Today’s workplaces are no longer confined to four walls, a single station, a truck, one location, or even your desk. With innovative mobile devices and a remote workforce – they’re now everywhere. Our workforces are mobile, fluid, and moving from one place to another (hopefully, both quickly and efficiently).
From those closest to the trouble, like crews mobile workers performing routine maintenance, and teams handling pop-up emergencies; to dispatchers, schedulers, managers, or operators working from home – each mobile workforce has a limited number of resources available to meet customer expectations while the calls, tasks, and work tickets keep increasing.
That’s where mobile workforce management software comes in. Mobile workforce management software can give operations real-time automated workflows that keep workers safe, productive, and on to the next task, no matter where they are.
Interested in mobile workforce management software? See what ARCOS can do for you.
WHAT IS MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT?
Mobile workforce management is the set of solutions used to manage teams in the field or outside of an office environment. They are used to manage staff workload, schedule, monitor, track, mobilize, equip, and report a mobile team’s progress as they are assigned work, complete work orders, and support customers while giving mobile workforce crewmembers the flexibility and ability to work from home, the road, or an emergency shelter.
THE BENEFITS OF MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
There are many benefits of using mobile workforce management software, such as:
- Increased Productivity – Using a workforce management system, dispatchers, schedulers, and operators can save time while performing or automating tasks. This frees them to work on other high-priority items from any location. Plus, crew work assignments are streamlined by hours and can get teams to the next job site faster with handy mobile apps.
- Real-Time, Complete Visibility – With mobile workforce management software, work tickets can be assigned more efficiently when you know where everybody is in real-time. Crews and mobile employees with the correct skillsets can arrive on a scene, finish a job quickly, and get on to the next tasks that need to be tackled. It also adds to the transparency of an organization’s day-to-day operations, increasing situational awareness.
- Decisions Based on the Historical Record – Reporting becomes instantaneous, meaning rational, distinct, and informed resource allocation decisions can be made more efficiently, positively impacting mobile workforce operations in a productive, valuable, current, and concise manner. The mobile data from the field is essential in ensuring that decisions are implemented and completed quickly, even in emergencies.
- An increase in CAIDI/SAIDI and customer satisfaction scores – Delays in restoration or repair can be decreased or eliminated, improving the customer experience. Their everyday life is restored with no muss or fuss, and happy customers will rate operations at an all-time high.
Mobile workforce management makes for an agile solution to perplexing resource management questions that have existed since resource management was invented. But what should utilities and companies look for in mobile workforce management solutions?
Easy-to-use Software to Manage Your Mobile Workforce
WHAT MAKES A MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTION A “MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION”?
It’s an important distinction that “mobile” workforce management solutions should actually be mobile. A solution like ARCOS Mobile Workbench is SaaS – Software as a Service – and cloud based. This mobile workforce management software can be delivered on-demand wherever employees may be and on mobile devices of their choice. In real-time, it must reach workers out of the office who are not tied to a desk or may already be in the field.
Mobile workforce software solutions must also automate scheduling and dispatch employees to new work tickets – and deliver the jobs to field employees, without any delay. It should also track appropriate team members as they move from task to task, logging start, end, and travel times. If it doesn’t create a reviewable, real-time historical record, it’s not a proper workforce management solution.
Another key feature of mobile workforce management software is the ability to exchange data with existing systems an organization is using. The ARCOS Mobile Workbench does just that by extending the life of aging GIS, Outage, EAMS, or other workforce management systems. Mobile Workforce Management Software should augment an organization’s response and not hinder it as a stand-alone solution.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN DETERMINING WHICH MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TO USE
There’s no shortage of mobile workforce solutions on the market, so how do you know the ARCOS Mobile Workbench is the right mobile workforce management software for your organization? Here are some factors to keep in mind when considering software solutions:
Is Implementation Easy?
The integration and set-up process varies drastically between field service management software options. You need a solution that won’t disrupt your operations or require excessive costs. At ARCOS, we offer extensive set-up support with weeks of on-site training to ensure your new software is up and running quickly and works flawlessly.
How easy is it to use?
Chances are you have a diverse team of mobile employees with a wide skill set—and they may not all be technologically savvy. Ease of use is important when it comes to workforce management software to ensure everyone can use it and use it fast.
The last thing you want is frustrated employees wasting time on mobile devices in the field trying to figure out how to use mobile management tools that are supposed to make things easier. Our on-site training program will also help in this department. We’ll make sure your team has everything they need to use the ARCOS Mobile Workbench with ease, from mobile access to data insights.
Can it handle third-party support?
Whether you currently use other third-party workforce management solutions or not, it’s best to find field service management software that will integrate with other applications. We like to think of the ARCOS Mobile Workbench as an extension of our client’s existing and future systems and designed our software to play well with others.
What is the overall cost?
As with any business decision, cost is a crucial concern. How long will it take you to recoup your implementation costs? Are there ongoing costs associated with the software? Make sure the solution you’re considering pencils out financially. We’ve done our best to make the ARCOS Mobile Workbench a cost-effective mobile workforce management software solution for your mobile workforce.
Is it scalable?
Your field service management software should be able to meet your needs now and in the future, scaling seamlessly as your operation grows and expands. The ARCOS Mobile Workbench is suitable for a mobile workforce of any size and offers features to enhance operational efficiency for any team—whether you have two employees or 200!
Read more about ARCOS Mobile Workbench as your workforce management software solution, or, better yet, request a demo to see it in action.
What is the best workforce management software?
While, of course, we’ve worked hard to make the ARCOS Mobile Workbench the best mobile workforce management software out there, we recognize that “best” will vary from company to company. The best solution for you will depend on your unique needs. You’ll need to consider your budget, existing software solutions, and operational needs.
Our team is happy to provide any information you may need to decide if the ARCOS Mobile Workbench is right for your organization, and if not, suggest a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that would be a better fit. We’ve made it our mission to help utilities, airlines, and manufacturers do more in less time at lower costs.
What is mobile workforce management software? What are WFM tools?
Workforce management (WFM) software streamlines field service management by creating a centralized, cloud-based platform with proper tools to manage, schedule, and track mobile workers. It will also provide everything you need to communicate and respond to employees and customers more effectively.
With real-time visibility of your network status and crew positions, you’ll be able to make informed decisions on the fly and from anywhere, thanks to mobile capabilities. These tools also allow you to review data to explore what’s working, what’s not, and how your organization can improve. Mobile workforce management software even allows you to automatically create predictive maintenance work orders based on past work orders for equipment and facilities.
What do workforce management tools do?
The exact function of workforce management software varies, but with the ARCOS Mobile Workbench, you can:
- Assign, distribute, and execute damage assessments, inspections, and work orders
- Assign mobile workers or employees to work orders and track their progress
- Modify work orders or make notes in real-time
- Make informed decisions on assignment of work based on which employees are on the clock and where they are in the field
- Generate data reports for all fieldwork assignments, including benchmarking and cost reports
- Create automatic municipal or state permitting applications
- Automate quotes for new service connection requests
- Offer self-service options for quotes and filing work order requests to improve customer experience
- Manage field-based projects and maintenance
- Execute billing processes and access financial data
- View material and equipment assessment information
Elevate Your Field Service Operations
Mobile workforces are already here. Ensure your employees are equipped with the latest mobile workforce management system to deliver services, streamline communication, maximize resource allocation, and allow crews and teams to get to and complete work faster.
