A Guide To Efficient Work Request Management For Maintenance Service Providers 

Managing requests is a daily task for maintenance service providers and can be challenging. Whether maintenance teams are installing equipment for clients, processing work orders, or tackling technical issues, they must manage several requests every day. 

For larger organizations with a larger volume of customers, it can become difficult to keep up with frequent requests daily. This is where effective request management comes into play. 

Advanced computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) offer request management as a Public Request Portal that helps maintenance teams streamline and optimize the handling of work requests. 

In this blog post, we will discuss request management, its benefits for maintenance service companies, how the Public Request Portal works, and how service providers can set up and customize their request portals according to their business needs. 

What is the work request management?

The Public Request Portal is a feature offered by advanced CMMS systems and falls under the domain of request management. This feature allows guest or public users like customers or external stakeholders to submit work requests easily. 

Guest users can enter their email addresses to submit requests and receive status updates via email. This enhancement aims to increase accessibility and enhance user experience for external users while ensuring the transparency and efficiency of request management. 

Maintenance teams and other support services can use the request portal to streamline and optimize the handling of work requests. The request portal helps them leverage data, technologies, and a defined strategic process, improving workflows and meeting customer expectations. 

In essence, it enables maintenance teams to control work requests from their submission until they are fulfilled. 

Benefits of using work request management

Here are the benefits of using work request management: 

Enhanced accessibility

Guest users can easily submit work requests by simply providing their email addresses, removing barriers to entry.

Improved user experience

Request management simplifies the request submission process for external stakeholders by eliminating the need for authentication, reducing friction, and streamlining operations.

Effective communication

Guest users can receive timely updates on the status of their requests via email alerts, ensuring transparency and keeping stakeholders informed throughout the process.

How work request management operates

Within seconds, a guest user can create a work request for an item and assign an approver and relevant priority level to the request and relevant priority –  all from one place.  

The Public Request Portal can also improve efficiency by enabling you to prioritize incoming requests and manage service performance alongside other scheduled tasks. 

Let’s explain how work request management works for maintenance service providers. The request management process has five major steps: Submission, assessment, fulfillment, completion, and follow-up. 

1. Request submission

The process starts when a guest user submits a work request through the Public Request Portal. 

2. Request assessment

Upon receiving the request, the maintenance technician or vendor begins assessing the work request as soon as they receive it from the guest user. They review the request, determining its urgency, required resources or tools, and whether it requires approval from the admin or owner. This assessment stage may involve several employees or departments. 

3. Request fulfillment 

After the work request has been assessed and approved, the departments move on to fulfillment. Having acquired the information and planning from the assessment stage, they assign responsibilities, collect necessary contact information, and set estimated completion dates. 

4. Request completion 

Once the work request has been fulfilled, it is marked as completed, and the guest user will be notified accordingly. 

5. Follow-up

Sometimes, the service provider fulfills a work request, but that does not always align with the guest user’s requirements. To ensure better alignment, many organizations reach out to the users to receive feedback as soon as the request is marked as complete. This helps confirm that the request has been resolved and shows commitment to users’ satisfaction, be they customers, employees, or other stakeholders. 

How can maintenance service businesses customize the work request management to their unique needs

Maintenance services providers can customize the work request management system or the Public Request Portal per their organization’s needs. 

Let’s examine the customization options that service businesses get within a CMMS system offering a Public Request Portal. 

Branding

Customize the portal: You can customize the portal to match your business themes.

Upload your company logo: You can upload an image representing your brand, like your business name, symbol, initials, or logo. You can also embed a URL into the logo, allowing users to quickly navigate back to the home page (or any other linked page) by clicking on it.

Favicon image: You can also set a custom icon for the request portal to be displayed in the browser’s address bar.

Upload your company banner: For a personalized touch, you can upload a banner that will be displayed at the top of your request portal.

Themes

It is important to maintain your company’s consistency when using the request portal. You can set different color themes for your portal based on your business’s branding. 

Customize button and background colors: Within the request portal, you can change the colors for action buttons, the menu bar, search buttons, backgrounds, and panels to match your company’s portal theme. It is important to choose the colors that best reflect your brand. 

Item display

Rows per page: You can specify the number of rows you’d want to display per page for your items. 

