Field Service Excellence: Integrate NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API With Salesforce Field Service

If you’re using the Salesforce Field Service solution, you already know how effective it is at doing everything you’d expect of a field service management tool — intelligent job prioritization and assignments, automated dispatch, traffic-aware route optimization, real-time rerouting and all that good stuff. But it’s human nature to ask, ‘What if it could be even better?’ That’s exactly what we did. And we found a way to make it happen.

Thanks to the efforts of our engineering team, you can now integrate Salesforce Field Service with NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API! This integration empowers you to more finely tune the routing algorithm to the specific needs of your fleets and operations, helping drive efficiency and cost savings. Let’s dive into how it makes this difference.

The Difference Makers

Salesforce Field Service offers its own route optimization capabilities — and they’re quite impressive — so why would you need this integration with NextBillion.ai? It comes down to the optimization parameters that you can control. In particular, there are three key parameters in NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API that could make this integration worthwhile for you:

Optimization based on vehicle operating cost

Different vehicles incur different costs when you operate them — especially so in mixed fleets, but this is often true even among vehicles of the same type. Operating cost includes the cost of running each vehicle per unit of time or distance, as well as any activation costs that may be associated with those vehicles. Activation costs are those expenses triggered simply by the act of putting a vehicle into operation, irrespective of how long the vehicle will be in action or how far it must travel.

NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API allows you to define custom operating costs for each vehicle. The API can then optimize routes and sequences such that these costs are kept to a minimum while also meeting any other constraints you may have put in place.

Maximum travel distance and duration

There are many reasons to want to limit the maximum travel times and distances for your vehicles and field agents. Vehicle wear and tear, fuel consumption, maintenance intervals, driver fatigue, and regulatory and compliance requirements are just a few of the factors that need to be considered in field service routing.

One feature that sets NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API apart from the rest is the sheer volume of routing constraints available; it has over 50 of them! And yes, you guessed it — maximum travel distance and duration are among them. With these constraints, you can exercise even more control over fuel efficiency, operational costs and the environmental impact of your fleet. They also help maintain tight scheduling, which lends itself to reliable service delivery and better workforce planning.

Maximum number of tasks per shift

Setting a limit to the maximum number of tasks for each field agent helps ensure a relatively equitable distribution of tasks among your field force. Without such a limit, things can sometimes go a little haywire. For example, if the most efficient possible route necessitates allocating most of a day’s tasks to a single agent, routing algorithms won’t hesitate to do so, despite the obvious overload on one agent while others remain underutilized.

The prime directive for any route optimization tool is simply efficiency, no matter at what cost. It’s through routing constraints that you can shape the optimization process and its priorities. This is why constraints are a differentiator among routing tools; it’s also where NextBillion.ai can offer value that you don’t already get out of the Salesforce Field Service solution. Integrating with NextBillion.ai’s Route Optimization API and configuring the ‘max tasks’ constraint appropriately will prevent scenarios like the above example from occurring.

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive and customizable routing component while still retaining all the other features and advantages of Salesforce Field Service, this integration is perfect for you. What’s more, the integration is quick, seamless and simple — no advanced technical skills or knowledge necessary! Here’s a guide on how to get it done.

Want to see for yourself how the integration works and what it can do for your operations? Schedule a demo with us.