Commercial HVAC Field Service Best Practices: 4 Steps to Streamline Work Orders

Field service managers at commercial HVAC firms juggle a lot of balls to stay on top of all the work orders that come their way. From new installations to scheduled maintenance, break/fix, and warranty fulfillment, it’s difficult to know what each day will bring. Inevitably, the unexpected happens—whether it’s a down system, replacement parts that don’t arrive on time, or technicians that need more time to finish jobs.

All this makes for a certain amount of unpredictability that managers must contend with. With the entire field service team under pressure, it may be impossible to access sufficient customer and system information. This results in slower response times for completing work orders and lowers first-time fix rates. Customers may also find it takes too long to submit a service request.

Nearly Impossible to Prioritize Service Requests from Disconnected Systems

Adding to the challenge for service managers are the many ways work orders come their way. Some arrive by phone without warning while others show up in email folders that keep growing. Sales orders also generate service work orders as do IoT devices on HVAC systems in the field. If the company provides a customer portal, service requests also come in via the web.

If these various systems are not integrated, service managers must jump through hoops just to compile all the information. They then have to manually prioritize all the service requests—assigning technicians and arranging for system and part deliveries.

As a result, it’s easy to make mistakes on work orders and technician assignments. And in the meantime, customers are waiting—wondering (and perhaps complaining) when you will take care of their service issues.

Giving Customers Control and Taking Proactive Service Measures

Many commercial HVAC companies turn to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service to solve these challenges. The solution integrates and compiles service requests from customers and sales orders as well as field service systems that track warranty and maintenance schedules along with other contractual agreements. Dynamics 365 then enables service teams to operate efficiently by generating work orders, automatically prioritizing service incidents, and assigning technicians and parts to each incident.

Here’s a breakdown of four key functional areas provided by Dynamics 365 Field Service that can help your company streamline work orders:

• Customer Engagement—create a customer service portal that personalizes experiences for each customer and allows them to schedule and track the progress of work orders on their own. You can also auto-generate a survey after each job is completed to verify their level of satisfaction.
• Technician Productivity—enable your field technicians to increase their time installing, fixing and maintaining HVAC systems by streamlining administrative work order tasks through mobile device technologies. You can also provide access to in-context resources and leverage the integration between D365 and Microsoft Teams to set up remote collaboration with senior technicians to resolve service incidents faster.
• Dispatch Efficiency—optimize service operations by using Dynamics 365 to better manage resource assignments. The system helps dispatchers by automatically identifying the right technician for each work order—based on pre-built rules that factor in skill sets, availability, location, and travel times.
• Proactive Service Delivery—avoid system breakdowns and service calls from customers by getting complete visibility into each HVAC system and its repair/maintenance history. Dynamics 365 identifies ahead of time when maintenance is required and integrates with IoT devices that use artificial intelligence to determine if a system component is malfunctioning—before units break down.

These capabilities give your field service team the ability to keep customers happy by allowing them to engage with you how and when they want to. At the same time, you can anticipate customer needs and take steps to address service needs before they even know an issue exists.

To learn more about Dynamics 365 for Field Service and how a unified management solution can maximize customer satisfaction and minimize service costs for your HVAC firm, visit the Velosio website or contact us today.