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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News and Kieran Notter, Director, Global Customer Transformation, ServiceMax from GE Digital explore the findings of an exclusive independent research conducted by Field Service News and sponsored by ServiceMax from GE Digital.

In this excerpt from the full one-hour long webcast, Oldland and Notter discuss both the challenges and opportunities of an ageing workforce within the field service sector and assess whether there is any substance to fears that we are facing an ageing workforce crisis.

 

Want to know more? The full webcast PLUS an exclusive report based on the findings of this research is available for Field Service News subscribers.

If you are a field service practitioner you may qualify for a complimentary 'industry practitioner' subscription. Click here to apply now!

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Manuel Grenacher, CEO Coresystems, explores the major trends that he expects to impact field service companies across 2018...

While 2017 introduced innovative new technology-based trends with the likes of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR), 2018 will bring real-world applications that put those buzzwords into practice. Here are the top trends we see this coming year.

The IoT will drive more proactive device maintenance, service and repair

In 2016, Gartner, Inc. forecasted that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2017, with 5.5 million new devices being connected every day. The vast majority of today’s devices and machines come equipped with sensors, which transmit signals, status updates and warnings.

Field service innovators are finding ways to use the IoT and increased connectivity to their advantageThese alerts not only allow people to address problems proactively but also accelerate expectations around service time. The alerts notify users the moment their device needs maintenance or repair, which immediately puts the technician on the clock to resolve the issue. Challenges such as long response wait time and excessive appointment windows already plague the field service industry, so the IoT threatens to exacerbate these existing issues.

However, field service innovators are finding ways to use the IoT and increased connectivity to their advantage. In 2018, further innovation in the field technology space will enable technicians to take advantage of the IoT’s increased connectivity and automation in today’s devices, enabling them to provide service in real time to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Artificial intelligence will simplify and automate service appointments

2018 will focus on not the adoption of AI, but the implementation of it in real use cases. One industry that stands to greatly benefit from AI is customer service, particularly field service. Gartner forecasts that 85 percent of customer relationships will be through AI-powered services by the year 2020.

AI technology will make strides in streamlining the customer experienceIn 2018, AI technology will make strides in streamlining the customer experience. Chatbots will troubleshoot issues with customers, determining all necessary information before dispatching a technician. Powered by machine learning, chatbots will understand if a customer needs assistance in resolving an issue or wants more information about a certain piece of equipment. Logistic regression capabilities will enable chatbots to walk customers through equipment problems step by step.

AI will also automate the technician’s workflow. One of the biggest pain points in customer service – particularly field service – is dispatch time. To combat this, heuristic search functions in AI technology will determine which technicians are not only available but also knowledgeable enough to properly service the request. AI will also consolidate relevant customer details – from device history and prior appointments to technicians who are qualified and available to resolve an issue – to ensure customers receive the most efficient and painless experience possible.

Augmented reality will provide unprecedented visibility into worksites

Augmented reality enhances the way we see, hear and feel by bringing elements of the virtual world into the real world. Many people associate augmented and virtual reality with the gaming industry, but the technology offers far more than entertainment for a niche group. Industry forecasters predict that by 2020 the market for AR will reach $100 billion in value.

The increased connectivity that the IoT brings will continue to propel the application of AR in the field service sector. The increased connectivity that the IoT brings will continue to propel the application of AR in the field service sector. Using standard mobile devices and AR glasses, service technicians are finding unique ways to approach service. AR applications that allow technicians to look into machines without disassembling them have proven enormously helpful for pinpointing malfunctioning parts. Also, the ability to share data from onsite with offsite experts allows for a more collaborative approach to finding solutions. And this capacity to share knowledge and access an endless stream of information is increasing the first-time-fix rate and thereby improving the customer experience.

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Field Service Technician enablement is both an important topic but also a frequently rolled out buzz-phrase that we hear within our industry. Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower digs deeper into the topic and helps us cut through the hyperbole to understand the key facts within this topic...

Technicians today are not the technicians of the past. Their expectations are continuously evolving based on the ability to consume information and communicate instantaneously from their connected devices among themselves, with assets, the back office and the end consumer.

