BLOG / SOLUTIONS · WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

SOCIAL HOUSING AND FIELD SERVICE EXPECTATIONS

As a provider of maintenance/repairs services, 'poor communication and a lack of follow up' is the number one factor negatively impacting satisfaction scores. Workforce management software tracks your field KPIs, and centralises the control and the monitoring of field operations and their communications. This is already assisting providers to meet or exceed expectations.

There are two central themes to achieve this. The first is a guarantee that all field operatives are working with a recognised criteria (tasks, tools, results) and that these results are of an acceptable quality. The software should assist schedulers and dispatchers to manage their operational processes and respond dynamically to field requirements. Integrated call centres, self-service ticket raising, and emergency response are standard ‘always-on’ channels for tenants to engage with your workforce management system.

The other is to safeguard physical locations from slow responses by removing patches/hard borders when scheduling. Modern software consults geocodes (not just street addresses) to include time-of-day driving data for trillions of journeys. With a minimal amount of human administration, the system will always reflect what is physically possible, whilst balancing field operative skills and workloads fairly. Scheduling and route planning with an overlapping radius produces less travel, and tenants are prevented from feeling that they are in a service desert.

Once visited, the connected software may send an exit survey to the tenant and transparent field scheduling answers with the opportunity to book a follow-up appointment in real time. An example: the same field operative is booked for a shorter visit, two weeks later. That binding appointment is placed into the schedule, and new, route- and cost-optimised appointments may be scheduled around it. The appointments are linked, meaning that should the repaired asset fail in the meantime, the already-booked appointment is considered in the schedules and the tenant is notified with efficient options. On the day, they can check the progress of their ticket. All results from the exchange are written back into the CRM for audit.

Engaging the developer of field workforce management software means learning from their experiences to ensure tenant repairs workflows are future-ready. Sector knowledge, whether it’s specific to Housing, or the dozens of appointment types required (such as regulated utilities or voids) is critical. Whilst the new measure will work across the sector, each organisation (and each occupier population) is unique.

Read more: How to reduce Outsourcing risks