Field Service News | Kris Oldland (11)

About the Author:

Kris Oldland has been working in Business to Business Publishing for almost a decade. As a journalist he has covered a diverse range of industries from Fire Juggling through to Terrorism Insurance. Prior to this he was a Quality Services Manager with a globally recognised hospitality brand. An intimate understanding of what is important when it comes to Service and a passion for emerging technology means that in Field Service he has found an industry that excites him everyday.

The blended workforce and the pandemic

Mar 31, 2021 • Features • Samir Gulati • servicepower • Blended Workforce • Managing the Mobile Workforce • Frank Gelbart

As part of a series of interviews for an exclusive Field Service News Documentary on the Blended Workforce in the Field Service sector, Kris Oldland, Editor in Chief spoke with Samir Gulati Chief Marketing and Product Officer and Frank Gelbart, CEO...

The rules have changed. Are we ready as an industry to adapt?

Mar 30, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation

We begin a new series of excerpts from a brand new white paper authored by Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News published in partnership with PTC, which asks if now is the time to make major changes to our approach to service...

This feature is just one short excerpt from an exclusive Field Service News White Paper published in partnership with PTC

www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content PTC who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.

At the start of 2020 remote service delivery was a relatively untapped area of expertise amongst field service companies. The tools were there. Indeed the technologies supporting remote service delivery were becoming more sophisticated, better integrated and had matured enough to become reliably deployed within a field service context (and had been for some time).

Yet, remote service delivery in reality remained an approach that only a small percentage of field service organisations had adopted within their wider service portfolio. While the number of companies within this bracket was steadily increasing, ultimately, remote service delivery remained an approach viewed as the domain of best-in-class service organisations. In many ways these were companies who had a forward-looking perspective, these were companies who had an advanced understanding of how the service sector would evolve.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2021 and at the surface level at least, that landscape has changed massively.

Two separate studies from Field Service News Research have identified that between 78%, and 83% of field service companies state they have the capabilities to deliver service remotely.

The pandemic has made such an approach a necessity. However, when we scratch beneath the surface of the data, we see that, in many ways, little has changed. While conceptually at least, there is now mass acceptance of remote service as a dominant part of the service portfolio, still those companies using more sophisticated tools such as real-time analytics and augmented reality (AR) remain in the minority, with only a fifth of companies who state they have remote service capabilities using AR.

This leads us to an interesting situation. We have long known in our sector that service can be a real differentiator between organisations, and we have also learned that customers in both the professional and consumer realms are prepared to pay more for a higher standard of service. As the Harvard Business Review reported, customers who receive the highest standards of service spend 140 per cent more than those with the poorest service. In business-to-business environments, a 5 per cent uplift in customer retention will typically see profit increase of between 25 and up to an incredible 95 per cent.

"We should be discussing how we integrate remote service-delivery within our broader service portfolio, looking at it as a tool that is as intrinsic a part of service delivery as the on-site service call..."

The question many are asking is, with the industry-wide acceptance of remote service delivery that emerged in 2020, will we see service standards in how remote service is delivered become a crucial battleground?

However, in this white paper, I would like to put forward that our thinking around remote service should go far beyond this.

Currently, much of the discussion around remote service delivery centres on remote-service in a standalone context. The focus is on understanding how remote should sit alongside traditional on-site service delivery as an alternative mechanism for resolving customer problems.

I would suggest instead, that we should be discussing how we integrate remote service-delivery within our broader service portfolio, looking at it as a tool that is as intrinsic a part of service delivery as the on-site service call. Both means of delivering service, on-site and remote, have specific strengths which we as service providers can and should be leveraging in order to optimise the service standards we offer our customers.

Additionally, while the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought significant challenges to service delivery in the field, I would also put forward that it presents us with a clear opportunity to redefine the value proposition of our service offerings. As with remote service delivery, much of the ground work has been laid ahead of us, with many best-in-class organisations having begun down a path towards servitization.

