
Proper technician scheduling enhances business efficiency
Proper technician scheduling is one of the most important factors for the success of any business offering field services. Although this has nothing to do with the quality of the technician’s work, our experience shows that effective scheduling can lead to greater customer satisfaction and, consequently, higher revenue, while ineffective scheduling could put the organization in a standstill and result in a snowball effect of losing clients.
Having unproductive gaps in the schedules may indicate that hours are not being billed correctly, which impacts potential revenue opportunities. Service managers and dispatch teams can spend a lot of time trying to assign the right technician to the right job, leading to a series of challenges.
The lack of coordination between technicians and dispatchers leads to inefficient task distribution. The result is unnecessary gaps in schedules and conflicts. Dispatchers, who schedule technicians’ tasks, need to consider various variables, including required skills, proximity to the client’s location, available tools, etc. A scheduling mistake could make a simple task impossible and lead to an imbalanced workload among technicians.
Field service management software, such as SBS Field Service by Smart Business Soft, helps companies address the above challenges and prevent scheduling gaps, improving overall work efficiency.
Task prioritization: A good practice for effective scheduling, time management, and task distribution is prioritization. Factors such as proximity to the location, urgency of the task, criticality to the client’s operations, and others should be considered.
Standardization of the scheduling process: The likelihood of errors can be minimized by pre-defining workflows and processes that determine how each request is scheduled and assigned to a technician. For instance, skill-based routing is particularly beneficial for companies with many technicians and varying levels of experience.
Systematized and accurate information: A complex repair may require the expertise of an experienced technician, while a routine check can be handled by someone with less experience. Dispatchers need multiple data points, such as the technician’s current schedule, skills, workload levels, and client history, to identify the best technician for a given task.
SBS Field Service is a specialized task management software that reduces costs and enhances efficiency by optimizing and automating processes and activities. All actions are reflected in real time without data loss. Full process digitization ensures better control and faster billing. The effective utilization of employees, their location, and the services and materials used for service tasks can be tracked in real time. Built-in BI analytics are easy to use and help make quick and accurate decisions.
The software has a web version and an Android app. It can be integrated with the ERP.NET platform for full process automation—from creating a request to billing and payment.