The 9 Best GPS Scheduling Software for Field Services

ByEric Czerwonka Last Updated

Businesses often turn GPS scheduling software because they need an easy way to verify field employees’ locations and notify employees if any changes are made to the schedule. In this article, we’ll take a look at the nine best GPS scheduling software, discussing their unique features and who they’re best for.

1. Buddy Punch

While Buddy Punch offers a wide range of features, we’re going to focus specifically on GPS tracking, geofencing, and employee scheduling.

GPS tracking

Buddy Punch's Time Card Map

If enabled, Buddy Punch will gather GPS coordinates each time an employee punches in or out. You can then review these GPS coordinates on each punch to verify the location of your employees.

This feature can be customized to the needs of your business. You can choose to only activate GPS Tracking for some employees or make it required for everyone:

GPS on Punches

Additionally, you can also track employees in real-time using Buddy Punch. You can see all employees’ locations on a map at any time and track where they went across a workday using GPS breadcrumbs.

Geofencing

Buddy Punch's Geofencing Feature

In addition to GPS Tracking, we also offer geofencing. Geofencing lets you restrict the location from where employees can punch in or out. To do so, simply:

  • Enter the location of your geofence (e.g., 123 Main Street).
  • Select a radius around your location (e.g., 300 feet).

Using the above example, employees will only be able to punch in and out within 300 feet of 123 Main Street. If they attempt to submit a punch outside your designated geofence area, they’ll receive an error message:

Buddy Punch's Geofencing Map

Geofencing is a punch limiter, meaning it restricts employees from submitting a punch outside of a certain location. On the other hand, GPS tracking shows you each employee’s punch location — it does not restrict employees from submitting a punch outside of a designated area.

Geofencing is a better fit when you already know which worksite(s) your employees will be punching in and out from. For example, if you know that your construction crew will be working at two predetermined worksites throughout the week, you can create a geofence for each of those locations.

GPS tracking is a better fit if your employees visit several different locations throughout the day (e.g., plumbers who work on jobs for multiple customers each day). If you had five employees who punch in from eight different locations each day, naturally, it would be a logistical nightmare to create 40 geofences daily.

Scheduling

Watch the short video below, and in less than one minute, you’ll get a quick overview of our key scheduling features (and see how easy it is to use):

Create a schedule in just a few clicks

To create a schedule with Buddy Punch, simply:

Click on an open area in the calendar.

Buddy Punch's Scheduling Features

Enter the relevant shift details.

Setting up shift details in Buddy Punch

This includes:

  • Who the shift will be assigned to (e.g., Dakota Johnson).
  • Shift date and duration (e.g., Monday and Thursday from 12:00 PM  – 3:00 PM).
  • Whether the shift will repeat (e.g., Repeat weekly on Mondays and Thursdays). 
  • Location, department code, and more.

If needed, easily drag and drop shifts around the calendar until the schedule is to your liking.

Hit “Publish.”

Automatically notify employees when schedules are published

Publishing a schedule in Buddy Punch

Buddy Punch automatically notifies employees when new schedules are published (or if any changes have been made to it) via mobile push notifications, email, or both.

This is a significant benefit to using employee scheduling software since you spend less time manually coordinating with employees via text/call/email while freeing up time for other areas of your business.

Repeating shifts

Setting up recurring or repeating shifts in Buddy Punch

With Buddy Punch, rather than constantly recreating the same shifts, you can set them to repeat at regular intervals, such as:

  • Every weekday.
  • Every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
  • Monthly on the first day of the month.
  • Annually on January 5.

These are just a few examples. You can customize the schedule to fit your needs.

Employee availability

Easily see employee availability in Buddy Punch

With this feature:

  • Employees set their available and unavailable hours with ease (using our mobile app or any other device of their choice).
  • This information is displayed on the calendar (per the above image), so the next time you create a schedule, you can accurately assign shifts.

Shift trades and covers

Trade Requests in Buddy Punch

Employees can easily send shift trade and cover requests to one another within the Buddy Punch app. These can be automatically approved or subject to an administrator’s approval (based on preference).

Shift start reminders

Adding a New Alert/Reminder in Buddy Punch

Per the above image, you can configure an alert to be sent to employees who do not punch in within ‘X’ minutes of the start of their shift. This can be a mobile push notification, email alert, or both.

Buddy Punch offers many other features

While we’ve focused on GPS tracking, geofencing, and employee scheduling, Buddy Punch offers many other features. Click here to see the full list.

