How Do I Choose the Best Work Order Software?

Using paper order forms for a business can be an effective way of taking down and filing orders, but these forms are easily lost, jumbled or forgotten. With work order software, all orders are electronically created and stored, so they are well organized and easy to pull up. Good work order software should contain several essential elements to make it the best for any industry. Those elements include a sophisticated filing system that lets files be ordered by date, priority and customer; and scheduling tools, so the employee making the work order can schedule the new job alongside existing jobs. A reporting system that tells administrators who is working on the job and the progress of that job also is valuable, as are mobile capabilities if the company has workers out in the field.

After an order is made, it is electronically filed within the work order software. If the software does not have a sophisticated filing system, then it is possible that administrators will lose the order. Good programs will have the ability to display all orders according to when they were made, their priority and the client. This allows administrators to quickly look over every job order and ensure all work is completed and not forgotten.

In most service-based businesses, scheduling is everything, because clients want the fastest and most efficient service. Scheduling tools within the work order software will help the administrator check all existing jobs and schedule a new job for a certain date and time, and possibly even a certain worker. By maintaining an overarching schedule, the company can be sure all jobs are being done in the quickest order.

Work order software with reporting features allows users to view orders based on their progress, the amount of money made on each job, and who worked on the order. One advantage of this feature is that administrators can report on how well — or how poorly — the company is doing, based on the number of jobs and amount of money being made. This also helps the company see how well jobs are being done, based on how long it takes jobs to be completed. If something is done wrong on a job, this reporting feature also allows administrators to check on who was assigned to the order, so action can be taken against the appropriate employee.

Work order software with mobile capabilities will be useful to companies that have workers out in the field, but probably not for those working on orders exclusively in-house. With mobile capabilities, the work order program is able to send job information to the employee’s mobile phone. This way, if there is a new job or if something changes about the present job, the employee can quickly be made aware.