Top 5 Work Order Management Software for Your Service Business

Work order management is one of the most underrated aspects of the field service business. Departments have countless tasks, such as preventative maintenance, regular maintenance, emergency repairs, and so on. However, when maintenance (planned or on-demand) is performed actively, manual or paper-based approaches, as well as antiquated work order management systems, are insufficient.

Especially when the world is now moving forward with cutting-edge technology and competitors are leveraging advanced digital tools for work order management, not using technology can potentially hinder business growth. That is why more and more service companies are embracing work order management software today.

With that being said, it is also crucial to choose the right software system for your company. Every business is different, and so are their technological needs. Therefore, you must pick a work order software that caters to your specific needs. Dabbling with unnecessary features and tools will not only waste your money, but it is also a serious waste of time in the current competitive environment.

So, which work order management software is ideal for you? What software programs are the leading companies using right now? Why do you even need a work order management system? You will find all your answers here in this article. Read on to learn more.

What is Work Order Management Software?

Work order software enables managers to schedule the use of assets and resource allocation in order to maintain load-sharing across all resources.

In simple terms, work order management software is a digital tool that helps managers effectively supervise and manage all work orders. It consolidates all work order information into a single dashboard, where managers/ executives may find out which field technicians are working on which work order, what the status of the service order is, and how many tasks are finished or remain to be attended. Managers can also use work order management software to assign tasks to staff based on their needs, handle repetitive maintenance orders, and prepare work order reports. Furthermore, it delivers analytics data.

What are The Benefits of Work Order Management Software?

Some of the major benefits that work order management software can bring to your business are as follows:

Decreased Paperwork

Gone are the days when every maintenance task required paperwork and human intervention. There were lots of chances for errors, such as an essential file going missing. You may quickly automate your backend activities using work order management software so that everything remains organized and easy, with every service detail visible on the dashboard.

Rather than making paper tickets for each task, which also involves laborious work, every document is managed in the software, and any document can be found in seconds. The dashboard contains all of the information on an asset, such as what has to be done. Everyone is on the same page thanks to the system.

Enhanced Asset Performance

When maintenance is completed on time, the asset is optimized, and its performance improves. Avoiding breakdowns increases asset life. Forecasting possible faults saves an organization a lot of money because it is more cost effective to replace a few pieces of a machine than the entire unit.

Extended Asset Life

Tracking asset life is also critical for a field service business. With the software, you can determine whether the asset is functioning properly or not, whether it requires any type of assistance, and so on. In general, it guarantees that assets are performing magnificently and advancing as planned.

When an organization is aware of the condition of its assets, it can make the best decisions to save money and extend the asset lifecycle. One of the primary benefits of tracking assets is that it allows for better oversight, management, and expansion of the asset lifecycle. It provides regular updates to ensure the best possible asset upkeep.

Faster Response Time

An efficient work order system helps reduce turnaround times by completing work more quickly, as improved transparency allows managers to identify and handle maintenance-related issues more quickly.

Improved Service Quality

The facilities manager can ensure better outcomes by communicating work orders using work order software, as such platforms considerably increase the likelihood that instructions are clear, easily accessible, well-received, and performed on time. The tracking technologies enable continuous monitoring of critical performance areas, providing a method for enforcing quality standards and boosting employee accountability.

Detailed Analytics for Better Decision-Making

Another important aspect of work order software is the report. Reports can progressively inform managers about the type of preventive maintenance performed on assets, the potential issues that may arise with various assets, and how to schedule the optimum preventive maintenance for each asset.

Work order reports also include analytics for each asset. In other words, it can provide comprehensive analytics to identify unproductive assets and fix non-performing maintenance concerns.

What are the Best Work Order Management Software Systems?

Considering the manifold advantages work order software can provide, it is only common sense to ditch paper-based work order management and switch to digital tools. But which work order software can give you the best value for your money?

Here are the best choices put together based on use cases.

1. Field Promax

Field Promax is perhaps the most popular work order management software today. Chosen by a multitude of service industries, it is known for its superior ease of use and the plethora of useful features that efficiently streamline and systematize work order management, among other service tasks.

Field Promax is primarily a cloud-based field service management software. It comes with a comprehensive dashboard with color-coded multiple calendar views that enables managers to see all the active, upcoming, and past work orders on a single platform. The color codes help managers keep work orders organized, ensuring there is no overbooking or missed appointments. Using the system, one can easily schedule and dispatch field technicians with just a click. It also automatically sends notifications to technicians, making sure no assignments are missed.

The solution also includes an integrated mobile app for field team management. It connects field technicians to management operations, providing them with complete access to all relevant data such as daily and monthly schedules, customer addresses, task information, and much more. Technicians can also use the app to clock in and out, update their task status, alert management about the time spent on a particular assignment, and add products and parts utilized to the work order so that they are calculated in the final invoice. However, owing to GPS technology, management can also track the whereabouts of the technicians in real time and plan appropriately.

