If you have a field service company and are ready to scale your business, you need home service dispatch software in 2023. Find out in this blog how you can use service dispatch software to transform how you schedule and dispatch work orders.
What is home service dispatch software?
Home service dispatch software allows you to easily send field technicians job details and schedule notifications. Industries including construction, HVAC, plumbing, carpet cleaning, auto repair, and many others use this software to organize schedules.
The benefits of these solutions include the following:
- Higher customer satisfaction.
- Lower costs.
- Increased workflow efficiency.
The benefits of dispatch software
Field service dispatch software helps you reduce costs and increase your bottom line. There are multiple benefits of service contractor dispatching software as it has key features that keep your workday operations running smoothly.
Below are the top benefits of home service dispatch software.
Capture timesheets and project notes straight from the field
Your field service business needs to know the status of every job at any time. From field technicians to the office team, everyone on your team stays connected with home service dispatch software.
Equipped with this solution, everyone knows when jobs are in progress, completed, or have issues.
What’s more, mobile dispatch apps let you track time from the job site and instantly share key project notes with those that need it.
The value of home service dispatch software for your field crew
Field technicians need connectivity to the main office team to stay on the same page and give customers the best possible service. A powerful service software will do this automatically to avoid any mistakes or forgotten job status entries.
Easy-to-use dispatching
Don’t spend your valuable time scheduling and dispatching. Instead, use home service dispatch software to automatically create schedules and dispatch jobs
As a result, you save time and effort.
What’s more, you can expect lightning-fast work order entry as field service software matches jobs according to a technician’s skill set and time slot availability.
Provide a professional customer experience
When your entire team is connected through service dispatch software, you can easily and quickly resolve your customer’s issues.
This tool lets you say goodbye to having your customers wonder:
- Where a field technician is.
- How work is progressing.
Instead, information is readily available to customers who can then connect with your office team as needed.
Your field technicians can also answer any of your customer’s questions as they have access to work orders and customer details through a dispatch service software mobile app.
Maximize your efficiency
With home service dispatch software, you can prepare for job issues including last-minute work and field technician schedule changes.
This is valuable because urgent jobs cause a lot of stress on field service managers and technicians as they disrupt the already built schedule. With service software, unexpected schedule changes can be adjusted automatically.
Moreover, you can notify your team when changes occur to keep everyone in the loop. This is incredibly important as it not only keeps your customers happy, but your team organized.
Typical features of home service dispatch software
A professional home service dispatch software has a lot of useful features.
The following are the essential ones to look out for.
Job dispatching and routing
Dispatching jobs is time-consuming as you need to consider multiple factors before scheduling technicians. This includes their availability, skillset, location, and even customer requests that can impact scheduling.
Job dispatching and routing is a key feature that home service dispatch software provides. This allows you to take the guesswork out of job assignments to create efficient schedules that work for your business.
Project schedule optimization
Creating efficient schedules is best done with home service dispatch software as it allows for automatic schedule creation. This is a feature that is crucial as when last-minute jobs come up or work order timelines are delayed, the software automatically reschedules your field technicians to accommodate.
This saves you hours of time since you don’t need to make a new schedule from scratch.
Crew management
Crew management is a feature that drastically improves your customer service.
A good home service dispatch software provides access through a mobile app to connect your crew with your office team.
This allows field technicians to update their job status in real-time allowing you can make schedule changes when needed.
Popular home service dispatch software comparisons
Now that you know the key features and benefits of the best dispatch software, here are the top 9 choices for you to evaluate.
Method:Field Services
Method:Field Services is a field service dispatch software that has the features you need to be successful. This powerful management software includes job scheduling, dispatching, and routing features along with customer management features.
This solution focuses on your efficiency, company growth, and productivity. Starting at $15 per month, the payment plans scale with you as your business grows.
Method:Field Services’ primary features and benefits include:
- Scheduling and dispatching. Method:Field Services automatically schedules and dispatches jobs.
