Technology continues to advance at a record pace. One thing that became abundantly clear during the pandemic was how heavily our world relies on digital infrastructure to stay connected. In fact, it became a necessity to keep governments, businesses, and society up and running in times of uncertainty.
Due to our increased reliance on high-speed internet, cellular services, 5g technology, fiber optics, and overall connectivity, telecom companies must focus on not only deploying critical infrastructure with mobile apps for construction and field teams, but also optimizing field service operations to maintain the infrastructure needed to sustain growth and profitability.
When it comes to coordinating large teams of people to install and service hard assets that often span the globe, telecom companies are utilizing a combination of construction and field service management (FSM) software to streamline their efforts and increase productivity.
What is Field Service Management (FSM) Software?
Field management has evolved over the years. Gone are the days of tracking countless data streams across an endless sea of internal channels and platforms. Now there is a single-source solution for some of telecom’s most complex obstacles.
From managing work orders, scheduling and dispatching, preventative asset maintenance, and mobile apps for field technicians, field service management software offers automated workflows and mobile tools that enable telecom companies to maintain and repair telecom assets and all of their working parts.
Key Features of Leading FSM Software:
- Almost all field management suites include modules that manage work orders, installations, schedule service repairs, pinpoint field technicians and routes, and monitor inventory to get people and equipment where they’re needed, when they’re needed.
- They feature tools that help businesses understand scheduling patterns and trends to optimize efficiency. Advanced FSM suites may offer collaborative team platforms and enhanced analytics to maximize and configure data for dispatchers so they can ensure the right resources are available for every job.
- It offers telecom teams a suite capable of dramatically increasing field service automation (FSA). This will help eliminate repetitive tasks, improve accuracy, and cut down on manual data entry.
Ultimately, effective FSM suites should work to provide greater visibility to all arms of your telecom business and prompt different departments to make necessary interventions in a timely manner.
Why FSM Software Improves Efficiency
Increased demand for broadband communications, 5g technology, and fiber have put a strain on fixed and mobile networks. Even the most advanced telecom companies with the latest and most remarkable technologies aren’t without field service challenges, all of which can be resolved through automation.
In recent years global telcos have maximized profits and maintained network stability by incorporating FSM software into their business strategy. Even seemingly benign inefficiencies can have a profound impact on the overall performance of your service team. By improving the efficiency of your internal workforce, you can maximize budgets and create sustainable growth.
To successfully manage your field service teams, it is critical to have an integrated, cohesive, end-to-end solution. If you are currently utilizing several tools for managing field service workflows and finding that they don’t seamlessly work together, then you can benefit from having a single source of truth for your entire telecom enterprise.
There are a variety of FSM capabilities that provide a wide range of software solutions.
Enterprise asset management (EAM)
EAM software manages equipment and assets in multiple locations. Field service and construction teams can remotely access asset information and related job details that offer a centralized overview of all asset information. This helps maintenance managers and field teams maximize productivity and reduce operational costs.
Mobile field service management app
A cloud-based FSM mobile app is a key feature that provides teams with vital information like driving directions and the ability to access work details and scan barcodes to install, uninstall, or swap assets.
Inventory management system (IMS) software
IMS software is invaluable for field service teams and offers a granular view of all inventory, repairs, and reorders for stocked items. IMS software improves project turnaround times, reduces rework, and makes it easier for field service teams to operate cohesively. This works to optimize maintenance and repairs for all assets throughout their lifecycle.
Benefits of FSM Apps for Telecom
The benefits of optimizing your field operations go far beyond maximizing profits and managing budgets. This is especially the case for telcos that require greater control and management over large asset installations like fiber, 5G deployments and cell towers. Adopting and implementing field service management software for telecommunications helps to uphold customer commitments, offers greater control of assets, and maximizes company-wide resources despite any unexpected upticks in work orders.
Flexibility and Efficiency: The ability to work fluidly and efficiently is a key motivator for using FSM software. Less time spent documenting the details of a repair or routine maintenance allows your enterprise to increase task completion rates and resolve service tickets with ease.
Reduce Field Service Truck Rolls: Making sure that the right parts and resources arrive at the correct location on time is vital to an efficient and cost-effective workflow. With FSM software, you can minimize field tech visits by ensuring all of these elements come together at exactly the right time.
Quality and Customer Commitments: Delivering projects on time, at quality, and meeting customer commitments for large-scale asset installations. The tools within a comprehensive FSM suite help manage customer expectations. With FSM software, customers can gain real-time access and track ongoing service requests. Additionally, self-service portals allow customers to communicate directly with office staff and technicians to schedule jobs around their time frames.
Offline Accessibility: FSM apps not only offer online solutions for field technicians but give them the ability to work offline as well. This proves invaluable for teams working in remote locations without access to wifi or mobile data. FSM software enables workers to repair equipment on-site, which greatly increases productivity and cuts down on unneeded travel time.
The Future of Field Service Management Software
With the emergence of AI, the complexity of telecom assets and technologies will increase. It is essential that telecommunication enterprises evolve along with these technologies. The future of FSM will offer greater flexibility and convenience for both customers and onsite and offsite teams.
AI field management for telecom: With real-time access to maps, interactive pictures of equipment, invoicing dashboards, and GPS capabilities, AI project management software will afford field teams the ability to manage jobs with ease. In the future, these AI-driven capabilities will also help train new technicians by offering a bottomless trove of historical data and analytics to pull from.
IoT field service: Internet of Things (IoT) devices are revolutionizing telecom field service management. Telcos are moving away from the break-fix approach and streamlining operations via IoT-enabled infrastructure reporting. This brings clarity to how equipment should be serviced with AR troubleshooting capabilities, ultimately reducing costs by optimizing the diagnostics process.
Wondering Where to Start?
From small cells, to fiber, to towers, Sitetracker includes work management and FSM capabilities as part of our deployment operations solution. This allows field crews to easily manage infrastructure deployments in addition to the rapid and successful asset service management of telecom infrastructure across the globe. Our mobile FSM app has an array of features purpose-built for telecom companies who are installing and maintaining distributed infrastructure and closes the crucial gaps that legacy systems leave in the process.
Sitetracker takes the best elements of FSM and builds them into a comprehensive solution uniquely designed for telecom and energy construction projects to streamline asset maintenance and deployment operations.
Request a live demo to find out how you can make it work for your business.
