Downtime can cost your field service business if not managed properly. It is important to evaluate your current operations and see which areas in your business are being held back by unnecessary downtime. Whether it be material and equipment downtime, data processing downtime, or field technician downtime, this extra time spent on tasks can add up to extra costs. A field service management software can help automate and streamline the management of material and equipment, data, and technicians, and ultimately decrease downtime in your business. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss how field service management software can decrease downtime, and in turn, decrease downtime costs.

Material and Equipment Downtime

Ineffective management of your assets can lead to equipment and materials sitting in warehouses or other storage units. This equipment and material downtime allow your assets to gather dust, preventing your business from fully maximizing usage. A field service management software can help you minimize equipment downtime and provide complete visibility into all your assets at any time.

Data Processing Time

Traditional paper methods for data collection and processing can result in long wait times for field technicians, customers, and office staff. Oftentimes, field technicians who collect data using paper forms or documents are subject to manual errors. These errors may require technicians to re-collect or search for missing data once the paperwork has reached the next stage in data processing. Re-collecting or searching for data results in longer wait times for office staff who need to process information, and longer wait times for customers. A field service management software automates and simplifies data collection and the process after. Mobile forms for data collection and automatic updates in real-time allow your office staff to process data quickly and efficiently, reducing data collection and processing downtime.

Technician Downtime

Inefficient routing and scheduling can leave technicians sitting in traffic or staying on the road longer than necessary. This downtime can cost your business extra fuel costs or even customers if they are left waiting for too long. With traditional, inefficient management tools you may see an increase in vehicle maintenance costs, extra fuel costs, and perhaps a decrease in customer satisfaction. A field service management software provides the platform to efficiently schedule and route technicians to and from worksite locations. Use a drag and drop scheduling tool instead of a whiteboard in the office, and use optimized routing, ensuring that your field technicians are not stuck on the road.

Echo with ServiceEcho

ServiceEcho is the field service management software that can help you decrease downtime in your field service business significantly. Material and equipment, data, and technicians can all be managed on one platform and made more efficient. View inventory and assets reports, collect and process data through mobile devices, and use efficient scheduling and routing tools to ensure that you never have downtime costing your business. If you would like to decrease downtime and make processes more efficient in your field service business, book a demo below to learn more about ServiceEcho.