What is an incident type in Field Service?

An event type describes a type of job you perform frequently—an annual heat pump inspection, replacement of a specific component, or an initial installation. When someone selects the event type on a new work order, it automatically fills in the details that are normally included.

What it fills in

Expected duration, which services are to be performed, which products are typically needed, and which skills the technician must have. In practice, this means that a work order that would otherwise take five minutes to enter correctly takes just a few seconds.

The most important benefit is not the time saved

It’s consistency. Without event types, each person estimates the duration as best they can, which makes the schedule systematically inaccurate—some always add half an hour, while others consistently allow too little time. With a shared template, the estimates become consistent, and once they are consistent, they can be adjusted based on what actually happened.

Common pitfall

A single event type called “Service” that is used for everything delivers none of the benefits. Conversely, fifty types with marginal differences create a drop-down list that no one can be bothered to search through. Start with the five to ten job types that account for most of the volume, and add more when someone actually needs one.

Consider reviewing the estimated duration against the actual time spent every six months. It is a quick exercise that makes the entire planning process more accurate.