Grouping similar items: Applicable to assets only, you can group items with the same name so they are displayed in an organized manner. For example, if you have six similar ‘extension wires,’ you can simply group them as one listed item rather than crowding your portal with five separate entries. A requester can always mention the quantity required while checking out an item.

About us 

Within the request portal, you can also add the text for the “About Us” section, telling users about your company. 

Main Menu Tabs

You can customize the names of the main menu tabs within your request portal. Fill in the fields for My Requests, About, and Catalog. 

External links as tabs

You can have additional tabs added to your request portal. You can add links to external pages and redirect your requesters there, e.g., your corporate website, a dedicated blog site, or detailed terms and conditions. EZO CMMS allows you to add up to 3 external links to your Request Portal tabs. 

Example of a service provider using the Public Request Portal

Let’s discuss an example of a maintenance service provider that uses the Public Request Portal to streamline its business and enhance customer experience for its end customers. 

Example company: LiftTech Solutions

Location: Seattle, Washington, USA

Specialized service: Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Repair Company

Service overview

LiftTech Solutions specializes in the maintenance, repair, and modernization of elevators and escalators for commercial and residential buildings. Their services are designed to ensure the safety, reliability, and efficiency of vertical transportation systems, which are crucial for the smooth operation of high-rise buildings, shopping malls, airports, and public transit hubs.

Key services provided

• Preventive maintenance: Regular inspections and maintenance to prevent breakdowns and extend the lifespan of elevators and escalators.
• Emergency repair services: 24/7 emergency response team to address unexpected malfunctions or breakdowns for instances such as building fires, thereby minimizing downtime
• Modernization: Upgrading outdated elevator and escalator systems to meet current safety standards, improve energy efficiency, and enhance performance.
• Safety and compliance: Conduct thorough inspections to ensure all systems comply with local and national safety regulations.
• Component replacement: Replacing worn-out or faulty components, such as cables, motors, control panels, and safety devices.
• Consultation services: Expert advice on optimizing elevator and escalator performance, reducing energy consumption, and planning for future upgrades.

When would LiftTech Solutions need to use the Public Request Portal 

A high-rise residential building in downtown Seattle experiences frequent issues with its elevators, causing frustration among residents—the building manager partners with LiftTech Solutions to provide regular maintenance and emergency repair services. The manager can easily schedule routine inspections using the public request portal and quickly request repairs when issues arise, ensuring the elevators remain safe and operational. The portal’s real-time updates on service requests give the building manager peace of mind, knowing their elevators are in expert hands.

LiftTech Solutions can use a Public Request Portal where their clients, such as building managers and property owners, can quickly request services, schedule maintenance consultations, and track the status of ongoing requests with email updates.

Portal features

• Service request submission: A streamlined process for submitting requests for elevator or escalator maintenance and repairs.
• Real-time status updates: Once submitted, the building manager can view the progress of their service requests and receive email alerts when a technician starts a work order or when work is completed.
• Maintenance scheduling: An option to schedule routine maintenance visits at convenient times to minimize disruption to building occupants.
• Safety compliance reports: Access to inspection and compliance reports to ensure that all systems meet safety standards.
• Customer support: A communication channel for customers to ask questions, request additional services, or provide feedback on completed work.
• Mobile-friendly interface: The portal is accessible from any device, allowing building managers to manage their vertical transportation systems from anywhere.

Setting up the public request portal

Setting up the public request portal on your CMMS system is easy. For instance, EZO CMMS, one of the leading CMMS systems, offers the simplest method. 

Read this support blog to understand how to set up and use the EZO CMMS public request portal. 

Final thoughts 

Managing work requests is crucial for maintenance service providers because they handle multiple requests daily. Effective request management is important to keep maintenance operations running smoothly, especially for large-scale organizations dealing with overwhelming requests. 

Advanced CMMS systems, like EZO CMMS, are equipped with public request portals and offer a streamlined handling of these multiple requests. With a centralized and automated process, request management can enhance service delivery speed and quality, ensuring the maintenance service businesses can maintain control over their processes and meet customer expectations. 

Whether through organized item display, real-time status updates, or customized branding, request portals can help maintenance service providers simplify their operations and offer an excellent user experience to their end customers.