Field Force Management : User Story Document ( WX02US02 )

1. Problem Statement

Utility service providers face significant challenges in managing field force operations effectively across diverse service territories, asset types, and technician teams. This leads to:

• Inefficient Workforce Utilization: Without centralized visibility and management, technicians experience unbalanced workloads, with some overutilized while others remain idle, resulting in service delays and increased operational costs.
• Limited Real-Time Operational Visibility: Managers lack comprehensive, real-time insights into field technician status, location, and performance metrics, hindering timely decision-making and responsive service delivery.
• Suboptimal Service Assignment: Manual assignment processes fail to account for technician skills, proximity, workload, and equipment availability, leading to mismatched assignments and repeat service visits.
• Inconsistent Performance Tracking: Without standardized metrics and monitoring tools, organizations struggle to measure, compare, and improve technician productivity and service quality across different regions and service types.

Core Problem: The organization lacks an integrated, purpose-built field force management system that provides real-time visibility, intelligent assignment capabilities, and performance analytics across distributed service territories, resulting in reduced operational efficiency, increased service delivery costs, and inconsistent customer experiences.

2. Who Are the Users Facing the Problem?

O&M Manager:  They oversee field operations, assign tasks, and monitor the progress of field technicians. They use the Field Force page to ensure efficient task allocation and completion.

Field Force Technician: They use this page to receive job assignments, access necessary information, update task statuses, and provide feedback on completed work.

Dispatcher: They coordinate and manage the assignment of tasks to field technicians, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and that field operations run smoothly.

3. Jobs To Be Done

For O&M Manager: When I need to understand our overall field workforce availability and capacity, But I lack real-time visibility across different zones and technician types, Help me access a centralized dashboard showing all technician statuses and assignments, So that I can make informed resource allocation decisions and improve operational efficiency.

For O&M Manager: When I need to evaluate technician performance across different regions, But I have inconsistent metrics and manual reporting processes, Help me access standardized performance analytics for all field personnel, So that I can identify training needs, recognize top performers, and optimize our workforce.

For Field Force Technician: When I need to update my skills and certifications, But I have no centralized system to track my qualifications, Help me manage my professional development through a personal profile, So that I can be assigned to appropriate jobs and advance my career.

For Field Force Technician: When I need to manage my availability and schedule, But I have limited control over my work calendar, Help me view and update my weekly schedule through a self-service portal, So that I can maintain work-life balance while meeting service commitments.

For Dispatcher: When I need to assign technicians to service orders, But I lack visibility into technician skills, location, and current workload, Help me access a comprehensive view of our field workforce with intelligent matching suggestions, So that I can optimize assignments and improve first-time resolution rates.

For Dispatcher: When I need to monitor ongoing service orders, But I lack real-time status updates, Help me track technician location and progress on assigned jobs, So that I can respond to delays or emergencies and provide accurate information to customers.

4. Solution

The Field Force Management module provides a comprehensive solution for managing utility field operations with the following capabilities:

Centralized Workforce Management

• Technician Directory: Complete listing of all field personnel with filtering by status, zone, skills, and availability
• Personnel Profiles: Detailed technician profiles with contact information, assignments, certifications, and performance metrics
• Technician Onboarding: Streamlined process for adding new technicians and capturing essential information
• Edit Capabilities: Ability to modify technician information, skills, certifications, and schedules as needed

Technician Performance Tracking

• Assignment Metrics: Track assigned and completed service orders by technician
• Productivity Analytics: Monitor technician productivity, resolution rates, and service quality
• Activity Logging: Chronological record of technician activities, status changes, and accomplishments

Skills and Certification Management

• Qualification Tracking: Document technician certifications
• Skills Matrix: Record and search technicians by specific ffid, name
• Document Management: Upload & store certification documentation

Scheduling and Availability

• Weekly Schedule Management: Define working hours and availability for each technician
• Leave Management: Track planned absences and time off
• Flexible Working Hours: Set custom start and end times for each day of the week

Service Order Assignment

• Intelligent Matching: Suggest optimal technician assignments based on skills, location, and workload
• Workload Balancing: Distribute service orders equitably across available technicians
• Priority Management: Ensure critical service orders receive immediate attention

Geographic Organization

• Zone-Based Management: Organize technicians by service territories and sectors
• Location Tracking: Monitor technician location for efficient dispatch
• Coverage Analysis: Identify service areas with insufficient technical coverage

5. Major Steps Involved

1. System Access and Navigation

1. Navigate to Field Force module from main menu
2. View technician statistics (total, active, on assignment, unavailable)
3. Filter technician list by status (All, Active, On Leave, Inactive) , zone & role using filter buttons
4. Search for specific technicians using the search functionality (ffid, name)

2. Technician Profile Management

1. Access technician profiles by clicking view in the technician list
2. View summary information (Field Force ID, assigned SOs, completed SOs, joining date)
3. Navigate between profile tabs (Assignments, Activity Log, Certifications, Skills, Availability)
4. Review personal information including contact details, zone assignment, and demographic data
5. Edit technician information using the "Edit Details" button when updates are needed
6. Save changes and verify information has been updated correctly

3. Certification Management

1. Navigate to Certifications tab in technician profile
2. View existing certifications
3. Add new certifications using the "Add Certification" button
4. Upload certification documents in appropriate format

4. Skills and Expertise Management

1. Navigate to Skills tab in technician profile
2. Review current skill tags and primary expertise areas
3. Add new skills using the "Add Skill" button
4. Remove outdated skills using the delete function
5. View completed work orders associated with expertise areas