ServicePower’s mission is to drive an excellent service experience and grow the value of every consumer relationship. To do that, we must focus on the technician.

Much time the past five years was spent talking about IOT. Less was focused on what a connected world means for the technician, and what is needed to work smarter. We know productivity, first-time fix and proactive maintenance is the holy grail of profitability for service organizations and customer experience. The technician is the key to both.

Consumer expectation of a seamless, digital experience has impacted the industry greatly as have technology trends, yet a true focus on technician enablement is still spotty.Consumer expectation of a seamless, digital experience has impacted the industry greatly as have technology trends, yet a true focus on technician enablement is still spotty. Our “best-in-class” customers bring technicians into the process related to user experience, and how data and workflow changes enable experienced technicians to be hyper-productive and how novice technicians become fully functional, faster. Likewise, the businesses which service a wide variety of equipment, work, or parts need technology that has best-in-class capabilities around artificial intelligence, data model flexibility, IOT, diagnostics, and robust, flexible mobile applications. They likewise need a consumer or dealer portal to collect and send technicians key information such as customer, product or service history, service contract or service level agreements.

Service technicians have become the “single point of failure” in the customer interaction because typical technology driven from the CRM and ERP ill-prepares them with a lack of information. Sales and financial systems provide customer and billing information but do not enable a game-changing service experience that improves brand, market share or revenue.

We endeavour to enable technicians to perform more efficiently with fewer points of friction in their daily activities. Consider the following.

Evolving Labor Supply

All technicians want to be successful on the job. The emerging millennial workforce uses technology every day. We must use veterans’ skills and talents while utilizing millennials to drive technology adoption. Functionality exposed to technicians is important. However, flexible date models, customer, product, and diagnostic information, available before and during a job, is equally important. First-time fixes don’t happen by accident.

Enable Technicians with Technology

Field service management technology is itself evolving, through artificial intelligence, but also more versatile data models that can use IOT or predictive information to update work orders, create differentiated service workflows, or deploy updatable forms in real-time, based on diagnostics. Asset data, IOT diagnostics and service history deliver service insights digitally, on-site. The best vendors and newest product releases do more with technology to achieve and exceed traditional metrics.

Intelligent portals

Intelligent portals are game-changing. They can do more than simply enable a service or technician location. Portals can digitally deliver appointment offers, which in the past, only the call centre would have had the insights to do. They can facilitate better service by allowing customers to upload connected smart sensor data, fault codes, photographs or videos of failed products, and interact with triage and field technicians. Portals better inform customers and prepare technicians to resolve issues in a single truck roll.

The latest mapping and location technologies provide consumers improved visibility of appointments, near-by technicians with schedule availability, and technician arrival estimates. Portals delight the customer and improve call centre efficiency by digitally handling booking, confirming and rescheduling appointments automatically.

Portals can even use AI, asset and service history to intelligently offer customers new products, accessories and services, without ever interacting with a call centre, snail mail or email, and before the technician arrives.

Mobile technology

Mobile technology has come a long way in recent years. While scheduling optimized technicians and parts together, status, and capturing payment are still a challenge for some organizations, overall, field service companies can now also use mobile technology to provide better, more personalized service in the field to every customer.

Effective mobile solutions deliver relevant customer, asset, parts, and diagnostic information in real-timeMobile applications provide entitlement, customer availability, asset information and technician location, real-time inventory, payments, and timesheet capability, as well as work order and technician status updates. Leading solutions were built with 100% configurability and flexible data models, which provide the opportunity to customize service events, improve first-time fix rates and improve customer satisfaction. Effective mobile solutions deliver relevant customer, asset, parts, and diagnostic information in real-time, as well as provide task lists, pricing and payments, and survey delivery for a faster, smarter, more satisfying experience.

Mobile technology is the best way to enable technicians to deliver the best experience.