However, this is not a one size fits all approach and in other instances a more transactional approach to service is best suited. Indeed, often we will find multiple service offerings within one portfolio that range from the simple and transactional solutions to sophisticated and complex outcome-based service offerings.

What is important though is having a clear understanding of where the value proposition lies within the service solutions we offer our customers.

This is crucial as we as a sector embrace remote-service as a concept, as we harness the disruptive nature of the pandemic for good, we have an opportunity to bring many moving parts together and re-imagine service delivery, with both on-site and remote-service delivery playing distinct but equally crucial roles.

To do this effectively, we must start from the customer’s perspective. What is the problem we are trying to resolve for them and does the optimum resolution of that problem lend itself to remote or on-site service delivery as the most effective mechanism?

The discussion continues...

Within the white paper and across this series of features which we will be running across the coming weeks we will we will explore what this seismic shift in acceptance of new ways of working will mean for the field service sector.

The central tenets of this paper that we will discuss are as follows:

#1: Remote Service almost overnight became a widely accepted approach to service and maintenance delivery

Remote service has been around for a long time, but the appetite for it has been dramatically increased since the pandemic. Out of necessity the concept of remote service became widely accepted by service providers and their customers alike. The result of this industry-wide sea change is that we, as a sector, are now actively rethinking what service delivery looks like post-pandemic, with remote service delivery set to become a key part of the ‘new-normal’ well beyond recovery.

#2: The rapid and widespread adoption of remote service delivery that occurred in 2020 has resulted in wide variances in how remote service is delivered

Prior to the pandemic remote service delivery was a relatively uncommon mechanism for service delivery. However, out of necessity this changed during the pandemic and remote -service delivery became commonplace. Yet, the ways in which remote service is delivered is now exceptionally varied with a minority of companies using very sophisticated tools, while the majority of those delivering service remotely are doing so in a very rudimentary and ineffectual manner.

#3: Service excellence has been clearly identified for many years to be a core differentiator between competitors

While we are in unprecedented times of rapid evolution at the very foundations of our industry, there are certain business maxims that we must hold onto as we redefine service delivery in the new-normal. One of the most critical of these is that service differentiation/excellence is well accepted as having consistent benefit on the bottom line and this has been borne out time and again in a wide number of studies. While we may be approaching an industry wide step-change in the mechanisms of service delivery, we must still hold an understanding of such tried and tested maxims that underpin service excellence and outline why it is crucial.

#4: Different customers have different needs. Being clear in how you meet their needs as we move into the new normal is key.

As service companies make the adjustment to remote service being a widely accepted method of service delivery, it is important that they clearly understand the value customers see in their overall service offerings if they are to be able to effectively integrate remote and on-site service delivery into a compelling, holistic service portfolio.

#5: Alongside an understanding of customer perception of the value of their service offering, companies should also understand the tools and technologies that will underpin remote service delivery

Having established a firm understanding of their core service value proposition, a service company can identify where, within that portfolio remote is better suited and where on-site is the preferred choice (establishing the why). To do this effectively it is important to understand how the technology stack sits together to underpin remote service delivery (establishing the how).

#6: There will be a limited window of opportunity to gain a competitive advantage as the industry transitions to remote service as a prominent mechanism of service delivery

If a field service organisation is able to identify both where and how they should integrate remote service delivery into their service portfolio while understanding how this enhances the value they deliver to their customers, then there is a significant opportunity to gain competitive advantage. However, the window of opportunity to do so is potentially small given so many companies are dealing with the same challenges simultaneously.

This feature is just one short excerpt from an exclusive Field Service News White Paper published in partnership with PTC

www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.

Best-practices and pitfalls to avoid when implementing a remote service solution

Mar 29, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation

Field Service News in partnership with RealWear, and OverIT have worked together to produce a detailed 22 page Essential Guide to Remote Service.

As part of the research into this Essential Guide, Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News...

Field Service News in partnership with RealWear, and OverIT have worked together to produce a detailed 22 page Essential Guide to Remote Service.

