How a Storm Shelter Business Transformed Route Management Chaos
“She could spend ten, fifteen hours putting together the perfect plan. Then one customer calls to cancel, and the most efficient plan isn’t efficient anymore.”
— Operations Manager, Storm Shelter Company
The Real Story Behind the Demo
Monday Evening, After Hours Call
A storm shelter company joined us. Not your typical field service business. They build steel shelters that save lives when tornadoes hit.
- Their scheduler? One person.
- Their puzzle? 40-60 installations across three states.
- Their reality? Hours of manual planning destroyed by one phone call.
“An AI-powered system could do this quite a bit more quickly. Or at minimum, get 90% there and have a person complete the 100%.”
They don’t want another field service platform. They want a scheduling brain.
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Questions That Surfaced During the Demo
How do I schedule 50-60 storm shelter installations without spending 15 hours manually planning routes?
Storm shelter companies need AI-powered scheduling that considers installation times (1-3 hours based on unit size and basement vs garage location), optimizes routes to avoid rush hour, and instantly recalculates when customers cancel. FieldCamp’s “Assign All” feature distributes 50+ jobs across multiple teams in under a minute, considering traffic patterns and ensuring teams end their day on the right side of the city, available for $499/month for 5 users with custom configuration.
What makes storm shelter installation scheduling different from regular field service?
Storm shelter installations vary from 1-3 hours based on unit size and whether it’s a basement or garage install, with teams covering Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas – often 2-4 teams during storm season. Unlike standard service calls, these are pre-manufactured units with specific ready dates, requiring coordination between manufacturing and installation scheduling.
Why does manual scheduling with Google Maps and Outlook take 15 hours?
The scheduler must calculate drive times between 50 addresses, consider traffic patterns for different times of day, ensure teams don’t cross paths inefficiently, and balance workload across teams. She’s essentially solving a complex optimization problem manually that AI solves in seconds.
What happens when one customer cancels after planning 50 installations?
The entire optimization breaks – that gap creates inefficiency, teams might drive past other jobs to fill time, and the scheduler spends hours recalculating. As the owner said: “The most efficient plan isn’t the most efficient anymore.”
How does the current SharePoint system fall short?
SharePoint shows what needs scheduling and order details but has zero scheduling capabilities – it’s just a database. The scheduler manually transfers this data to create routes, with no optimization help or automatic updates when changes occur.
Why can’t existing field service software handle storm shelters?
Standard software assumes uniform job times and doesn’t account for basement access adding an hour, different shelter sizes requiring different durations, or coordination with manufacturing ready dates. They’re built for reactive service calls, not pre-manufactured installation scheduling.
How does AI handle different installation times for different shelter sizes?
The system assigns default durations based on price tiers (triggering 1, 2, or 3-hour installations), then allows manual adjustment for specific circumstances like basement access. The AI considers these durations when optimizing routes, ensuring teams don’t overbook or underutilize their day.
What specific Oklahoma City traffic problem does this solve?
Teams ending their day on the far side of Oklahoma City must drive back through rush hour, adding an unpaid hour to their day. AI scheduling ensures teams finish on the home-side of the city or complete urban jobs before rush hour begins.
Can the system really import 50 jobs from Excel at once?
Yes, with proper formatting the system imports jobs with addresses, customer data, and shelter specifications. However, jobs need specific column formatting – FieldCamp provides the template to ensure successful import.
How exactly does the “Assign All” button work?
Upload 50 unscheduled jobs, press “Assign All,” and in under one minute the system assigns jobs to Team A and Team B based on skills, creates circular routes starting and ending at home base, and considers traffic patterns throughout the day.
What happens during storm season when teams double?
The system scales from 2 regular teams to 4 teams without reconfiguration. Temporary team members are added as users, and the AI automatically incorporates them into optimization, distributing the increased workload efficiently.
How does the AI know which team should handle which installation?
Technician skills are mandatory in the system – each team’s capabilities are defined. The AI matches job requirements to team skills first, then optimizes routes, ensuring commercial installations go to qualified teams.
What about coordinating with manufacturing ready dates?
When importing jobs, ready dates from manufacturing become the earliest possible installation date. The AI won’t schedule installations before units are ready, eliminating the current manual cross-checking between SharePoint and scheduling.
How quickly can the system recalculate when plans change?
Under one minute for complete recalculation of 50 jobs. When a customer cancels Tuesday morning, the scheduler can have a revised, optimized schedule before finishing their coffee.
Why does this require custom development instead of off-the-shelf?
Storm shelter installation has unique requirements: variable durations by location (basement vs garage), multi-state territories, manufacturing coordination, and seasonal scaling. No existing software addresses this specific combination.
What exactly gets customized during the 1.5 month setup?
The AI learns your specific installation durations, team territories, traffic patterns in your cities, manufacturing lead times, and seasonal patterns. It’s configured to understand that basement installs take longer and teams need to avoid specific rush hour routes.
How does pricing compare to hiring another scheduler?
At even $499/month, it’s less than 10 hours of scheduler salary. The current scheduler spends 15 hours weekly on planning – this frees her for customer service, sales support, or other valuable work.
What integration is required with existing systems?
The system can import from SharePoint exports and sync with Outlook calendar (custom integration). No need to abandon current systems – FieldCamp becomes the scheduling brain while existing systems handle their current functions.
Can you really use just scheduling without other features?
Yes, ignore CRM, payments, and invoicing if you have those covered. Focus purely on the AI scheduling engine – though having customer data in one place does make the AI more effective.
What’s the real ROI timeline?
Week 1: Save 15 hours of manual scheduling. Month 1: Reduce drive time 20% through optimization. Month 2: Handle 30% more installations with same teams due to efficiency. Break-even: Under 2 weeks.
How does the 100% money-back guarantee work?
Written into the contract – if after customization the system doesn’t perform as promised, full refund. No “satisfaction” clauses or subjective measures – either it schedules efficiently or you get your money back.
What happens to the scheduler’s job if AI does the scheduling?
She becomes a customer experience manager – handling special requests, managing relationships, coordinating with manufacturing, and dealing with exceptions. The 15 hours saved weekly goes toward growth activities, not job elimination.
How does route optimization actually save money?
Reducing just 30 minutes of drive time per team per day saves 2.5 hours weekly per team. At $25/hour plus vehicle costs, that’s $75/week per team, or $300/week for 4 teams – $1,200/month in direct savings.
What if we need more than 5 users?
Pricing scales with users, but team members who only need mobile app access for installations may not need full accounts. Discuss shared logins for temporary storm season workers to manage costs.