How to keep track of what is happening in the service department

In the service trade, field teams play a key role in delivering to customers. Yet supervising workers in that setting is a challenge for service companies. Here are a few reasons why overseeing your people can be the sore point of a field service operation.

No visibility. It is often hard to have full visibility of where your field workers are at any given moment. You cannot monitor their location or their progress on jobs as it happens. That lack of visibility leads to inefficient use of time, delays in completing jobs and a loss of control over service processes.

Imprecise time reporting. Tracking the working time of field staff can be problematic. Reporting hours by hand is often inaccurate and prone to error, and it is hard to verify whether the hours reported match the time actually spent on the tasks. That produces discrepancies in billing, excess costs and dissatisfied customers.

Insufficient documentation. Supervising field workers also requires proper documentation. Without adequate records of the tasks carried out on site, the repairs, the parts replaced or the problems reported, you get ambiguity, no accountability and difficulty during audits. Documentation is essential for quality and for meeting customer requirements.

Inefficient job management. In field service, managing jobs efficiently matters. Without the right tools and systems it is hard to track progress, assign tasks, plan routes or monitor punctuality. The result is chaos, delays and unhappy customers.

Irregularities and abuse. Without proper oversight of field workers you open the door to irregularities and abuse. With no way to monitor what people do there is a risk of working time being used improperly, costs being billed dishonestly or company resources being used without authorisation. That threatens both profitability and reputation.

The conclusions are clear: supervising people is a sore point in field service. There are solutions, though. Modern tools and technology such as GPS monitoring, mobile apps, electronic time reporting and remote access to documentation can significantly improve oversight of field workers, increase visibility and make the service operation more efficient.

Jakub Klimkowski