Job Management Software: What Is It & UK’s Best Solutions

Easily shortlist the UK’s best Job Management Software apps to reduce admin jobs, win more jobs & improve service delivery.

Job Management Software

Quoting, inventory management, job scheduling, real-time job tracking, and taking payments – Job Management Software does it all. It organises the entire job management process and tasks into one platform. Office staff, supervisors, contractors, and engineers easily access job details on an easy-to-use mobile app. Job Management Software reduces job revisits, improves FTFRs, and increases your capacity to take on more jobs. Helping to increase your cash flow. Chasing unpaid invoices becomes less of a worry with mobile payments and mobile card readers. Digital forms enable paperless workflows, reducing manual admin tasks. Engineers can generate certificates (like GASSAFE and PAT) and build custom invoice templates at a job. This makes Job Management Software essential for electrical, gas, construction, and maintenance trades.

6 Best Job Management Software Products In the UK

What Value Does Job Management Software Provide For Field Service Teams?

Job management is a dynamic lifecycle that enables field service managers and back-office staff to track jobs, tasks, work orders and workers (on-site and in the field) as efficiently as possible.

To ensure the job lifecycle is fully functional and as efficient as possible, businesses look to deploy either a field service management (FSM) tool with job management capabilities or Job Management Software.

Digitising job lifecycle processes through the use of job management systems enables field service managers to:

• Analyse job performance data (between back-office staff, field workers, and on-site engineers)
• Improve customer experience deliverables including first-time fix rates
• Track work order and job progression in real-time (enabling notifications and alerts for customers)
• Optimise dispatch and scheduling workflows

FSM and job management systems are replacing outdated legacy systems and manual tracking methods such as spreadsheets and whiteboards. Today, 48% of field service companies use some form of Field Service Management Software.

The use of digital tools prompts the streamlined management of handling customer requests, sending quotes, drafting estimates, and scheduling technicians. As well as handling inventory, invoicing, and reporting tasks.

What a Successful Job Lifecycle Looks Like With Job Management Software

Your job cycle will consist of multiple activities. Each one should be seen as an area that has a direct impact on the entire process. This makes it a more cohesive system as opposed to a system of individual moving parts or a single task.

Seeing the process as one system allows you to achieve your goals quicker and with more efficiency.

When initially identifying improvements to job management, it’s important to define your job cycle. Each process within a cycle can be different, depending on service type and company size. Typically, a field service operation will consist of processes such as:

• Client Requests: Incoming repair, maintenance, installation, or service requests from customers.
• Quotes and Estimates: Building an estimate for a job and sending quotes to customers.
• Plan and Assign Jobs: Create a detailed job sheet and assign the right field worker based on availability.
• Schedule Field Workers: Use shared calendars for scheduling jobs and technicians based on skills, location, and inventory.
• Job and Customer Details: Actively make job and customer details available to scheduled field workers.
• Purchase and Manage Inventory: Ensure the correct parts are available for jobs and inventory is readily purchased in advance.
• Track Job Status: Track a mobile workforce, work orders, and job progression in real-time.
• Invoicing and Payment: Create invoices and send requests of payment to customers.
• Reporting and Analysis: Consider the job process and report on areas that can be improved.

Our expert’s view on using data for job planning

“Data for me is key on everything. It doesn’t give you all the answers, but it points you in the right direction. So when you’re starting to look at planning for what activities need to be done, you need to make sure your base data is correct. How long does it take to do it? How long does it take to drive somewhere? What’s the contract saying? What’s in? What’s out? You need to make sure that you’ve got all of that data correct, and that is accurate.”

Adam Neale, Head of Advanced Field Services

3 Clear Signs Your Job Management Is Failing

Having a good handle on job management allows field service operations to flourish. But, without a focused approach to job management or the use of Job Management Software, challenges appear (such as being inundated with client requests and experiencing delays in service delivery).

Although smaller operations can make do with a manual approach – 52% of field service businesses still use manual management methods – there are notable warning signs that can indicate this approach is failing.

1. Losing Track of Field Workers and Equipment

The key to managing a mobile workforce is to always have eyes on your workers. That means knowing what jobs they’ve come from, what jobs they’re going to, and when they’re travelling to or from the office. This is achieved with real-time geographical data.

Without any form of visibility, you’ll start to see cracks appear in your job management tasks. For starters, it’ll become harder to assign and schedule technicians best suited to a particular job. This has a knock-on effect that results in poor customer service.

You’ll also experience delays when it comes to job completions. Not knowing where your workers are positioned means jobs aren’t necessarily assigned to the technician nearest to the next job.

Another area that will suffer from the lack of real-time visibility is your inventory management. Inventory, such as tools and equipment, is needed to complete jobs. If it’s not available at the time a worker is scheduled, jobs are delayed and pushed back.

2. Lack of Communication With Workers and Customers

An issue that is common among manual-based field service operations is a lack of communication. Communication is key to successful job management. It allows everyone to be on the same page and provides transparency when it comes to completing the job cycle.

A lack of communication poses several challenges. For instance, you might be relying on email for activities such as work order updates, job status, and providing job information. You might also be using email for assigning and scheduling workers in the field.

Communication through email can be risky for field service operations. Emails can go unnoticed and unanswered, whilst key job and client information can be lost. Many field service managers will see technicians being double-booked or not showing up because they haven’t received job details in time.

Lack of good communication doesn’t just affect technicians and office staff, but customers too. In an ‘on-demand’ environment, customers want real-time updates regarding jobs. Without this, you’ll see an increase in customer interactions. Manually updating customers with a job’s progress is time-consuming and can lead to worrying customer satisfaction levels.

3. Poor Time Management

If you’re spending too much time on particular areas of the job cycle, your job management needs to improve. When tasks such as assigning jobs, collecting payment, and tracking technicians become too time-consuming, it’s a telltale sign that manual methods aren’t working.

Poor time management filters down into all aspects of the field service operation. Whether that be office staff sending quotes, workers travelling to jobs, or customers missing payment deadlines.