GPS Insight Field Service Management For Dummies

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Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

Field Service
Management
GPS Insight Special Edition
by The GPS Insight Team
These materials are © 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Field Service Management For Dummies®,
GPS Insight Special Edition
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1
About This Book.................................................................................... 1
Icons Used in This Book........................................................................ 2
Beyond the Book................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER 1: Introducing Field Service Management

Software............................................................................................... 3
Getting the Lay of the Land.................................................................. 4
Discovering the Benefits of FSM Software......................................... 4
Reducing your admin load.............................................................. 4
Improving customer service........................................................... 6
Decreasing environmental impact................................................. 7
Getting paid faster........................................................................... 7
Setting the stage for business growth and
operational maturity....................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2: Choosing the Right FSM Software................................... 9

Solving Challenges with FSM Software............................................. 10
Considering Your Scale Requirements............................................. 13
SMB, B2C, and new to digital........................................................ 13
Midsize organizations to enterprise............................................ 13
CHAPTER 3: Extending the Impact of Your Investment............ 15

Using an FSM Hub Approach............................................................. 15
Unlocking the Key to Success: Integration....................................... 16
Systems of record.......................................................................... 17
Systems of transaction.................................................................. 18
Supporting systems....................................................................... 18
Interacting with Your IoT.................................................................... 18
Working with sensors and analytics............................................ 19
Making the transition from reactive to uptime-as-a-service...... 19
Getting a 360-degree view of your business.............................. 20
Complying with federal regulations............................................ 20
Improving dispatching, routing, and scheduling....................... 20
Improving safety and lowering insurance rates with
video telematics............................................................................. 21
Extending the Value of Your Existing Systems................................. 21
Table of Contents iii
CHAPTER 4: Ten Tips to Successfully Implement
Your FSM Software.................................................................... 23
Embrace Change................................................................................. 23
Keep It Quick and Easy....................................................................... 24
Keep Your KPIs Dialed In.................................................................... 24
Show Improved Productivity.............................................................. 24
Dig Into Performance Details............................................................. 25
Prove Profitability................................................................................ 26
Calculate Compliance......................................................................... 26
Assess Your Processes........................................................................ 27
Draw Your Roadmap........................................................................... 27
Focus on the Customer to Deliver Excellence................................. 28
iv Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition
Introduction
T
he days of using analog tools to manage your field service
business are fleeting. Manual processes may have their
place, but when it comes to staying competitive, digital is
the only way to go. Digitizing your entire operation may seem like
an impossible task, but it’s not. Field service management (FSM)
software is a solution that lets you provide the real-time, accu-
rate, and efficient data-driven field service that customers today
expect.
FSM software can help businesses of all sizes. Maybe you’re a

small business owner, considering going digital for the first time.
Or maybe your mid-sized company has experience with some
web-based or digital tools, but it’s looking to optimize operations
across the entire organization to improve efficiency and customer
satisfaction. Or maybe you’re at the helm of a large enterprise
and need reliable technology to give you advanced analytics and
insights. If any of those are the case, FSM software will work
for you.
About This Book

This book sets you up with the information you need to under-
stand and find the right FSM software for your business, no matter
what size it is, or how much experience you have with technology.
We give you insider tips in easy-to-follow portions and language,
and you get the facts in a straightforward and simple way so you
won’t get bogged down in tech mumbo-jumbo and jargon here.
This book gets you up to speed quickly so you can get back to work
just as fast.
We walk you through common features and benefits of field ser-

vice software (see Chapter 1), tell you how to choose the right
software for your organization (jump to Chapter 2 for that), how
to maximize the impact of your software investment (you can find
that in Chapter 3), and offer tips to successfully implement this
technology (Chapter 4).
Introduction 1
Icons Used in This Book
Throughout this book, we use several different icons to call out
different bits of information that are extra handy, important, or
worth remembering. Take a look.
Tips are blurbs that contain tricks or best practices you can put
into play to get the most out of your FSM software.
When you see the Remember icon, you know the information is
particularly important or foundational for your software’s suc-
cess. You may want to highlight or write it down to share with
your team.
When you see the Warning icon, we help you avoid a big mistake
when selecting or using FSM software. Don’t skip this!
Beyond the Book

This book helps you discover more about FSM software, but
if you want resources beyond what this book offers, GPS
Insight has additional e-books, whitepapers, case stud-
ies, and blogs covering a wide range of FSM topics. You can
check those out by visiting www.gpsinsight.com/solutions/
field-service-management-software.
GPS Insight provides mission-critical insights needed to make

physical operations on the road and in the field, simpler and
safer to do. Its comprehensive FSM software, FieldAware, helps
organizations of all sizes achieve operational efficiency and drive
customer success. Visit www.gpsinsight.com/solutions for
information on all the fleet and field service solutions from GPS
Insight.
2 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition
IN THIS CHAPTER
»» Identifying the basic features of FSM
software
»» Seeing the benefits of FSM software
Chapter 1
Introducing Field Service
Management Software
F
ield service management (FSM) software is a cloud-based
software as a service (SaaS) platform that can change your
life — or at least the life of your business. FSM software
tracks, automates, and optimizes your operations in a way you
simply can’t do manually.
Instead of losing paperwork in the field, losing revenue because

you can’t make quick changes to your schedules, or losing time
due to low inventory, you can use FSM software to organize all
your company’s departments and moving parts to maximize your
resources — and your profits.
Like any other new tool or technology, FSM software may have a
bit of a learning curve, but that’s okay. This book is here to help.
In this chapter, you discover common features and capabilities of
FSM software and how it can benefit your company.
CHAPTER 1 Introducing Field Service Management Software 3
Getting the Lay of the Land
FSM software gives you access to all aspects of your field service
organization on one platform. With that kind of functionality,
your field technicians and back office can function seamlessly
together and in real time, regardless of location. FSM software
platforms have differences, depending on the provider, but all
platforms should include the same main features and functions.
Head to Chapter 2 for details on what features to look for when
choosing your FSM software.
Discovering the Benefits of FSM Software

