Work Order Software

What is work order software?

Work order software, or work order management software is an asset management software tool that helps create work orders, assign technicians, and track the job progress. The work orders can range from routine and corrective maintenance tasks to emergency assistance requests. 

The work order software features allow operations and maintenance managers to assess the asset or technician’s performance, optimize service, and boost customer satisfaction. Work order software comes as a stand-alone solution or an add-on to service dispatch and maintenance management software systems.

How to organize work orders through work order software

• Categorize work requests and prepare workflows: You can use work order software to group similar work order requests into a single project. The tool also lets you prepare workflows for each request to track progress more conveniently. This saves time by applying changes to all the tasks or subtasks at once.

• Determine the priority of work orders: The work order software lets you select and prioritize work order requests based on their urgency or business requirements. Also, set the start and due dates for all the tasks within a request. The work order software tool gives you a calendar view of all the completed, overdue, and upcoming tasks for quick reference.

• Assign tasks to technicians: The work order software lets you assign tasks to technicians based on their available bandwidth. You can also notify the technicians when a new task is assigned, or an existing task is updated within the work order software.

How to keep track of work orders through work order software

• Check the availability of task documents: You can attach all task-related information and documents to a work request within the work order software. The information includes the requester's name, the type of request, and a detailed list of requirements. You can also attach the requester’s address in the case of field service.

• Monitor job updates or escalations: You can set email alerts and desktop notifications to keep track of new, updated, or completed tasks in the work order software. Check for any follow-ups or issues in ongoing tasks, including delays and overdue. You can also reassign technicians if they face difficulty in completing a task and adjust the start/end date accordingly.

• Track service metrics through analytics reports: You can access the work order software’s analytics reports for the tasks completed against the alignment and the overall time taken to wrap up. The tool lets you compare reports with technician performance metrics to balance efforts and bandwidth for new and ongoing requests. Also, utilize the insights to identify performance gaps and boost productivity. 

What are the types of work order software?

• Enterprise asset management (EAM): A type of work order management software that lets you manage the lifecycle of physical business assets, such as machinery and vehicles. The EAM software helps track asset utilization, improve asset quality, and plan for future acquisitions. These insights help you to extend the assets’ life and improve work productivity.

• Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS): A type of work order management software that focuses explicitly on asset replacement, restoration, repair, and other preventive maintenance tasks. CMMS software features let you schedule maintenance activities to improve asset performance and reduce downtime.

• Field service management (FSM): A type of work order management software that lets you manage business resources (physical assets and field technicians) deployed at the customers’ site. Using the field service management software, you can track the progress of scheduled, completed, and ongoing tasks at the customer’s location.

What are the benefits of work order software?

• Improve coordination with technicians: Using work order software, you can update the technicians on new task assignments or changes to the work order in real time. In addition, you can communicate and collaborate with the field technicians via audio/video calls, screen sharing, file sharing, and other modes of communication. Such work order management software abilities provide updated task information to the technicians and ensure continued customer service.

• Access a centralized repository of documents: You can use the central repository of work order management software to store and manage the task-related documents. The documents include equipment parts, customer addresses, or detailed service requirements. All the information can be accessed and downloaded by the service technicians on the field or in the office.

• Reduce service delays and downtime: Using work order software assists field technicians to connect with the service managers and solve issues or get access to the missing service request details. This process speeds up the work for field technicians.

How does work order software help SMBs?

• Manage work orders remotely: The work order software lets you remotely manage the work orders using the desktop or mobile application. Both applications let you create work orders, track workflows, share documents, and alert technicians.

• Monitor field service metrics: With the work order software, you can get email alerts on new requests, updated workflows, and completed tasks. Use the tool’s analytics feature to measure the performance of field technicians, including the number of completed tasks, hours utilized, delay in delivery, and more. These insights help analyze gaps and optimize task assignments to improve service quality.

• Improve problem identification: Allow customers to raise maintenance requests with a detailed description of the requirement and attach supporting documentation (video or photo). Clear explanation supported by visuals assists the maintenance team in aligning the correct technician based on skills and experience, leading to quality customer support.