As part of the research into this Essential Guide, Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News spoke with Alessandro Borzacchi, Senior Project Manager, Rail Cargo Group about their recent implementation of head-mounted computers and augmented reality-based remote service solution as part of our ongoing series of interview in the Field Service News Digital Symposium.

Here the two discuss what were the best practices that Borzacchi and the team at RailCargo Group discovered during the implementation and what would be likely pitfalls to avoid.

Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.

Will the pandemic be a driver for the adoption of the blended workforce?

Mar 29, 2021 • Features • Telecommunications • Blended Workforce • Managing the Mobile Workforce • Ericcson • Adam Gordon

As part of a series of interviews for an exclusive Field Service News Documentary on the Blended Workforce in the Field Service sector, produced in partnership with ServicePower Kris Oldland, Editor in Chief spoke with Adam Gordon, Head of Network...

Important considerations when selecting headworn devices for your field service engineers

Mar 26, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation

As part of our ongoing series of interviews in the Field Service News Digital Symposium Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News spoke with Dr. Chris Parkinson,, CTO and Founder, Realwear, about the important considerations field service companies must make when selecting head-worn devices that can give their engineers essential information about the assets they are working on while allowing them to work hands free.

In this segment, Parkinson offers his expert guidance and insight into some of the key considerations that field service companies factor into their thinking when selecting suitable devices for their own field service teams.

Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.

Has the pandemic created a new appetite for the blended field workforce

Mar 26, 2021 • Features • Blended Workforce • electrolux • Steve Zannos • Managing the Mobile Workforce

As part of a series of interviews for an exclusive Field Service News Documentary on the Blended Workforce in the Field Service sector run in partnership with ServicePower, Kris Oldland, Editor in Chief spoke with Steve Zannos Sr. Director, Service...

Live Demonstration: Remote service tools within the IFS FSM solution

Mar 25, 2021 • Features • Panasonic • Digital Transformation • HVAC • IFS

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, is joined by Karl Lowe, Head of European Service, Panasonic Heating and Cooling Solutions Europe and Sarah Nicastro, Field Service Evangelist, Future of Field Service and IFS as the group discuss...

Dealing with data as we discuss digital transformation

Mar 24, 2021 • Features • Cognito iQ • facilities management • Service Innovation and Design • Mickey Rooney • JLL • Integral • Built Environment

Recently in the Field Service News Digital Symposium, Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, was joined by Mickey Rooney, Program Director JLL in a wide-ranging discussion that touches on a number of key points as the built environment...

Hardware considerations for remote service (part one)

Mar 24, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation

Field Service News in partnership with RealWear, and OverIT have worked together to produce a detailed 22 page Essential Guide to Remote Service. In this next features in a series of excerpts from that guide we explore some of the key...

There are a number of different options available when it comes to selecting the right hardware when implementing a remote-service solution for the field. While each situation is different, the following are a some important considerations all field service companies should factor into their selections...

Form vs. Function:

One of the critical questions that should be considered when selecting enterprise-grade head-worn devices has actually been around for a long time when identifying devices for use in the field. Is it fit-for-purpose and designed with a practical application of use in the field in mind?

As Dr Chris Parkinson, CTO and Founder of RealWear put it during a presentation at the RealWear Connect digital conference last year “is it a fashion accessory or is it a tool?” In the embryonic days of the emergence of Smart Glasses, this distinction was blurred. Indeed many software vendors in the field service space released pilots and demos of solutions on the ill-fated Google Glass device.

Fortunately, our understanding of the role head-worn devices can play in the field service sector has matured significantly. So too has our understanding of what functionality is vital in such a device when it used within the field. Put simply, consumer focused devices (smart glasses) are far less likely to deliver and may even lead to a failed implementation. However, investment on an enterprise-focused device (head-worn computers) could deliver considerable ROI in multiple ways as we explored in the earlier segment of this guide and can be expected to do so within an impressive time-frame.

As Parkinson states; “Consumer devices will always prioritise form over function, while the enterprise will deliver function over form.”

When selecting a tool that can empower your field service team, function has to be the priority, always.