Try Buddy Punch for Free

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2. Workyard

Workyard is one of the best options on this list when it comes to GPS scheduling, but it’s an especially amazing option for contractors and construction with the many different powerful tools you’d be provided when choosing it. 

It’s not the only option on this that’s made specifically for field work, but Workyard is a great option for contractor management with their contractor scheduling tool. It’s also made to work quickly and be easy to understand for anyone and everyone. 

Key features

Workyard has an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 82 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“I like the ease of being able to track our employees time and accuracy of presence on a job. We are able to utilize the time clock feature so we can give an accurate accounting of billable time to our clients. A lot of our services are billed out by the hour rather than by the job.”

3. Timeero

Timeero is one of the strongest options on this list in terms of time tracking and scheduling. In addition to GPS tracking and scheduling, it also provides other useful clocking and security features such as facial recognition and EVV which is incredibly useful for home care businesses.

Key features

Timeero has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 74 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“Timeero helped us organize our outside sales strategy. The platform provided us with enough features to track the activities of our sales reps. This enabled us to save time and effort by analyzing the areas our reps have visited and the quality of deals closed in those areas.”

4. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time is one of the more simplistic tools on this list, but it provides everything a business might need when it comes to time tracking and scheduling with the GPS functionality that you’re looking for. 

The scheduling and communication aspects of the software are strong, and you’ll be able to manage every aspect of scheduling from your mobile device. QuickBooks Time is a reliable choice, though if you need a more specific tool catered exactly to your business, it may not always provide in the ways you’d need. 

Key features

QuickBooks Time has an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 6,962 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“The tracking system helps me as a graphic designer to accurately log hours spent on different design projects, ensuring proper billing and productivity tracking. The integration with QuickBooks for invoicing is seamless, saving time on administrative tasks.”

5. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is one of the only options on this list that’s a bit more focused on remote work, but still has the GPS scheduling and time tracking tools you’re looking for. The automated employee payroll is especially useful so you can make sure that people get paid on time no matter what happens. 

With useful productivity tools like the screen recording and app recordings, as well as features like the insights and attendance tracking, you’ll be able to take control of your time tracking and scheduling needs quickly with Hubstaff.  

Key features

Hubstaff has an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 1,509 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“This program gives me a feeling of real-time optimization. I like it mainly because I don’t have much time. On the other hand, the prices were comfortable, and sometimes you could accumulate invoices for payment the next month without penalties.”

6. Connecteam

Connecteam is a great cloud-based solution for non-remote time tracking, scheduling, and project management. It provides options for any kind of business that needs GPS scheduling software. 

Connecteam is also a great option for team communication, with many different tools for increasing connection between your employees — as well as tools that allow for you to recognize and reward your employees for their hard work. 

Key features

Connecteam has an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 346 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“Absolutely fantastic customer support in the live chat function. They never fail to find me a solution and explain it with pictures and videos (specifically set for my organisation). An amazing resource, available around the clock.”

7. Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a great option for general field service. It has multiple features unique to Fieldwork, like their chemical reporting which allows you to keep specific records of chemicals used in certain work areas. Fieldwork also provides multiple tools for communicating with customers, as well as marketing tools.

Key features

Fieldwork has an overall rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 25 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“Once you learn it, you won’t leave it. Great customer service and always fast and to the T on fixing an error. All programs have bugs, but this one has the least and can be corrected quickly because we believe this software is lightweight and not heavy on the appearance like all other software.”

8. ServiceMax

ServiceMax is a great option for inventory and asset management, as it’s one of the only options on this list that has specific support for tracking these kinds of things. It also has multiple financial management tools that would be useful for any kind of technician’s work. 

Tools for automation can also help reduce the time you spend scheduling and managing time — instead, you can spend that time getting your other work done. 

Key features

ServiceMax has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 41 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“The ‘SFM’ driven process flow means users will be able to complete the required information not just in a service flow, but any that the business requires. Worked very well with some employees who were forgetting certain entry points or attempting to skip points in the process.”

9. Fieldpoint

Fieldpoint is a great option for if you need GPS-scheduling software that is built specifically for technicians. Fieldpoint provides the scheduling tools you need to be able to keep proper track of your technicians, as well as keep in contact with them with multiple communication and productivity tools like their mobile checklists. 

Fieldpoint has multiple unique project management tools as well, with things like a spending plan and business intelligence.

Key features

Fieldpoint has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars on Capterra across 16 reviews. Here’s what customers like about the platform:

“Overall, the product is great. The dashboard is easy to navigate, and invoices/work orders/purchase orders are very helpful. We’ve adapted to the system very well. We’re not utilizing the program to its fullest potential and hope to complete the other modules soon.”