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FIELD SERVICE TECHNICIANS: 6 TIPS FOR AN EFFICIENT DISPATCH
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15 May 2023 · Christoph Bertram
15 May 2023 · Christoph Bertram
T
he dispatching of field service technicians is a critical function of efficient and productive field service management. Live dispatching throughout the day contributes significantly to customer satisfaction, technician productivity and, ultimately, company profitability. Here are 6 tips to help you optimse the dispatch process for field service technicians.
1. SET CLEAR PRIORITIES
Prioritise the tasks of your dispatchers and service technicians. Not all service calls have the same urgency, not every job promises the same return. Use a data-led diagnosis to categorise your orders against your unique SLAs, and ensure that urgent issues are correctly prioritised. Customers with time-sensitive orders can be served as quickly as possible, without damaging the day's plans.2. THE RIGHT SKILLS MATCHING
Take into account the qualifications, certifications, and availabilities of your service technicians. Make sure that your dispatchers know exactly the skills and experience of your technicians. Employee skills must be integrated with the dispatching system. A good knowledge of each technician's strengths will help you improve service efficiency and quality.3. OPTIMISE DISPATCH WITH APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
In the meantime, there are specialist solutions for the dispatch of service technicians. Over and above skills matching, the times of Excel, Outlook and Google Maps are over. Embedded route planning and connected field service apps enable better planning and monitoring of technician assignments and ensure faster response times to live customer inquiries. In addition, they automate in-day dispatching.
4. A BALANCED ENVIRONMENT FOR DISPATCHERS
The disatch desk can be a stressful role. Especially when something changes unexpectedly during the course of the day, things quickly become hectic and further queries arise. The more balanced you make the workplace, the better the office results can reflect this. This includes an ergonomic and low-noise workplace as well as modern, user-friendly tools for success. Regular training and continuing education also contribute to performance, as do recognition and appreciation. Consider how you share positive customer feedback.5. MOVE YOUR DISPATCH PLANS INTO TOURS
Move appointments from A-B to entire tours across a shift (and across your entire workforce availability). Field service technicians' tours are the modern key to increased efficiency. At the end of the day, dispatchers must bring together all factors such as customer appointment requests, employee skills, technician availability and order priority. Modern dispatch planning software considers this and calculates the best outcome in a matter of seconds. Software-based scheduling and dispatch with embedded routing often leads to companies completing more orders per technician, per day. The scalability cannot be ignored!6. TOOLS FOR LIVE COMMUNICATION
Clear and effective communication with your technicians is critical for smooth dispatching. Support both your field workforce and dispatch desk throughout the shift with all relevant information about the works, including location details, service history, and specific requirements/instructions. Integrated communication between the head office and mobile workforce makes everyone's job easier and reduces conflict.A DEEPER DIVE
Efficient dispatching of your service technicians leads to shorter response times, faster solutions to customer problems, and ultimately higher customer satisfaction. At the same time, it enables you to deploy resources effectively and reduce costs.Continuously optimise your technician dispatching with training, clear feedback and appropriate technologies for more transparency and productivity. Successful dispatching of service technicians is the result of competent and motivated employees with the right processes and tools that recognise your unique operation.
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To gain an understanding of tools to optimise field dispatch operations and manage efficiency for your workforce and customers book a short discussion or contact us at info@fastleansmart.com.Read more:
Gannt Charts and Route Scheduling: digital advantages
What modern software can do for tour optimisation
Stop planning Field Service Appointments with Outlook
Route Planning with Google Maps? 5 reasons this is impossible