5. Availability and Scheduling

1. Navigate to Availability tab in technician profile
2. Review weekly schedule showing working hours for each day
3. Adjust start and end times for each day using time selectors
4. Toggle availability status for each day as needed
5. Note days marked as Unavailable (weekends or designated off days)
6. Add notes for availability exceptions when applicable

6. Service Order Management

1. View current assignments on the Assignments tab
2. Review service order details (type, priority, scheduled date, expected completion)
3. Check status of service orders and identify overdue items
4. Update service order status (in-progress, completed, on hold)
5. Document issues encountered during service fulfillment
6. Use Call or View SOP buttons for additional support
7. Report completion times and materials used for service orders

7. Technician Onboarding

1. Initiate onboarding process using "Add Technician" button

8. Communication and Coordination

1. Contact technicians directly through Call or Email buttons
2. Coordinate emergency response for high-priority service needs
3. Track communication history in activity logs

6. Flow Diagram

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7. Business Rules

General Rules

• All field personnel must be assigned to a specific zone and area within the utility service territory
• Each technician must have a unique Field Force ID following the format FF-XXX
• filters tab is multiselected
• Technician profiles must include complete contact information, zone assignment, and relevant skills

Assignment Rules

• Service orders should be distributed to maintain balanced workloads across technicians
• High priority service orders take precedence over normal priority assignments

Certification Rules

• Documentation must be stored securely and accessible to authorized personnel
• All certification documents must be in same format

Skills and Expertise Rules

• Skills can be added based on training completion or field experience
• Primary expertise is determined by highest volume of successfully completed related work orders

Availability Rules

• Technicians are marked as Unavailable on their designated off days
• Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) are set as unavailable by default but can be changed for specific roles

Service Order Rules

• All service orders must have a unique identifier (e.g., SOP-307)
• Service orders must include scheduled date, expected completion date, and estimated time to complete
• Service orders must be assigned a priority level (High, Medium, Low)
• Overdue service orders must be visually highlighted in the system
• All service orders must be trackable from assignment through completion
• Service order status changes must be logged with timestamps

Error Handling

• Certification uploads in incorrect format must be rejected with guidance on proper format
• All critical field validation errors must be displayed immediately at point of entry
• Required fields must be validated before form submission

8. Sample Data

Technician Profile Data

Field Force ID: FF-001
Name: John Doe
Status: Active
Contact: +1 555-123-4567
Email: john.doe@smart360.com
Role: Technician
Zone: North Zone
Area: Sector 15
Location: Rahatsani
Joining Date: 2022-05-15
Address: 123 Technician St, North Zone, SC 12345
Date of Birth: 1990-05-15
Gender: Male
Blood Group: O+
Assigned SOs: 7
Completed SOs: 3

Technician Skills Data

Primary Expertise: WCR clone (10 completed work orders)
Skill Tags: 
- Water
- Installation
- Maintenance
- Meter Reading

Certification Data

Certification: Contract
Document: contract_12345.pdf

Certification: Safety Training
Document: safety_training.pdf

Certification: Water Quality
Document: water_quality_cert.pdf

Availability Schedule Data

Monday: Available (09:00 - 17:00)
Tuesday: Available (09:00 - 17:00)
Wednesday: Available (09:00 - 17:00)
Thursday: Available (09:00 - 17:00)
Friday: Available (09:00 - 17:00)
Saturday: Unavailable (Not scheduled to work on this day)
Sunday: Unavailable (Not scheduled to work on this day)

Service Order Assignment Data

Service Order: SOP-307
Type: Meter Replacement mx
Priority: High
Scheduled: 2025-04-30
Expected: 2025-05-21
ETA: 2 hours
Status: Overdue

Service Order: SOP-53
Type: PAUSE/RESUME
Priority: High
Scheduled: 2025-04-14
Expected: 2025-05-05
ETA: 2 hours
Status: Overdue

Activity Log Data

2025/05/02 at 14:25: Completed service order #53
2025/05/02 at 09:45: Updated personal information
2025/04/28 at 11:20: Marked service order #307 as in-progress
2025/04/25 at 10:30: Added new certification: Water Quality
2025/04/20 at 13:15: Completed monthly training
2025/04/16 at 10:05: Reported issue with service order #298
2025/04/03 at 09:30: Changed zone assignment from East to North

9. Acceptance Criteria

1. The system must display showing counts for total technicians, active technicians, on assignment, and unavailable technicians
2. The system must provide filtering capabilities for the technician list by status (All, Active, On Leave, Inactive),zone & role
3. The system must display a comprehensive list of technicians with columns for ID, name, contact, role, zone, area, joining date, status, assigned SOs, and completed SOs
4. The system must provide action buttons for viewing technician details, editing information, and toggling active status
5. The system must include an "Add Technician" button that initiates the onboarding workflow ( redirect to invite user )
6. Each technician profile must include tabs for Assignments, Activity Log, Certifications, Skills, and Availability & transaction
7. Make a seperate tranacition tab with nessacry details ( as in ui )
8. The transcation tab must show current service orders assigned to the technician
9. The system must provide Call and View SOP buttons for each service order assignment
10. The Activity Log tab must display a chronological record of technician actions with timestamps
11. The Certifications tab must show all technician qualifications
12. The Certifications tab must include an Add Certification button
13. The Skills tab must display expertise areas with tags for specific capabilities and completed work order counts
14. The Skills tab must include an Add Skill button to expand technician capabilities
15. The skills tab must show prime expertise with total number of work order for that skill
16. The Availability tab must show a weekly schedule with working hours for each day and availability toggles
17. The system must allow direct communication with technicians via Email and Call buttons
18. The system must maintain an audit trail of all changes to technician information and status

10. Process Changes

11. Impact from Solving This Problem

12. User Behavior Tracking

For O&M Manager

For Field Force Technician

For Dispatcher

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