For years, Amanda Ballard thought using five different softwares was normal.
The vice president of STS Group, a Huntsville, Alabama-based commercial security and automation company serving banks and credit unions across the Southeast, logged into five different systems — one for scheduling, another for project tracking, one for bids and more.
“That was just what we knew,” Ballard said. “For us, it was normal.”
By November 2024, STS Group consolidated those softwares into one platform.
But it was a disaster.
The platform wasn't built for a field service company. Technicians had no call history, no job notes. Dispatching devolved into a manual scramble of emails and spreadsheets. Invoices sat unsent for close to 60 days. The company couldn't tell whether they were having a good month or a bad one.
“We came to an utter, crashing halt,” Ballard said. They even debated going back to their five-software setup.
Then ServiceTitan came into the conversation as a potential plug-in for the field side — a way to fill the biggest gap. The more Ballard and her team talked to the ServiceTitan reps, the more they realized it could replace everything.
But first, she needed proof.
“We were very much in a see it to believe it mindset,” Ballard said. “Instead of just tell us all the good things, show us the good things.”
And that's what happened.
‘Box Check, Box Check, Box Check’
Everything STS had spent years dreaming about, ServiceTitan had, Ballard said. Things like…
A technician's photo sent to a branch before arrival — exactly what a commercial security company serving financial institutions needs.
An updated, functional portal that clients could actually use.
Techs automatically logged when they reached a job site, no manual step required.
“Box check, box check, box check,” Ballard said. “That's what we need, that's what we want, that's what we're looking for.”
As for support, the ServiceTitan implementation team came on-site before go-live to learn how STS operated, returned for training, and was back again for the big day — not just to troubleshoot, but to make sure everyone breathed.
“‘It's OK. It's going to work,’” Ballard recalled being told. “‘We're here.’”
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Day One
On ‘Go Live’ day, leadership wanted hourly updates. Ballard described the team as “a little PTSD” from what they'd been through with their previous platform disaster.
By 8 a.m., 95 technicians were en route. Customers were getting portal notifications. Purchase orders were being submitted. Service agreements were live.
“We actually had all of us there together sending an invoice out,” Ballard said, “because it was such a big deal.”
Now one month in, the results are hard to argue with:
Work in progress (WIP): The projects department now has real visibility into actual costs, budget adherence and progress billing — no more sitting on expenses or guessing whether a job was managed the right way.
Field mobile app: Built-in maps, filterable job history and direct calling from the app. Technicians can see their schedule, pull up customer history by job type and call without leaving the platform. “They love it,” Ballard said. “They can get where they need to get.”
ServiceTitan Support: “I've been able to call, text, email any time of the day,” Ballard said. “No matter what kind of question, big or small, I've gotten a response. It's been quick.”
Time savings: Ballard estimates two to three hours saved per person per day — time that had been swallowed by workarounds and extra steps.
“You can't put a price tag on how much time you can free up for people,” Ballard said, “to be on the phone with technicians, giving clarity, helping escalate something — talking to customers instead of sending an email.”
It all adds up to something bigger.
“(ServiceTitan has) freed us up from having to do mundane data entry tasks to actually go be a human,” Ballard said. “Talking to someone, guiding someone, fixing a problem.”
