How Service Request Manager Streamlines an HVAC Contractor’s Service Calls

EnCon, a Tampa-based provider of commercial and industrial air conditioning and electrical services, wanted a digital makeover of the carbon copy-in-triplicate paper system its field technicians were using to track and document their service calls.

Under the paper system, the company’s technicians turned in a pile of paperwork at the end of the week and the company’s office staff had to retype it all into the system. It took 10 to 14 days to get an invoice out.

The company’s general manager knew there was a better way but was struggling to find the right system. He’d seen demonstrations of seven or eight potential tablet-based solutions and he even signed on for a year-long trial with one. But six months in, he still had not found the right solution.

The GM wanted more than just an e-form. He wanted a custom form that duplicated “right down to the letter of the wording” the paper forms his team was accustomed to using. He also wanted a system that would integrate easily with the company’s QuickBooks accounting system.

Then he came across Image One and Service Request Manager. Image One worked with the company to develop the custom features and fields EnCon wanted. The system allows EnCon’s technicians to trade in their carbon copies for tablets and EnCon’s customers to have a copy of their service reports from the field before the technician has even left. Invoices go from field to office in 10 to 15 minutes. The impact on cash flow? “Huge,” says the GM.

Service Request Manager

Service Request Manager is tablet or phone-accessible software that streamlines the process of service requests and can be seamlessly integrated with QuickBooks or other accounting software

Customers can go online to fill out a service request form. Field technicians then schedule an appointment using Service Request Manager to document the service needed or provided, with the ability to add photographs and a parts list as well. At EnCon the form fields were custom designed to be identical to the paper forms they’d used previously. The software can email a copy of the report to the customer and another to QuickBooks where an invoice is created. The system tracks open requests and orders, boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.

EnCon’s GM described the process that started him on his quest for a better way: “I have the whole company coming in every Friday to turn all that in. Every Friday, I bury my data entry person.”

EnCon’s GM started looking around, but found his options limited. “Everything was either too expensive or didn’t integrate with QuickBooks,” he said. “I hadn’t found anything that wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg every month.”

Image One offered him a software application that he would own for a one time flat fee. They also offered him the customization he wanted.

EnCon’s GM acknowledges that he had a lot of requests. But they don’t call it “Service Request Manager” for nothing. “They bent over backwards for every tweak and change,” he said of Image One. “It was a lengthy design.”

The result, the GM says, is “superior” to any of the other systems he looked into. Service Request Manager has eliminated hours of data entry and the end of week chaos of a system in which technicians had to turn in stacks of paperwork that then had to be hand keyed into the accounting system.

“My days to invoice will go from 10 to 14 days to maybe 3 to 4,” he said. “From a cash flow standpoint, that’s huge.”

With Request Manager,  everything is streamlined. “If my guy is up on a roof and an air conditioning unit has burned up, they can use this software to take a picture of it so it’s part of the report. When I email this report to my customers, it’s got pictures of the damage. It emails QuickBooks. My customer has a copy of the report before my technician even leaves the property.” Another advantage: “No more having to decipher their chicken scratch.”

Going Forward

Eventually, EnCon’s GM plans to take advantage of more of the system’s capability – adding a field for pricing so that customers will also have an invoice before the technician leaves.

What Can Service Request Manager Do for You?

If you can see your organization benefiting in ways similar to Encon, get in touch with us to learn what Service Request Manager can do for you.

Contact us to learn more about streamlining service request processing