An honest review of the Service Channel platform by a multi-site facilities professional.
April 25, 2018
An honest review of the Service Channel platform by a multi-site facilities professional.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with ServiceChannel
The entire retail portion of our company uses ServiceChannel (SC) to upload and review work orders. It's our number one platform to identify and resolve issues within a store's physical footprint. I use the platform to manage the physical structure of all of our stores across the US, Canada, and Hawaii. I also use it for vendor management, data digging, and invoice oversight.
- They offer a platform that enables seamless communication between the store, vendor, district manager, and myself (facilities manager). By utilizing the notes portion of the work order, all parties involved are notified and kept up to speed on any changes in real time.
- SC also allows independent specialization to meet the individual needs of each company. I have set up my dashboard to customize my desire for more detail or pictures per element. This has eliminated the necessity of a reply email to the store partners to upload a picture of the issue. I have it set up so individual elements will require a picture prior to the WO being created. This is a big time saver and forces good communication habits.
- There support staff is second to none. They are helpful and available to support your needs and the needs of your vendors.
- Sometimes the functionality of the software is slow.
- Example...I insert a WO# into the home search box and it comes up with "nothing found". I return to the home screen and repeat the exact same process and it takes me to my WO. This happens at least 50% of the time.
- They just finished up with a system upgrade (I think), and during the 3 week period I could not pull mass approved invoices for my AP department. That was a real hindrance.
- I am not particularly fond of the new dashboard format. It's not as easy to move around in. However it's new and I'm sure I will get used to it quick enough.
- SC allowed me to come into a new position with a territory that I was unfamiliar with and totally understand my market and needs within hours of starting my new job. I used the skills acquired from my former job to understand what I needed to know, and than I used the SC format to find the answers to my questions.
- SC allowed me to come into my new position 2 years ago and dramatically reduce my R&M costs in under a month. SC allowed me the opportunity to review total costs historically, and from there I was able to identify under-performing and over charging vendors. Once identified I was able to make the changes to get the appropriate vendors in the right spots for success.
- SC allows for very easy vendor change out. I was able to make mass changes to the entire portfolio in minutes rather than hours.
The only other experience I have with platforms such as SC is during my time at Starbucks. They created an in house work order system that was very detailed and cumbersome to work around. The good news is that once I learned Sbux's system all other systems are a piece of cake. I was able to manipulate SC within hours of working on it.
ServiceChannel Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - Sue Thomas is the reason...she is flat out amazing.
She is bright and well versed in the SC format and she's very accommodating. I never hesitate to contact her or ask her to help upload or fix an issue I'm having. Sue's support and knowledge allows me to focus my attention on my stores not admin work. Having Sue as a true partner is critical to my success on a national platform.
She is bright and well versed in the SC format and she's very accommodating. I never hesitate to contact her or ask her to help upload or fix an issue I'm having. Sue's support and knowledge allows me to focus my attention on my stores not admin work. Having Sue as a true partner is critical to my success on a national platform.
Yes - I reported to Sue recently that I wasn't able to down load approved invoices in mass. She worked tirelessly to find me a temp solution and kept me up to date once the issue was resolved.
Okay,
I'll go back to the invoice download issue. Once I identified it to Sue she worked to find me a work around. That work around involved her personally downloading the invoices and sending them over to our AP department directly. Once the AP department realized my approval wasn't on the invoices she sent over, Sue once again went into trouble shooting mode and found a way around. She determined there was a way to download the invoices that included my stamped approval. She did this pull for me every week until the issue was resolved. She went above and beyond for me...and not just this one time. Many times Sue has bailed me out.
I'll go back to the invoice download issue. Once I identified it to Sue she worked to find me a work around. That work around involved her personally downloading the invoices and sending them over to our AP department directly. Once the AP department realized my approval wasn't on the invoices she sent over, Sue once again went into trouble shooting mode and found a way around. She determined there was a way to download the invoices that included my stamped approval. She did this pull for me every week until the issue was resolved. She went above and beyond for me...and not just this one time. Many times Sue has bailed me out.
Using ServiceChannel
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Looking up work orders and the status of the work orders is very easy and very helpful.
- Data mining for historical data is super easy and impactful to my daily business.
- Adding notes as a form of communication between all parties involved is very easy and quick
- Vendor uploads and removals is easy and quick. I can literally change out all my plumbing vendors across North America in less than a minute.
- The PM program is a little cumbersome, but it's only because you are not forced to use this element all the time. I feel any element you are not regularly working in will be challenging once you return to it. If you did something one time 5 months ago it only seems logical that you will have a hard time remembering steps for completion. However once you do the process one time it's easy to duplicate.
- Mass WO uploads are tricky. Again this is only because this task isn't a regular task. Any and all regular tasks are super easy to perform on this platform.
Yes - I have the SC app and it's real easy to work in and around. It gives me the opportunity to step away from my desk and not miss a beat. I can approve or reject proposals from anywhere. At the same time I'm able to grab a phone call while on the Little League field and review the WO status from the dugout. It allows me to have a work life balance.