A technician's day looks simple from the office: three jobs, three addresses. On site it is anything but. The customer describes a fault, the unit may or may not be under warranty, someone else visited last month and did something, the part needed is not in the bag, and the job card is a sheet of paper that will reach the office in a week.
Field service management is about putting the right information in the technician's hand and getting the right record back.
What the technician needs before arriving
- Customer and address, with directions.
- The unit — product and serial number.
- Cover — warranty, AMC or chargeable.
- The complaint in the customer's words.
- History — previous visits, parts replaced, recurring faults.
What the technician should record on site
- What was found — diagnosis.
- What was done — repair, replacement, maintenance.
- Parts used.
- Extra work agreed with the customer, priced.
- Outcome — resolved, needs revisit, needs part.
- Customer sign-off.
The three leaks in field service
| Leak | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Unbilled work | Out-of-cover job treated as free | Check cover before the visit; waivers need approval |
| Repeat visits | No history on site | History on the work order |
| Lost job cards | Paper returned late | Record on the phone, on site |
How Zaqnet supports technicians
- Work orders in the Service app in ControlRoom carry the customer, the unit, its history and the catalogue price of the service.
- Cover from warranty and AMC contracts is visible on the customer's unit, registered from its serial number at the sale.
- Technicians work their jobs in GroundLink, and the office sees status as it changes.
- Appointments schedule visits on a calendar, with the address for on-site service — see installation scheduling.
- Waivers on chargeable work go to approval.
The best service visit is the one where the technician already knows what the last technician did.