TrustRadius Insights for ServiceChannel are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Business Problems Solved
ServiceChannel is widely used by the retail portion of the company for uploading and reviewing work orders, making it the go-to platform for identifying and resolving issues within store locations. Users across the US, Canada, and Hawaii rely on ServiceChannel to manage the physical structure of their stores. It serves as a comprehensive solution for vendor management, data digging, and invoice oversight. The facilities department and accounting department are the primary users of the platform, while the construction department is in the process of migrating to ServiceChannel for gathering invoices. By utilizing ServiceChannel, businesses are able to efficiently gather and manage new vendors, streamline invoicing processes, and ensure effective communication with customers for repairs and new orders.
The versatility of ServiceChannel goes beyond typical maintenance tasks. It handles a range of functions such as scheduling preventative maintenance, emergency repairs, handyman services, small remodel projects, and kitchen equipment repairs. Moreover, it acts as a central database/CMMS for work order creation, dispatching, and record keeping for both retail and corporate facilities. Vendors can conveniently submit their invoices online, integrating them with the ERP system for streamlined payment. With approximately 180 locations already serviced through ServiceChannel and the goal of expanding its usage across the entire team in mind, this platform has proven to be an invaluable asset in managing work orders, tracking data, generating reports, and overseeing budgets.
We use Service Channel in our Store Engineering Department to issue work orders to our outside vendors. They also can submit their invoices online which we have integrated with our ERP to streamline the payment process. The sites also use it to submit work requests as needed and allow them to view their request.
Pros
Vendor tracking when arriving and leaving sites.
Invoice submission and payment
Site tracking of open work orders
Cons
Better reporting
Better asset management
Uptime has been an issue the last couple on months
Likelihood to Recommend
Service channel is a great portal for vendor issuance of work orders and tracking the check-in and check-out. It is also great for them on the invoicing side. The site portal is also an area where it is well suited. It is not suited as well to be an asset management solution.
VU
Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)
ServiceChannel is being used by the construction department for the repair and maintenance for the retail stores and restaurants at Tommy Bahama. The scope includes scheduling all the preventative maintenance (store and window cleaning, annual fire inspections and annual fire extinguisher services), emergency repairs, handyman type services, Small remodel products and kitchen equipment repairs. We also use ServiceChannel for approval of all work orders, proposals, and invoices. Currently, about 180 locations are being serviced via ServiceChannel.
Pros
ServiceChannel just works, they are no breakdowns or glitches in the system to speak of. When a service request is put in the system it can be tracked at any time, you can check on the status and notes can be inserted by the manager or the vendor so there is always a live and historical account on every service request. The proposals and invoices system is simple to use and works perfectly.
Emergency Requests - If you have an emergency facilities request then a vendor is required to respond with 4 hours but if ServiceChannel don't see a vendor responding within an hour or so they then call the vendor to get a status update and if they can't get a hold of the vendor then they call the facilities manager at our company and notify them of the emergency. With this system, emergencies don't just go unnoticed.
Analytics - ServiceChannel has an amazing analytics program that analyzes all your data which you can access at any time, there are standard reports and you can also customize reports. The reports can show you what store or region has the most calls, what are the most common problems in the stores, what is the average cost of the work, which vendor charges more than average, which vendor has the best response time and the list goes on and on. You can get the data on spreadsheets or graphs. The program gives you the ability to slice and dice all your data any way you want.
ServiceChannel is very intuitive and so it is easy to use and very easy to learn. A new store manager only needs 10 or 15 mins of training and they are ready to use the system.
Cons
Each vendor you use has to be added to your vendor list, although there are already a lot of vendors that use ServiceChannel there are also a lot that don't use it so getting vendors set up and using the system correctly can be very frustrating
The program is not cheap although you only pay for the features you use. There are so many features that it can be confusing for the average facility manager, sometimes I think we are paying for stuff we never use.
ServiceChannel is always adding new features which is good but you need to take the time the stay updated.
Likelihood to Recommend
ServiceChannel is well suited for companies that have multiple locations or a few very large buildings. In my experience the system allows one person to manage 150 to 200 small retail locations but when you add restaurants and buildings with lots of equipment then it gets more complex and the number of locations that one person can effectively manage is greatly reduced. You can effectively manager 50 or 30,000+ locations with this system if you have the personal.
There are several free or cost-effective programs available if you are only looking to manage a dozen or so locations.
We are using a ServiceChannel to invoice one of our customers for their repairs and new orders. They are using ServiceChannel to receive quotes and communicate needs to my company. We have expedited communication between the two companies and also have made invoicing easier.
Pros
Quick and easy ability to request a work order be created. Able to provide a quote as a proposal and then allow the customer to approve and convert to a work order.
Easy Invoicing.
Easy for customers to provide work orders as a way to request assistance.
Cons
This system will always require someone to actively be available to convert proposals. There are still delays depending on the human element of the process.
Lots of features and some are not always intuitive.
Integration to the current procedure would be nice. Seems this requires the addition of a new system through this Service Channel application/Website. If it were to integrate to current offerings such as SalesForce it may be helpful.
