The aim of effective field service management is to empower your employees to deliver excellent service in every customer interaction. What can be considered ‘traditional’ field service management is evolving, and gaining a deeper understanding of the current and future landscape can help your mobile workers succeed.
What Is Field Service?
“Field service” refers to any service performed out in the field, as opposed to on company property. Field service typically involves dispatching workers or contractors to specific locations (often to a customer location) to install, repair, or maintain equipment or systems.
Field service practitioners, or field workers, are often technicians who deliver skilled, specialized, or even proprietary services to commercial or industrial clients.
When most people think of field service, they think of setting up cable TV or seeing an electrician work on a downed power line. But the field service landscape is quickly evolving to include a broader range of deskless employees. In fact, 80% of the world’s workforce is now deskless, and field service has expanded into education, healthcare, hospitality, and beyond.
FSM vs. Mobile Workforce Management: What’s the Difference?
Field service management and mobile workforce management (MWM) are closely related, but there are key differences to consider when choosing a solution for your business.
The difference between mobile workforce management) and field service management software is best summarized by this question:
Are you trying to optimize your business for human inputs or physical products?
If you want to optimize the customer journey, the scheduling process, or the execution of your workers in the field, you need a mobile workforce management solution. MWM software puts your customers and employees at the center of the process because they are the key variables in the equation that you are looking to solve.
If you want to optimize the installation, maintenance, repair, and deployment of physical products you own or have sold, you need a field service management solution. FSM systems are designed to prioritize physical assets, helping you coordinate the cadence and timing of your jobs to keep equipment in optimal shape.
Software to Help Boost Your Field Service Management
If you’re looking to better manage your field service operations, you’ll need field service management software that provides the right tools for your deskless workers. A great field service management solution can create schedules, improve communication, increase efficiency, and more—all in one centralized location.
Learn more about what to look for in a field service management solution, or book a demo to see how Skedulo’s field service scheduling and dispatching software can help you manage your workforce.