Zoho FSM Introductory Series #1: Streamline Work Order Management

Zoho FSM Introductory Series #1: Streamline Work Order Management

In this series we make fly-on-the-wall observations as the folks at Hot&Cold* (a company in Santa Rosa, CA that offers HVAC services) leverage the many features of Zoho FSM to steer their field services business to success. This will aid you in assessing Zoho FSM and its suitability for your business.
 
*Hot&Cold is a fictional company created for this series.

Ready, set, go with every Request




How Zoho FSM made a difference

  • Dedicated Requests module
    The Requests module in Zoho FSM is designed to facilitate easy request management and tracking. It captures all the essential details needed for efficient request processing. Additionally, you have the flexibility to customize the Requests module according to your specific needs.



  • End-to-end support from request to service appointment
    The requests that are generated can be easily transformed into estimates or work orders. This not only reduces the need for manual input but also ensures that the data remains consistent from the initial request to the subsequent service appointment.

  • Triage requests with ease
    The Status and Priority associated with requests help you manage them efficiently so that requests are handled with the urgency and attention it requires. Convenient filter and search options enable you to find the requests easily.

  • Associate with territories, contacts, or companies
    Requests can be generated from either the Contacts or Companies module, allowing users to view all requests associated with a specific contact or company in a single place. Also, it is possible to allocate a territory to a request, ensuring that only the relevant field agents are assigned to the service appointments generated from these requests.

Don't keep them guessing with your Estimates !



 

How Zoho FSM made a difference

  • Send estimates from Zoho FSM
    From Zoho FSM, send branded estimates that include a link for approval or rejection. Based on the status of the estimate, a whole gamut of actions can be performed. The status of the sent estimate emails can be checked within the estimate record.



  • Convert to Work Order
    Once the estimate is approved, you can easily convert the estimate into a work order. This ensures that the work order created captures the services and parts that have been vetted by the customer.

  • Customizable Estimate Email Templates
    Using customizable templates, send accurate, and professional estimate emails in no time, every time. Minimize mistakes or omissions that may occur when estimate emails are manually created.

Manage your Work Orders with alacrity



 

How Zoho FSM made a difference

  • Dedicated Work Orders module
    Zoho FSM helps you create comprehensive work orders that capture all the required services and parts. From a work order, you can create service appointments for the services added.



  • Ensure follow-up
    Periodic follow-ups are necessary for certain services. From a work order record in Zoho FSM, you can create Follow Up Work Orders, and Follow Up Estimates guaranteeing that no follow-up tasks are overlooked.

  • Work Order-level Invoicing
    Ability to generate an invoice for an individual service line item of a work order or for multiple service line items of a work order. All invoices for a work order can be seen and managed from a single place.

Harness the power of Service Tasks



 

How Zoho FSM made a difference

  • Schedule composite services
    Services involving many components can be split into smaller service tasks that can be worked on simultaneously or at different times. This helps your dispatchers plan resources better. They can schedule a single task at a time or send multiple agents for different tasks, based on the needs of the customer.



  • Make it easy for the field agent
    If needed, service task can be partially completed and resumed later. Partially completed tasks can be assigned to different appointments. Thus, a work can be started by one agent and then assigned to another agent. This would also enable agents to switch between tasks at different customer locations seamlessly.

  • Keep track of progress
    Field agents can start a unique timesheet for a service task. This gives you data for each portion of work done at the job site and helps you get a clear idea of the progress of work.

Make the right choice for your field service business as Hot&Cold. Sign up for Zoho FSM today!!!
 
Stay tuned for the next part of the series !!!
 
Related Links:
​

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Updating an Invoice Line Item's Discount Account via API Call / Deluge Custom Function

        I need help updating an invoice line item's discount account via API. Below is a screenshot of the line item field I am referring to. Now the field to the left of the highlighted field (discount account) is the sales income account. I am able to modify

      • Send e-mail with attachments

        Dear Zoho, How is that possible in Zoho Flow to send an e-mail with attachment?  Just a simple example: Zoho Flow checks my Zoho mails and if the conditions starts the trigger then I would like to send an email with the original email's attachment. Any idea? BR, Adam

      • How to I get checkboxes on a subform to update via deluge

        Hello, would someone be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong here? I am trying to take the contents of a Deals subform and add them to an invoice then update the checkbox on each row so that 'add to invoice' is unticked and 'invoiced' is ticked. The output