Binocular vs. Monocular

Firstly, what do we mean by binocular and monocular? Well, very simply, it refers to the number of eyes a screen is put in front of (monocular being Latin for one eye and binocular being two). In terms of head-worn computers aimed at the field service sector there are two very distinct types of devices beginning to emerge and when it comes to selecting the right device for your field workers, it is essential to consider the end-goal you are trying to achieve - to empower the engineer to do their job effectively and with a greater focus on their safety.

An excellent and well-known example of a binocular device would be Microsoft’s HoloLens. The user here is in a highly immersive mixed reality that blends augmented content and the real world. The augmented information is combined across both eyes, which can lead to a very effective and impressive immersive world that edges us towards the Hollywood vision of the future we are presented in films like Minority Report.

These are undoubtedly impressive devices and a hugely exciting technology, but is it fit-for-purpose when it comes to use in the field?

Within a binocular AR or Merged Reality (MR) display, the engineer’s focus is very concentrated roughly a metre in front of them. This can reduce both peripheral vision and general awareness of things that are going on around them. As we will see in the final segment of this guide, a case study featuring Alessandro Borzacchi, Innovation and Continuous Improvement Manager, RailCargo, such a solution could potentially put the lives of their field technicians at risk. This could likely be the case for many other field roles where an awareness of the surroundings is critical.

"Parkinson frames the difference between binocular and monocular as ‘digital first, reality second’ in the case of binocular and ‘reality first, digital second’ in the case of monocular. This is a particularly neat summary..."

That is not to say that there aren’t valid uses for such devices within industry, there absolutely are, and some excellent use cases have been put forward particularly around training. Whether it is safe for your field engineers to have restricted awareness of their surroundings is, however, a very important consideration to be factored into selection criteria.

Parkinson frames the difference between binocular and monocular as ‘digital first, reality second’ in the case of binocular and ‘reality first, digital second’ in the case of monocular. This is a particularly neat summary.

In terms of selecting the right device for your field technicians and engineers, the question is how important it is that they have their primary focus on their environment?

To put this another way, should the augmented digital information presented to the engineer be a supporting tool for them, rather than their primary point of focus?

Additionally, what would your use case in the field be that would require the more immersive, graphically sophisticated merged reality that a binocular device can deliver over its monocular counterpart?

One final factor in this equation is if selecting a monocular device, around 30% to 40% of people are left eye dominant. Therefore, it is important to select a device that is capable of being worn on either eye otherwise the device will not be suited for approximately a third of users.

Hands-free vs. Gesture and Touch Control

Another critical factor for consideration is how the device is controlled. There are essentially three primary mechanisms for controlling a device. Again it is important to consider the work-flow and environment within which your field engineers or technicians operate in order to identify which of the three control interfaces is best suited to your needs.

The three primary means of controlling a head-worn device are:

Hands-free (voice commands),
Gesture (either hands or head gesture)
Touch control (usually a control pad on the device that allows for swiping/ tapping commands)

In a field service environment gesture, hand gestures (where you are commanding a virtual screen in front of you) could prove problematic. The last thing you would want if your engineer is working within a factory floor, for example, is for them to be distracted with their arms held out in front of them.

One of the key advantages of implementing such devices in a field service role is to provide hands-free working for the engineer. Of course, this benefit is significantly negated if that engineer has to frequently use their hands to interact with the device.

"For a device to be easily controlled in the quiet of a demonstration centre is one thing. For it to work effectively in the often very noisy industrial environments found in the field, it is another thing entirely..."

While touch control is perhaps slightly less demanding in this instance, the same fundamental issue persists.

An engineer has to put down the tools in his hands to have to use the touchpad to interact with the device is not particularly conducive to an optimal work-flow.

In addition to this, in many field service environments, the engineer or technician will be working with safety gloves, rendering a touch-pad in a challenging to use at best and inoperable at worst.

This leaves us with voice-command being the most effective means of controlling a device within the field.

However, voice itself, of course, has its own challenges.

For a device to be easily controlled in the quiet of a demonstration centre is one thing. For it to work effectively in the often very noisy industrial environments found in the field, it is another thing entirely. Therefore, for a true hand-free solution to work, voice recognition has to be coupled with noise reduction technology.