FSM software isn’t just about improving your field-based work.
With the right FSM software, you can improve many different
business functions, processes, and teams across the board. Every
one and everything are leveled up.
When you consider the headaches your business endures now,

FSM software helps to address each one of them. We discuss each
business benefit in this section, but if you take away only one
concept, it should be that FSM software empowers your entire
team to better the customer experience and subsequently grow
your business. No matter the size or type of your company, using
FSM software helps you get rid of problems that could cost you
repeat business and profit.
Reducing your admin load

First and foremost, FSM software helps you streamline all your
administrative processes. By using it, you can automate tasks
such as invoicing, logging work order progress, tracking inven-
tory, ordering, and many others.
FSM software can give back your company hours of time every
week, freeing you up to do what you really need to focus on. Can
you imagine this type of freedom? Sometimes, you don’t even
realize how much extra time and energy all the backend work
takes until you don’t have to do it anymore.
Group routing and optimization benefits
Getting your team members to the right places at the right times
with the right resources is vital, but it’s also a process filled with
obstacles. You can use FSM software to optimize group routing
and assign team members to jobs easily with
»» Automated scheduling: This takes into account available

techs, skills needed, urgency, and more. You can set up your
system to customize different elements as a priority to make
sure it schedules in the most efficient way.
»» Routing: Routing takes into account your techs’ locations,
real-time traffic conditions, and any unforeseen schedule
changes. This task reduces backtracking, delays, and
inefficiencies on the road.
»» Tracking: Track where everyone is located in real time to
monitor for maximum productivity, efficiency, and customer
service.
»» 360-degree insights: All techs and back-office employees
can access records and forms to know what’s going on at all
times with customers and their work orders to provide the
most complete and timely service possible.
In Chapter 3, we explain further how you can use these features to

extend the life of your software.
Streamlined workforce management

FSM software empowers your field team to instantly manage
and access the resources they need to stay on site to make their
repairs quickly and completely. It keeps track of where everyone
and everything is in real time so you can systematically choose
the right resources based on factors like skills, training, certifica-
tions, availability, preference, and location. Also, field techs can
update their work orders in real time so you know their status,
plus the status of their jobs. They can instantly request replace-
ment parts and access the inventory on the go without needing to
return to the office.
Dynamic forms
FSM software cuts time off your workflow by letting you create
customized forms that have all the fields you need and none of the
ones you don’t. With FSM software dynamic forms, you get all the
value of instant data synchronization, skip logic, and full com-
pliance. This means that each form is a living document and can
change in real time, depending on the data and user. It takes your
team members and clients through each question or field. Based
on the answers and other data it pulls in from other sources, it
skips questions, provides additional ones, and ensures your work
order gets and gives the most accurate and relevant information.
Additionally, you can put all your forms into a customized order
that makes the most sense for your teams. This way, your techs
can provide an efficient and positive experience for all customers
from start to finish, plus have everything buttoned up for the back
office in real time.
Improving customer service

Customer satisfaction is everything. Today’s customers expect
fast, accurate, and thorough work. Because FSM software lets you
bring together all your assets digitally and in real time, you can
provide a high level of service.
Increasing first-time visit fix rates

There’s nothing worse than having to tell a customer, “I’ll have
to come back to fix that.” Making multiple visits puts stress on
everyone and increases costs overall.
Do you want to blow your customers’ minds plus blow past the
competition? Use FSM software to fix their issue during your first
visit by ensuring you send the technician with exactly the right
skills, data, resources, and parts — at the right time. Your team
can complete more jobs faster because they’re assigned properly
and have instant access to everything they need to solve problems.
You may not be able to fix all jobs on the first visit, but using FSM
software helps your team close more jobs on the first visit. And
that’s good news.
Shrinking average repair times

Aside from reducing the number of visits needed (see the preced-
ing section), you can also reduce the number of hours your team
spends doing the actual repair during a visit.
Use your platform’s built-in analytics to help you and your team
spot trends and potential issues so you can anticipate problems
and be fully ready to address them before your tech arrives. Your
team no longer has to call into the warehouse to see what equip-
ment is available or wait on a part. They can access all the data
they need to diagnose the problem, ensure they have the inven-
tory to solve it, and complete the job quickly and efficiently.
Decreasing environmental impact

Part of doing business in today’s world is keeping your environ-
mental impact as low as possible. Using FSM software saves mas-
sive amounts of office-based resources, such as paper and ink.
Plus, FSM software dispatches your teams and resources so effi-
ciently that you end up driving fewer miles, which means you put
fewer vehicles on the road. You end up using less gas, creating less
pollution, and lessening wear and tear on your local roads. Every
little bit helps when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint.
Getting paid faster