Feature Highlights:

• Scheduling and dispatch management
• Time-keeping
• Daily, weekly, monthly, and team view schedules
• Cloud storage
• Alerts and notifications
• Reports and analytics
• Electronic signature support
• Routing
• Estimates
• Billing and Invoicing
• Recurring work orders
• Real-time monitoring with GPS
• Payment collection and payment tracking
• Mobile app (iOS and Android)
• QuickBooks integration

2. mHelpdesk

mHelpDesk is a field service solution that enables automation of every backend task, from initial interaction with customers to final payment. This comprises customer management, scheduling, quoting, dispatching, invoicing, billing, and reporting.

mHelpDesk includes a number of features to help a field service-oriented organization, including accounting integration with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. It also has an offline mode, which allows technicians to use the mobile app even when there is no internet or phone reception. Being a cloud-based system, mHelpdesk enables field technicians to obtain all job-related information directly from their smartphones. It also gives visibility into personnel schedules, which aids in dispatching and alerting field employees.

Feature Highlights: 

• Dashbaord
• Activity tracking
• Scheduling and dispatching
• Alerts and notifications
• Asset tracking
• Quotes and estimates
• CRM
• Invoices
• Digital signature
• Mobile app
• GPS
• Historical database management
• Reporting

3. Service Fusion

Service Fusion is an all-in-one field service management solution that gives small-to-midsize service contractors the tools they need to grow their businesses. With enterprise-level features, the software enables businesses to operate from anywhere. It allows service teams to produce estimates and jobs, schedule and dispatch, and create invoices.

Service Fusion now provides services to businesses in a wide range of field service industries, including plumbing,  HVAC, electrical, appliance repair, IT services, and smart home automation. It enables small to medium-sized field service organizations to compete more effectively by providing improved customer, estimate, and task management capabilities. It provides automatic voice and text notifications, improved scheduling and payment, and mobile field worker and customer apps. The technology enables field service organizations to dazzle consumers, eliminate staff problems, and receive payments faster at an affordable price.

Feature Highlights:

• Scheduling and dispatching
• Estimates
• Billing and invoicing
• Customer database
• Mobile app
• Routing
• CRM

4. SmartSuite

SmartSuite is transforming how organizations carry out their work by providing a collaborative field work management software platform that enables teams to plan, evaluate, and manage workflows – whether it is a project, an ongoing process, or usual daily tasks.

Users can communicate with any other team members, regardless of where they are, and develop visual blueprints to show which projects or tasks need to be completed. Users can quickly and easily use drag-and-drop workflow management tools to automate both simple and complex activities and save time from repetitive duties.

SmartSuite helps organize people and work across all levels of an organization to ensure that team members have access to the critical information they need to do the job that matters most. Team members can simply design the optimal workflow to meet their specific needs by using one of the over 200 templates offered. SmartSuite can manage any issue, no matter how simple or complex it is.

Feature Highlights:

• Task history
• Worker availability status
• Calendar view
• Card view
• Team collaboration
• Dashboard
• Reporting
• Data import
• File management
• Kanban view
• Map view

5. Workiz

Workiz is another highly regarded web-based work order management solution that is excellent for small and medium-sized businesses. Used by over 43,000 service workers, it specializes in a range of industries such as appliance repair, carpet cleaning, rubbish removal, and locksmithing. With capabilities such as online booking, phone booking, quote management, invoicing, online payments, and reporting, this solution assists organizations in automating and optimizing critical operations. It is extremely efficient, cutting-edge, and simple to use.

It is the best option for organizing, simplifying, and standardizing your business activities through the use of cutting-edge automation solutions.

Connect your existing programs and software solutions to the Workiz dashboard to manage everything in one spot. It gives you a powerful collection of tools for handling work orders, scheduling, invoicing, staff time, client information, and tracking payments.

Workiz provides customers with a customized user interface via which they can manage many parts of their organization’s processes, such as updating and distributing invoices, monitoring field technician status, and so on. The system includes iOS and Android mobile apps that allow field technicians and back office staff to communicate automated or bespoke job updates, notes, and comments to the office team.

Features Highlight:

• Activity dashboard
• Access control
• Calendar
• Inventory management
• Live dashboard
• Client administration
• CRM
• Lead tracking
• Asset lifecycle management

Final Thoughts

For years, businesses were compelled to fill out work orders on paper, a rather time-consuming and potentially hazardous process that might result in lost time as well as lost revenue if the paperwork went missing. Fortunately, those days are gone for good. Today, businesses of every sort and size can benefit from a variety of software alternatives that handle the heavy lifting for them. For field service management, the blessing has come in the form of work order management software.

In the age of digital transformation, leveraging software systems and mobile apps has become rather mandatory. From another perspective, it is the biggest competitive advantage an organization can have. So, if you are not using one of these, you are potentially losing your competitive edge. Therefore, it is high time that you figure out your automation needs and choose the right work order management software for your business. Any of the options mentioned above can be a great solution for you. But to make the most of your resources, find out your specific requirements and see which one of these systems fits the bill perfectly. And there you have the key to your success.