      • Your bot just got smarter: AI-Powered routing that reads between the lines

        What if your bot could tell the difference? Between a visitor who just needs a quick answer, someone actively comparing options, and a frustrated customer one click away from leaving? Most bots can't. They deliver the same response to everyone, missing

      • Urgent Security Feature Request – Add MFA to Zoho Projects Client Portal Hello Zoho Projects Team,

        Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit an urgent security enhancement request regarding the Zoho Projects Client Portal. At this time, as far as we are aware, there is no Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) available

      • Unified customer portal login

        As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that

      • Zoho Projects - Task Owner filter at Project level

        Hi Projects Team, The feature requests I would like to raise is the ability to create a custom view at the project level for projects with tasks owned by a user or users. For example "Ashley's Projects" custom view might contain a list of project in which

      • Cadences

        I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't

      • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

        Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if

      • Would be really awesome to have Created Time and Modified Time showing for custom functions list

        It would be SO HELPFUL to be able to sort custom functions by created time/ modified time. Also seeing a created by/ modified by with the little profile picture would be supremely helpful as well. Just really hard sometimes to find a function you were

      • Ticket Export Does Not Include Ticket Threads

        Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, I hope you’re doing well. I would like to report an issue regarding the ticket export functionality in Zoho Desk. Currently, when exporting tickets, the ticket threads or conversation history are not included — only the ticket

      • Payments made notification

        This is a really wonderful feature but we can only use it for about 50% of payments made & have to revert to sending statements which is a real chore. Credits applied to the bills paid in the notification aren't included & this causes great confusion in the accounts receivable departments. Please, please add this required feature asap ! .....

      • Ability to add VAT to Retainer Invoices

        Hello, I've had a telephone conversation a month ago with Dinesh on this topic and my request to allow for the addition of VAT on Retainer Invoices.  It's currently not possible to add VAT to Retainer Invoices and it was mutually agreed that there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be, especially as TAX LAW makes VAT mandatory on each invoice in Europe!   So basically, what i'm saying is that if you don't allow us to add VAT to Retainer Invoices, than the whole Retainer Invoices becomes

      • ZOHO DESK link with Power BI

        HI, I am using ZOHO Desk for last two years and now my client is asking to integrate ZOHO desk data to Power BI so that they can use Data for reporting. Kindly guide in details so that i can give access to ZOHO desk export data for more visibility.

      • URLs being masked despite disabling tracking

        Hey, We had disabled click tracking from an email update we are sharing with our users. Despite this, the URL the end user is receiving is masked, and looks like "https://qksyl-cmpzourl.maillist-manage.net/click/1d8e72714515cda6/1d8e72714515ca70" instead

      • Dashboard Autorefesh

        Good day, I am a dashboard that displays the number of tickets based on "Product Name". This dashboard is displayed on a big TV for the team to monitor. Can the dashboard auto-refresh every few minutes to display the new values? Currently, we have closed

      • Deferred/ Unearned revenue

        Dear Zoho Team, Just in case you have missed out my query posted few days ago: We issue invoices relating to 12-month web hosting service. When we issue the invoice, we should record the entire amount of the invoice as DEFERRED/UNEARNED REVENUE (ie. $10

      • Report Hover Setting

        Would be great if we will able to show information to the user while hovering a record in a report.

      • Bigin Android app update: Zoho Books integration

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce Zoho Books integration on the latest version(v1.8.5) Bigin Android app. Once the integration is completed in the web(bigin.zoho.com), the Zoho Books tab will be visible in detail View of Contacts, Companies,

      • Audit Log enhancements: Increased retention period, better user visibility, and more

        Hello everyone, The Audit Log brings in the following enhancements which improve the overall ability to manage data. Why did we make these updates? Extended Data Retention: Audit data can now be filtered and exported for a 60-day period, doubling the

      • Question Regarding Managing Sale Items in Zoho Books

        Good day, I was wondering about something. Right now, Zoho Books doesn’t seem to have a way to flag certain items as being on sale. For example, if I want a list of specific items to be on sale from October 1 to October 12, the user would have to export

      • [WEBINAR] Smooth year-end closure with Zoho Books (KENYA)