Imagine what would happen to your cash flow if you could elim-
inate the lag time between job completion and payment process-
ing. What would happen if you could get rid of invoicing errors?
This is the reality of FSM software.
Securing proper work order

documentation
Paper work orders set you up for all kinds of problems, such as
lost paperwork, double entries, conflicting information, and
missing details. These problems just add time to the whole pro-
cess, ultimately pushing out your pay date.
But work orders are the basis of FSM — they detail everything a
tech needs to know to get the job done. When you’re on an FSM
platform, you can give everyone access to digital work orders that
include
»» Customer service history

»» Installed assets
»» Custom fields and checklists
»» Photos and sketches
»» Signatures
Not only does this help your techs make fixes quickly and thor-
oughly, but also it gives them a way to offer your customers full
transparency. Techs can easily show their customers everything
that’s happening, which can lead to higher customer satisfaction
and fewer disputes down the line.
Attaining customer sign off

With the entire workflow digitized and connected, customer sign off
is a breeze. When FSM software allows customers to see automatic
documentation of work, receive fast repairs on the first visit, and
interact with knowledgeable and confident techs, they’re happy to
close out the job right then and there with high satisfaction.
Generating seamless invoices

With FSM, you allow field technicians to invoice customers at the
job or create recurring invoices that automatically generate for
their regular customers. You can also reduce payment turnaround
time with on-site payment processing and securely store cus-
tomer information for recurring payments.
Setting the stage for business growth

and operational maturity
FSM software is key if you want your business to scale and grow.
And who doesn’t want that? Using your platform to plan your
growth is where you truly get ahead. When you use a dynamic
cloud-based system, you have access to all kinds of insights about
your business. You can see data on repair times, tech productivity,
inventory management, even vehicle maintenance.
Make sure to use every bit of information from your FSM soft-
ware to set a data-driven growth strategy and hit your key per-
formance indicators (KPIs) fast and consistently. This leads to
higher worker morale and positive customer experiences, setting
the stage for lower employee turnover, repeat business, and a
future that looks brighter.
Picture your future — you can use your FSM software (connected
with your customer relationship management [CRM] software)
to track new business leads and estimates. You can easily review
information that shows where the majority of your leads are com-
ing from, and what they’re coming to you for. Then you can drill
down to strategically plan how you convert those leads into cus-
tomers. All this happens because your operations are digitized.
Welcome to the world of FSM.
IN THIS CHAPTER
»» Selecting the right FSM features for your
business
»» Scaling your business with FSM software
Chapter 2
Choosing the Right
FSM Software
P
roviding excellent field service management (FSM) is no
small feat, what with having to master many different tasks
and resources and keeping them in constant communica-
tion. If just one of your team members or processes is a little off
or disconnected, it can spell disaster for the whole workflow. It’s
no wonder it’s hard to deliver effective field service. But fear
not — hope is on the horizon, and it’s here in the form of FSM
software.
This chapter walks you through what to look for in your FSM soft-
ware so you can make the right choice for your business today and
the business you want in the future. We share a few classic field
service problems that FSM software can solve, give you a list of
“must-haves” for your software, and give you a peek into how to
use FSM software to address needs based on your company’s size.
CHAPTER 2 Choosing the Right FSM Software 9
Solving Challenges with FSM Software
While not all the challenges you and your team face regularly are
solvable, some are surmountable with the right FSM software.
FSM software can help you solve a few problems:
»» Turning down new, last-minute jobs because you don’t

have a way to quickly review and change the schedule:
Manual processes make schedule changes complicated (and
sometimes impossible) to accommodate. With FSM software,
you can instantly identify where new work fits into your
schedule by using real-time visibility and optimized schedul-
ing, routing, and dispatching.
»» Losing time and business because of incomplete or lost
paper work orders and poor communication: Because field
techs usually can’t get into the office regularly throughout the
day, relying on paper work orders isn’t exactly ideal — it’s slow
and can lead to lost paperwork. FSM software connects your
team members so they know what’s going on at all times,
including having access to specific tasks/to-do lists, installed
inventory, and job progress. On the customer side, you can use
your FSM platform to provide tools such as appointment
reminders, ETA alerts, and customer portals.
»» Waiting on payment from a customer for weeks after job
completion: Instead of waiting for the techs to come back from
the field to invoice and do other accounts receivable (A/R)
paperwork, with FSM software you can quickly and accurately
invoice your customers right on the spot. Coupled with elec-
tronic work orders, invoicing features do the calculating and
generating for you, while the ability to collect payment both
on-site and online reduces turnaround time.
»» Spending extra time manually managing payroll and
reconciling your accounting: You don’t have to spend
hours, days, and weeks on these tasks anymore. Digitizing
time cards makes it easy for employees to log their hours,
while simplifying the approval and reporting process back at
the office. Many platforms also integrate and sync with
popular accounting software, greatly reducing the time spent
entering invoices and payments, as well as the potential for
human error.
»» Wanting to grow your business but not having the organiza-
tion or data to help you do it: Figuring out how to best grow
your business can be difficult when you don’t have actionable
data at your fingertips. FSM software gives you access to
historical information on jobs, customers, and performance.
Some platforms have reporting features so you can see trends in
where your business is coming from, areas of strength or
weakness, and revenue generation over time. The software
simplifies pulling this information that otherwise may take
hours, or even days, to compile from paper.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed at this stage. You see all your prob-
lems and want to solve them all but don’t know where to start.
Rather than overhauling your whole process, focus on one type of
customer and develop a profile that unpacks the demographics,
behaviors, and objectives when seeking out services you provide.
If you’re still not sure, look for a solution that
»» Is built for the cloud: Using a solution on the cloud means

