The Basics of Field Service Route Scheduling Software

Nearly every field service company knows that the number one rule to their business success is to keep their customers happy. This number rule goes hand in hand with ensuring that your field service technician appointments are managed timely and efficiently. 

Building the right customer schedule for your field delivery teams, based on the ever-increasing demands of your customers can be daunting, especially if you don’t have the right technology in place to support you. Effective service technician scheduling software can help you take the guesswork out of appointment setting by using AI to intelligently coordinate service schedules along with providing the best routes for your technicians to take to their appointments. 

In addition, the right software platform can even help field service companies track customer satisfaction levels and adjust their schedules in real-time based on customer requests or field issues. 

There are quite a few reasons why investing in quality route optimization and scheduling software is essential for any field service business with technicians in the field. Understanding each of these reasons and leveraging scheduling software effectively can benefit your business in the short and long term. Then, you just need to know which software you can use to make scheduling technicians easier and more efficient. 

To jump ahead to a specific section, you can click one of the headers below:

• Why Is Service Scheduling Important?
• What Is Scheduling Software Used For?
• What Software Do Companies Use for Scheduling?
• How Much Does Field Services Software Cost?

Why Is Service Scheduling Important?

Any business that relies on service technicians knows how important it is to have an efficient scheduling system in place. After all, technician scheduling can significantly impact both customer satisfaction and the bottom line. In other words, it’s the lifeblood of most field service businesses.

In particular, good client scheduling software can help ensure that service calls are completed on schedule. This helps prevent customer frustration and minimizes the impact of technician downtime. It can also help give customers specific timelines for when to expect a technician rather than vague, broad time windows that are more likely to inconvenience your customers.

On the business side, technician scheduling software can help optimize each technician’s time on the job, ensuring they are productive and efficient. It can also ensure they get from one job to the next on time by planning routes optimized for the shortest distance and the highest degree of fuel efficiency, saving your business money in the process and increasing the number of jobs your team can do every week.

Ultimately, by taking the time to develop a well-thought-out schedule, businesses can ensure that their service technicians are always able to meet the needs of their customers and can operate more efficiently, driving greater profits for the business.

What Is Scheduling Software Used For?

Scheduling software can be used for various purposes, such as field technician service appointments, ongoing maintenance calls, site visits for new customer quotes, or coordinating multi-technician large service jobs.

Businesses with field technicians use service work scheduling software to schedule and dispatch their technicians for service calls. Scheduling software is typically used by businesses that provide installation, repair, or maintenance services, such as appliance repair, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical companies.

Service work scheduling software typically includes features such as GPS tracking, route optimization, and customer notifications. The software can improve customer satisfaction by reducing wait times and providing accurate ETAs thanks to real-time tracking. 

In addition, the software can help businesses improve their efficiency and bottom line by reducing the number of field techs needed or the time needed to schedule and dispatch technicians and optimizing each technician’s schedule and route. By including the software within your business model, you can ensure your technicians are working efficiently without unnecessary downtime. 

Scheduling software can be a valuable tool for any business that needs to make on-site appointments and wants to deliver the best customer experience and most efficient results from a business perspective.

What Software Do Companies Use for Scheduling?

There’s no shortage of software programs that companies use for scheduling, and each company’s choice will vary based on their needs and budgets. Some popular mainstream options include tools like Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple iCal. 

Each of these programs has its own unique set of features and benefits. For example, Outlook offers robust features for managing email, tasks, and appointments. Google Calendar is known for its ease of use and intuitive interface. And iCal is widely used for its ability to sync with other Apple devices. The problem is what these solutions don’t offer, e.g., any AI route optimization capabilities, real-time tracking, automated customer notifications, etc. 

The question comes down to what is the best scheduling software. That’s a specific question that each business operator needs to answer for themselves. Still, there are a few key features that any good service call scheduling software should offer to be effective. 

First, it should allow you to schedule appointments and track employee availability easily. This way, you can ensure your schedule is always full without overbooking or overworking your staff. You should also be able to balance your employee’s workloads to keep things fair and equitable or to balance appointments based on compensation level to minimize personnel expenses.

Secondly, the software should provide a way to log and manage customer data. This includes tracking contact information, service history, and preferences like time window requirements, specific days of availability, or preferred technician. Having this information readily available will help you provide better customer service and build long-term relationships. 

Finally, the software should have robust analytical and reporting capabilities. This way, you can track key metrics such as appointment volume and customer satisfaction levels. By understanding how your business is performing, you can make necessary adjustments to improve your bottom line.

Is Excel a scheduling software?

No, Excel is not a scheduling software. While it can be used to create schedules, Excel is primarily a spreadsheet program and does not have all the features and functionality common in scheduling software. 

For example, project scheduling software typically includes features such as drag-and-drop scheduling, resource allocation, resource leveling, and more. Excel can be used for building a calendar, but it doesn’t have these automated features, and all around, it’s limited compared to dedicated scheduling software. 

Additionally, scheduling software is often designed to integrate with other business systems, such as accounting and project management software. This is not something that Excel was designed to do. 