        Hello there, This webinar is for all Kenyan businesses looking to wrap up their financial year smoothly! Join our free session to learn how Zoho Books can simplify your year-end process. What to expect from this webinar: - All the latest updates in Zoho

      • System flaws and lack of response from Zoho

        I have had to go on here as no-one is replying to my emails regarding my problem (been 10 days and no email reply) and your chat facility online through your Zoho Books software opens and closes immediately, so not functioning properly. I actually called

      • Customer Grouping

        Hi, how can I group multiple customers into single group. So that I can have idea of accounts receivables of all the customers in single group. Like if there are multiple subsidiaries of same company we have having a business with, and want to view the

      • Two currencies

        More and more I am finding that internattional payments' fees are unpredictable. I would like, on my invoices that are in a foreign currency (eg. USD$ or EUR€) for there to be a GBP£ TOTAL display alongside the invoice's currency total. This would make

      • Zoho Books | Product updates | September 2025

        Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From PayNow payment method to applying journal credits to invoices and bills in other locations, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Integrate

      • GST Slabs Redefined: Stay Compliant Using Zoho Books!

        Hello Everyone! The Government of India is rolling out new GST rates, a major reform aimed at simplifying the current tax structure starting 22 September 2025. GST will move from four slabs (5%, 12%, 18%, 28%) to two main slabs (5% and 18%), plus a special

      • Zoho Books | Product updates | October 2025

        Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From iOS 26 updates to viewing reports as charts, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Zoho Books Updates for Apple Devices At WWDC 2025, Apple

      • Need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books

        I N=need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books to do recons of the accounts but when i see the same they are not visible in the Accountant - Account Transactions report

      • Edit item custom fields

        Getting this error : Transactions have been created with the custom field. Hence it cannot be deleted. Not trying to delete it, just trying to change which modules to show in or to not show at all in transactions !

      • Zoho Books - How to Invoke a Custom Function in Schedulers

        We have multiple schedulers that send emails to customers in batches. Currently, we are maintaining the same code across several schedulers. Is it possible to use a custom function inside a scheduler script? If yes, how can we invoke the custom function

      • Use Zoho Books to bill for work done in Zoho Desk??

        I'm trying to see if something is possible (and if yes, how). We use Zoho One to manage our business. We have a lot of clients that will put in a ticket (via portal) to have work done. Out techs will pick up the ticket, do the work, and then log the time

      • Zoho Finance Suite - Customer Custom Tabs - Dynamic Link

        Hi Finance Suite team, When creating a Custom Tab for a Client Portal, there is no option to add dynamic parameters. This would be very helpful for adding Zoho Analytics dashboards which can be dynamically filtered through the URL to only show information

      • Modular Permission Levels

        We need more modular Permissions per module in Books we have 2 use cases that are creating problems We need per module export permission we have a use case where users should be able to view the sales orders but not export it, but they can export other

      • Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books

        Can I implement Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books? Example, use case could be, Agent confirms from client that payment is done, but bank only syncs transactions tomorrow. in this case, Agent can update invoice status to done, and

      • Feature Enhancement Request – Text Formatting Options in Item Description (Zoho Books/Quotes Module)

        Dear Zoho Development Team, Greetings from Radiant360 Integrated Technical Services LLC. We would like to bring to your attention a functional limitation we've encountered within the Item Table / Quote Description section of Zoho Books (and Zoho CRM Quotes).

      • Add Option to Mass Dispatch by User

        Hello! We are using the dispatch console to dispatch service appointments to our service ressources. Right now, the process is our dispatcher verifies each ressource's route for the day and dispatches it after validation. Sadly, there doesn't seem to

      • Bank Receipt Catagorization

        Hi, how can I match a bank deposit to multiple customer's invoices ? For e.g. A single person paid to us on behalf of different five customers. I need to keep the separated invoices for each customer

      • Per Level Approval for admins

        We need Process admins like Zoho CRM in Zoho Books for per stage approval Currently in books, admins only have the option for Final Approval But for example, in cases like when an employee is on leave, we can't just approval one level we only have option

      • Payment on a past due balance

        Scenario: Customer is past due on their account for 4 months. We suspend their billing in Zoho books. Customer finally logs into the portal and enters a new credit card. We associate that cardwith their subscription, which will permit the card to be used

      • Next Page