you can implement your new software quickly and easily.
Look for a platform that’s not just cloud-based itself but also
designed for a cloud-based environment. Some solutions are
marketed as cloud-based, but they’re really designed for
on-site implementations, which limits their scalability and
also may result in performance issues.
»» Is made for mobility: Look for FSM software that’s designed
for mobile devices, not computers. You want software that
has native mobile apps for your team’s phones, versus
requiring them to use a browser. This is especially vital when
your techs are in the field and can’t connect to a network
because these apps will still work.
»» Is flexible: Choose a solution where business flexibility isn’t
limited by a customer relationship management (CRM) or an
enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform that wasn’t designed
specifically for a mobile, cloud-based, field service environment.
Look for a platform that has the ability to be used in a variety
of ways or within a number of processes. For example, select
a solution that has the ability to assign work orders, not just
from the scheduler or dispatcher, but also from the work
order itself or the job board. Choose one that allows you to
enable or disable functionality on remote devices, such as
shielding price information or disabling the creation of
quotes and work orders.
»» Is compatible: Look for an FSM platform that includes a true
application programming interface (API) built on accepted
standards for compatible architecture. Many FSM platforms
say they can integrate with existing back-office systems, but
they’re really talking about the ability to import and export
data. As a result, manual imports and exports increase the
chances of missing or error-laden data.
»» Is usable: Choose an FSM software platform that’s intuitive
and easy for your team members to use. It shouldn’t take
them hours to learn the system — especially the mobile
apps. Select a solution that gives users one- or two-click
access to information they need.
»» Is customizable: Choose a solution that lets you add in
custom, dynamic fields to your system and all the forms you
need, easily search and sort the information from those
fields, and design whatever you need to fit your
specifications.
»» Gives you business visibility: Select a solution that lets you
and your management team have a quick and thorough
glance at the status of your business whenever you need it.
Your FSM software should provide you with a company
dashboard that displays team activities and a scheduler that
gives you a real-time view of what’s going on.
»» Gives you business intelligence: Identifying business
trends is critical if you want to grow revenue, retain custom-
ers, and increase the productivity of your field teams. Look
for a platform that has a robust offering of built-in reports
with strong filters, customization options, and data
portability.
»» Provides onboarding, implementation, and training:
Getting all your files and processes moved over to the new
platform is no small task. Look for a solution that provides a
three-stage onboarding process including account setup,
data import, and training. Also select a vendor that provides
technical staff experienced in helping companies migrate
their data and essential business processes.
»» Provides ongoing support: Support is often the most
important element to consider when choosing a vendor
because learning new technology can be overwhelming. If
your vendor doesn’t supply you with a support point person,
your team may struggle with the new software and not use
it. Find a solution that supplies highly trained, experienced
technical support resources, an extensive online knowledge
base, and a comprehensive catalog of technical and user
information — including helpful videos and product
documentation.
Considering Your Scale Requirements

When shopping for FSM software, give equal consideration to
where you are now as a company and where you want to be in
the future. Have a clear vision of your goals and milestones to
make sure you get the features that are right for your future. You
may only have 10 employees today, but if you want 100 eventually,
make sure your FSM software can accommodate that. Of course,
on the flip side, you also have to be careful not to buy a solution
that’s more robust than you need. Channel your inner Goldilocks
and aim to find the one that’s just right.
SMB, B2C, and new to digital

If you’re a small or midsize business (SMB) or a business to con-
sumer B2C business — or a company that doesn’t have a lot of
digital experience (yet) — look for an FSM software solution
that helps you lay a great foundation from which to build. You
may not need a lot of advanced features, so don’t be afraid to say
no to flashy platforms, and look for an affordable and easy-to-
implement solution. Some of your main needs at this time most
likely are getting help with migrating from paper, organizing the
basics, streamlining inefficiency, and maintaining an end-to-
end solution that includes customer life cycle management.
Choose a vendor that understands the culture of smaller teams

and will be a supportive and active partner in this journey.
Midsize organizations to enterprise

If you’re a mid-to-enterprise business to business (B2B) or busi-
ness to business to consumer (B2B2C) asset orientated business,
your needs may be a little more advanced. You probably already
have a system of record (either an ERP, CRM, or both), and you
want to take things to the next level. For you, an FSM software
platform should
»» Provide a way to make major organization-wide process

improvements or digital transformation.
»» Have a strong data collection feature that can aggregate
information from multiple sources (FSM, ERP, CRM forms,
accounting, human resources [HR], and payroll).
»» Manage complex work types such as multi-day jobs with
numerous field workers and dispatch teams.
»» Help you achieve process efficiencies and scale with defined
repeatable workflows.
»» Help you deliver preemptive or outcome-based service
agreements.
ANTICIPATING AND OVERCOMING

