Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Advanced Field Solutions
Title:  Which Solution is right for your business: End-to-end or best-of-breed
About: As part of our series exploring end to end field service we are pleased to be able to offer you this excellent white paper published by Advanced Field Service that questions whether an end to end service management solution or best-of –breed solution is the right move for your company.
Download: Download the white paper by clicking here

Overview: As the tough economic environment of recent years starts to recede and a measure of confidence returns to the industry, service organisations are increasingly looking to invest in systems that can help them to make the most of the upturn. Replacing your current service management system is never a decision to be undertaken lightly. However, whether you already have a software solution for service in place or have depended heavily on manual processes such as spreadsheets, making the transition to a more powerful, up-to-date solution with modern functionality such as mobile capabilities can impact your whole service process…for the better. Among the potential benefits to be realised with today’s technology are:

• Full traceability of every job and status change – from job creation through to completion

• Instant access to account information from any location – including order, call, equipment and site history

• Engineers arrive at a job equipped with the right documentation, parts and site history, aware of any customer issues

• Engineers can record time sheets and expenses, download technical documents and equipment lists, and securely capture photos and signatures on-site

• Efficiency increases as engineers can remotely view planned work and close jobs on site, send proactive alerts and deliver automatic status updates to the back office

• Control of stock is improved, with full visibility of parts availability and automatically re-orders

• You deliver great customer service as you offer specific appointment times, bill the customer promptly, maintain a full audit trail and complete work quickly and efficiently

In short, you’ll increase the likelihood of a first-time fix, with improved customer satisfaction while reducing your costs. It’s an attractive prospect. This whitepaper looks at some of the options available to field service organisations as they review the market. It also offers some guidance on selecting your new technology, and outlines a suggested eight-point process.

These eight points are prioritise, requirements, expertise, create a shortlist, integration, planning, support and supplier stability are all discussed in further detail in the white paper.