When choosing which software platform to go for to assist and enhance your business, there are often many things to think about before taking the first steps. It is best to do your research and we answer some great questions that we have been asked in order to clarify the simplicity of the process of going digital.
1.What is the main benefit of implementing software into my business?
Depending on the type of business you have and the elements which you need software to assist with, service management software deals with various business commodities and aspects. It aims to do the following:
- Improve performance and work output – enable your staff to become more efficient and proactive than ever before. Give them the tools they need to send, access and complete jobs whether they are in the office or in the field. This allows your organisation to increase performance for every job and help you achieve your business goals quicker and more smoothly than ever before.
- Save your business time and money – service management software cuts down the time it takes to schedule and receive jobs, capture data in the field and return the information back to the office for completion. It enables the whole process to happen more quickly, allowing you to save both time and money – what could be better than that!
- Store your data safely in the cloud – Be relaxed in the knowledge that your data as well as all your clients is stored safely in the cloud and be able to reassure your customers that all your documentation of their records are compliant. For more information on security, see question 3 below.
- Access your information instantly – Storing your data in the cloud means that is accessible anytime, anywhere as long as the correct security permissions are in place, which you have the ability to regulate. With paperwork gone, you are able to use search functionalities to access information instantaneously, making your employees lives much easier whilst impressing your customers with your speed and accuracy!
2. What support will we get?
When searching for mobile field service software, you will need to think about what sort of support they will provide you. It is no good just buying software that gives you no support – you need to invest in one that has a team behind it to assist you where necessary as the support they provide you is vital for your success and to get the best out of the software. Moving away from a paperless environment or transitioning from one software platform to another can take some adjustments and it is imperative that your software provider is able to offer you the guidance you need for this change.
Below are some questions you should ask your software provider:
- Do I get a designated a point of contact (Customer Success Manager) during implementation and beyond?
- What is the Technical support like?
- Does the vendor have any help tutorials (i.e. video content / online help articles)
Deciding on a vendor to provide mobile field service software can be challenging as there are many to choose from. So it is really important to look into the support behind the software as it will be key to ensure you get the full benefit out of your software. Read more about the importance of support and how we handle customer support from our side here.
3. How will we know our data is safe?
This is a question that should be at the top of your list, however the answer should be simple. A software provider should be able to explain to you in a clear cut way how your data will be stored and the methods behind keeping it secure within the cloud.
At Klipboard, we have a few specific ways in which we do this:
- Our cloud infrastructure is built on the Microsoft Azure platform and ensures safe data capture and storage. Azure meets a broad set of international and industry-specific compliance standards, such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 1 and SOC 2, as well as country-specific standards including Australia IRAP, UK G-Cloud, and Singapore MTCS.
- Our web dashboard and mobile tablet app require unique user login credentials and passwords are one way hashed to ensure that they cannot be deciphered by third parties or leaked.
- There is an optional pass-code access on the mobile and tablet app as well as an automatic timer lock giving additional layers of security.
- Klipboard offers the ability to assign permissions to specific mobile and tablet app users from the web dashboard, allowing for full control over what each user can do.
To find out more about our security measures or questions you should ask, take a look at our security section.
4. How does the quoting and invoicing work?
Electronic quoting allows you to send and quote for a job, before converting into a job once approved. This allows for a job to be completed and an invoice can be automatically generated based on the information provided from the quote and completed job.
This whole process is much more efficient than paper based methods and enables financial information regarding sales, invoices and credits to be stored together and transferred directly to the company’s accounts software. Overall, it allows a business the power to update quotes and invoices on a day-to-day basis with simplicity and ease.
5.Will it take a long time to get up and running?
A field service software platform should be extremely simple to set up and this is well worth asking when investigating which one to choose. With Klipboard, we are able to set you up and implement across your business, within a matter of minutes. We offer levels of support to set up forms and workflows, which can take more time but this is something that we work with you on to become even quicker and streamlined.
There are several questions to ask before implementing a field service management software – these are just a few! If you have any further questions, check out our FAQs or contact a member of the team on 0203 8177655.