- Route mapping and scheduling. This software automatically creates routes to save you time, mileage, and gas with a built-in mapping system.
- QuickBooks sync. Accounting is made accurate and easy with data flowing from your home dispatch software to your accounting tool.
- Customer relationship management. Get an overview of customer details, job completion history, and leads to follow up with.
- Reliable estimate and invoicing. Create estimates, invoices, and work orders with a few clicks.
- Easy customizability. Tailor this home dispatch service software to your every need thanks to its no-code platform.
- User-friendly mobile device app. Method’s mobile field service management app allows your field technicians to review their schedules and work orders anytime, anywhere.
Method:Field Services offers a free no-commitment trial, that includes:
- A free hour of customization services.
- Unlimited support resources.
- Access to all features and the Method mobile app.
Workiz
Image credit: Workiz
Workiz allows field service professionals to grow their businesses by moving away from old-school pen and paper methods of scheduling. Instead, you get a home service dispatch software that automates your workflows.
Workiz offers an easy-to-use platform that helps field service professionals manage schedules, billing, payments, and so much more. This software company has helped businesses like locksmiths, carpet cleaners, junk haulers, handyperson, appliance repair workers, and more.
Workiz’s primary features and benefits let you:
- Easily schedule jobs.
- Create invoices to get paid sooner.
- Manage calls with Workiz service phone.
- Integration with third-party apps.
Workiz allows field technicians to see upcoming jobs, communicate with customers, send estimates and invoices, and accept payments.
Their pricing plan starts at $65 per month and goes up to $299 per month. Workiz also offers a free trial for 14 days.
While Workiz has many great features, it lacks in areas such as automatic payment collection. This is something to consider depending on how you want to operate your business.
ServiceTitan
Image credit: ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan is an all-in-one home service dispatch software solution for field service businesses. This powerful tool claims to increase revenue by a quarter, improve sales, and provide real-time insights.
More than 100,000 field service professionals use ServiceTitan to run their field service business. They focus on a lot of different field service industries including HVAC, pest control, electrical work, and more.
ServiceTitans primary features and benefits include:
- The ability to schedule and dispatch jobs.
- Marketing tools.
- Inventory management.
- Sales and lead generation.
ServiceTitan offers three different pricing plans. You can get the cost of each plan by requesting a demo with them. The three plans include the Starter plan, the Essentials plan, and the Works plan.
While ServiceTitan offers great features for field service businesses, there is a learning curve.
Housecall Pro
Image credit: Housecall Pro
HouseCall Pro is an all-in-one business software for field service businesses. It has the standard features of a home service dispatch software, plus an easy-to-use interface.
This well-known software is for businesses looking for a great customer support team that is available online and by phone at any hour of the day.
Some of HouseCall Pro’s key features and benefits include:
- Scheduling and dispatching.
- Invoicing and estimates creation.
- Marketing tools.
- Multiple payment options.
HouseCall Pro’s pricing model includes three options. The Basics package ($49 per month), the Essentials package ($109 per month), and the Max package (Contact for custom pricing).
The Essentials package is the most popular as it includes integrations with apps like QuickBooks and Zapier.
With all these useful features, you need to know that HouseCall Pro falls short with customization. They have a lot of set tools that may work for some businesses and not others.
If customization is a top priority in your home service dispatch software search, then HouseCall Pro may not be the right choice for you.
mHelpDesk
Image credit: SoftwareAdvice
mHelpDesk is a field service software that lets users automate their business. This home service dispatch software is cloud-based and can be accessed through any device with an internet connection.
mHelpDesk allows field technicians and your office team to see schedules, make changes, and notify everyone about updates. The system integrates with your website and provides assistance with functional widgets, and login forms.
Some of mHelpDesk’s key features and benefits include:
- Customer management.
- Dispatching and scheduling.
- Integration with QuickBooks.
- An offline mode.
To access mHelpDesk’s pricing, you have to request a demo where they will review your business and give you a quote to match your needs.
