Field service terms, explained plainly

A2P 10DLC

The US registration system that business text messages sent from regular 10-digit numbers must go through. Registered brands and campaigns get better delivery; unregistered traffic can be filtered or blocked by carriers.

Accounts receivable aging

A report that groups unpaid invoices by how long they have been outstanding, such as current, 1 to 30 days and over 90 days. It shows where collections effort should go first.

Arrival window

The time range promised to a customer for a technician's arrival, such as 9 to 11 AM. Narrower windows please customers but make routing harder, so most companies balance window size against route efficiency.

Autopay (card on file)

Charging a customer's saved card or bank account automatically when an invoice is due. For recurring service it removes most collections work and late payments.

Payments

Bait-station mapping

Recording the location of each termite or rodent station at a property, often with barcodes, so technicians can find and inspect every device on later visits.

Callback

A return visit, usually unpaid, to redo or finish work. Tracking callbacks by technician and service type shows where training or process needs attention.

Chemical application record

The log a pest control or lawn technician keeps for each pesticide or fertilizer applied: product, EPA registration number, rate, amount, target pest and treated area. Many states require these records to be kept and reported.

Churn

The rate at which recurring customers cancel. Small reductions in churn have an outsized effect on revenue because each retained customer keeps paying every cycle.

Credit memo

A numbered document that lowers what a customer owes without editing the original invoice. It keeps revenue and sales tax reports accurate after the fact.

Customer lifetime value (LTV)

The total revenue a customer is expected to bring over the relationship. Recurring plans raise LTV, which is why many service companies prioritize retention over one-time jobs.

Customer portal

A secure page where customers see their appointments, service history, agreements and invoices, and pay or update a card without calling the office.

Customer portal

Dispatch

Assigning a job to a specific technician or crew and telling them where and when to go. Good dispatch weighs each tech's skills, location and existing stops so urgent work gets covered without wrecking the rest of the day.

Dispatch

Drive time (windshield time)

The paid hours technicians spend driving between jobs rather than working. It is usually the largest hidden cost in a field service business and the main thing route optimization reduces.

Dunning

The sequence of reminders sent when an invoice goes unpaid or a card is declined, from a polite nudge to a final notice. Automated dunning recovers money without office staff making calls.

E-signature

A legally recognized electronic signature on an estimate or agreement. It lets customers approve work from their phone instead of printing, signing and scanning.

Estimate (quote)

A priced proposal sent before the work is done. Estimates with good, better and best options let the customer choose a price point and tend to raise the average sale.

Writing estimates that win

Field service management (FSM)

The work of scheduling, dispatching and completing jobs at customer locations, plus the quoting, invoicing and customer records around that work. FSM software puts those steps in one system instead of spreadsheets, paper tickets and separate billing tools.

Scheduling

First-time fix rate

The share of jobs completed on the first visit without a callback. It depends on sending the right tech with the right parts and information.

Invoice

The bill sent after work is completed or on a recurring schedule. Well-run systems lock an invoice's amounts once money moves, so corrections go through voids, credit memos or refunds that keep history intact.

Invoices

Maintenance agreement (membership)

A recurring plan, common in HVAC and plumbing, that bundles scheduled tune-ups with perks such as priority service or repair discounts. It smooths revenue across slow seasons.

Offline mode

A technician app's ability to keep working without cell signal in basements, crawlspaces or rural areas, then sync once a connection returns.

Online booking

Letting customers pick an open appointment slot from a website or link. It captures after-hours demand and removes back-and-forth phone tag.

Pesticide use reporting

The periodic report some states require from commercial applicators summarizing the products they applied. New York's annual report, for example, is built from each year's application records.

Pest control software

Recurring service

Work that repeats on a fixed cadence, such as weekly pool cleaning, monthly pest control or quarterly HVAC filter changes. The schedule and billing are generated from the plan rather than booked by hand each time.

Recurring services

Revenue per technician

Total revenue a technician generates in a period. Paired with drive time and callbacks, it is one of the clearest measures of field productivity.

Route density

How many stops a technician completes in a given area or day. Higher density means less windshield time per job and better margins, which is why recurring service companies try to win customers near their existing routes.

Route optimization

Ordering a technician's stops to cut drive time while still meeting each customer's time window. It matters most for recurring routes, where a few minutes saved per stop adds up to hours per week.

Route optimization guide

Service agreement

A signed contract that sets the scope, frequency, price and terms of ongoing service. In FSM software the agreement usually drives the recurring visits and invoices automatically.

Pricing recurring agreements

Technician mobile app

The phone app field staff use to see their route, open job details, capture notes and photos, collect signatures and take payment on site.

Technician app

Two-way texting

Sending and receiving text messages with customers from the business's own number inside the software, so replies land on the customer's record instead of a technician's personal phone.

Communication

White-label

Software that shows the service company's own name, logo and colors to customers instead of the software vendor's brand, in emails, portals and websites.

Work order

The record of a single job: what to do, where, for whom and by when, plus what was actually done, materials used, photos and the customer's sign-off.

Work orders

Last updated 2026-10-18. Have a question about choosing software? Read the buyer FAQ.