5 steps to transform your mobile workforce

For a company with employees in the field, mobile workforce management touches every part of the business. Whether it’s sales, customer relations, back office management, or brand reputation, everything relies on how effectively you manage your mobile workforce.
What is mobile workforce management?
“Mobile workforce management” is a broad term for software, applications, tools, and related services used to manage employees outside of the office.
Mobile workforce management is broader than field service, which is a type of mobile work. Traditionally, field service refers to industries like utilities, telecommunications and large-scale manufacturing, where complex machinery or specialty equipment used in the field is purchased with long-term service contracts. Field service management software is designed with these types of use cases in mind.
Mobile work, in contrast, can be any type of work that takes place outside the office. Home and office services, installations and repairs, trades work, on-site training, and on-site support are all examples of mobile work. Industries that often have mobile workforces include health care, not-for-profit, home repairs and construction, training and consulting, among others.
What tools are included in mobile workforce management solutions?
A comprehensive mobile workforce management solution includes tools for availability management, scheduling, dispatching, location tracking, mobile notifications, field documentation, data collection, and other ways to connect the back office to employees in the field.
Mobile workforce management often uses a mix of technologies, including software, mobile apps, desktop apps, and secure wireless networks, depending on business needs. With an entire workforce depending on it, mobile workforce management systems must account for:
- Real-time communication needs
- Data accessibility in the field
- Data security requirements
- Ongoing technical support
- Syncing data with customer relationship management (CRM) software or other systems of record
- Compliance requirements (e.g. HIPAA compliance for mobile healthcare workers)
- Hardware needs (whether the company provides devices or has a BYOD model)
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Why is mobile workforce management important?
Simply put, businesses cannot stay competitive today without using technology well. Customer expectations continue to rise, anchored by fast-moving companies whose success hinges on using technology to create exceptional experiences. As a result, every company that wants to stay competitive must consider new approaches and systems to adapt.
Why is mobile workforce management important?
Schedules and office hours are no longer predictable
Traditional work hours, and the traditional field service tools that managed them, are becoming a thing of the past. Many companies use a blend of full-time employees, part-time employees, and 1099 contractors to serve their customers, and schedules are much more fluid than they used to be.
This flexibility often leads to better worker availability—and in turn, better customer service—but it cannot be managed with a traditional calendaring tool. With a dynamic, shifting workforce, you need a workforce management system that can keep up.
Real-time scheduling and dispatching requires sophisticated tools
Today’s field service landscape is more complex than it used to be. The tools of the past, like spreadsheets and paper calendars, are no longer enough to meet the needs of the mobile workforce. In addition, customers expect mobile workers to arrive sooner, be better prepared, and work more efficiently than ever before.
- Real-time communication needs
- Data accessibility in the field
- Data security requirements
- Ongoing technical support
- Syncing data with customer relationship management (CRM) software or other systems of record
- Compliance requirements (e.g. HIPAA compliance for mobile healthcare workers)
- Hardware needs (whether the company provides devices or has a BYOD model)
Meet the team
Our mission is to make simple and powerful mobile workforce scheduling accessible to more companies.
Skedulo is a modern web and mobile application for scheduling, managing, and optimizing a mobile workforce. We focus on lowering the cost of executing jobs in the field so our customers can concentrate on delivering exceptional service.
Why is mobile workforce management important?
Simply put, businesses cannot stay competitive today without using technology well. Customer expectations continue to rise, anchored by fast-moving companies whose success hinges on using technology to create exceptional experiences. As a result, every company that wants to stay competitive must consider new approaches and systems to adapt.
- Real-time communication needs
- Data accessibility in the field
- Data security requirements
- Ongoing technical support
- Syncing data with customer relationship management (CRM) software or other systems of record
- Compliance requirements (e.g. HIPAA compliance for mobile healthcare workers)
- Hardware needs (whether the company provides devices or has a BYOD model)