COMMON SCALING CHALLENGES
You need to overcome the problems you face today and consider
what problems your company could face in the future as you scale
up. When you can identify potential obstacles, you can strategically
attack them. By automating many processes and digitizing workflows
and forms, an FSM software platform can help you overcome com-
mon scaling challenges:
• Needing to increase capacity without adding resources: FSM

software can help you leverage a standardized process for core
functions to quickly train new employees and complete routine
tasks, so you can better build a workforce that meets your business
demands. Management often focuses on the day-to-day opera-
tions and processes and doesn’t have much time to onboard more
employees. This helps meet that increased need for resources.
• Not being able to fully serve all customers like they need and
want: Instead of having to contact the office, FSM software can
provide a portal for customers to access technician status and
work order information directly, which means your staff can con-
tinue to focus on actual work.
• Inadvertently falling out of compliance because you don’t
have an easy way to keep track of all the important deadlines
and details: FSM software can prevent your most important
resources from going offline at the worst times.
IN THIS CHAPTER
»» Setting up your FSM hub
»» Integrating your systems like a pro
»» Using your IoT to enhance your business
»» Heightening the value of your existing

systems
Chapter 3
Extending the Impact
of Your Investment
C
ustomer needs are always changing. Technology constantly
evolves. Your team ebbs and flows over time. Unless you
have some sort of secret crystal ball (and if you do, we want
in), you can’t predict the future. But there are a few things you
can do to make sure you can get enough mileage out of your field
service management (FSM) software.
Overall, the idea is to keep it as specific, yet adaptable, as possi-

ble. In this chapter, we talk you through how to futureproof your
investment. We go over how to make sure you’re giving yourself
the flexibility to create new workflows, so you have a way to inte-
grate with new applications, and how to leverage your Internet of
Things (IoT), and other elements.
Using an FSM Hub Approach

If you’re like many field service organizations, you use a pleth-
ora of different solutions and technologies to accomplish your
work, which probably means your systems don’t always talk to
CHAPTER 3 Extending the Impact of Your Investment 15
each other. With different systems handling different but related
tasks, you lose a lot of time and information.
To get up to speed in today’s world, you have to use an FSM hub

approach to get all your systems talking and working together.
The integrated hub approach connects all parts of your workflows
and your business in general. Whether you want to send invoicing
data to Accounting or timesheet information to Human Resources
(HR), the hub can help you connect, automate, and integrate it all.
This is the first step for futureproofing and extending the impact
of your investment.
Ask your vendor to design a solution using the hub approach that
consolidates your key information and systems, like customer
relationship management (CRMs), enterprise resource planning
(ERPs), and accounting (ACCs). Instead of looking for a huge
all-in-one solution to do everything, look for a smaller, more
agile and specialized solution (called best-of-breed) so you can
get the most important core functions while also having a robust,
highly configurable, and open service platform to accommodate
your future needs. These attributes allow you to adopt and access
new, modern technologies quickly and nimbly without having to
update an entire huge system that could take weeks or months.
With a hub, you can freely and cost-effectively extend the life and
value of your “core” platform without disrupting the base system
and integrations as you add on to meet changing company and
customer demands.
FSM software that uses a hub approach allows you to keep pace
with new technology and changing business needs. While stand-
alone, all-in-one FSM systems may seem appealing, they often
have a minimum shelf-life of five to ten years . . . and that time-
frame has shortened in this age of constant disruption. To keep
up with tech innovation, new competition, globalization, and
regulatory changes, the hub approach allows you to keep your
business models as dynamic and nimble as possible.
Unlocking the Key to Success: Integration

At the center of your FSM hub is integration. Your FSM soft-
ware has to connect and communicate well with all your already-
existing systems, as well as communicate well within the platform
itself. Make sure your FSM solution can operate smoothly with all
vital processes and resources. Focus on the most important ones
first, keeping in mind that you may need to add more to your hub
in the future. If you don’t plan ahead for integrating additional
systems or modules, you could find yourself in a load of trouble
down the road.
To avoid integration and scaling problems later, work with your

FSM software vendor from the beginning to create a range of
complementary best-of-breed solutions that are pre-integrated.
You can have certain elements and features waiting in the wings
in case your team needs them. When they do, you can add them
on and activate them.
Pre-integrating solutions means you can also grant open access

for your customers to integrate their chosen solutions should the
vendor not already have one available. This seamless integration
helps you extend the life of your investments while innovating
and improving the customer experience. And of course, the more
you improve the customer experience, the more you extend the
impact of your investment.
To start a successful integration, focus on integrating the appli-

cable parts of your systems of record, systems of transaction, and
supporting systems. We cover those areas in this section.
Systems of record
Your systems of record hold everything you need to run your
business. They’re the backbone of your operations — your mis-
sion critical, proprietary vaults. To extend your investment’s
impact, you must ensure that your FSM software fully integrates
with each of your systems in this area — whether it’s your CRM,
ERP, HR platform, or others. When you integrate these systems,
you can
»» Give your team full access to customer histories, including all

