Field Service IT workflow example

This example describes a coordinated Field Service and IT service management situation.

As a store manager, Joe was unhappy with the quality of IT support and field service. Reporting issues meant many questions and no estimated fix times. Field agents sometimes arrived with the wrong parts due to manual data errors. Outdated software would crash the card transaction system, causing lost sales and unhappy customers.

After implementing ServiceNow, Joe's experience improved.

IT Support and Field Service administrators can create processes to share information and maintenance schedules. Joe can scan equipment to automatically open an incident with IT Support. If a field agent is needed, the IT support rep creates a work order with the necessary details, and Field Service Management routes it to the closest, skilled field agent. Joe receives a notification with the estimated arrival time.

Field agents use the Mobile Agent to review issue details, solutions, and maintenance tasks. They can digitally document and close the work order after completing the tasks.

Field Service Management tracks parts used, expenses, and completion times on a shared platform. Increased visibility of assets, field agent location, and status improved performance and productivity. Reducing documentation time and meeting customer expectations with quicker resolutions helped prevent costly downtime. Better system performance led to increased sales revenue and happier customers for Joe's store.

Field Service IT workflow diagram

IT Field Service workflow steps

The following table provides the steps for the IT Field Service workflow.

Table 1. Workflow steps for IT incident resolution and work order process

Steps	Description
1. Open incident	At a store location, the point-of-sale (PoS) systems are having trouble reading cards. The store manager identifies the issue and uses the Mobile Agent to scan the bar code on the PoS system. This automatically creates and populates an incident, which is assigned to the store Support Service desk.
2. Generate work order	The Support team triages the incident and determines whether it requires a software or hardware fix. In this case, the PoS system requires a software upgrade, so the store Support Service Desk opens a high-priority work order directly from the incident with just one click.
3. Assign a technician	The work order can be assigned to either internal or external third-party teams. In this case, the work order is automatically assigned to an internal technician. The technician is notified of the assignment, accepts the task, and starts traveling to the store. The store manager is informed of the technician’s expected arrival time.
4. Comprehensive check	With the Mobile Agent, the technician has access to all the information about the PoS system and its history (for example, inspections, past fixes, and so on), along with relevant knowledge base articles that can help them resolve the issue. Technicians do a thorough maintenance of the PoS system, which helps reduce future issues and travel costs.
5. Complete work order	Once the technician completes the work, they document their work effort, make any notes, and close the work order. The store manager then digitally signs and confirms the work order is complete. This submission automatically updates the incident.
6. Track and provide audit trail	A PDF summary of all the completed tasks, parts used and returned, incidental expenses, and time taken to do the work is automatically created and attached to the work order. All data is tracked in one single platform for future trend analysis, reports, and audits.