FieldAware Software

We did not benefit from it.

Pros

I loved the sales pitch. That's where my interest ended. We ended up paying into the triple-zeros for our "trial" period, which is fine, if it would have delivered as promised. They were very friendly, and they do a great job on presentation. I'm sure that their software would work nicely for a company who didn't have customers with guidelines on how they want their deliverables or for a company who was just using it for dispatch or internal purposes.

Cons

Everything we tried to explain about our company ended up with their sales department telling us how WE could change to fit the software, not how we could use the software to make our lives easier. We wasted countless hours of payroll time and company resources to find out that there's absolutely no reason a company in our industry would use this software. But even as we canceled and stopped taking their calls, they swore up and down that if we would just give them a chance (that we more than generously did), they'd make it work for us. After spending all the time and money, we still get sales calls from their team, who act unaware that we were ever customers, and who will tell us about the amazing trial offer. They're pretty unaware for having the word "Aware" in the title of their application. They thought we should recruit our customers to accept their style of deliverable, regardless that we have contracts that stipulate how our deliverables are presented. Bottom line is that this software will only work if you are using it with internal customers who are all ready to adopt their way of thinking. You can't get them to understand that there are contracts with big companies who want things done a specific way because the Field Aware team thinks that their customer is always wrong. It's expensive and doesn't work for our industry.

Pros

Theoretically, Fieldaware would save time, and money, if it is working properly.
When it is functioning properly, Fieldaware is easily searchable; real time; shareable; and great for dispatching a medium to large crew.

Cons

Constant issues, sometimes taking weeks to have resolved. For instance, last month many of our jobs were vanishing without a trace. This month only the lead technician can 'see' the job. Any other crew members must be notified by other means that they have a posting.
We have had the equivalent of one staff member designated solely to overcoming Fieldaware issues.

Pros

The interface is aesthetically pleasing and doesn't look this its from the stone ages.

I do also appreciate that they worked with us when we were ready to move on.

Cons

We weren't able to customize it enough to work with our use case. We tried for quite a while, but it ended up being too cumbersome with the workarounds we were trying and not a good long term fit.

They are an all in one solution for small to medium service industry businesses.

Pros

Dispatch board is great, easy use. Very little training needed to use the product. Easy to see on the screen. The mobile app is very user friendly and works good. The price book is very easy to set up.

Cons

This product is great for dispatch, but for invoicing it has flaws. I talked to them for help on invoicing and payments and they claimed that their product isn't made for that. But if you look on their website, they claim to have the best thing since sliced bread.

Pros

It is a good Scheduling program. - easy to use in the mobile app. Gives us the ability to access all documents

Cons

I think they are charging too much for multiple users . I don't like that you can't delete things after they are created by mistake. Customer service is not consistent on there advise. Setting up the software to track key customer information is difficult, and report design is very limited.

Smooth scheduling
Up to the minute information
Happy Technicians with efficient days

Pros

Before working with Field Aware my company suffered from numerous scheduling issues as well as a huge issue with our technicians ability to communicate with home base effectively. With Field Aware we not get up to the minute information through syncing as well as the ability to create effective schedules for our team and maximize their work days

Cons

The ability to customize is extremely limited. My company loves to put our own spin on software and unfortunately Field Aware does not allow us much control. While this is a negative the amount of features that exist in the base version is more than enough to meet our needs

Pros

Once set up it is easy to use. Easy to enter my jobs I need to. Easy finding the jobs after I enter them.

Cons

We need to be able to delete customers and delete other functions. Either that or have an archive section for them.

Faster feedback in the digital age

Pros

Field Aware allows for our technicians to quickly relay their feedback to the home office. With the ability to quickly read and reply to their comments the overall efficiency of our service office is greatly improved

Cons

At times it can be unreliable. It also requires a high level of user intelligence. With proper training though these hurdles can be overcome

Pros

Its very easy to use both in the office and the field. Training time is very low for my techs. Not too many bugs. The mobile app is super easy to navigate and use

Cons

The mobile web software is not 100% workable in all browsers. This is the only area that needs work. If I am away from my laptop and trying to schedule work for my techs after hours it is not easy for me to use my phone or ipad

At K&E Flatwork we are the largest residential flatwork company in the KC Metro area, and we have a growing commercial presence as well. We use FieldAware to schedule all of our jobs. The desktop web-based app allows me to create and change plans as needed. And the mobile app keep our crew leaders informed about job schedules, addresses, contacts, etc. and allows them to access plans as well as builder and city specs. Finally our accounting office uses the completed job reports to help them bill accurately.

FieldAware has been an extremely stable and reliable platform for us, functioning without fail and providing good standard features. But I am particularly happy with the ability to customize fields. this allows us to use fieldaware for needs that may be specific to our industry or our company.

Finally, I take advantage of the technical support line -- real live people! -- about once per month. I get quick, clear responses from friendly experts.

Recommended!

Pros

Customizable. Stable. Great customer service.

Cons

I'd like more options to control reports and filters.

