The 10 Best Field Service Management Software for 2024

What is Field Service Management Software?

A field service management (FSM) software enables businesses to effectively control all resources necessary to carry out various tasks involved in the overall FSM. Such a technological solution helps field service managers, technicians, and other field service workers perform tasks such as work order management, job scheduling, employee training, and dispatch management, to name a few.

But why would you want to use one? There are a few key reasons:

• It can help you improve your customer service. With real-time updates and GPS tracking, you can ensure that your team is always where they are supposed to be and that customers are getting the best possible service.
• With accurate time tracking and automated field service reporting, you can streamline your operations and ensure that everyone is working as efficiently as possible.
• It can help you improve your team’s productivity. By automating tasks and providing updates in real-time, you can help your team work smarter, not harder.

Field service management software, paired with a comprehensive product management software, can help businesses increase their productivity, efficiency, and organization.

What is Field Service Management (FSM)?

Field Service Management (FSM) is a system that enables companies to manage their field service operations more effectively. FSM is the process of managing and coordinating work that is done outside of a company’s office or main facility. This can include everything from sales and marketing to customer service and product delivery. It allows businesses to optimize and streamline processes, connect with field service technicians in real-time, and track performance metrics. That way, companies can ensure that they are providing the best possible service to their customers.

Field service management is an essential tool for any business that relies on field service technicians to get their job done. It helps connect field technicians with the resources they need to complete their tasks quickly and efficiently.

What Does it Do?

FSM is a process that helps optimize and manage customer service operations in the field.

Think about it—when you’re out in the field, you need to be able to access customer data and records in real-time, so you can provide the best possible service. Field Service Management makes this possible by giving you the tools you need to manage work orders, schedules, and resources.

It also helps you keep track of your team’s progress, so you can ensure that jobs are being completed on time and to spec. With FSM, you have everything you need to manage your customer service operations effectively and efficiently.

Why is it Important?

You may be wondering why field service management is so important. After all, you can just as easily call customer service or send an email if you have a problem, right?

Well, not exactly. When you’re dealing with a field service technician, you need to be able to track their location and get updates on their status. You also need to be able to schedule appointments, create work orders, and manage your team’s resources. That’s where field service management comes in.

The aim of field service management is to optimize the performance of the field service organization by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the field service process. This is achieved by automating as many tasks as possible and by providing a single view of the performance of the field service operation.

What are the 5 Components of Field Service Management?

FSM helps companies manage their field service operations which can include the following components:

1. Field Service Contract Management

Field service contract management is the process of ensuring that service level agreements (SLAs) and any other contractual obligations are being complied with. This also helps ensure that service contracts are in place and up-to-date.

2. Inventory Management

Companies need to have an efficient inventory management system to properly control and manage the spare parts, tools, and equipment required for their field service operations.

3. Work Order Management

Work order management is the process of tracking and managing customer service requests from initial contact through to invoicing.

4. Field Service Dispatch management

Dispatch management is the process of assigning field technicians to customer service requests in an efficient manner.

5. Field Service Scheduling and Routing

Scheduling and routing is the process of planning and coordinating the schedules and routes of field technicians in order to optimize efficiency.

Which Industries Use FSM?

Field service management is an industry term used to describe the activities and tasks that are performed to manage a field service organization. It covers a wide range of activities, from customer management and scheduling to workforce management and invoicing.

Field service management is used in a range of industries, including:

Manufacturing

Field service management when applied in manufacturing can be used to manage the deployment of field service engineers to customer sites to carry out repairs or maintenance tasks.

Transportation

Field service management can also be used in the transportation sector to schedule and manage the maintenance and repair of vehicles, such as buses or trucks.

Energy and utilities

Field service management systems are also used by energy and utility companies to schedule and manage the maintenance of infrastructures, such as power lines or water pipes.

Why Use an FSM Software

Field service reporting is an essential element of a company’s broader Field Service Management (FSM) system. To manage the efficiency and safety of a company’s workers and equipment while serving customers or clients in the field, FSM software solutions are utilized. Commonly, industries that highly use field service management software include healthcare, oil and gas, retail, and facilities management, among others.

