GPS Equipment Tracking and Geocoding in the Field Service Industry

Stop wasting time struggling to find equipment when you get to a job site.

The field service industry covers a truly staggering number of professional services. From roof repair to plumbing, each service has its own processes and requirements for day-to-day business. Many types of field service work require workers to return to a previous job in order to inspect the work and perform repairs/replacements. This sort of recurring service is usually easy to do and should be one of the fastest tasks to complete.

…that is, assuming the previous technicians properly recorded/notated everything they did. For recurring work, traveling to the site and locating the previously serviced equipment can cause a lot of wasted time. While wasting a small amount of time may not mean much to many field service companies, others need to find previously completed work quickly, as the difference could mean tens of thousands of dollars in property damage.

Certain field service industries, such as a gas or water utility company for example, may occasionally perform emergency assistance. In these situations, time matters. You can’t do much about the drive time it takes to arrive at the site. However, once there, the time it takes to locate the offending equipment can mean the difference between a simple fix and potential large-scale property damage. Struggling to find the key components (like a shut off valve or load bearing wall) will eat up valuable time and bring an emergency situation that much closer to deteriorating. Without proper notes, it can become nearly impossible to locate a pipe or piece of equipment on a property, especially when that property spans many, many acres.

Old School Equipment Tracking “Solutions”

Many businesses have devised methods for locating hard-to-see or even underground equipment to try to limit time wasted on a job. However, these often have shortcomings that can limit their effectiveness or possibly even cause more harm than good.

Let’s look at one common method: keeping written records of the work done with directions to crucial or problematic equipment. Landmarks such as trees, lamp posts, or nearby buildings can change over time. This can make locating key equipment even harder than starting a search from scratch. Misinterpreted instructions may lead a technician on a wild goose chase.

Another method? Simply asking the property owner about the location of the offending equipment upon arrival. For new customers, you may not have a choice here. And, for most pieces of equipment, the owner will at least know the general area to start the search. This can save time searching for oddly placed equipment and give a good impression of a company’s technicians to the customer.

Issues with this method arise in a few different situations, however. If a technician is responding to an emergency request, they will likely not have the time to have a casual conversation about the problem with the customer. Said customer may not even be available to speak with them based on the type of emergency the technician is responding to. Even with the customer on-site and available to talk, they may not know the location of the problematic equipment, especially if it is usually hidden or inaccessible, such as a gas valve or water line. While the customer may offer a good starting point in some situations, relying on them for crucial information may lead to disaster.

GPS-Based Equipment Tracking Software and Geocoding

Fortunately, the field service industry no longer has to rely solely on old records and customer hearsay. With GPS becoming more and more accurate by the year, a technician can drop a GPS pin at the site of the equipment they worked. The next time they need to inspect or work on that piece of equipment, they can simply pull up the pin and head straight for it. With the accuracy of GPS, the pin will put the technician within feet of the equipment so that they do not waste time on a wild goose chase.

Smart Service field service scheduling software provides all the benefits of GPS geocoding, and more! Not only can technicians pin equipment they find crucial to a job, they can also track the equipment needed for said work. This ensures techs save time throughout the job process. Technicians can avoid hunting for hard-to-find equipment, and the company won’t have to reschedule as many jobs because everyone can properly prepare to service the equipment they know they’ll find on-site.