Why Utilities Need Mobile Workforce Management Software
Even though the pandemic is ongoing, utilities still want and need to provide the best possible customer service. But, with offices opening and closing and people working remotely, they find themselves performing a juggling act to stay organized. Whether they’re working from home, in the office, or a hybrid of working from home and office, utilities need a mobile workforce management solution to help their field service representatives (FSRs) and back-office staff communicate in real-time, keeping customer satisfaction high. However, not all mobile workforce management solutions maximize operations, saving time and money.
Traditional Mobile Workforce Management vs. Digital Workforce Management
Traditional workforce management uses either an analog paper system or an analog/digital hybrid system, combining paper and software application(s), to organize service crews. With an analog or hybrid approach, a utility must perform several steps to complete an emergency work order, typically not in real-time. First, the customer notifies the utility’s customer service representative (CSR) of the emergency. Second, the CSR notifies the dispatcher of the emergency. Next, the dispatcher must figure out who is the closest FSR and reroute him to the emergency. Suppose the utility is using a paper analog system. In that case, the FSR must return to the office to get the analog work order, and if they are using a hybrid system, the FSR still does not have what he needs to work independently to complete his task. Once the FSR arrives at the emergency location, the utility has involved several staff members, taken precious time organizing the work, and risked irritating the customer with a long service wait time.
However, with a digital mobile workforce management software like mCare, everyone gets notified by inputting the information into the system once. NorthStar CIS and mCare work seamlessly to provide information to the people who need it when and where they need it. Dispatchers and CSRs receive notifications on their home or office device, and FSRs receive mobile notifications in real-time on a tablet or phone. In the case above, the FSR is dispatched without paper work orders, back and forth trips to the office or multiple phone calls. mCare maximizes efficiencies, improves workflows, and streamlines processes, saving time and money and keeping customers satisfaction high.
Benefits of Mobile Workforce Management Software for Utilities
Know precisely where your FSRs are,
Communicate effectively with your staff,
Increase team efficiency,
Save time and money, and
Keep customer satisfaction high.
Know precisely where your FSRs are.
If your work orders are not digitized, it’s difficult to know where your FSRs are at all times. mCare mobile workforce management software makes it easy for you to see where your crews are dispatched, what service order they are working on, and how long they have been at that location. With an analog or hybrid system, a utility must rely on self-reporting to know where their FSRs are. With mCare’s GIS map overlay, you have a detailed, street-level map that pinpoints where your FSRs are at all times. You’ll know where your staff is at all times and be able to move them from one location to the other with the least amount of disruption, keeping customers satisfied. Not only that, with mCare data, you can identify worker-related performance issues and address them as they arise, not when someone complains. mCare keeps your FSRs on task and performing at peak efficiency to keep customer wait times down to a minimum.
mCare’s dispatcher’s view is broken down into three sections: Dispatch Queue (service cards on the left), Map (top right shows locations of service orders), and FSR and Share Queue List (bottom right shows list of FSRs and shared queue for dispatcher to assign work).
Communicate effectively with your staff.
With a traditional, non-digitized dispatch, staff members must rely on phone, email, and text to communicate. If your office staff is on the phone with an FSRs, they can’t assist customers. If an FSR is waiting on a text or email, then that’s time that could be spent on a service call. And, if your team is using paper tickets to keep track of service orders, there’s a whole host of problems with that method, including
Illegible ticket entries,
Multiple truck-rolls to retrieve and return service orders,
manual ticket entry errors,
duplicate service orders, and even
missing service order.
But with mCare, your staff can communicate effectively in real-time. mCare allows any team member to create a work order. For example, if an FSR is out and sees a leak or downed power line, he enters the information into mCare, and the appropriate staff members can see it. When someone in the office creates a work order, the assigned FSR receives a digital notification on his tablet or phone. There’s no need to contact the office or return to pick up a paper work order. Once the information is in the system, the whole team has access to the work order and can see changes in real-time. With mCare, everyone will have the information they need when they need it, improving communication.
Increase team efficiency.
Traditional workforce management will get the job done, but a digital, mobile workforce management solution streamlines operations, which makes teams more efficient, saving time and money. Because mCare keeps all field service-related information in one location and integrates seamlessly with NorthStar CIS, everyone can find information when and where they need it. And having the ability to create work orders and everyone getting notifications in real-time keep a utility’s staff aware of changes that impact workflows and processes. As a utility uses mCare, the application collects data to show how processes can be streamlined. With more data and a higher level of efficiency, you’ll minimize missed appointments, improve service response times, and optimize your resources for both short and long cycle work, keeping your customers happy.
Keep Customer satisfaction high.
When a customer has a service disruption, they want to get their lives back to normal as fast as possible. And if your team is efficient, they can keep customer satisfaction high. mCare improves workflows, resource planning, and dispatching, maximizing efficiencies. Your staff will minimize missed appointments and fulfill more customer commitments each day by improving communication and operations. Your customers may never know that you’re using a digital system to keep your staff organized, but they will notice that service wait-times are reduced.
Save time and money.
The traditional management solutions can organize your work orders but think of all the time and money your utility can save with a mobile workforce management software like mCare. Having everything in one place will improve efficiency. Your CSRs will have the information they need to manage customer expectations, saving them from having to hunt down work order-related answers. Your dispatchers will know where and when to deploy your FSRs, helping to maximize resources. And, your FSRs will have the tools and information they need to move from one service call to the next without delays, keeping them focused on the task at hand. mCare even reduces travel time, decreasing fleet service costs and prolonging fleet life. With everyone and everything working efficiently, you can allocate your workforce at peak work hours and minimize overtime hours, saving time and money.
FSRs have everything they need to complete service work orders, mapped location, type of service work needed, and if a dog is present at the location. FSRs can accept of reject service orders based on current workload.
Why choose mCare Mobile Workforce Management (MWM)
Every day, utilities strive to provide the best possible customer service. Because of COVID, they have had to juggle monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily changes to keep service trucks rolling and customer satisfaction rates high. Traditional workforce management solutions siloed field operations, one for meter-related services, one for CIS, and one for other financials, often not integrating to streamline operations.
NorthStar has over 45 years of experience in the utility industry. And NorthStar’s sizeable, tenured utility customers have helped the NorthStar team develop mCare into a mobile workforce management tool designed specifically for utilities. mCare integrates seamlessly with NorthStar CIS, giving every team member the information they need at the time and place they need it. NorthStar understands the utility ecosystem and its processes, and mCare is a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) dynamic application that makes communication more efficient, streamlines operations, and saves time and money.
If you’d like to learn more about mCare, contact our sales staff today for a demo.