Modern enterprise needs are rapidly changing. New technology, an ever-evolving workforce, the gig economy, consumer expectations, and remote work environments are changing how businesses operate, and utilities are no exception. 

Mobile workforce management (MWM) deals with the tools, procedures, and technology required to support, inform, and manage mobile employees. This leads to higher productivity and fewer overtime hours, wasted resources, customer complaints, and miscommunications. 

Mobile workforce technology such as VertexOne’s FieldWork can be used with your utility’s current customer information system (CIS) or as a standalone solution. FieldWork connects your dispatchers and technicians in real time, centralizing labor management, optimizing work schedules, and delivering critical updates to your customers and employees. 

 

What are the benefits of modern mobile workforce management?

Mobile workforce management schedules, tracks, and analyzes mobile employees’ duties as they carry out utility services to support customer and community needs. Here are some more benefits of MWM: 

 

Streamlined Field Service Teams

Mobile workforce management improves dispatch efficiency, ensuring that field technicians have the data they need when they need it, leading to fewer reworks, decreased wear and tear on utility vehicles, and reduced overtime working hours. 

A mobile workforce management solution should have the following features: 

  • Integration with your CIS, providing quick data transmission to and from the field, more detailed customer billing, and better customer engagement. 
  • The ability to send automated updates to the right employees at the right time about customer-related tasks, decreasing customer frustration and incoming calls to your utility’s support center. 
  • Transparency into the status of customer service requests and estimated resolution times. Customers can receive updates via email, phone call, or text message. 
  • Collaboration between the utility, field tech, and customer before, during, and after service calls, leading to higher efficiency and cost savings for your utility. 
  • Optimized scheduling that keeps employees current on upcoming job assignments, reducing errors and avoiding wasted resources. 

 

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Improved Efficiency and Savings

Mobile workforce management informs dispatchers which field technicians are available for the next job and their current locations. This leads to fewer visits, reworks, and overtime hours, along with significant money and resources saved on vehicle maintenance, mileage, and inventory. 

Additionally, lowering the number of overall customer complaints or issues results in fewer incoming calls to your customer support center, reducing the need for more customer support staff and allowing your current workers to focus on more complex tasks. 

 

Seamless CIS Integration

When integrated with your utility’s CIS, the right mobile workforce management technology eliminates the likelihood of duplicate or incorrect data entry, ensuring that your customer support, dispatch, and field technician teams have all the information they need.

This feature results in better data transmission sent to and from the field in real-time, ensuring constant communication, customer satisfaction, and more efficient services. 

When integrated with a utility’s existing CIS, a robust mobile workforce management platform can improve digital customer engagement, support real-time communication between customers and field technicians, enhance geographical information systems, and more. 

 

Meet the needs of modern customers.

Modern integrations and customer experiences have redefined the role a CIS plays in a utility’s daily operations. Utility providers are experiencing rapid technological advancements that undoubtedly influence how they operate, communicate, and delegate employee tasks. 

To learn more about vital CIS features that support utilities and their workers, download More than a Utility Billing System: How a Customer Information System Can Excel.

 

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