Likelihood to Recommend
I feel that for our current purpose, requesting work orders, offering proposals, and sending invoices, the system works really well. I have not taken advantage of the other features.
We use ServiceChannel for all of our facilities, both retail and corporate. It is our main database/CMMS for work order placement, dispatch, and record keeping.
Pros
Communication is transparent. As long as the notes are updated, all users along the chain of command can view and have full knowledge of issues/resolution.
Ease of access for all teams
Provides an excellent resource for work history helping reduce costs down the line based on record keeping of warranties etc
Cons
I know vendors get a tool that is not as functional when they can't see what I see, it's hard.
It would help if you could use coding i.e bold text, paragraph breaks etc. in the notes
Likelihood to Recommend
Whether it is a mobile, desktop or the app, all info is easy to find and easy to manage.
We use ServiceChannel (SC) to create service requests at a restaurant level and to track those calls into proposals for larger projects, as well as small issues that need no more input. All invoicing is done thru SC, At this time our facilities department is the only active department, other than accounting who are using this on a daily basis.
Our construction department is somewhat small and is still gathering invoices via mail, fax and e-mails. I am trying to get that construction department as well as our purchasing department to start migrating over to the SC system.
The gathering and managing of new vendors as well as invoicing are the main problems that have been resolved by using SC.
Pros
ServiceChannel listens to me the user more than any other product I have ever been involved with. It seems like every few months there are some upgrades and improvements to an already great system.
They have some great folks employed who are very accessible and very knowledgeable in this system, they are eager to help out and jump in, and they are never trying to up-sell me during these times.
I believe they have some of the best practices around for helping out new vendors, who have never been exposed to any CMMS system, they help to ease the fear that contractors/vendors have from the onboarding process thru system training.
Cons
I think that there is room to improve the contractor side of their mobile app, to be more content rich and have more features and custom ability.
I think there could be some use in setting up some regional training seminars across the country for both user and vendor to attend thru out the year.
I would like to be able to add several pictures from my phone at one time, via the mobile app, and be able to draw or write on them as well.
Likelihood to Recommend
ServiceChannel is well suited for both the small 5-10 location chain and the large 100+ chains because it is so user-friendly and useful. For the smaller chains the sooner you get used to using the system, the easier it is as your brand grows; it is also easier for an FM to find a great list of vendors (already in the SC System) via Fixxbook to help with establishing vendors at new locations that are maybe not near your present group of vendors. For a larger chain that is perhaps migrating away from an old CMMS platform, or who is looking to upgrade to a new one, SC offers the real world fact that most likely your vendors are already doing business with others who are using SC, this helps in the onboarding like nothing else.
The entire retail portion of our company uses ServiceChannel (SC) to upload and review work orders. It's our number one platform to identify and resolve issues within a store's physical footprint. I use the platform to manage the physical structure of all of our stores across the US, Canada, and Hawaii. I also use it for vendor management, data digging, and invoice oversight.
Pros
They offer a platform that enables seamless communication between the store, vendor, district manager, and myself (facilities manager). By utilizing the notes portion of the work order, all parties involved are notified and kept up to speed on any changes in real time.
SC also allows independent specialization to meet the individual needs of each company. I have set up my dashboard to customize my desire for more detail or pictures per element. This has eliminated the necessity of a reply email to the store partners to upload a picture of the issue. I have it set up so individual elements will require a picture prior to the WO being created. This is a big time saver and forces good communication habits.
There support staff is second to none. They are helpful and available to support your needs and the needs of your vendors.
Cons
Sometimes the functionality of the software is slow.
Example...I insert a WO# into the home search box and it comes up with "nothing found". I return to the home screen and repeat the exact same process and it takes me to my WO. This happens at least 50% of the time.
They just finished up with a system upgrade (I think), and during the 3 week period I could not pull mass approved invoices for my AP department. That was a real hindrance.
I am not particularly fond of the new dashboard format. It's not as easy to move around in. However it's new and I'm sure I will get used to it quick enough.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's very well suited for the multi-site facilities professional that needs to run a large market from a remote location. It enables the user to upload all the vendors and elements per site and then sit back and only adjust as emergency situations dictate. I'm currently running all my retail stores throughout the US, Canada, and Hawaii from a desk in Greenland, NH. For any facilities professional that needs to organize their portfolio to allow for more free time, clearer communication, and less confusion than I would highly recommend ServiceChannel.
Currently, it is only being used by facilities but I am working on rolling it out to the entire team. ServiceChannel is one-stop shopping. It manages everything from work order creation to invoicing and provides multiple avenues to track data, pull reports and even manage my budget. I will also begin to use their Asset Management section. I have been using ServiceChannel for so long and have yet to utilize its full potential.
Pros
I use Analytics which allows me to scorecard my vendors based on my criteria. Analytics also allows me to input my budget and track it.
ServiceChannel provides the ability to track work orders from beginning to end and allows me to only intervene on those work orders that are not following the work order process.
Cons
Companies that have Analytics should be able to provide their vendors access to the same metrics instead of just the ones that ServiceChannel provides.
Sometimes it takes a long time to implement changes.
Likelihood to Recommend
ServiceChannel is the best work order management system on the market.
