Work Orders/Service Tasks

• Updated on Feb 27, 2023
• Published on Nov 22, 2022
• 2 minute(s) read
• MS
• RS

Mobileforce FSM allows you to use Work Orders and Service Tasks to manage work for your organization. This article describes the differences between the objects, and how you can employ business strategies to fully use their capabilities.

Service Tasks

Service Tasks are required Mobileforce FSM objects used by agents and dispatchers to assign, schedule, and dispatch work. Dispatchers create appointments for each Service Task. These appointments are assigned to a single technician at a time. If a job requires multiple technicians to be assigned to it, agents must create additional service tasks, which dispatcher can then use to generate additional appointments.

Additionally, technicians use Service Tasks to review the work to be performed for the customer as well as any details associated with that work.

Note:
If your organization is organized into permanent crews, or junior-senior (master-apprentice) pairings, then agents can create single Service Tasks which will be assigned to the technician who is the primary contact person for the group. However, in this scenario, your organization must use other methods to determine the workers at the client site, based on your auditing, accounting, and liability requirements.

Work Orders

Work Orders are optional Mobileforce FSM objects, which can be used by Agents to group similar work for a single client/account. This is typically done to make billing and management easier. Service Tasks are associated with Work Orders in a many-to-one relationship.

Sample Scenarios

The following is a list of sample scenarios where customers determined when to associate a Mobileforce FSM Work Order with Service Tasks.

This information may be useful for organizations who do not require Work Orders for every Service Task.

• A client contacts a home remodeling company for a job that requires plumbing, framing, and electrical work. The Agent decides to open a Work Order for the client that describes the entire remodeling project. The Agent would then create multiple Service Tasks based on the specific needs to complete the project. Dispatchers would assign and schedule those Service Tasks to technicians. Once technicians completed those Service Tasks to the client's approval, the Agent would close the Work Order.

• A client has a 5-year service contract with a computer networking solutions company. The client contacts the company for two tasks to be completed at the beginning of the year: A new server is installed at their location; The latest security updates are installed and configured for their Cloud Storage solution. The Agent decides that these jobs are independent of each other, so therefore only creates two individual Service Tasks for the work with no associated Work Order. The dispatcher creates an appointment for each task, assigning them to technicians who are unaware of the other task.

• A client for a security company has a routine maintenance contract that requires that the cameras at 12 facilities are upgraded to the latest model in the next calendar year. The client requests that one facility is updated each month, and that the work is completed by the same technician. The Agent decides that the Service Tasks should be organized by a single Work Order, ensuring that the technician records information at the job site that can be used for the subsequent Service Tasks. The Dispatcher then assigns the Service Tasks to the same technician until the work is complete.