Siri, Echo, Alexa and Cortana Aren’t Enough

Digital assistants are cool, but how can we make them more helpful? Displaying navigation, making calls or texts is handy. Digital assistants integrated with data hubs can deliver useful customer, asset, and predictive intelligence to technicians which require it to improve service delivery. `

Digital assistants become more powerful when integrated with AI, machine learning algorithms, asset and service history, predictive and repair information, providing an entirely different kind of assistance to field technicians.

AI can analyze data to derive cognitive insights and deliver it through digital assistants, resulting in the holy grail of better tech enablement, customer experience, and financial performance of the service organization or brand.

Technician Enablement Means Transforming Field Service Experiences with Technology

Friendly, competent technicians enabled with game-changing technology are the future. Sales secure customers, but your service technology retains them, increases your share of their wallets and grows your brand.

Don’t just give face value to technician enablement, own it, and make it a priority. Your brand and your customers will thank you.

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Avaya has recently announced advancements in delivering and integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into contact centres to improve the customer experience...

Avaya Ava™, a new AI architecture including natural language processing, machine learning and innovative analytics, enables effortless customer engagement through social media and messaging platforms.

Avaya Ava is a cloud, messaging-agnostic solution that offers new AI capabilities for social messaging integration and automation of digital interactions. Avaya Ava was originally introduced as part of Avaya’s online support community, helping customers and partners get their questions answered about Avaya solutions without human intervention. Ava has now evolved to include AI capabilities, complementing Avaya’s Customer Experience portfolio and is the ideal solution for any contact centre to modernise their infrastructure with AI.

When handing off to agents, Ava transfers the full context of the upfront automated experience, eliminating the need for customers to repeat information and steps already taken.Avaya Ava can engage with customers using social media, chat and messaging channels, and provide immediate self-service support as well as deliver the customer to agent-based customer care.  When handing off to agents, Ava transfers the full context of the upfront automated experience, eliminating the need for customers to repeat information and steps already taken.

Capable of AI mining via multi-lingual, natural language identification, contextual and sentiment analysis, Avaya Ava extends scale and efficiency to customer care operations. Ava can support 34 languages and Facebook, Twitter, WeChat and LINE, with more to be added as the solution evolves. The open API approach enables integration with third-party AI solutions from the Avaya A.I.Connect initiative.

The announcement of Avaya Ava comes on the heels of Avaya’s announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire Spoken, a leading innovator in Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions for enterprise customers and a provider of transformative real-time customer experience management applications built on conversational artificial intelligence. Spoken’s specialised agent quality software applications and services, as well as IntelligentWire solutions, use artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies on live voice conversations to reduce after-call work, drive more intelligent responses and gain deeper insight into customer sentiment and experience.

Avaya also announced today an expansion of the A.I.Connect initiative with three new members, and new solutions and services focused on the user experience, including Avaya Equinox Experience and the Avaya Desktop Experience.

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Salesforce’s VP of Product Management Chet Chauhan, explains why for those companies seeking to embrace a vision of outcome-based services at the heart of their business future, the platform approach is vital...

Servitization is very much top of mind right now, particularly in manufacturing circles - but also in the wider business landscape as well.

A lot of companies are seeing that their products are getting commoditised and have rightly identified that the path to much-needed differentiation is through enhancing the service experience. Whether they are business to business, business to consumer or even something more complex like business to business to consumer, we are seeing companies of all different types focussing on services as a way to get closer to their customers.

It is an approach that yields multiple benefits - companies adopting such an approach get to see how their customer base is using the products, meaning more tailored and better-targeted marketing and sales efforts - but also they can gain insight into how they can better improve those products and feed that insight back into their R&D teams.

However, the fact still remains that for most companies the initial steps on a path towards a servitized business model often tend to stem from companies feeling the pressure to get closer to their customers - a pressure that is in itself driven by the fact that customer service has widely become one of the key differentiators between businesses today.

Senior business leaders across the globe are asking “as our products become more and more commoditised how do we differentiate on additional services that we can introduce to our offering?”

Field service has played an intrinsic role in the quest for improved CSAT standards in recent years, and with so many customer touch points becoming digitised, that is only likely to increase in the future.So let’s try to unpack some of this and explore what the future of field service looks like on an intelligent platform.

