How to choose field service management software
To choose field service management software, decide the few features your business can’t run without, price the plan that actually includes them, and test it on real jobs with the people who will use it every day.
By Business Genie, Mesa, ArizonaPublished Updated
Start with the size of your team
Team size decides most of what you need. A solo operator or a crew of two or three needs scheduling, invoicing, payments and a phone app. A team of several techs also needs dispatch, a way to split the day’s jobs between people, and routing that doesn’t waste drive time. Larger operations add call handling, reporting across locations and equipment records. The most expensive mistake is buying software built for a company several times your size.
Every team
- Scheduling — needed at your size
- Invoicing — needed at your size
- Payments — needed at your size
- A phone app — needed at your size
From several techs
- Dispatch — needed by a bigger company
- Splitting the day’s jobs between people — needed by a bigger company
- Routing that doesn’t waste drive time — needed by a bigger company
Larger operations
- Call handling — needed by a bigger company
- Reporting across locations — needed by a bigger company
- Equipment records — needed by a bigger company
Crew of two or three: 4 of these 10 are yours.
Write down your must-have features
Before you compare anything, write down the features you can’t work without. For most contractors that list is short: scheduling and dispatch, invoicing with online payment, a mobile app for the field, and one or two of online booking, route optimization or a QuickBooks connection. Anything beyond your list is a bonus. A tool with a long feature list you don’t use is harder to learn than a short one you use in full.
Business Genie has all six: scheduling and dispatch, invoicing and payments, the iOS and Android app, online booking, route optimization on every plan and QuickBooks Online sync.
For most contractors
And one or two of
3 on your list. Anything beyond it is a bonus.
Compare the real price, not the starting price
Advertised starting prices often don’t include the features on your list. For each product, find the plan that has all of your must-haves and work out its cost over a year. Then check the per-user fees, the add-ons, the payment processing and the contract, line by line.
Business Genie plans start at $50 a month, and route optimization is included on every plan. See pricing for what each plan includes.
The plan with your 3 must-haves
Not the advertised starting price: the plan that has everything on your list.
Per-user fees
And what the price becomes as the team grows.
Add-ons charged separately
Such as routing or online booking.
Payment processing fees
On the card payments you take in a month.
Contract length, and what it costs to leave
Signing a long contract before a full trial is one of the mistakes below.
Sample figures to start from · put in each vendor’s quote
The real price, first year
$3,648
The plan’s own price is $1,188 of it. On a 12-month contract, with nothing to pay to leave.
Test it in the field
Don’t just click around the dashboard during a trial. Run real jobs through it: schedule a job, send a tech, have them complete it on their phone, send the invoice and take a payment. Then give the phone to your least technical employee and see whether they can do the same without help.
Schedule a job
A real one from your own week, not the demo data.
Avoid these mistakes
Most mistakes in choosing field service software come from buying on the feature count or the price tag instead of testing the software on real jobs, with the people who will use it. Each one below is a turn off the route, at the step where it happens.
- 1
Team size
Buying software built for a company several times your size.
- 2
Must-haves
Choosing by the number of features instead of the features you need.
- 3
Real price
Choosing the cheapest plan without checking what it includes.
- 4
Field test
Not testing the mobile app in real conditions: weak signal, bright sun, gloves.
Leaving your techs out of the decision. They use it more than you do.
Before you commit
Signing a long contract before finishing a full trial.
Ignoring data migration. Ask who moves your customer list before you commit.
Questions
The questions owners ask while choosing, each marked with the step where it comes up.
Should I choose industry-specific or general field service software?
The core workflow is the same across most trades: book, schedule, route, do the work, invoice, get paid. General field service software covers that. Choose industry-specific software only if a specialized feature, such as equipment records or chemical application logs, is part of your daily work.
What is the most important feature in field service software?
The mobile app. Your techs use the software from their phones all day. If the app is slow or confusing in the field, nothing else matters. During the trial, time how long it takes a tech to open a job, finish it and send the invoice.
Can I try field service software before buying?
Most vendors offer a free trial or a demo, and the terms differ, so check each one. Business Genie’s free trial is one month, with no credit card needed to start. Test with real jobs, not demo data, so you find the deal-breakers before you commit.
How long does it take to set up field service software?
It depends on how much data you are moving and how many people need to learn it. Ask each vendor who does the setup and who moves your data. With Business Genie, setup is free and the team moves your existing data in for you.
Your route through this guide
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4Field test You’re here
Test it on your own jobs for a month
Run the field test on Business Genie: scheduling and dispatch, route optimization on every plan, invoicing and payments, on the web and in the iOS and Android app. The free trial is one month, with no credit card needed to start, and setup is free.
- You choose.
Related
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- Business Genie vs JobberHow the two compare, for a contractor choosing between them.
- Business Genie vs Housecall ProHow the two compare, for a contractor choosing between them.
- What field service management software isThe category, from the start: what it does and who it is for.