Jobber
Image credit: Jobber
Jobber is a field service software for small to midsized businesses. This solution lets you manage field technicians, provide customer service, and also offers mobile options. Plus, use its real-time scheduling and dispatching tools to automate your business.
Jobber allows you to update jobs and see when jobs are completed. The software also lets you set up reoccurring jobs and assign multiple field technicians to one job.
Some of Jobber’s key features and benefits include:
- Invoice creation and billing.
- A self-service client hub.
- Automatic emailing.
- Customer and lead follow-up reminders.
Jobber’s pricing plans start at $49 per month. There are three different pricing plans including the Core plan ($49 per month), Connect plan ($139 per month), and the Grow plan ($279 per month).
The most popular plan is the Connect plan which allows up to seven users.
RazorSync
Image credit: RazorSync
RazorSync has both mobile and desktop options that are available for both Android and iOS. This solution is designed for small to mid-sized field service businesses.
This tool is ideal for businesses that want constant communication between their field team and office team. With RazorSync, field technicians can:
- Easily see schedules and jobs.
- Create invoices while in the field.
- Update client information.
- Record job progress.
Some of RazorSync’s key features and benefits include:
- Customer relations management.
- Scheduling and dispatching.
- Field worker management.
- Job estimating and invoicing.
RazorSync’s pricing plans start at $55 per month. They offer four different pricing plans including the Solo plan ($55 per month), Team plan ($145 per month), Pro plan ($300 per month), and Enterprise plan (contact them for pricing). The most popular plan is the Pro plan which allows up to 15 users.
RazorSync is suited for many different types of field service companies, including HVAC, cleaning services, landscaping, computer repair, and many more.
Kickserv
Image credit: HomeStratosphere
Kickserv is a home service dispatch software for small businesses that need to manage customers, leads, schedules, jobs, and more.
This software solution can be customized to fit your business needs and works for a variety of field service industries including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning services, and more. Kickserv gives its users a custom interface to manage all of their workflows.
All its features can be accessed through a mobile app, supported by iOS and Android devices.
Some of Kickserv’s key features and benefits include:
- Customer relations management.
- Billing and invoicing.
- Integration with QuickBooks and Xero.
- Scheduling and dispatching.
Kickserv offers four different pricing packages including the Lite plan ($31 per month), the Starter plan ($79 per month), the Business plan ($159 per month), and the Premium plan ($239 per month).
While Kickserv does offer mobile options, their interface on phones and tablets is limited compared to their desktop interface. This is something to consider if your business relies heavily on tablets and phones.
Route4Me
Image credit: Route4Me
Route4Me is a home service dispatch software that focuses on route planning. It allows users to input customer addresses and have a route automatically created for r field technicians. Route4Me users can then track their field technician’s progress in real-time.
Route4Me generates daily, weekly, monthly, and even seasonal schedules for your business. It creates routes with set time slots and plans for round trips.
They also have a command center that allows everyone in the company to communicate with each other.
Some of Route4Me’s key features and benefits include:
- Route planning and routing guides.
- GPS navigation.
- Scheduling and dispatching.
- A mobile route planning app.
Route4Me offers two pricing packages with three pricing plans in each. Their packages start from $239 per month and go up to $479 per month. They offer a 7-day free trial.
Route4Me is a more expensive option for field service businesses and doesn’t include a lot of other features like customer relationships management. This is important to consider when deciding on the right software.
Wrap up: Considerations when purchasing service dispatch software
When deciding on a home service dispatch software, it’s important to think about what features your business needs to grow.
With these features in mind and you’ll have a much easier time deciding on a solution that works for you:
- Scheduling and routing with a built-in mapping system.
- Field technician job tracking and management.
- Automatic updates and reminders to all team members.
- Integration with QuickBooks to avoid double data entry.
Start automating your scheduling and dispatching workflow today with a Method:Field Services trial.
Image credit: dusanpetkovic1 via Adobe Stock