So the first thing to consider really has to be ‘How do you get closer to your customers?’

It is only at this point that we can really start to consider the next important consideration, which is ‘How do you deliver a better customer experience?’

Of course, field service has played an intrinsic role in the quest for improved CSAT standards in recent years, and with so many customer touch points becoming digitised, that is only likely to increase in the future.

However, the smart companies embracing servitization see that for the approach to be truly effective, i.e. for it to be more than just a shift in revenue from product to services, but to actually become a genuine paradigm shift that simultaneously makes your customer relationships more profitable and longer lasting, they need much better capabilities to connect to with customers across the whole journey within the organisation.

This concept needs to not only sit on the service side of the business but also be understood from the sales and marketing perspective as well. When an organisation understands this and wants to fully manage the whole customer journey seamlessly - this is when the importance and value of a common technology platform really come to the fore.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some very important technologies emerge which are having and will continue to have a significant impact on field service delivery.

Firstly, Cloud Computing really drove down costs whilst offering the ability to offer infinite opportunities in terms of scaling businesses. IoT is perhaps the technology that has grabbed the most headlines in 2017 with a some excellent IoT platforms appearing including our own, that allow you to constantly connect to your assets. Mobile has of course been around for many years now but again the technology is keeping pace with other advancements, meaning our engineers and technicians are increasingly more empowered even when working in highly remote areas.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some very important technologies emerge which are having and will continue to have a significant impact on field service delivery.However, it is another big technological trend that we are now seeing really bring everything together and that is Artificial Intelligence (AI). In a sensorised world of IoT & Big Data AI really is critical. When you have a hundred million sensor events being recorded every hour, a human simply cannot comprehend meaning from that level of information - they will simply drown in the data. Yet, AI can deal with such quantities of data very well and then turn that data into insight, the insight into actions and then it is in actions that we will find value.

We need to think of all of these technologies as being integral elements of an ecosystem rather than being individual technologies - and this is why we are seeing the common technology platform become vital. If you are to adopt a truly servitized business model then you absolutely need to be able to orchestrate the full life-cycle of service and customer interaction in one place.

Indeed, we are already beginning to see examples of these types of forward-looking developments appear in a number of different sectors.

We are seeing many companies connecting their assets - though really this is only the first step in the process. It is when Artificial Intelligence is introduced to take this data and turn it into insight and action that things really begin to get exciting.

In fact, some of our clients are now using multiple layers of AI across their entire service cycle. Often there will be one core AI to draw insight from the vast sets of data across a whole fleet of assets. Something like IBM’s Watson can transmit that data into our own Field Service Lightning platform the second AI, Salesforce’s Einstein takes over as it is designed to handle the more specialist needs of a service call.

The basic premise is that an AI like Watson will assess the data, figure out where it needs to take action and will then communicate directly with Salesforce.The basic premise is that an AI like Watson will assess the data, figure out where it needs to take action and will then communicate directly with Salesforce.

If there is a break-fix scenario or if there is a maintenance scenario where an additional job needs to be added to the next preventative maintenance work order, that is all done in an automated fashion within Field Service Lightning.

The engineer can be automatically scheduled using our own AI (Einstein) to make sure the person scheduled has the necessary credentials. If it is a preventative maintenance scenario then it will look at when the next preventative maintenance job is scheduled, make sure that it’s within the time frame required, put the work order in and make sure the parts are ordered and will be on the truck on the day of the job.

So let’s just recap briefly to think about how this process comes together across all of the various technologies.

Firstly, you need to have the IoT element which in turn is dependent on Cloud Computing and Big Data. Then the various AI capabilities to initially read those events in order to begin automatically creating field service job and finally there is a need for the second AI to actually handle the setup and scheduling of both preventative maintenance and break-fix jobs.

Of course, reaching back to the customer and keeping them informed of the stellar service you are delivering is also key so we need to be connected to the contact centre solution as well. And let's not forget that the customer themselves will want to be on whichever channel they prefer - whether it be a mobile app, online portal or SMS and you need to facilitate that for them in whichever fashion they choose.

