For those familiar with previous ServiceNow releases, Contractor Management is an already-known application that allows you to collaborate with third-party contractor companies to outsource your work order tasks.
For those hearing about Contractor Management for the very first time, here is a brief summary of its capabilities:
- Provides access to the mobile application for your contractors
- Gives access to Contractor Portal with standard features such as being able to review tasks, track their progress, assign work and so on
- Ability to manage and schedule your contractors’ work by dispatchers
Within the Washington DC release, ServiceNow brought this feature to the next level thanks to the Field Service Marketplace which we will examine in more detail below.
Let’s begin by looking at the pricing models. For larger companies and those that employ contractors in greater quantities, there’s a standard monthly subscription available. For those who utilise contractors more sparingly, there are options for transaction-based subscriptions.
For more information regarding licensing, please refer to your ServiceNow Account manager.
In the past, you would have had to assign tasks directly to your contractors and then wait for their response. Now, that’s no longer the case, and this is where the Field Service Marketplace shines.
Not only is the dispatcher able to select from a list of eligible contractors, but you can also establish your own criteria for how the contractor will be chosen. The default settings for the marketplace criteria are:
- Do you simply want a yes or no response from the contractors?
- Or would you rather prefer to see contractor time and cost estimation before making your decision?
In case you would be interested in creating your own set of criteria, here is the list of available options::
- Lead time – a wait period before your request will be ready for responses
- Duration – time that contractors have for their response
- Estimation – you can allow contractors to propose time and cost estimation
- Close condition – you can define if you want to wait for all contractors to respond, wait for a predefined period of time or simply pick the first responder
Once your request is submitted, contractors will receive a notification either in their Field Contractor Portal, mobile application or via email.
Depending on the setup mentioned earlier, you would then gather the responses from your contractors, and the final step for the dispatcher would be to simply assign the task.
In summary, ServiceNow’s Washington DC Field Service Management Marketplace signifies a notable progression in Contractor Management, furnishing companies with more efficient and customisable tools for partnering with third-party contractors.
Thanks to enhanced features such as customisable selection criteria and improved communication channels, ServiceNow enables organisations to streamline their field service operations and enhance overall efficiency.
Now your organisation can optimise its contractor management processes and attain greater success in delivering field services.
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