Field Service Perspectives: What We’re Hearing and Where We’re Going

Technology

Field service leaders describe varying levels of technology maturity. Customer relationship management (CRM), HR platforms, time tracking tools, scheduling and dispatch software, route optimization tools, and mobile worker management apps are common elements of the tech stack, as well as electronic health records (EHR) for those working in healthcare. Several people we spoke to described upcoming technology investments for their workforce, like a revamped HRIS, CRM, or financial system. Some leaders are also increasing their use of telematics and IoT sensors to track workers, job status, and equipment.

Scheduling: When it comes to scheduling, some companies have sophisticated scheduling software and optimization tools to handle the complexity of day-to-day field service scheduling. Others still rely heavily on manual processes. 

Automation: As the digital transformation of field operations continues, the strategic use of automation is becoming a difference-maker. A Salesforce report found that 83% of the top field service companies—according to self-reported customer satisfaction rates—use some kind of workflow automation, compared to only 59% of underperformers and 68% of moderate performers. Automated scheduling continues to be a leading use case for field service automation (and an approachable starting point for many field service providers looking to automate core processes).

AI: Many field service organizations are still at the very early stages of the adoption and use of AI. When we spoke to leaders who are investing in AI for their frontline workforce, we heard about projects like:

• Optimization algorithms for scheduling and routing
• Chatbots and virtual assistants for customer service and scheduling
• Predictive analytics for anticipating future demand and maintenance needs
• Improving customer communication with automated messages based on a worker’s location or ETA
• Advanced data analysis for identifying trends and detecting outliers in field data

Operations

Despite vast differences in service types, workforce, and geographic context, many field service providers face similar challenges:

Frequent last-minute changes due to staff absences, customer cancellations, emergencies, and other factors are a persistent problem. It takes time and effort to rearrange schedules and communicate changes to the workforce, and an over-reliance on manual scheduling makes this even harder. For leaders who have highly seasonal demand or workers distributed across many work sites, this challenge is particularly acute. 

Scheduling complexity is high when you account for workers’ skills and availability, customer demands, and geographic routes for the right balance of efficiency and high-quality service. We heard operations leaders facing the challenge of “crossing over” — one geographic area has more jobs than the assigned workers can handle, so technicians cross over into another work area, adding travel time and jeopardizing the scheduled end time of the job or the workday.

Current initiatives included implementing or improving automated scheduling systems, increasing the use of contracted/outsourced workers for cost savings, providing more training, and fostering communication between the field and back office. Some were also working on specific projects like expanding into new markets.

Communication gaps between the field and office are a common issue. When the schedule changes—which is often, as described above—a lack of communication leads to frustration and wasted time and effort. Leaders describe a lack of visibility into field work that makes it challenging to support workers and troubleshoot issues in real-time. In several cases, 

Recruiting and retaining skilled workers is a challenge for many companies. It is costly to recruit, hire, onboard, and upskill new workers—and outsourcing without proper quality control creates all new problems. Many leaders struggle with the long ramp-up process for new staff to become fully capable (and eventually fully utilized) in their role. 

Measuring the right KPIs per role was a recurring theme among field service professionals. Customer satisfaction KPIs (like on-time arrival, first-time fix rate and repeat visits) and workforce utilization KPIs (like jobs completed per day, billable hours, and utilization rate) are common focus areas. The need to maximize utilization is a driving force behind automated scheduling: in a Skedulo survey, 71% of healthcare respondents named operational efficiency as a key outcome they want to achieve via their scheduling practices.

Initiatives

The frontline workforce continues to grow and evolve. Leaders are undertaking projects like: 

• implementing or improving automated scheduling systems
• reducing costs and improving margins
• increasing and/or balancing the use of contract workers
• improving staff onboarding, training, and cross-training
• fostering communication between the field and back office
• expanding into new markets
• investing in more advanced tech for field service operations (scheduling, communication, mobile worker management, etc.)
• expanding into new markets and service types
• increasing average contract size

Implementing or improving automated scheduling was a common theme for ongoing initiatives. An automated scheduling system automatically optimizes routes and enables field workers to complete more jobs per day. This drives up on-time arrivals and workforce utilization—essential for customer satisfaction and company profitability. As companies look to improve efficiency, tightening up the scheduling process (and reducing the time required to create and update the schedule) is a worthwhile effort. 

Cross-training and improving communication between the office and the field was another common refrain. Effective communication drives up worker confidence, engagement, and mental well-being—all key elements of worker retention. One interviewee described a helpful exercise to break down information silos across teams: “We started doing a day in the life of another role. We’d have engineers within the office space to handle the office staff jobs, and we’d have office staff out on the road to look at what engineers do in the field. The office staff learned what went into the job, how long a certain issue might take to resolve, common problems, issues with travel or job sites, and things like that. This helped the field force and back office staff gel and understand each other better.”