Many of our clients are already embracing the growing trend of outcome-based revenue models and field service is one integral element of thisSo all of this really needs to be running on a single dedicated platform for it to work seamlessly - yes, you can definitely bring together a number of different solutions and tools by having various integrations across the network, but the reality is that the cost of doing so would be prohibitive - that’s before you even consider the ongoing challenge of keeping everything updated and working harmoniously.

Indeed, the evident need for a common platform approach that can facilitate the seamless transfer of data and actions across different business divisions is the exact reason why we launched Field Service Lightning in the first place.

Our customers were coming to us and telling us ‘this is what we need to do.’ ‘This is the experience we want to deliver and we need you to add field service to your platform so we can orchestrate all of this.’ Many of our clients are already embracing the growing trend of outcome-based revenue models and field service is one integral element of this, as is sales and marketing and as are all other business units.

The key is being able to let the data and insights flow across the business as a whole and to achieve this you really need a platform that can bring together all of these various functions and technologies we’ve discussed in this article including AI, IoT, Mobile and of course FSM – you need all of that in a single place to make it work effectively, but the benefits of doing so will be felt across each and every department within your organisation.

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower explains why the connected customer is far more than just a marketing buzz phrase and focuses on the benefits of a truly unified platform...

In today’s consumer-centric economy, companies must do more than manufacture solid products for the home or business. Consumers consider the entire product lifetime value, from point of sale to the service experience, when deciding to buy.

They rely on sources other than brick and mortar showrooms to research and select products, often going to the web and most importantly other consumers’ reviews of products online. The connected consumer is no longer just marketing speak, and customers expect a differentiated service experience also from their connected devices or equipment.

What defines good service?

Whether providing service to a connected home or business, or simply on a faulty appliance or television, inspecting a wrecked automobile or damaged roof, installing a security system or a delivering healthcare supplies, ‘good service’ encompasses more than simply referring a consumer to a call center and then a service employee or contractor who may or may not call to schedule an appointment.

That model started changing in the early 1990’s with the growth in adoption of field service management software. Today, consumers expect more of service providers than scheduling an appointment and waiting for a technician to arrive.

What defines a great service experience?

A great service experience relies on improving the entire service lifecycle by providing Faster, Smarter Service on a Unified platform. The best field service management software supports the entire lifecycle, empowering consumers to digitally engage with you, enabling field technicians to deliver personalised service and providing a unified platform with modular functionality on which service operations can continuously optimise ongoing service delivery.

Let’s discuss how each below offers a digital, connected process that is differentiated from that of old.

Digital Engagement

Consumer engagement is critical to faster service. Providing an intelligent digital experience which enables customers to book appointments at their convenience with your trained and credentialed workforce, check status, communicate with technicians and track their locations is expected in today’s digital economy.

You also need one place that diagnostic data and added triage information available from the customer or the connected device or piece of equipment, service history, asset information that is easily available for both the customer and the technician. The days are gone where you want to send a technician out for something that can be handled remotely. Likewise, customers want to do more online, such as registering product purchases, buying additional products and services, and posting reviews of the service experience.

 

Consumers can research purchases and buy online, right now. Their expectations for service post-sale is exactly the same, and they also want their service experience to be ideally such that they want to buy more from the product or service brand.

The best field service management solutions easily engage consumers where, when and how they desire with the service contract provider.

Technician Enablement

Field service technicians, insurance adjusters, installers, delivery personnel- they are the heart and the face of the post-sale experience. As service industry employees, it is in their very nature to want to do well by your customers, to be faster and smarter at their jobs, so that they can delight every customer and walk away feeling accomplished. Enable them with the tools to do so as generally speaking, customers and technicians want the same thing – more up-time and better first time resolution rates.

Field service management and mobile software enables your teams to deliver faster, smarter service. Customer engagement software provides an end-to-end digital experience.