For these reasons and others, Excel is not an ideal tool for creating and managing schedules.

Does QuickBooks have a scheduling software?

QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software programs on the market. It is used by small businesses and individuals alike to manage their finances. One feature that QuickBooks offers is scheduling software. However, QuickBooks is not specifically designed for scheduling–it offers this as a paid add-on ranging from $29 per month to $129 per month, depending on the features required and the users. It in essence will create a list of jobs – but will do so without any route schedule optimization, nor the cost and time savings associated with an optimized plan for your service team.

QuickBooks does not have a built-in calendar feature, making it difficult to add new events or appointments to the software. The QuickBooks support team says the only way around this is to use third-party software and integrate it into QuickBooks. 

QuickBooks is a great tool for managing finances, but it is not the best software for scheduling. Other software programs like OptimoRoute are specifically designed for managing field service technician appointments. These programs typically offer more features and flexibility than QuickBooks, and they can make it easier to stay organized and on top of your schedule.

If you are looking for an all-in-one accounting solution, QuickBooks is a great option, but when it comes to scheduling, QuickBooks scheduling dispatch capabilities leave much to be desired.

How Much Does Field Services Software Cost?

If you’re wondering, “How big is the field service management software market,” you might be surprised to find out that Allied Market Research reports that it was valued at $7.5 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $29.9 billion by 2031. This is a big industry with a lot of money pumping into it, but for any business, the decision to use field services software often comes down to the price tag. The most important part of that decision is how much time and money a really good route optimization and scheduling software can save your business and what the company gains in operational efficiency and ability to service its customers. 

The cost of field service software varies depending on the features and complexity of the software. In most cases, the cost of field service software is a small price to pay for the increased efficiency and productivity it can provide.

For example, OptimoRoute’s pricing starts at $35.10 per month per driver and comes with many features, including scheduling, route optimization, customer notification and feedback, and much more. OptimoRoute software helped one customer: 

• Cut their scheduling and route planning time in half.
• Distribute work equitably across technicians, whether hourly or job-based.
• Save thousands of miles traveling to job sites per month.

You can see how, for as little as $35.10 per month, you could potentially generate some outsized benefits for your business. Larger field service companies can save thousands of dollars each week and hundreds of man-hours every month.

As of this writing, other field service software providers offer services ranging from $41.43 per month to $500 or more per month. 

Pricing can vary significantly based on the features you require and how many drivers you need on your plan. Most software providers, including OptimoRoute, offer a price per driver. Also, while our mobile app for drivers is free, that’s not necessarily the case across the board. 

Field Service Management Software for Free

If you run a business, you’re probably always aware of expenses and focused on cutting them where possible. Some businesses try to cut costs by going with free service scheduler software, and at the end of the day, if all you’re looking to do is create a schedule, you might be able to make do with a free tool like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

The problem is that field management software covers so much more than just scheduling, and that’s why the best field management software is never free. There aren’t even any good free options for field management software worth suggesting.

Field service management software for small business purposes or more extensive operations is specifically designed to meet the day-to-day needs of operators in that niche. The best solutions offer key features like order information, scheduling, and navigation all in one easy-to-use solution. 

Specialized service tech scheduling software like OptimoRoute can solve many different problems your business might be experiencing, like:

Inefficient planning and scheduling

Effective service tech scheduling software will enable you to import thousands of orders at once and automatically create efficient schedules and routes for your drivers. You can even plan your schedules up to 5 weeks in advance. 

Inability to balance workloads

With specialized scheduling software, you can slot drivers effectively in a schedule with easy access to each driver’s availability, location, specific skills, certifications, vehicles, etc. You can keep track of each technician’s hours and stay on top of overtime expenses while also being able to coordinate multiple team members to complete one job as needed.

Lack of insight into technician locations

The best scheduling software incorporates live tracking capabilities, so you can know where each technician is at any given time to ensure jobs are completed on schedule. This also enables you to give customers accurate ETAs based on real-time data.

No flexibility for real-time route changes

Business operators know that adjustments often need to be made on the fly, and specialized scheduling and route planning software make it possible to make adjustments to a driver’s route when unexpected issues arise or last-minute jobs get added. You can simply send the changes directly to the driver’s mobile app.

No job completion notifications

Why operate in the dark when you can give your technicians easy-to-use proof of delivery and completion tools so they can electronically capture a customer’s signature, take pictures of completed jobs, and write down notes that will be saved to the order’s history? 

Suboptimal routes that cost your business time and money

Scheduling software that incorporates route optimization enables you to create the shortest and most efficient routes that factor in priority, job duration, customer time windows, job particulars (e.g., specific equipment or technician required), and more. 

The bottom line

This depth of features simply isn’t available with free software, but these features can deliver much higher levels of efficiency and customer satisfaction for field service businesses. Choosing software that works for your business can make a huge difference in business success and customer satisfaction. 

If you want to learn more about how optimizing your routes can increase the efficiency of your workforce and help your business produce more significant profits, check out this detailed guide on route optimization.