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A ccording to a 2018 research report from the Aberdeen Group 'First-time fix: revisit a metric driving success' the objectives of many field services are:

• Improving customer satisfaction
• Increasing turnover
• Reducing costs and repeat visits
• Improving the response/approach times
• Formulation of orgainsational objectives
• Performance indicators for 'first-time fix'

First-time fix (FTF) refers to solving a work assignment or customer problem during the first visit. Each subsequent customer contact; a second visit or a service call is no longer a first-time fix.

This rate is one of the most important KPIs within the field service industry. According to the Aberdeen Group report the biggest customer frustration is that the troubleshooting or maintenance cannot be carried out in one go.

First-time fix rates can provide an early indicator of dissatisfied customers, customer turnover and reduced service turnover. In addition to the customer perspective, this indicator is important from an organisational perspective because it has a direct impact on margins, turnover and operating costs.

More and more organisations are using first-time fix as the steering instrument for field service efficiency. This is due to the many interfaces with other field service performance results but also with regard to customer satisfaction and financial key figures.

According to the Aberdeen Group, on average, service organisations have a first-time fix percentage of 75%. This means that for 25% of all assignments a follow-up order must be created, planned and completed.

FIRST-TIME-FIX AND MATHEMATICAL ADVANTAGES

When a service call is placed, your service desk team will utilise all information available to determine most likely skills and materials required and FLS VISITOUR will utilise PowerOpt algorithm to optimise schedules and routes within seconds based on the factors provided.

However, when a job cannot subsequently be completed by the engineer then it is important to arrange a revisit quickly and efficiently with least disruption for the customer.

FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE combine to enable the engineer to order materials and schedule a suitable follow-up call with the customer whilst still on-site, and without involvement by service desk team. This dramatically reduces planning efforts and minimises negative feelings for the customer.

Thanks to the PowerOpt algorithm in combination with FLS MOBILE, more time can therefore be focused on the early diagnosis to ensure that the right field service engineers with the required skills and the necessary materials are connected to the job. The percentage of first-time fix assignments will also therefore increase.