Artificial Intelligence-based scheduling software automatically positions techs for success, selecting the best resource for every job, and scheduling shorter, realistic service windows that techs can achieve, making service delivery faster for consumers. IoT integration revolutionises the service model, allowing field techs to proactively service and maintain products before they fail, and predicting future service requirements such that service contracts can be used to extend product life-cycles beyond the traditional break-fix model.

 

Mobile software with access to assets, inventory, service history, information and expert resources makes techs smarter at every appointment, armed to resolve issues through personalized service delivery, and adding value for consumers through additional services which improve the long term value of every product.

Unified Platform

Field service and mobile workforce management software set the stage for faster, smarter service delivery with a Unified - and integrated - platform.

Functional groups ranging from manufacturing and quality, to IT, marketing and sales, customer service and field service delivery require a unified platform which supports the full customer service lifecycle.

A unified platform improves your organisations ability to deliver faster, smarter services with employees, contractors or both, increasing service capacity and decreasing time to service. It can also standardises onsite process with configurable mobility, while decreasing the cost of service with schedule optimisation and dynamic, logic based contractor dispatching. No longer do you want to be making myopic decisions that don’t enhance your brand and the service experience for your customers.

 

A unified platform improves the process of performing service on your behalf for contractors, creating a faster, smarter model through integrated warranty claims management, which also reduces claim costs and fraud, ultimately better protecting warranty reserves.

A unified platform is the basis on which a great consumer experience is executed.

Transformational Service

The customers’ service experience with your organisation can be transformational.

Delivering faster, smarter service using a unified platform enables your field technicians to drive a better experience for your customers.

Customers experiencing great service become your most effective marketing and sales tools, loudly evangelizing about their experience through positive reviews, increasing sales, brand loyalty and long term service revenue.

ServicePower’s field service management solution empowers any organisation with a mobile workforce to deliver Faster, Smarter Service, while providing a Unified experience for customers, field technicians and your organisation.

We also offers a fully managed network of 3rd party service providers to enable rapid and high-quality on-demand “spill-over” servicing at peak times and in hard-to-reach locations across North America and the Europe.

 

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Sara Mueller, Field Service Portfolio Director, WBR, discusses why despite the growing importance of technology within our industry, the critical balance between using automation to meet tightening SLAs and losing the important human touch points field service visits offer the benefits they bring...

They say the only thing constant is change.

In just over a decade we’ve seen service organisations move from cost to profit centers. Now business models are evolving beyond product-centricity towards selling solutions or customer business outcomes. This shift in business model evolution and higher levels of customer service comes largely from the innovative technologies that are being widely adopted across global service organisations.

So much so that companies are quickly falling behind their competition and losing money to inefficiencies if they are too slow to adopt the cutting-edge technologies that have filled the service space in the last few years.

As the market analyst and director of program development for the Field Service USA and Europe events, I spend my time looking for trends that seem like they will stick, and uncovering the buzz behind buzz words.

I’d like to share with you three technology changes that have been popping across my radar lately, that seem to be here to stay.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such buzz word.

Field service leaders are actively debating how it will impact the industry.

Do service executives believe robots will take the place of field technicians or customer service operators in the short-to-medium term future? No (though more service organisations are adopting the use of drones to carry out service inspections in a safer, more timely manner). There is a critical balance that must be maintained between the technology service organisations use to keep machines up and running, and the personal human touch points that often contributes to higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Instead of condition-based monitoring of equipment that crunches connected data in the cloud to predict equipment failure before it happens, machine learning is a way of monitoring similar data for abnormalities. It takes in huge sets of data about the equipment and identifies typical measurement ranges unique to the equipment being monitored. Then it monitors for abnormalities to see what the machine can learn about its own malfunctions. If a data set is out of range, the machine is able to flag it, knowing that something is off, and begin to uncover what the problem maybe.

 

Augmented Reality

Secondly, our Field Service events have been talking about the opportunity for augmented reality (AR) in service for a few years now. I am starting to see companies that have finally piloted or are using AR as a standard tool of their service organisation.

Early conversations around AR debated whether the technology should be given to customers, so they could be the eyes for the experienced service technician (rather than the service organisation having to pay to dispatch an engineer to the site).

