Plain-language definitions for the terms used across this site, with no vendor jargon.
- Field Service Management (FSM)
- Software that handles scheduling, dispatching, and invoicing for technicians working in the field. Jobber, Housecall Pro, and ServiceTitan are all FSM platforms.
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
- Software focused on capturing and tracking leads and customer relationships, from first contact through follow-up. Separate from, and complementary to, field service software.
- Missed Call Text-Back
- An automated text sent to a caller within seconds of a missed or unanswered call, usually asking what they need and inviting a reply.
- Speed to Lead
- How quickly a business responds to a new inquiry. Response time correlates strongly with contact and close rates, especially in emergency-driven trades.
- Dispatch
- The process of assigning a job to a specific technician and scheduling their route, typically managed inside field service software.
- Job Costing
- Tracking the actual cost and profitability of an individual job, including labor, materials, and time, usually available in field service software reporting.
- Pricebook
- A standardized list of services and prices used across a crew, so every technician quotes consistently rather than pricing jobs ad hoc.
- Review Funnel
- An automated sequence that requests a review after a job is completed, sometimes filtering by a quick satisfaction question first.
- Marketing Attribution
- Tracking which marketing source, a call, a form, an ad, actually led to a booked job, so spend can be judged by results rather than guesswork.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't a term I'm looking for included here?
This list covers the terms that come up most often across our comparisons. If something you're looking for is missing, let us know through the contact link in the footer.
What's the actual difference between FSM and CRM?
Field service management runs the job once you have it: scheduling, dispatch, invoicing. A CRM manages everything before that: capturing the lead, following up, requesting a review. See CRM or Dispatch Tool, or Both? for the full breakdown.
Is speed to lead the same thing as missed call text-back?
No. Speed to lead is the broader metric, how fast a business responds to any new inquiry. Missed call text-back is one specific tool used to improve it for the calls that go unanswered.