What Service Contractors Need to Prepare for Natural Disasters and Inclement Weather

Extreme inclement weather and natural disasters are growing in frequency around the world, but in the last few years, residents in the gulf coast states and the west coast have seen an increase in severity and perseverance from the devastating phenomenon.

With hurricanes, floods, and fires increasingly ravaging communities and businesses, the nation now spends almost 10 times as much responding to and recovering from natural events as it did in the 1980s. Today, many field service leaders are recognizing the vital role technology plays in the response to disasters and how field service management solutions accelerate the work and tasks to be done faster, better, and smarter.

Keep Safety at The Top of Your List With Field Service Management

Ensuring safety for field service technicians isn’t easy, they’re exposed to periodic hazards like power tools, electrical equipment, heavy machinery, and weather. In fact, almost $62 billion is lost in productivity per year due to injuries in the field service and construction space.

We understand no software is a replacement for guaranteed safety practices but the right field service management solution with the right procedures can minimize accidents or injuries and is essential for the overall safety of the teams involved in dangerous areas of work.

• Timesheets and geo-tracking to ensure correct log time and travel are within legal guidelines
• Attached documents to digital work orders with disclaimers and public notes
• Easy access to data is critical in speeding up the completion of a job
• Reporting and analytical data helps improve decision making and productivity
• Photos, scanned documents, and signatures can all be captured on a tech’s device at the point of service

Although the right field service management software doesn’t promise safety alone—having a standardized process with modern technology helps secure best practices to keep your mobile workers safe.

Greater Efficiency and Visibility With Field Service Dispatch Software

Today, field service management solutions play an enormous role in the management of field service teams, from monitoring workflows and productivity to assuring safety and security along the way.

With field service dispatch software, dispatchers have the ability to know where field techs are located, when they finish a job, and more. This allows dispatchers to schedule and send techs out to the field in a smarter, efficient way—allowing for seamless dispatching and scheduling and fast response rates all in one application.

In addition, visibility is perhaps one of the most important factors to consider when dealing with unpredictable conditions from natural disasters. Operation managers and dispatchers require total visibility across teams so they can effectively evaluate and manage the work ahead—which is critical to ensuring safety, communication, speed, and consistency.

Plan Ahead With Data Management

Going digital in relation to accurate data management is essential to running an efficient business. Imagine losing all of your files and documents in one fell swoop and worse—experiencing loss of revenue as a result of that. How can you adapt and support your customers without proper and safe storage?

Thanks largely to the power of mobile technology, many service contractors are leaving paper-based processes behind and adopting cloud-based storage solutions to secure and collect all field data more effectively. In addition to not losing your data to severe weather events, cloud-based storage management allows for greater flexibility and accessibility for your team to access data at any time, anywhere.

Answer The Call With Combined VoIP and AI Software

Unlike a traditional hardware phone, VoIP takes your phone system and puts it entirely online. All of your calls are routed and managed through the internet and provided to you via a web browser application, like ServiceCall.ai, or a native application on your computer.

In the aftermath of a disaster, it’s likely there will be an influx of service calls coming in to respond to critically damaged communities, commercial buildings, roadways, and bridges. VoIP plays an increasingly important role in the response to calls and helps service contractors be the most efficient and responsive they can be at a high volume of calls.

With a virtual phone system, it’s cost-effective and makes it easy for busy service contractors to manage call-flow optimization. Additionally, you’re saving hundreds of dollars on analog phone systems by purely switching to a VoIP system.

Conclusion

By providing seamless workflows, efficient dispatching and scheduling, and making it simple for your teams to access and share information, field service management solutions enable you to prepare for any natural disaster event and help in terms of time, safety, productivity, and cost.

Learn how you can turn up the volume with ServiceCall.ai. Watch our free ServiceCall.ai demo video here.