What Is Field Service Automation — And How Can It Help Streamline Your Field Operations

Field Service automation streamlines important recurring tasks to improve efficiency and productivity in field operations. This includes scheduling, dispatching, routeing, asset service management, invoicing, communications and more.

Today’s customers want faster service and expect companies to deliver. Our research finds that 74% of mobile workers say that customer expectations are higher than they used to be. Field service automation can help you to deliver on these expectations by helping your business to respond faster and more accurately.

Let’s look at how field service automation works, how it benefits your team and how to choose the best solution.

• What is field service automation?
• Why is field service automation important?
• How does field service automation work?
• Benefits of field service automation
• Key components of field service automation
• Choosing the right field service automation solution
• Get started with field service automation

Field Service automation uses AI, machine learning and other technologies to simplify and streamline field operations. It can handle manual, yet critical tasks such as scheduling and dispatching technicians, tracking job status, managing inventory and ensuring the right resources are at the right place at the right time.

Field Service automation offers accuracy, real-time updates and streamlined operations. This not only saves time, but also reduces the burden on your team and enhances the overall customer experience. Our research finds that 83% of mobile workers at organisations with automation see the technology as a moderate to major benefit, better enabling them to focus on customers.

In contrast, manual processes are often characterised by paper-based systems, lack of real-time data, as well as the following:

• Errors: Our research shows that 68% of technician time is spent on tasks like manually entering case notes and performing administrative tasks. Manual data entry and repetitive tasks often result in accidental and human errors.
• Inefficiencies: Your team can spend hours of their day sifting through paperwork to identify and resolve customer problems, which slows down productivity. Slow communication between dispatchers and technicians can also cause delays.
• Complex scheduling: Dispatchers must co-ordinate multiple technicians' schedules based on paper service tickets and spreadsheets. This process is not only time-consuming, it also can be difficult to manage.
• Disjointed customer experiences: Due to the high volumes of data dispatchers must relay from technicians to customers, details can get lost. Service will not be seamless and customers will get annoyed.
• Stress and low satisfaction: Manual processes can be hard on technicians and frustrating for customers, leading to lower satisfaction rates and high burnout.

Field service automation integrates the various functions of field operations into a single field service management platform. Here’s how it typically works:

1. Service request initiation: The process begins with request. This can be from a customer through various customer service channels like voice, website or SMS. It can also be by proactive maintenance, predicting an upcoming service need based on the maintenance schedule or real-time performance or usage of an asset.
2. Work order management: Once a service has been identified, a work order is automatically created to track all the details. This includes the parts needed, work plans and steps within each work plan to complete the service, relevant knowledge base articles and customer information. This work order than gets automatically attached to the service appointment that gets scheduled. These work order details help your dispatchers to schedule the right technician.
3. Automated scheduling and dispatching: Your field service management platform uses algorithms to automatically schedule the service based on the urgency, location and the availability of qualified technicians. It then assigns and dispatches the technician who best fits the job requirements.
4. Job details access: Technicians receive all necessary job details on their mobile devices, such as customer information, service history and specific job requirements, with AI-generated pre-work briefs. This ensures that they have a good understanding of what is needed before starting a job — and saves your dispatchers time.
5. Real-time updates and mobility: As your technicians work on their assigned job, they can update the job status in real-time through their mobile devices. They can also access asset data to check the availability of required parts and manage documentation digitally, eliminating the need for physical paperwork. AI automates administrative tasks like generating post-work summaries that can be added to the work order. .
6. Customer communication: Your customers are kept in the loop through automated updates about appointment schedules, changes and status of the service on their mobile devices with Appointment Assistant. This improves transparency and increases customer satisfaction (CSAT).
7. Data collection and analysis: The system collects data from every service interaction, which can be analysed to gain insights into operational efficiency, technician performance and customer satisfaction. Field service metrics are crucial for making informed decisions to improve service quality and delivery.
8. Feedback and continuous improvement: After service completion, customers can provide feedback directly to your field service management platform right from their mobile devices. This feedback is valuable for continuous improvement and helping your business adapt to customer needs and expectations.

These automated steps minimises errors, saves time and optimises the co-ordination of field operations. This can lead to increased productivity and better overall customer experience.

The benefits of field service automation are significant. Here just a few that you’ll see:

• Increased efficiency: Streamlines scheduling and dispatching, reducing the time it takes to assign jobs.
• Improved worker productivity: Handles manual tasks, such as pre-work briefs, invoicing and post-work summaries, so your team can focus on service delivery.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction: Improves response times and service quality, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Reduced costs: Minimises travel times and operational costs with route optimisation.
• Better visibility: Offers real-time insights into field operations, allowing for better decision-making and strategic planning.
• Improved compliance and accuracy: Enhances record-keeping and reporting, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and reducing the likelihood of errors.

Field Service automation can help you streamline everything from scheduling to reporting. Below are some of the core areas where automation can help your business the most:

• Scheduling and dispatch capabilities: Tools that help assign the right technician to the right job at the right time with dispatch management.
• Route optimisation: This capability makes sure your mobile workers always take the fastest and most cost-efficient route, supporting sustainability.
• Mobile field service apps: Applications that let your field service workers access information, update job statuses and communicate with dispatchers and customers in real time.
• Customer management: Features that enable better tracking of customer interactions, preferences and service history.
• Asset service management: Systems that track parts and equipment, ensuring that your field service technicians have what they need to complete jobs completely, the first time.
• Invoicing: Once a job is complete, generate and send invoices automatically to streamline billing processes, reduce administrative overhead and improve cash flow.
• Analytics and reporting: Tools that analyse data and generate reports to help you to understand customer trends, technician performance and areas for improvement.

When it comes to streamlining your field service operations, many parts of the process can be automated. But when choosing an automation solution that's right for you, here’s what you should consider:

• Business size and needs: How large is your business? Do you plan to expand or add services? Make sure your solution can scale with your business and match your specific operational needs, such as dispatch management, route optimisation and asset service management.
• Integration capabilities: Field service automation should integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, such as CRM and ERP.
• User-friendliness: Ensure the solution is easy for your team to use to maximise adoption and effectiveness. Change management is key.
• Support and training: Consider the level of customer support and training provided by the vendor. Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning platform, is a great way to get your team up to speed. Your team can also benefit by joining Salesforce’s Serviceblazer Community, where they can learn field service automation best practices from other field service pros.
• Cost: Evaluate your investment against the features offered and the potential ROI from increased efficiency and reduced operational costs.

Your customers want speedy and high-quality service. Field service automation helps your team deliver on these expectations with every job — from dispatch management to the field. Streamlined processes and higher productivity can lead to higher CSAT, while reducing operational costs.

You’ll make life easier for your whole field service team by providing them with easy access to customer histories, route optimisation and automatic updates to customers. These capabilities help to reduce stress for them and your customers.

If you're looking to improve the quality and efficiency of your field service, while strengthening customer relationships, field service automation is key. Your service teams will be ahead of the curve when it comes to more responsive and customer-focused operations.