When we first implemented this program we discovered very quickly how limited this program is. Poor integration options. Not modeled to improve field performance in ways you might expect from typical service management software. Mostly just a fancy way to dispatch calls. You can only see 10 previous calls in the history. Syncing is disasterous and cumbersome. It takes a long time between functions to sync which can frustrate a busy facilities manager or store owner trying to get back to work. No internal integration. Information entered into one section of the system does not populate to other parts of the system where it would be helpful. This software is very frustrating to both field and office personnel. From a service tech perspective this program is a hinderance to customer response times and satisfaction.

Pros

It can be deleted.

Cons

It is nothing like presented.

Advice to Others

Encourage all medium/large scale service organizations to consider all options and make sure you are getting what you want out of the program.

This has gone from bad to worse. Nobody returning phone calls, emails etc. I have even called the Sales dept and can't get through to them either.

Pros

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Cons

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Advice to Others

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When we first implemented the system all was well. We had a couple of issues but their support team were great. After 3 months we integrated the system with 3Plenish (at the recommendation of FieldAware) to manage the inventory quantities and locations..... BIG MISTAKE. Since then the support from FieldAware has virtually disappeared and 3Plenish have been close to useless.

Pros

Simple starter system; great for those who have not used I.T. systems before on a daily basis. The mobile app is a doddle for the engineers.

Cons

No ability to manage stock quantities; hence the 3Plenish integration.

Advice to Others

Do your homework and shop around. Get live demos from at least 3 or 4 different companies (whether you chose FieldAware or not) because there are a lot of companies out there offering similar systems and I'm sure that there are better options.

This is clunky, poorly though out software. Up until very recently, when scheduling work orders for multiple techs, only the tech assigned as "Job Lead" could see that the job was assigned to them on their mobile device. This means that the other technicians assigned to work on the same job cannot see that they have been assigned this work and, as a result, need to call into dispatch to see where they are supposed to work that day. Isn't the point of having this software to eliminate paper work orders and phone calls?

Field Aware does not offer a lot of the features it's competitors are offering. Additionally, it is far more expensive then the competition.

The good news is that FA realized that it was absolutely ridiculous for technicians not see a job they were assigned to and came up with an update that, again, was poorly thought out and hastily put together. The bad news is that the update is HORRIBLY buggy and has actually rendered the program useless. Work orders that are assigned to our field technicians by our central dispatcher appear... some of the time? We are experiencing an issue where (for example) if 4 jobs are dispatched to a tech, only 2 are received by his device and the other 2 simply will not populate. This has resulted in fragmenting our operations and requiring LOT more time placing phone calls to individual techs telling them what jobs to work on. Field Aware was weak to begin with but is not unreliable and useless.

DO NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE. We are currently looking for a replacement.

We paid for this system and unlimited support to have it implemented. A year later the system is not implemented and we received minimal support to get it implemented. A product we could test was not even delivered. All we received was empty promises.

You have to delete and reinstall the app on tablet or phone all the time.
There is no way to inactive or delete items...forever stuck in the item master.
From the time we reviewed the software, signed the contract, through half way implementing our Sales Reps quit, the implementation employee assigned to us was moved and we are left with resources that are already over loaded.
Jobs that need to have pictures attached takes forever especially if you are trying to upload more than two.
FieldAware does not integrate with QB...they use a tool called Swagman to map data and create *.csv files that you have to then open and import in QuickBooks (slow and old technology!).
You can't change the description of items and if you use Misc Item as place holders then you have to update both cost and price in different areas in the App. If you have more than one Misc Item then you can't distinguish between the item because you can't update descriptions! The solution is to either put the Misc Item in the notes area or allow employees to setup new items, which can't be inactivated or deleted.

1)UNDER JOB SCHEDULING, we are unable to direct or assign additional techs to a job without typing information twice. Info shows up on lead tech but not on additional people asigned to the same job. This is a major problem for us. Takes time to add additional info and addresses.
2) How we enter the date is ok but input for time takes extra effort. Much happier with the old way.

This program has allowed our company to grow. We started out with two employees, 2 years later, we're now eight. The many features of this software allow us to stay on top of all our growing customer lists and increasing work orders in an organized way. It's easy to learn with many advanced features that will help us as we continue to grow. The best thing about FieldAware though is how it continually evolves, in many ways based on our suggestions! The technical help is immediate and effective.

Pros

Simple to learn, always improving.

Cons

No default tax setting, and difficult to carry out some requests with the ipad version.

We have been in business for over 39 years; before Field Aware, our techs and service agents utilized paper work orders and emails to forward pictures and parts requests.We averaged +300 "paper work orders a week!" In June, 2013, we research numerous companies that offer electronic "paperless" work orders, asset/parts management, invoicing,
job site history, pictures attached to each job, etc. Field Aware was absolutely the best choice among all the companies we spoke to- and the best R.O.I. than any others!

Pros

Excellent Technical Support
Immediate Followup ( since Sept. 2013, the average return call from Field Aware Support was 15 minutes!-)
Program Dept. Outstanding- will help create the system specific to our business
Continuous Upgrading the system

Cons

If parts are requested,and the task is marked, should be able to send email to office- otherwise we have to have someone review all the pending jobs.Make a mistake a "delete" a a job, it is forever lost in the clouds! Business Works compatible>

We have been using Field Aware for 8 months and are very pleased with the software. It is very user friendly and perfect for the field service environment. Constant upgrades/updates are a major plus.