calls and work orders, repair time preferences, and billing in
your company app.
»» Better manage inventory and ensure accurate, automatic
fulfillment when you link your ERP and FSM platforms.
»» Allow employees to manage their time cards and time off
requests through their apps.
Without full and flawless integration of your systems of record,
your FSM software can’t function like it should.
Systems of transaction
There is a lot of crossover between systems of record and systems
of transaction, and when you use a hub, you can ensure all the
information that needs to interact does. For example, a huge ben-
efit of using your FSM as an integrated system of transaction is
that the work being captured in the field is simultaneously being
captured and synchronized with the systems of record. Work
order completion, field tasks, inventory use, time management,
asset maintenance notes, and so on are all captured in the FSM by
the tech in the field on the mobile app and are shared in the hub
in real time, ensuring everyone sees the same information. This
level of instant service is a win for everyone.
Supporting systems
The front-facing features — like customer portals and real-time
tracking of your team — get all the glory, but when it comes to
your supporting systems, this area is where you can really shine.
Work with your vendor to make sure all your systems, like rev-
enue management, order management, and customer manage-
ment are all fully tied into your FSM where appropriate. What’s
more, add-ons like head-up display (HUD), goggles, augmented
reality (AR), and personal safety cameras can also be used to cap-
ture and share data that’s integrated into the FSM system. This
allows your team in the field to always know which resources are
available to help them address a customer’s needs.
Interacting with Your IoT

If the FSM software platform is your brain, your IoT are the eyes.
For service organizations that maintain equipment or assets (and
we know most do), your FSM software should be able to easily
interact with, and transmit information from, that equipment.
You can also use your FSM software to collect, track, and lever-
age data from IoT sensors about the condition and health of your
company’s remote assets that are being maintained, vehicles
driven, employee locations and productivity, and/or supply chain
status.
No matter how many devices you have, and how many team mem-
bers are in the field, make sure your FSM platform allows you to
access all the data from every device and person. Use this dynamic
information to make decisions about daily operations, anticipate
and prevent service issues, and streamline back-office work.
Working with sensors and analytics

Collect real-time data about where a customer’s assets are
located, an asset’s current health, and how the assets are being
used with sensors. You can leverage this asset data to empower
your team members to plan efficient workflows, troubleshoot in
real time, and predict the next steps toward a solution based on
real-world conditions.
There is no substitute for real-time data from the field. Use your
FSM software to maximize the potential of all the information you
have access to.
Making the transition from reactive

to uptime-as-a-service
Rather than waiting for a customer’s truck, asset, or piece of
machinery to break down to respond, why not be proactive? Why
not prevent it in the first place (or at least significantly reduce
the chances of it happening)? You can use your FSM software to
switch your operations from being reactive to proactive by access-
ing and integrating customer vehicle or other equipment sensor
data. In real time, at any time, you can see how your customers
are using their vehicles and equipment and how healthy those
machines are, as well as automate regular maintenance of their
vehicles and equipment, for example. This means you can maxi-
mize productivity and safety, while minimizing downtime. Plus,
when you automatically collect, store, and analyze this data in
your FSM software, it frees your back office up to do other tasks.
In the end, using your FSM software like this extends the life of
your investment because you’re extending the life of your equip-
ment and getting detailed, dependable information to make smart
replacement decisions that optimize your business.
Getting a 360-degree view
of your business
Pairing your FSM software with GPS tracking, smart dash cams,
or compliance solutions can give you a 360-degree view of your
operation. This means you can access all your operations infor-
mation in one place so you can, at a glance, tell what’s happen-
ing anywhere in the field or office. This allows you to make the
most informed decisions possible in real time. For instance, if a
customer’s piece of equipment breaks down and your techs have
vehicles equipped with GPS tracking, you can view where your
team is located in real time on a map to efficiently dispatch the
closest and/or most qualified tech to get your customer back up
and running as quickly as possible.
Complying with federal regulations

If your business carries heavy loads over long distances, you may
have to comply with the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
If you do, pairing your FSM software with a fleet management
solution can help with that by digitally keeping track of your ELD,
driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR), and international fuel
tax agreement (IFTA) mileage if you’re carrying loads across state
lines. Your team members no longer have to manually write led-
ger entries into a notebook for each element. Fleet management
software digitizes, automates, and helps you better manage your
business and ensures you’re complying with federal guidelines.
Improving dispatching, routing,

and scheduling
Make sure your FSM software constantly pulls data from your full
complement of telemetry and IoT devices to get extra mileage out
of your investment (sorry, we couldn’t help it). When every cell
phone, every truck sensor, and every tablet gives you information,
you can combine it to make extremely cost-effective, efficient,
and profitable decisions at every turn.
Your IoT and FSM software can work together for maximum
impact on the road and produce the following outcomes:
»» Automate scheduling and dispatching through the platform

based on location, skills, resources, and type of call.
»» Choose which factors, such as cost or customer satisfaction,
you need to prioritize when scheduling.
»» Program your platform to handle contingencies and exemptions
automatically. For example, you can make a rule that you only
do repairs in commercial spaces after office hours.
»» Automatically update and reassign all affected jobs when a
tech becomes unavailable.
Improving safety and lowering

insurance rates with video
telematics
Another important, far-reaching benefit of using FSM software in
conjunction with video telematics and smart dash cameras is that
you can improve driver safety and insurance rates. You can work
with your vendor to set up a feature where your team members
can get real-time analytics and alerts about their driving. This
feature alone is often enough to greatly improve driving behavior.
In addition to giving real-time, direct feedback to drivers so they

can self-correct, you can also set your platform up to provide a
coaching module to drivers who need extra guidance.
All of these elements combine to have a long-term and wide-

reaching impact. It keeps your fleet of drivers safe and also low-
ers your insurance rates.
Extending the Value of Your

