ExakTime is the number-one time tracking software for the construction industry but its applications are also ideal for field services. Companies in the field services industry, those that do onsite installation, maintenance or repair require tools that allow them to manage their mobile workforces. ExakTime’s communication and tracking features meet their unique challenges.
Workforce Management Challenges for Field Services
Field services companies, like those that offer food and appliance delivery, telecommunications, utilities, emergency vehicle repair and self-service maintenance, for example, employ workers who are mobile. Without being inside a physical building all day, it can be difficult for supervisors to manage their workers, not least of which is communication, tracking and making HR processes, like payroll, more efficient.
Communicating with Employees
Good communication is essential for staying on top of what’s happening in the field. Progress and events such as weather or traffic issues, site safety concerns, new demands for material, equipment issues and even the news of a job’s completion can be missed when workers are offsite. ExakTime offers features that help companies keep in touch with their field employees including field notes and custom alerts & notifications.
The field notes feature bridges the project gap between those on and those offsite. It allows for instant job site updates from the field in the form of photos, audio files and text. Notes appear on the dashboard of our cloud software for those back at the office and are also attached to job sites in your system, remaining part of your labor record. For example, if a tool or material is needed, your field services worker can take a photo of it and attach it to a field note rather than trying to describe the brand and appearance.
The custom alerts & notifications feature allows companies to send automated and ad hoc communications as email, text or in-app notifications with all messages saved in the system. This ensures everyone is on the same page about important events or emerging situations.
Communicating about who’s on the job site is just as important as what’s happening at the site. Field services workers don’t always stop into the office before heading out. When someone calls in sick or is late, it’s imperative that managers pivot quickly by scheduling someone else to take their place. ExakTime’s scheduler feature lets companies schedule worker shifts and tasks in advance or on the fly, so they don’t have to wonder about what’s happening at a remote job site.
Tracking Employees
Knowing where employees are is a big concern for field services companies, especially the clock in and out location. Tracking accurate worker time is essential for compliance, as employees must be paid for all hours worked, but also to make sure employees aren’t padding their time sheets. ExakTime’s mobile time tracking app with GPS location tracking uses a mobile phone’s native functionality to track employees. ExakTime Mobile’s GPS feature utilizes 30 global positions satellites to provide exact locations of employees when they clock in or out.
ExakTime’s mobile time tracking app also uses geofences. A geofence is a virtual “barrier” that works like a regular fence by marking off specific areas, like a job site or permanent structure, like a manufacturing plant. When a geofence is in place, employees must clock in inside the fence or else their time card gets flagged as being offsite, providing oversight as to who is working when they say they are. Administrators can quickly set up a geofence anywhere by using the app’s maps feature, which uses Bing maps.
Streamlining Workforce Operations
Everyday processes, like payroll, can take longer when workers are in the field. Time sheets must be manually turned in and often payroll must wait on last minute submissions. Once time sheets are finally in one place, bookkeepers must decipher the data and manually enter the time worked for each employee into payroll processing software. It is a time consuming and tedious process that’s susceptible to mistakes. ExakTime makes payroll processing more efficient and accurate for workers in the field.
Records collected by the mobile app are automatically pushed to software in your office, eliminating the need for time-consuming and costly trips to multiple job sites to collect time records. Time tracking automation also eliminates manual data entry. Employee data, like job activities and job locations, can be exported into your payroll and accounting software.
ExakTime’s mobile time tracking solution is perfect for any organization that has workers on the go – from construction to field services and everything in between. With award-winning customer support, ExakTime professionals can help guide your company as to which features will serve you best, allowing you to streamline operations and improve productivity.
Contact us today to learn more.
