What is technician scheduling software?

Technician scheduling software is a software tool or platform that helps maintenance teams organize their technicians’ work assignments. A typical technical scheduling platform has a combination of some or all of the following features:

  • Calendar for individual technicians
  • Work order creation
  • Work order management
  • A way to submit work requests
  • Customizable push notifications
  • Time tracking

While analog or paper-based scheduling methods are being used in some organizations, most companies have upgraded to technician scheduling software for the convenience, clarity, and coordination that it provides.

Types of technician scheduling software

Technician scheduling software comes in different forms and is known by different names depending on how they’re built and who they’re built for:

Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)

A CMMS is an all-in-one maintenance management platform that handles all aspects of a maintenance program, particularly the maintenance activity of physical assets. This includes technician scheduling, inventory management on work orders, and work order analytics and reporting.

Enterprise asset management (EAM) software

Maintenance scheduling and work order management are a small slice of what EAM platforms are designed for. EAM software is built to manage assets throughout their entire lifecycle, from design to maintenance and disposal. Because EAM software includes such a wide range of use cases, the technician schedule system within it is often complex and not suited to all maintenance teams.

Asset performance management (APM) software

An APM platform is often used in partnership with EAM software as a means to generate reliability analytics and insights for the organization. The APM software needs data on asset performance, failure data, and maintenance operations data in order to run. This includes technician work order details which can be obtained either by drawing it from the EAM or capturing the data itself.

Benefits of technician scheduling software

Easier call scheduling

Most modern technician scheduling software uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to make it easy to view details of pending jobs, the availability of each respective technician, and the stocks of parts and equipment.

Push notifications

Automatic alerts help keep your technicians up-to-date on critical job-related events wherever they are, whether it’s reminders on routine tasks or critical time-sensitive updates.

Manage unexpected changes

It’s important to stay flexible in the maintenance industry, and technician scheduling software can help you easily accommodate last-minute changes to the schedule.

Automated decision making

Advanced technician scheduling software can efficiently book service calls based on availability, skill set, and current stock levels. This helps reduce the chance of errors in booking technician calls and increases stakeholder satisfaction.

Waste reduction and efficiency gains

Travelling to a call can be expensive in terms of fuel, technician time, and opportunity cost, so you want to maximize fieldwork as much as possible. This means coordinating work order schedules to get maximum productivity with every technician’s trip.

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Tips for using technician scheduling software

Develop a system of prioritization

There are often too many calls for service and not enough technicians to go around, so you need to develop a system of prioritization to ensure you service the most urgent and important tasks. Ranking factors differ based on the organization, so have an internal conversation with stakeholders from other departments to establish a hierarchy.

Balance manual and automated scheduling

Automated scheduling saves time and increases efficiency, but it’s sometimes necessary to redistribute resources in order to receive the most optimal result. This can happen in cases where a specific person is needed for a job, or when you need to take into account factors that the software tool is not aware of.

Track and leverage analytics

Tracking job-related data such as first-time fixes, repeat incidents, service times, and the like can help your maintenance operation become more efficient. Measuring trends over time helps you discover the bottlenecks and most common issues. It also provides documented performance metrics that you can bring to management in the event you need to ask for additional support.

Technician scheduling software vs. field service management software

Technician scheduling software and field service management software share some similarities, but are used in different ways and for different purposes. Below is a table that illustrates some of the differences:

Technician scheduling software

Field service management software

Used to

Schedule technicians and manage their work

Help companies manage their field service operations

Used by

Small businesses that employ technicians, companies that hire outside contractors or freelancers, and construction companies-since they need to coordinate large projects with multiple subcontractors and suppliers.

Service providers, manufacturers, installers, maintenance companies, and contractors.

Assists

Small and large enterprise businesses that want to improve operations, job scheduling, labor costs, invoicing, and customer service. It gives the user valuable insights to optimize each field technician’s workday by providing them with the right tools and training for each job.

In manufacturing often for companies that produce goods and then transport them to retailers or suppliers. The software assists in monitoring the performance of the product while on route for delivery, job status, team members, and more.

Technician scheduling software can keep your operations running smoothly

Businesses need technician scheduling software to organize their technicians’ work assignments, which is especially useful for companies with multiple service areas or geographic locations. The software allows maintenance teams to assign tasks to the right technicians at the right time, so they can complete all of their tasks efficiently.

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