Management Software?

Vendors enable end-to-end integration with applications to get the most from Field Service Management Software. These integrations include:

• Accounting Software. Completed jobs, customer payments, and purchase information on spare parts are listed in an accounting system. Hence, most field service tools are integrated using an API with accounting software. Popular field service accounting integrations include Sage, Xero, and QuickBooks.
• CRM. Customer information, quotes, and job details require CRM processes within FSM Software. Or, Field Service Management Software can be integrated with a dedicated CRM. This is an essential integration for building and using a customer portal.
• Location-based tools. These are used to enhance dispatch and scheduling tasks. Field service systems are connected to location-based apps. These include What3words and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Admin tools. Enterprise field service management systems integrate with ERP and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions.

What Industries and Service Operations Benefit From Using Field Service Management Software?

• Utilities Service (Oil and Gas, Water, Power, Renewable Energy)
• HVAC Installation and Maintenance
• Facility and Property Management
• Security Installations and Maintenance
• Plumbing Services
• Telecommunications
• Electrical Services
• Home Services (Lawn and Grounds Maintenance, Pool Maintenance, Pest Control)
• Cleaning Services
• Building and Decorating Businesses
• Construction and Contracting
• Appliance Repairs Services
• Environmental (waste management, recycling, hazardous material removal)