Before Shepherd built the Service Order, it considered enhancing the NetSuite case record in order to handle machine maintenance. NetSuite’s case design, however, did not suit machine maintenance, and so Shepherd built the Service Order as a custom record within NetSuite.  

Many of Shepherd’s customers require that remote support agents record every customer call, no matter how small, as a case within NetSuite. Still others have configured email to case creation logic.  What both approaches have in common is the desire to record, act on, and then close all customer requests. Many cases are rather simple and require no field or remote technical support. The NetSuite case is very well suited to handle such scenarios.

Incorporating field servicing in the paper trail

Often, however, cases require field or remote technical support for resolution. It is in these instances that the case falls short as it has no concept of machine, technician, inventory item usage, dispatch, etc.  For that reason, Shepherd built a dialog between the case and the service order. The remote support agent or customer service representative may initiate a case from the related machine or equipment record. Doing so creates a case history associated with the customer, the customer contact and with that specific machine. A big advantage of this is it makes it unnecessary to have additional tools or resources for tracking such cases: it can now all happen in NetSuite, reducing the chances for missed actions, forgotten open cases and so on.

Seamless status change

When it becomes necessary to dispatch a technician to resolve an issue, Shepherd allows for escalating the case to a service order. The transactional trail or story is clear on all associated records. Field staff may review information recorded on the case as they review the associated service orders. Remote support agents may track the status of any case that they have punted to the field.  Customers may also review case and service order history from the NetSuite Customer Center. The process is transparent for all parties involved, which also avoids costly or inconvenient misunderstandings or duplication of tasks, etc.

Flexibility of case management

Shepherd Release 400 introduced case support to the Shepherd web application. Web application users may open, review, and close cases. They may escalate them to service orders and then schedule using the web-based planner board.  Technicians and remote support staff may message one another in order to collaborate on case closure.  And, as always, Shepherd reads and writes all of its data directly from and to NetSuite, making the experience fully native.

Remote support and field service require the same tool. If your departments use independent tools, it is time to move. Contact us to learn how you can make that possible.

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