But generally most service organisations have decided that from a liability and legal perspective, its best to send a more junior-level technician to the site with the AR glasses or hands-free device, rather than put the tools in the hands of the customer.

A reason that the adoption of AR by service organisations has finally picked up is that the technology has gotten better, cheaper, and with more choices available. Devices are lightweight and more intuitive as the technology has evolved.

One limitation of AR is connectivity bandwidth. While only a small bandwidth is necessary for AR to work, if your customer’s facility has limited Wi-Fi or an unstable signal, it could disrupt performance and communication. So service organisations are starting to build the use of AR into their service agreements, including ownership of Wi-Fi so they can control the Wi-Fi sources themselves to produce a more stable environment to support AR.

Parts Management

Finally, if you are in service you need to have the right parts in the right place at the right time in order to get the job done. This hasn’t changed. But the way service organisations are carrying out service parts planning has.

Several years ago organisations were managing parts on Excel spreadsheets and realised they needed a more robust tool to carry out planning effectively. Nowadays, since most service organisations have adopted field service management (FSM) systems, they are no longer integrating a parts planning tool into their ERP, they are integrating it into the FSM system.

They have been able to optimise the scheduling and dispatching of their technicians with the FSM, but are finding the right parts aren’t always where they need to be. Because of the optimisation, a technician no longer serves one account or needs a regular selection of parts in his vehicle.

 

Instead, it may now be more efficient for a technician to service a wider variety of products at different customer sites; therefore the inventory he needs to carry around is more complex. Even a technician’s training becomes part of the selection criteria in the FSM to determine which customer site he will be dispatched to; so this type of training data is being integrated into service inventory planning tools as well.

It’s an exciting time for field service technology, especially if you embrace change. But as I alluded to earlier, there is still a critical piece of service that comes from the human connection between technician and customer. No matter how technology evolves, the service industry will have to figure out the right balance of technology and human intimacy in order to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

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New research which examined how organisations are evolving from a traditional office environment to a digital workplace reveals that gaining competitive advantage and improving business process are among the top goals of their digital transformation strategy.

This is according to 40% of 800 organisations in 15 countries on five continents that were interviewed for Dimension Data’s Digital Workplace Report: Transforming Your Business which was published this week.

Another insight in the Report is that digital transformation is not just about adopting the technologies of the past: 62% of research participants expect to have technology such as virtual advisors in their organisations within the next two years. In addition, 58% expect to start actively investing in technology that powers virtual advisors in the next two years.

Today, the digital workplace is no longer just made up of managers and those managed; co-workers collaborating with one another to complete projects; and employees interacting with customers and partners. It’s increasingly populated by ‘virtual employees’ who do not exist in a physical sense, but nonetheless play an important role in the organisation.

While artificial intelligence (AI) technology is still in its infancy, it is sufficiently advanced to be working its way into companies in the form of virtual assistants, and, in certain industries such as banking, virtual tellers and virtual advisors. Manifested as bots embedded into specific applications, virtual assistants draw on AI engines and machine learning technology to respond to basic queries.

 

“It’s no longer enough to simply implement these technologies,” says Krista Brown, Dimension Data’s Group End-user Computing SVP. “Organisations have grown their use of analytics to understand how these technologies impact their business performance:  64% use analytics to improve their customer services, and 58% use analytics to benchmark their workplace technologies.”

Meanwhile, around 30% of organisations said they’re far along in their digital transformation initiatives and are already reaping the benefits, while others are still in the early stages of developing a plan.

Brown says one reason that could be holding companies back from implementing a digital workplace is their corporate culture. Often, technology and corporate culture inhibit – rather than encourage – workstyle change.  However, the number one barrier to successful adoption of new workstyles was IT issues, and research participants cited organisational issues as another.

“The complexity of the existing IT infrastructure can present a major hurdle to implementing new collaboration and productivity tools to support flexible workstyles. Successful transformation implementations are achieved when IT works closely with line-of-business heads,” says Brown and adds that these transformations are supporting new ways of doing business or supporting clients.