Existing Systems
With a field service solution that integrates easily, you also extend
the life of your existing systems, helping you get even more out of
them than you may have originally anticipated.
For example, integrating field service with any customer man-

agement software you use means that the technician has access
to the job history and customer records. Knowing the details of
jobs can make the difference between being able to sort out the
problem the first time or not. This means delivering better cus-
tomer service, as well as reducing the need for future visits to fix
the problem.
IN THIS CHAPTER
»» Having a plan to hit clear KPIs
»» Showing off profitability and

performance data
»» Ensuring long-term customer success
Chapter 4
Ten Tips to Successfully
Implement Your FSM
Software
A
fter you’ve worked with your vendor to integrate your
systems with a field service management (FSM) hub
approach, it’s time to execute. In this chapter, we give you
some insider info to successfully implement your software so you
can quickly demonstrate return on investment (ROI) and keep
everyone happy. Along the way, we point out common pitfalls and
how to avoid them. In no time at all, your brand-new FSM soft-
ware will be humming along, functioning just as you expected,
and you’ll wonder how you ever did business without it.
Embrace Change
Change is hard for many people, especially at work. Even if the
potential payoff is high, people can still be nervous or even averse
to accepting new technology. Successfully implementing your FSM
software relies on your team being open to change. If they aren’t
open to it, they will fight it. Instead of helping to make implementa-
tion smooth, they may look for all the ways it’s not working.
CHAPTER 4 Ten Tips to Successfully Implement Your FSM Software 23
Prime your team for change by communicating well and often.
Let them in on everything from the beginning, listen to their
concerns, and try to find proactive solutions. These steps alone
can go a long way. But to take it a step further, establish a change
management workstream. Identify different areas of focus, and
then manage your expectations and deliverables across each of
these areas to help your team keep moving forward.
Keep It Quick and Easy

With any new solution, how fast you can be up and running is
key. If people have to take a lot of time to learn how to use your
new FSM software, they may not be likely to buy in and support it.
Choose designs and features that are easy to navigate and familiar
to help your implementation go as smoothly as possible.
Keep Your KPIs Dialed In

Identify your key performance indicators (KPIs) ahead of
your implementation so you can craft your implementa-
tion around them. Giving your team a baseline for measur-
ing performance sets you up for being able to easily show
your bosses (or any stakeholder) the impact FSM software
has on your company. Not sure where to start? Check out
this whitepaper with a full list of metrics to measure: www.
gpsinsight.com/field-service-management-whitepaper/
field-service-management-the-metrics-to-measure.
Include all your team members in the process of identifying your

KPIs. This inclusion ensures buy in and aligns everyone to the
same goals. Keeping everyone in the loop keeps everyone moving
in the same direction.
Show Improved Productivity

Before you implement your software, make sure you organize a
way to measure different aspects of productivity, along with the
milestones you want to reach. Every company is different, so you
have to choose the ones that make the most sense for you. Here
are a few examples:
»» First-time fix rate: Percentage of customer problems
resolved on the first visit
»» Jobs completed per day: Number of jobs completed during
the day and the resources required
»» Mean time to repair/install/service: Average length for
repairs, installs, or services
»» Ratio of preventive maintenance work to reactive work:
The number of service calls related to preventive mainte-
nance versus failures
Dig Into Performance Details

To get the most out of your implementation, set up your KPIs to
show you how employees may be performing. Always ask “why?”
Using data like this takes you way beyond one person; you can use
this data to make changes that are long-lasting on an infrastruc-
ture level. This makes the value of FSM software immediately
apparent throughout implementation. Here are some examples
of data to capture that will give you ways for keeping ROI easily
demonstrable at all stages of implementation:
»» Repeat visit: Number of times an installed product had to

be reserviced by a technician within a specific time frame
»» Field technician time on job: How much time your team
spends traveling, at the job site, and anything else
»» Employee productivity: Helps early identification of
workflow, or other issues
»» Field technician skills: Measures performance across a
wide range of qualities, skills, and proficiencies to help you
pinpoint where more training may be helpful
»» Incomplete or missed jobs by technicians: Identifies
technicians that aren’t performing up to standards so you
can address it right away
As you implement your software, show your team members how

they can access this information and remind them it’s supposed
to help, not harm. Frame the KPIs as a way for them to empower
themselves to improve their performance on their own — or to
start a conversation with leaders about what more they need to
do their jobs well.
Prove Profitability
At the end of the day, no matter how great your service or prod-
ucts are, if the business isn’t profitable, you won’t survive. To
keep implementation running full steam ahead, keep your man-
agement teams and stakeholders satisfied by giving them the info
they want — before they ask for it. Make sure you’re always ready
to show how the FSM software is paying for itself. Here are a few
pieces of data to consider capturing:
»» Contract or warranty leakage: Lost revenue from confu-

sion of costs and what’s actually covered in the contract or
warranty
»» Technician billable time: Ratio of billable to productive
time — could be an indication that not enough equipment is
covered by a maintenance contract
»» Revenue from services: How much of total company
revenue comes from provided services
»» Percentage of renewed maintenance contracts: How
many maintenance contracts are being renewed
»» Cost to serve: How much it costs the business to provide
the service and what’s influencing fluctuations
Calculate Compliance
Whether internal or external, compliance is a non-negotiable.
From inspection and safety reports to health forms, your FSM
software makes handling compliance easy and thorough. This is
a weight off everyone’s shoulders and makes it more likely that
they’ll support the implementation. Use your platform to track
and report some of these data points:
»» Number of employee and contractor injuries

