FSM software for utility field teams
FSM Flow gives utility contractors one board for route-based meter exchanges, time-critical 811 locate tickets, leak surveys, trim cycles and storm call-outs across a territory that spans counties. Every serial, read, mark-out and crew hour is recorded against the job so the utility gets its report and you get paid.
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Meter exchange logged
Old serial read · new meter scanned · photo attached
At a glance
Utility field service software is field service management software built for the contractors who do the physical work of the grid, the gas network and the water system: AMI meter exchanges run as multi-year programmes, 811 locates with positive-response deadlines, leak surveys and valve exercising on regulatory cycles, pole and line work, vegetation trim cycles, and storm restoration crews mobilised at a few hours’ notice. It differs from general scheduling tools in that every job must produce a record the utility can audit: a meter serial and removal read, a marked tolerance zone, a survey result, a crew timesheet.
FSM Flow covers that whole territory from one place. Dispatchers plan route-based meter work by zone and drop urgent locate tickets or trouble calls into the day with AI technician matching by skill, certification and proximity. Crews work from an offline-first mobile app in basements, rural rights-of-way and storm zones, scanning old and new meters, completing checklists and photographing the mark-out before signal returns. The office runs production and compliance reports against the same records, and invoices the utility by unit, by ticket or by crew hour from completed work orders.
The result is a contractor that can hit weekly exchange targets, prove on-time locates when the state regulator asks, keep mutual-assistance crew hours clean for reimbursement, and scale from one programme to the next without rebuilding the office each time.
168M
Advanced (AMI) electricity meters installed in the US (2024)
Source: US Energy Information Administration
196,977
Underground utility damage reports in the US (2024 DIRT Report)
Source: Common Ground Alliance
26%
Share of excavation damages caused by failure to notify 811 (2023 DIRT Report)
Source: Common Ground Alliance
$208B
Record capital spending by US investor-owned utilities (2025)
Source: Deloitte
Job types
Each job type carries its own duration, checklist, required qualifications and billing unit, so a meter exchange, a locate and a hazard-tree removal behave differently on the board from the moment they are created.
AMI meter exchange (route)
Mass exchange by route and zone with old serial, removal read, new serial and photo captured per meter.
Out-of-cycle & hard-to-access meters
Skips, locked gates and inside meters tracked as return visits with customer appointment windows.
Gas module & water MIU retrofit
Module IDs paired to the meter record; register and MIU serials recorded before the lid closes.
811 locate ticket
Due-time tracked on the work order; tolerance-zone marks photographed; positive response recorded.
Remark & damage investigation
Re-marks and hit investigations linked to the original ticket for the DIRT-style root-cause record.
Gas leak survey (DIMP)
Survey routes by segment with instrument readings, grade classification and follow-up repair jobs.
Valve exercising & hydrant flushing
Recurring water-system maintenance with asset IDs, turns, flow results and exceptions logged.
Pole replacement & reconductoring
Crew jobs with GIS pole IDs, materials used, outage windows and as-built photos attached.
Outage & trouble call
Priority dispatch to the nearest qualified lineworker, with cause and restoration time recorded.
Storm restoration & mutual assistance
Crew call-up, daily rosters, hours and per-diem captured for reimbursement from day one.
Vegetation cycle trim & hazard tree
Trim miles per crew-day by circuit, herbicide applications and customer notifications tracked.
Disconnect / reconnect & tamper
Non-pay disconnects, reconnects and theft investigations with timestamps and photo evidence.
Where time gets lost
The problems every programme manager and locate supervisor knows, and what FSM Flow does about each one.
Locate tickets expire while nobody is watching the clock.
Each ticket is a work order with a due date and time, a priority flag and a status the locator updates from the field. Overdue and near-due tickets surface in the unassigned pool and on the dashboard, and a workflow can escalate any ticket still open two hours before it expires.
See how it worksMeter exchange data arrives as photos and spreadsheets.
The exchange checklist captures old serial, removal read, new serial, module ID and photo on the mobile app, offline if needed. Each meter is an equipment record, so the daily production file for the utility is a report, not a reconciliation exercise.
See how it worksCrews are spread across three counties and one dispatcher.
The drag-and-drop scheduler shows every crew by zone, and AI matching suggests the nearest qualified lineworker or locator for anything urgent. Routes within a zone can be planned as batches; route optimisation is coming soon.
See how it worksStorm hours are disputed months later.
Mutual-assistance call-ups run as a job per crew per day with start, finish, members and equipment recorded. Hours and materials roll into invoices by crew and by event, with the audit trail attached.
See how it worksOperator qualifications and certifications lapse unnoticed.
Qualifications sit on the technician profile with expiry dates. AI matching only proposes qualified people for a job type, and a scheduled workflow warns supervisors before an OQ or card runs out.
See how it worksBilling the utility means re-keying every unit.
Jobs carry their billing unit (per meter, per ticket, per trim mile, per crew hour). Completed work orders become invoices in bulk, by programme and by period, with the utility’s PO and terms on the template.
See how it works
Built for utility field teams
One platform for the office, the crews on the right-of-way and the AI that connects them.