Here are the top benefits of field service management software to name a few:

• Automated processes – You have an ideal replacement for paper and excel-based field service reports because these can easily integrate into your FSM system. It can help your field staff conduct paperless reporting on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Also, they can save time generating and completing reports, take unlimited photos, and capture electronic client signatures.
• Centralized workflows and documentation – Using the app’s secure cloud storage, all stakeholders have the capability to access documents in one place without having to ask people in charge over and over. On the other hand, your operations team can have real-time visibility of reports being completed and track all worker and equipment activity via an online dashboard.
• Seamless integration – Accessing relevant business data from different sources can be tedious and can face security risks and discrepancies. Hence, using a field service management software that has app integration capabilities enables teams to easily utilize all data they need in one place.
• Improved efficiency – Field service leaders across different industries are often challenged with poor process workflows that lead to underutilized manpower and low dispatch productivity. With the help of field service management software, these can be reduced significantly by automating processes, centralizing crucial information, and enabling workers to move more quickly between more jobs.

Features

Some of the major field service management software features you must consider in choosing the best solution for your needs include the following:

Interactive digital templates

Use the field service management software’s intuitive template builder to convert existing paper forms to digital in a matter of minutes. With interactive, digital templates, your team can capture rich data through notes and image attachments. They can also save crucial time by eliminating manual data re-entry.

App integration

Extend the power of your field service app to business software systems. Be able to facilitate smooth information flow by integrating your field service management software with your existing software stack and other Business Intelligence tools such as Microsoft Flow, Salesforce, Power BI, and Microsoft Teams. This leads the way to better visualize your data and further refine your workflows as needed.

Performance tracking

Track how your team members do their tasks more efficiently. Through the use of a field service management software solution, you can highlight information that lets you see the amount of time spent in the field per worker and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Secure cloud storage

Completed field service forms, checklists, and reports must be automatically saved in the cloud storage so you wouldn’t need to worry about losing critical information again. This also helps your back-office team and field service workers to remotely access resources easier without having to go through various bottlenecks in the process.

Report generation

Manually compiling your data into a comprehensible report is time-consuming and, frankly, just not fun. Maximize the capabilities of a field service management software to immediately generate digital reports upon completion of every field service work—minus the extra workflow. Moreover, such reports are highly data-driven, giving you the ability to analyze and interpret insights to create informed business decisions.

Client support

Field service management software solutions must provide top-of-the-line support for any questions and concerns regarding the software and how it can further improve business processes.

How to Pick the Best Field Service Management Software

Based on various factors, use this quick guide on choosing the best FSM software to help you achieve improved results and implement better processes:

• Type – Evaluate your organization’s needs so that you can choose which type of field service management software to use and deploy to your workers. Generally, the 3 main types are on-premises, cloud-based, and mobile-based. In addition to that, make sure to note the scalability of the software as your organization grows. Hence, if you need only one of these capabilities or all of these combined in one solution, take this into consideration before deciding.
• Features – One example of consideration for field service management software features is the experience it provides for its users. It’s important to ensure that the software has capabilities that allow them to perform work orders more efficiently. Also, administrators such as back-office teams and field service managers must have access to information such as exact customer locations and worker geo-tracking for a more optimized collaboration process.
• Pricing and payment – It’s best to check if the service provider offers flexible plans when it comes to pricing and billing. Since utilizing a field service management software must be part of an organization’s long-term operations, it’s crucial to weigh the pros and cons of buying and installing such software based on its cost and value.
• Deployment – Making it simple for the management and workers to navigate the platform must be of utmost priority to help in your organization’s efforts to implement efficient processes. Also, this is where you can gauge if extensive employee training is necessary to standardize how workflows must be created, how work orders should be monitored, and how field service workers are assigned, among other things.

Featured Industry Leader

Learn how Infravision, a global leader in aerial power line construction, ensures not just business efficiency but also worker safety and productivity through the help of SafetyCulture by SafetyCulture as a top field service management software.

“We’re able to ensure that we have a real direct link with our frontline workers and our customers, and it’s a two-way street. It’s about empowering our frontline workers to be able to notify us of anything that’s happening out there in the field or in the factory.” — Paul Crawford, Director of Operations

Check out other related software in FSM:

• Inventory Management App
• Work Order Software
• Preventive Maintenance Software
• Tracking Tools
• Project Management Software
• Facility Management Software

Also, here are some relevant checklists that you can use in SafetyCulture from the Public Library for your field service management tasks:

• Field Service Report Template
• Work Order Template
• Job Sheet Template
• Maintenance Work Order Template Checklist