Salesforce Upgrades Field Service Management to Prepare Mobile Workers for a Changing World

Oct 28, 2021 • News • Future of field servcice • field service management • Salesforce • Managing the Mobile Workforce • GLOBAL

Today, Salesforce introduced four new capabilities for Field Service to help businesses equip their mobile workforce for the future.

These features will enable businesses to scale resources to handle more complex jobs, customize mobile apps to tailor employee experiences, provide customers with flexible scheduling, and use video for both improved customer and employee interactions.

Customers today expect businesses to deliver world-class service whether they're working with an agent in a call center, engaging with a bot, or interacting with an agent in the field. But field technicians and organizations often don't have the tools, skills, and information to meet these expectations. In fact, 80% of field service professionals say the skills required for their job have evolved from just two years ago, and 81% see a direct link between their work and business performance. But learning those skills and delivering these experiences in the field isn’t easy -- especially at scale.

“With customers and employees looking for fast and easy digital service, the field service industry is ripe for change,” said Paul Whitelam, GM of Field Service Management at Salesforce. “Salesforce is a leader in field service management thanks to our powerful platform that delivers a complete customer view, and today’s innovations bring more trust, speed, and convenience to every field service interaction.”

FIELD SERVICE IS BUILT FOR CHANGE

Salesforce Field Service is a complete solution to manage your mobile workforce. Providing scheduling, mobile capabilities, AI to manage jobs and solve problems on the first visit, and swarming capabilities with Slack. It’s built on the world’s #1 CRM and part of a complete service offering that connects customer data and your service experts on one platform.
Today’s additions to Salesforce Field Service include:

Running on Hyperforce, Salesforce’s next-generation platform architecture, the Enhanced Scheduling and Optimization Engine will enable businesses to handle complex field service jobs in more locations around the world. For example, an IT services company can now expand to serve global customers on the same platform, and instantly get up and running in a new region. Optimization comes into play when a job requires several steps and technicians: for example, a Utility digging a hole for a new electric pole, installing the pole and wires, and adding wiring to nearby structures. Salesforce Field Service will enable companies to chain these steps together so dispatchers can see complex jobs in their entirety and better manage worker capacity.
Lightning Web Components for Field Service will enable businesses and partners to easily customize the Salesforce Field Service mobile app with advanced features and workflows to provide a better employee experience. For example, a water delivery company can create a custom app that pre-populates order information — like the delivery cadence and quantity — from Service Cloud into one page, saving the delivery person time on approvals and the headache of having to fill out the same information over and over. Lightning Web Components also provides new opportunities for partners and SIs to create industry-specific applications, such as a streamlined workflow for home security companies or industrial machinery manufacturers.
Appointment Assistant Self-Service Scheduling enables customers to schedule their own appointments and cancel, confirm, or reschedule, all without waiting on hold. And as customers make these changes, technician schedules and service resources will automatically adjust.
Visual Remote Assistant Two-Way Video now lets both agents and customers share their cameras in real time to troubleshoot issues. For example, an agent can show a customer step by step how to reset their cable box. On-site technicians can get real-time training or pull in additional support from contact center agents when needed.

Organizations are using Salesforce Field Service to respond faster and build trust

Organizations in dozens of industries around the world are using Salesforce Field Service to respond to the changing needs of their customers:

Hologic: "With Salesforce Field Service, Hologic is able to reduce time spent on site by equipping field service engineers with AI-powered recommendations and ensure we can get the right person to the right job at the right time, with the right part,” Pierre Malboeuf, Senior Director, National Field Service, Breast & Skeletal Health. “Field Service is a game changer and enables us to build a deep sense of trust with our customers."
AAA: "Today's consumer has zero tolerance for having to repeat themselves. Omnichannel servicing allows a customer to begin a request or service from one chosen channel and complete the request in a whole other service channel without losing a beat,” Shohreh Abedi, EVP, Chief Operations Technology Officer, Member Experience, The Auto Club Group. “Field Service has reduced over 25% of the volume that is being handled completely digitally without human interaction, through AI, chat or other digital self-service capabilities. The result of having a customer-centric approach is a happier, more delighted member, and Salesforce is a big part of our journey."
SafeStreets: “We needed a smart tool that would allow us to schedule security installs quickly in a matter of minutes and bring our reschedule rate down, because rescheduling often results in the customer cancelling the job,” said Eddie Prignano, VP of Systems Architecture. “Salesforce helped us create a great customer experience in a short amount of time that gives us confidence in our scheduling and gives the customer all the information they could want — from the name and photo of the technician, to where they are and their ETA, so the customer never feels like they’re in the dark. And as customers’ expectations require updates to these experiences, we have the flexibility to simply and easily make changes as necessary.”
MTI: "MTI provides security and tablet solutions to businesses like retailers, restaurants, hotels and hospitals, and the pandemic drove tremendous change in all of those businesses. By leveraging Salesforce Field Service, we’ve been able to reduce manual scheduling needs by 50% and run 70-80% of service trips through our optimization model,” Mary Jesse, CEO. “Not only that, but we’re able to drill down and see to the minute when somebody is on site, what they’re doing and how it relates back up to a complete customer project. The average time to resolve a case has decreased as we’ve leveraged multiple applications within the Salesforce ecosystem — increasing the speed and efficiency of our business."

DocuSign automates contract obligations in the field

Announced yesterday, DocuSign CRM for Field Service will allow customers to automate how they track, enforce, and update contract terms across departments and while in the field. Bringing in data on warranties and service level agreements (SLAs) from DocuSign CRM contracts directly into Service Cloud contract objects will enable smarter and more automated service experiences, and efficient service contract execution.

Additional Information

To learn more about how Salesforce Field Service is empowering mobile workforces to build trust and scale, watch the latest episode of At Your Service and visit the product page for more details.