Zone-based dispatch & crew scheduling
A drag-and-drop board with day, week and month views, crew assignments and AI matching by qualification and proximity.
- Unassigned pool for locate tickets and trouble calls
- Priority flags for due-time and emergency work
- Batch routes by zone and circuit for programme work
Meter, pole & asset records
Every meter, module, pole and valve is an equipment record with serials, reads, GIS IDs and a history of visits.
- Old and new serial plus removal read per exchange
- Lifecycle from receipt through install to retirement
- Per-truck stock of meters and modules with low-stock alerts
Locate & survey checklists
Job-type forms for 811 tickets, leak surveys and inspections, completed on the mobile app with photos.
- Positive response, marks and tolerance zone recorded
- Instrument readings and leak grades captured
- Full audit trail of who did what, when
Offline-first mobile app
Works in basements, rural rights-of-way and storm zones; syncs when signal returns.
- Scan serials and attach photos without coverage
- AI translation in 14+ languages for mixed crews
- Customer, site and asset history on the device
Unit, ticket and crew-hour invoicing
Invoice the utility the way the contract is written, straight from completed work orders.
- Bulk invoices by programme and billing period
- PO numbers, tax and terms on your template
- Storm event invoices by crew-day
AI assistant, workflows & reports
Ask “which locate tickets are due before noon?” or build the escalation once and let it run.
- Natural-language questions on live production data
- Webhook and schedule triggers for ticket intake and alerts
- Custom report builder for the utility’s weekly file
A day with FSM Flow
How a 60-person utility contractor runs meter exchanges, locates and a late-afternoon call-up from one board.
- 6:30 am
Routes and tickets are already on the board
Overnight, today’s meter-exchange routes were batched by zone and the locate tickets received by webhook sit in the unassigned pool with their due times visible.
- 7:15 am
Crews leave with meters, modules and tickets
Installers open the mobile app, check the meters loaded on their truck against the route, and start the first exchange. Locators take the earliest-due tickets in their zone.
- 9:40 am
A hard-to-access meter becomes a return visit
A locked gate turns an exchange into a skip. The installer records the reason and photo; a follow-up job with a customer appointment window drops into the pool.
- 11:05 am
Priority locate for an emergency dig
An emergency ticket arrives. AI matching proposes the locator four streets away with the right utility qualification; the dispatcher drags it onto his day and the customer is notified.
- 1:30 pm
Leak survey flags a grade 2
The survey technician logs the reading and grade on the segment. A workflow creates the follow-up repair job and attaches the reading, so nothing waits on an email.
- 3:50 pm
Storm call-up
The utility requests six crews for tomorrow. The dispatcher builds crew-day jobs with rosters and equipment; each crew lead sees their reporting location and start time on the app.
- 5:30 pm
Production file and invoices close the day
The office runs the daily exchange report with serials and reads for the utility, bulk-invoices the week’s completed locates, and asks the AI assistant which tickets remain open past due.
Compliance & records
FSM Flow stores the evidence against the job, the asset and the crew member, so a utility audit or regulator request is a report away.
State One-Call / 811 positive response
Ticket number, due time, response code, marks photographed and the locator’s name timestamped on every locate, remark and damage investigation.
PHMSA 49 CFR 192 (gas DIMP & operator qualification)
Leak-survey results by segment and grade, and operator qualifications with expiry dates held on the technician who performed each covered task.
OSHA 1910.269 & NFPA 70E
Job briefings, PPE and clearance checklists completed on the mobile app before energised work, with the crew and time recorded.
Meter serial & read chain of custody
Old serial, removal read, new serial, module ID and photo stored per exchange for the utility’s billing reconciliation and tamper investigations.
EPA Lead and Copper Rule service-line records
Service-line material observed during meter or water work recorded against the premises for the utility’s inventory.
Licensing, insurance & fleet records
Contractor licence numbers, insurance certificates and DOT/FMCSA vehicle documents kept on the company profile and vehicle records.
Numbers worth watching
Every one of these is a dashboard widget in FSM Flow, or a question you can ask the AI assistant.
Meters exchanged per installer-day
The production number every AMI programme is paid on; visible by installer, crew and zone from completed work orders.
Compare against the programme weekly targetSkip / return-visit rate
Hard-to-access and refused exchanges drive second trips. Skip reasons are recorded per job so the pattern is fixable.
Locate tickets completed on time
The compliance metric regulators and utilities enforce. Due time versus completion time is on every ticket.
Target: 100% within the positive-response windowDamages per 1,000 tickets
Damage investigations are linked to the original ticket, so the rate is honest and the root cause is recorded.
Trim miles per crew-day
Vegetation production by circuit and crew, with hazard-tree work tracked separately from cycle trim.
Storm crew hours billed vs. worked
Hours captured on crew-day jobs flow straight to invoices, so reimbursement claims match the roster.
What is utility field service software?
How do contractors manage an AMI meter exchange rollout in FSM Flow?
Can I track 811 locate tickets and positive-response deadlines?
How does storm restoration dispatch work?
Does the mobile app work in rural areas without signal?
How much does FSM Flow cost for a utility contractor?
Can I import meter inventory, sites and crew data from spreadsheets?
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All solutionsReady to run your utility field operation on FSM Flow?
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