A good baseline for analysis is the RealWear HMT-1 device which has a 98% success rate with regards to voice recognition while in a 95db environment.

For reference, 95db is the output of a motorcycle engine starting, or a pneumatic drill being operated in reasonable proximity to you. It is also the level at which sustained exposure could lead to hearing loss. An additional factor for consideration when selecting a device that is perhaps less frequently referenced when discussing noise cancellation, yet is equally essential, is speaker rejection. This is where the device will stop other voices being falsely interpreted as a command for the device.

Again using the HMT-1 as a benchmark effective speaker rejection is possible at a distance of just 30cm.

A final consideration around voice commands is whether the device can operate in multiple languages and if it is designed to be accent resilient. This is an important consideration for organisations that have an international field operation.

In the next article in this series we will look at three more benefits of remote service; empowering the blended workforce, embracing the tools for outcome-based services and differentiating your service against that of your competition...

AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Kris Oldland

About the Author:

Want to know more?

Field Service News subscribers can access the documentary "The Blended Workforce and the New Normal" by clicking the button below:

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free and get instant access to the documentary and other selected resources available on our free forever, FSN Standard subscription tier.

If you hold either a FSN Premium or FSN Elite subscription you can find the full interview with Gulati and Gelbart in our Digital Symposium section of the website which is available at www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-symposium

This feature is just one short excerpt from an exclusive Field Service News White Paper published in partnership with PTC

www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

"We should be discussing how we integrate remote service-delivery within our broader service portfolio, looking at it as a tool that is as intrinsic a part of service delivery as the on-site service call..."

The discussion continues...

This feature is just one short excerpt from an exclusive Field Service News White Paper published in partnership with PTC

www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

Want to know more?

Field Service News subscribers can access the documentary "The Blended Workforce and the New Normal" by clicking the button below:

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free and get instant access to the documentary and other selected resources available on our free forever, FSN Standard subscription tier.

If you hold either a FSN Premium or FSN Elite subscription you can find the full interview with Gordon in our Digital Symposium section of the website which is available at www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-symposium

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

Want to know more?

Field Service News subscribers can access the documentary "The Blended Workforce and the New Normal" by clicking the button below:

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free and get instant access to the documentary and other selected resources available on our free forever, FSN Standard subscription tier.

If you hold either a FSN Premium or FSN Elite subscription you can find the full interview with Zannos in our Digital Symposium section of the website which is available at www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-symposium

Want to know more? FSN Premium Subscribers and FSN Elite Members can watch this full interview and hours more of in-depth long-form interviews with a series of field service leaders in the Field Service News Digital Symposium. Watch the interview with Lowe and Nicastro on the button below.

If you are currently on our free forever FSN Standard subscription tier or have yet to join 30,000 of our field service peers as a FSN subscriber you can find out more again on the button below.

Further Reading:

Want to know more? FSN Premium Subscribers and FSN Elite Members can watch this full interview and hours more of in-depth long-form interviews with a series of field service leaders in the Field Service News Digital Symposium. Watch the interview with Mickey Rooney on the button below.

If you are currently on our free forever FSN Standard subscription tier or have yet to join 30,000 of our field service peers as a FSN subscriber you can find out more again on the button below.

Further Reading:

Form vs. Function:

Binocular vs. Monocular

"Parkinson frames the difference between binocular and monocular as ‘digital first, reality second’ in the case of binocular and ‘reality first, digital second’ in the case of monocular. This is a particularly neat summary..."

Hands-free vs. Gesture and Touch Control

"For a device to be easily controlled in the quiet of a demonstration centre is one thing. For it to work effectively in the often very noisy industrial environments found in the field, it is another thing entirely..."

In the next article in this series we will look at three more benefits of remote service; empowering the blended workforce, embracing the tools for outcome-based services and differentiating your service against that of your competition...

Further Reading:

Leave a Reply

Follow Field Service News

Latest from Twitter

From The Archives