»» Number of environmental breaches
»» Average response time
»» Mean time to complete
Take it a step further and set up an automatic warning system
for when the metrics you’re measuring are out of range, so you
can address what you need before it becomes a bigger problem.
Assess Your Processes

When it comes to collecting the data points you need to assess
workflows and processes, your FSM software never sleeps. Show
your stakeholders how quickly you can access this information
on demand to do things like identify and address bottlenecks —
immediately improving performance.
Although this is just a sampling, you can get your platform to

produce these tantalizing bits:
»» Routing efficiency rate: Track all your field resources to

ensure technicians are at the right jobs with the right parts
and equipment at the right times.
»» Percentage of ordered parts being used: Track all your
inventory so you know if you’re ordering parts that never
make it into the field.
»» Completed versus invoiced jobs: Follow the rate of
completed service calls versus those that have been invoiced
so you can see how much revenue is delayed or left on the
table.
»» Field technician utilization rate: You can track the amount
of time your techs spend in the field on service calls versus
doing administrative work, such as filling out time sheets and
attending meetings.
Draw Your Roadmap

After you have your vision KPIs, you need a way to get there. That’s
your roadmap. Draw out a roadmap or plans for your implemen-
tation that include all your KPIs, how you’ll reach them, and the
timeline for reaching them.
When drawing up your roadmap, follow these tips:
»» Align your operational and technology transformation steps

that are required to change your field service operations.
»» Prioritize the steps to ensure you maintain focus on the
areas that contribute to your KPIs.
»» Keep the steps manageable. Make sure they aren’t too big or
too small. They should be doable pieces that you can deliver
in a reasonable time.
Focus on the Customer to

Deliver Excellence
Today’s customers expect more from businesses than ever before,
so your company has to do whatever it can to rise to the challenge.
For example, pay close attention to changing demographics.
Younger customers who’ve grown up with technology and only
know the digital versions of many services want instant gratifi-
cation and transparency. They want personalized and customized
experiences. Luckily, these are experiences that an FSM platform
can help provide easily, so make sure to trumpet that fact loud
and clear throughout implementation.
Consider leveraging self-service tools like a customized web por-

tal to empower customers to manage their accounts, pay invoices,
and log service calls. Make it easy and fast for them to place a
service call and give them a way to keep tabs on the entire process,
from the moment they call to the moment they pay their final
invoices. To really punch it up, make sure your customer portal
has a way to exchange feedback. Customers today like to have a
way to easily and remotely interact with the companies they use.
Customer satisfaction is critical to a successful field service busi-

ness. An automated field service solution can make sure you
seamlessly deliver the level of service your customers are looking
for. By choosing a solution that offers a customer portal, custom-
ers can choose their own slots, which puts them in control and
minimizes the need for them to call in and make appointments.
When in the field, field service software lets technicians view all
the customer information to get the job done right the first time
and even lets the customer sign off the job on site.
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by The GPS Insight Team

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHORS HAVE

CHAPTER 1: Introducing Field Service Management

CHAPTER 2: Choosing the Right FSM Software................................... 9

CHAPTER 3: Extending the Impact of Your Investment............ 15

Table of Contents iii

iv Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

FSM software can help businesses of all sizes. Maybe you’re a

About This Book

We walk you through common features and benefits of field ser-

Beyond the Book

GPS Insight provides mission-critical insights needed to make

2 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

»» Seeing the benefits of FSM software

Instead of losing paperwork in the field, losing revenue because

CHAPTER 1 Introducing Field Service Management Software 3

Discovering the Benefits of FSM Software

When you consider the headaches your business endures now,

Reducing your admin load

4 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

»» Automated scheduling: This takes into account available

In Chapter 3, we explain further how you can use these features to

Streamlined workforce management

CHAPTER 1 Introducing Field Service Management Software 5

Improving customer service

Increasing first-time visit fix rates

Shrinking average repair times

6 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

Decreasing environmental impact

Getting paid faster

Securing proper work order

»» Customer service history

CHAPTER 1 Introducing Field Service Management Software 7

Attaining customer sign off

Generating seamless invoices

Setting the stage for business growth

8 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

»» Scaling your business with FSM software

CHAPTER 2 Choosing the Right FSM Software 9

»» Turning down new, last-minute jobs because you don’t

10 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

»» Is built for the cloud: Using a solution on the cloud means

CHAPTER 2 Choosing the Right FSM Software 11

12 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

Considering Your Scale Requirements

SMB, B2C, and new to digital

Choose a vendor that understands the culture of smaller teams

Midsize organizations to enterprise

»» Provide a way to make major organization-wide process

CHAPTER 2 Choosing the Right FSM Software 13

ANTICIPATING AND OVERCOMING

• Needing to increase capacity without adding resources: FSM

14 Field Service Management For Dummies, GPS Insight Special Edition

»» Integrating your systems like a pro

»» Using your IoT to enhance your business

»» Heightening the value of your existing

Overall, the idea is to keep it as specific, yet adaptable, as possi-

Using an FSM Hub Approach

CHAPTER 3 Extending the Impact of Your Investment 15

To get up to speed in today’s world, you have to use an FSM hub

Unlocking the Key to Success: Integration