IT leaders were asked to rank which technologies were most important to their digital workplace strategies.

Robert Allman, Group Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Collaboration believes that mobility is pivotal to a digital workplace. “Business leaders and CIOs are switched on to the importance of mobility in the digital workplace, with an even mix of companies supporting company-provided and employee-owned devices in the work environment.”

Enterprises are also turning to new workplace technologies to drive increased customer service, with 45% of respondents saying they’ve improved customer satisfaction as a result of their use of digital workplace technology.

 

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Paul Whitelam, VP Product Marketing, ClickSoftware, outlines five key technologies he believes will soon be shaping our industry...

The field service industry continued its rapid transformation in 2016, with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics increasingly changing how field service suppliers manage their workforce.

Service-centric businesses are constantly looking for new ways to meet customers’ growing demand for convenient and communicative customer service.

2017 is likely to bring continued change and innovation, with new technologies reshaping service operations and delivery. It’s a great time to examine what’s in store for the industry this year, and what field service leaders might want to have on their radar. Here are five technologies set to improve the field service industry in 2017:

1) Machine learning and AI

Machine learning (when algorithms evolve and improve over time) and artificial intelligence (AI) also drove new changes in 2016.

With the ability to better process, interpret, and learn from data, more services suppliers can be predictive instead of reactive, and will be able to automate the tasks that don’t need human input. Increasingly sophisticated forecasting driven by machine learning will drive efficiency increases and cost savings.

2) Reaping the rewards of new realities

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) were a major force last year. Even though virtual and augmented reality are predominantly used in games such as Pokémon Go and The Lab, both are being adopted more widely in a workplace context to enhance employee productivity and customer experiences.

In 2017, an increasing number of field service engineers will start to see VR and AR initiatives being introduced to support their training and day-to-day work.

 

As experienced engineers age out of the workforce and businesses try to maximise existing resources, VR and AR will increasingly play a role in enabling training, remote coaching, and viewing more information on each task via wearables.

3) Connected customers

As our recent research showed, customer expectations are growing rapidly around the world. The demand for fast, friendly and high quality service that also fits with customers’ busy and varying schedules is becoming the norm. And, aware of the mobile-led technologies that now exist to support a higher level of service delivery, field service customers are voicing demand for engineer location tracking and up-to-the-minute communications.

This communication between the customers and engineers will give customers the ability to share photos, preferences and job information with technicians before their visit, sharing important information that will expedite the service delivery. Customers will also be able to share their customer experience with their provider after the visit, offering feedback that can inform future service decisions.

Field service suppliers that do not start to think seriously about modernizing their operations in 2017 in this way will see an impact on their ability to compete.

4) A smarter field service

A device is labelled ‘smart’ if it can connect to other devices through the Internet of Things.

This year, smart will become smarter and advancements in machine learning will create new opportunities for the field service industry.

There will be improved inter-connectivity of smart devices, which will enable field service engineers to use their smart devices to contact more experienced engineers when they need guidance.

 

This will improve engineers’ knowledge and skills, and also deliver better customer experiences through increased ‘first-time-fix’ resolutions.

Smart technology will also accelerate preventative maintenance, alerting the customer and technician when there is an issue with a piece of equipment before the customer needs to make the call.

Usage patterns and failures are therefore easier to recognise and plan for, minimising interruptions and failures when a device is connected through smart technology.

5) Autonomous vehicles will drive innovation

Autonomous vehicles are already being trialled in some parts of the world, but 2017 will be the year when the business masses start to investigate their potential in the context of business gain.

This goes a step beyond assisted driving, which is already allowing field service engineers to predict traffic and avoid routes that will slow down their journey. Autonomous vehicles can also reduce the number of multiple visits from engineers by delivering the necessary tools to the engineer onsite, or providing the required tools to the customer if the machine can be self-fixed.

 

In short, self-driving cars or drones could present a field service industry game changer and as autonomous vehicle technology improves—and in-country legislation relating to their use is put in place —discussions around the benefits these offer to industry suppliers will gather pace amidst the race to innovate.

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