Scheduling for Todays Mobile Workforce
Updated July 08, 2015

Scheduling for Todays Mobile Workforce

Gary Patterson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review

Software Version

8.1.10

Modules Used

  • ClickMobileTouch
  • ClickMobile Classic

Overall Satisfaction with ClickSoftware Mobile Workforce Management

We (Diabsolut) are a preferred partner and implementer of the full suite of ClickSoftware products with offices in Canada, United States, and India.

We have implemented ClickSoftware's Mobile Workforce Management software at several of our clients and have successfully deployed it, and many other ClickSoftware products to other clients over an ever expanding array of sectors for several years.

The Mobility solutions offered by ClickSoftware are very robust and extremely configurable, enabling adopters of the software to get everything they need and almost everything they want out of a mobile workforce management system today. Clicksoftware is always updating their software with bug fixes and enhancements making for a highly evolved offering that can adapt to meet your organizations needs as your business changes and grows. ClickSoftware offers a Windows based "thick" client that is perfect for Field resources utilizing a laptop, while ClickMobile Touch allows for organizations that have gone truly mobile to utilize a robust mobile workforce management system through an HTML5 webpage or native app on a smartphone.

ClickMobile allows organizations communicate with field resources in real-time. This allows for updates to and from the field resources, enabling the business to react in those critical moments when customer service is tested.

  • ClickMobile allows for real-time updates from the field. The devices don't need to be within the organizations domain to communicate with the back-end database. This makes updating work order information much less cumbersome since VPN connections are not necessary for mobile field workers
  • Store-and-forward capability of the Mobile applications allow users to make updates to a work order even when they don't have an internet/data connection. They can make their changes and rest assured that they will be recorded to the organizations database when internet connection is restored.
  • ClickMobile Touch makes the BYOD a reality as the application is device agnostic and will run on any browser that supports HTML5.
  • At times updates from may take a while to come back to the main database. This is generallly because of a loss of internet connectivity due to poor data coverage from cell towers or Wi-Fi networks.
  • Organizational IT policies of network architecture/DMZ/Firewalls may add to the challenges of deploying ClickMobile outside of the organization domain, thus allowing field resources the ability to access relevant work order data without connecting the company network via VPN. This can usually be overcome with quality solution design and implementation.
  • Generally, when customers adopt ClickMobile along with a solid Change Management approach and strong business analysis to streamline processes they can experience a more efficient workforce within the first two weeks of going live with the product. Based on your organizations needs the ROI can be realized in as little as 3 months of implementation.
  • Changing processes is bound to bring out the nay-sayers in the organization. This can result in making some of the best field resources in the organization unhappy and that may bring down productivity. For this reason it is extremely important to really take the Field resources opinions on the matter into consideration.
  • Time-to-service, as a KPI generally increases when a product like ClickMobile is introduced to an organization. When coupled with a strong scheduling program like ClickSchedule the realized customer satisfaction and efficiency of the scheduling department and Field workforce is exponential.
  • Mobile solutions like ClickMobile give organizations an new, highly detailed way of scheduling emergency and high-priority work to the Field in a fraction of the time that most organizations do today.
  • TOA,ServiceMax
ClickSoftware has been the leader in the Garner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management for 4 years. This designation by Gartner has identified ClickSoftware's product and service as both innovative and most able to execute. ClickSoftware have brought new technologies to the Mobile Workforce and helped many companies around the world become more efficient and proactive, instead of remaining reactive, to their customer's service and scheduling needs.

ClickMobile can be implemented in virtually any organization that has a need for a Mobile Workforce Management system. The only real limitations or concerns will be with the backend hardware architecture. Sectors that have really seen the best utilization of the software are ones that have a dynamic service schedule and need to be extremely flexible with their customers service needs. In a day where customer service is so important to an organizations ability to remain the market leader it is extremely important for an organization to consider implementing a mobile solution. For organizations that already have a mobile management solution in place it is critical that they continuously reevaluate the system in order to remain competitive in their market and drive down operational costs.

Change can be difficult for many organizations and the buy-in from the Field resources, who will ultimately be utilizing the mobile solution on a daily basis, will be critical when implementing something like ClickMobile. If the field resources are not able to accept a change to process then Change Management needs to take place during the implementation. It is generally a good rule to begin Change Management at the beginning of any large project, such as one where a mobile solution is being introduced.

Using ClickSoftware Mobile Workforce Management

As of right now there is not a alternative that seems to offer all of the functionality with a vision of what is needed in the future. It is my belief that ClickSoftware will remain a leader in Mobile Workforce Management for a long time.

ClickSoftware Training

Overall the training was quite informative but did lack detail in some areas. It had all of the necessary content for an experience product user but didn't offer enough information for a new user to complete the training and then feel comfortable in real-world situations running or managing the software. I would recommend this course for anyone with at least 1 year of full-time exposure to the ClickSchedule product.