What it is (plain English)
The system for managing work that requires someone to physically show up - installations, repairs, inspections, maintenance. It schedules and dispatches the right technician (with the right skills, parts, and location), guides them through the job on a mobile app, and tracks parts and time.
Problems it solves
- Dispatchers juggling technician schedules on whiteboards and phone calls.
- Technicians arriving without the right parts, skills, or information.
- No live visibility into where field staff are or how jobs are progressing.
- Parts and inventory that don't reconcile with the work performed.
What must exist first
Platform Core Setup. Define the assets, locations, technicians, skills, parts, and service model needed for field work. FSM can be triggered by CSM Case Management when a customer case needs a site visit.
What the customer needs to provide
- Your field workforce: technicians, their skills, territories, and working hours.
- The assets/equipment they service and where those live.
- Parts and inventory data, and how stock is replenished.
- Scheduling rules: travel time, priorities, SLAs for on-site response.
- Mobile/connectivity reality for technicians (often working offline in the field).
Where it can go next
Work Order Management structures the job lifecycle. Workforce Optimization adds workforce shift planning, adherence visibility, performance, skills, coaching, and learning. Schedule Optimization handles automatic work-order-task optimization and can use WFO schedule and event information. Asset and inventory management keep parts accurate, while CSM Case Management can connect field work to customer resolution.