The quality of your assets is one thing; the way that they are managed is completely another. When it comes to your retail IT, you need full-scale support around the clock and around the world. Who knows when or for what reason you will have a problem? If you have a weak job life cycle, your company will have trouble operating at a profit for very long.
The right field management software can help your company control the flow of your job life cycle. Support for that infrastructure is paramount — you must invest in a system that provides 24/7/365 tech assistance and dispatches for IT emergencies.
Here are six reasons that you should support your retail IT across the world with field management software and global dispatch services.
1. Work Order Management
One of the most important features of field management software is the ability to send work orders to remote technicians. These technicians can be targeted based on their level of expertise, availability, and urgency of the job. The software can help to track these jobs as they occur, provide a history of technicians who perform well on those jobs, and list multiple work orders at once. The net result is a more satisfied customer with a lower overall cost to the company.
2. Customer Data Access
Remote technicians need access to the right data if they are to properly address the needs of the customer in a timely manner. If you have good dispatch software on the job, you can send contact information, previous work history, and customer preferences to your technicians in real-time. You will also be able to empower the technician with notes from past jobs, including the model numbers of specific equipment. Sending these details reduces the amount of time that technicians need to spend in the field, again resulting in a better customer experience.
3. Planning Routes
If you’re sending out many technicians at once, you need an extremely precise level of organization. You’ll be able to coordinate multiple jobs at once if you have the right field service management software. Organize requests by geography to optimize travel time and reduce wear and tear to your physical resources. Make it on time regardless of your tight schedule and leave more time available for future jobs. Prioritize the work based on the urgency of the job and the attitude of the customer. The best software packages will employ GPS tech to help you plan the best route for each job.
4. Trend ID
If you can identify patterns in a workflow, you can view trends in the productivity of your individual technicians. You’ll also be able to monitor the performance of your dispatch under pressure. With information like this at your fingertips, you can reduce the excuses and office politics that invariably come with labor.
5. Unapplied Time Recapture
As mentioned above, the right field service software allows you can follow the progress of each work order in a precise way. The increased transparency saves the company money by reducing overcharges on billable hours or otherwise padding time sheets. The company can also help technicians prioritize billable work over non-billable tasks in the field.
6. Morale Boosting
Because you now have the hard productivity numbers on your technicians, you can perform quantifiable comparisons that may help to encourage slower workers to catch up with the performance of company leaders. One of the most important ways to use statistics is as a morale booster. Your employees are much more likely to respect you if they know that you are willing to take the time to analyze performance.
Partners such as Kinettix offer 24/7/365 dispatches for IT emergencies. Give yourself access to the advantages above — employ a fully dedicated, expert partner company for your retail IT support.
