Automation
With field services increasingly gaining traction worldwide, they are continuously evolving into a more systematic and standardized process. Automation plays a pivotal role in this transformation. Studied automation can make all the difference between a mediocre field service management solution and a great one. From the obvious to the obscure, automation can be introduced to all areas of field services. When done effectively, automation can help every key player, such as field technicians, dispatchers, and call center agents, carry out their tasks efficiently. This translates to successful completion of customer requests, thereby fostering customer loyalty and retention. The following are some of the areas where automation can be useful:
- Providing immediate and accurate response to customer's queries
- Keeping the customer updated on the progress of a service appointment
- Proper inventory management to ensure field technicians have the required resources
- Maintaining knowledge repository to share and record gained experience
- Identifying cross-selling and upselling opportunities
In Zoho FSM, we provide you with the tools to effortlessly carry out automation. Workflow rules and actions offer you ways to automate your business processes.
Workflow rule: Defines conditions and the associated actions (viz alerts, tasks, field updates etc) that need to be executed when the specified conditions are met. The associated actions available for a workflow are Email Notifications, Tasks, Field Updates and Custom Functions.
Email Notification: Notifications are email alerts that are sent to the intended recipients whenever a workflow rule is triggered. For example, creating a workflow rule to automatically send the feedback form to the customer once the services have been completed.
Task: Workflow tasks allow the user to get reminders through pop-ups or emails whenever a task is to be carried out before or after the scheduled date. For example, create tasks to contact customers for preventive maintenance services.
Field Update: Workflow field updates allow you to update the value of one or more fields of a module based on a single criteria associated with a work flow rule. For example, use a workflow rule to identify regular customers and reward them appropriately.
Custom Function: This is a program used for formulating processes, defining business logic and automating repetitive tasks. For example, automatically calculate time and expenses of field technicians.
Creating a workflow rule
A sample workflow rule has been used to explain the steps involved in creating one. This workflow is used to mark the status of a work order as complete when all its associated service appointments have been completed.
- Go to Setup > Automation > Workflow Rules and click Create Rule.
- Enter the following details, then click Next:
- The Module for which the rule has to be triggered
- A Rule Name
- A Description of the rule
- Select the rule trigger as On a record action and Create or Edit and click Next.
- Select the rule criteria as All Work Order Line Items and click Next.
- Select the rule action as Function.
- In the Functions popup, select the function you want to associate with the workflow rule and click Associate.
- Click Save.
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