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Titos Anastassacos from Si2Partners shares with us some interesting insight on Augmented Reality from their recent research-based reports...

Technology is changing field service rapidly.

In the not too distant future Smart Connected Products will be self-diagnosing; Maintenance will become, almost exclusively, predictive; Spare parts will be 3D printed; And humans will interact at a deeper level with machines through Augmented Reality and Digital Twins, whether the machine is in the same room or on the other side of the planet.

The nature of the service business will shift from technical labour and logistics to knowledge management and exchange. Service delivery will change drastically as will the nature of competition and business models.

 

"The nature of the service business will shift from technical labour and logistics to knowledge management and exchange. Service delivery will change drastically as will the nature of competition and business models..."

 

But if the “end-state” medium term can be discerned quite clearly, getting there poses significant challenges.

So, at a Si2 Partners, we developed a series of survey-based management reports, to shine a spotlight into service businesses’ efforts to grasp the opportunities of digitization while dealing with the challenges. We then draw conclusions and recommend the best ways forward. The first report on Augmented Reality is available now, the next report on Predictive Maintenance is due by the end of the year.

The first public demonstration of AR was in 1998 during ESPN’s coverage of a football game: Generation and display of the yellow first down line. The line stayed fixed within the coordinates of the playing field. It was not physically present on the field and was visible only to the television audience.

But from that simple application, only 15 years later, Gartner was predicting that companies would be increasing their profits by over $1 billion annually -by 2017- through the application of AR in their field service business.

Things, of course, are not so simple. Reducing costs does not directly translate into increased profits.

That depends on prices and we know that digitization tends to make them drop, sometimes to zero -think of what happened to chemical photography. But even if we only consider costs, AR is clearly important, in many ways transformational, technology with a potentially very powerful impact.

So, are companies adopting AR for field service? Our survey showed that they are.

Most expect significant cost savings and productivity improvements through AR, mainly in engineering time and travel cost -and, interestingly, smaller companies are at least as much engaged with the technology as larger ones: Upfront investment can be low, and it can be implemented quickly and stand-alone (at least initially).

Importantly, it may help reduce pressure on scarce, highly qualified, and expensive engineering resources, while simultaneously improving the cost-effective support of remote customers (smaller companies are less likely to have extensive service networks).

Overall, we found that while less than 1/3 of respondents already used AR, and, of those, the majority had introduced it over the past 12 months, another third planned to introduce it over the coming 12 months. This indicates an accelerating trend.

Of course, for users, it has not been all smooth sailing. Challenges are numerous: For example, it turns out that connectivity at customer sites is a significant issue, which hampers the use of the technology. But technical problems are normal at this stage of introduction.

Far more important are managerial challenges.

For example, as always, one size does not fit all: The most commonly reported use case is field technicians receiving AR-based support by experienced engineers from a remote central hub.

 

"Better applications for such cases may be pooling AR-based support, providing technical information through “knowledge-libraries”..."

 

This may help companies with large field service workforces (possibly with high turn-over rates or fewer qualifications) supporting standardized equipment. It is not much help to vendors of highly complex equipment whose field engineers are already highly experienced and qualified themselves.

In fact, it may be even counter-productive, slowing things down or reducing acceptance.

Better applications for such cases may be pooling AR-based support, providing technical information through “knowledge-libraries”, particularly on rarely encountered problems or legacy equipment, or integrating AR with the IoT, so that operational data can provide real-time context to engineers and support for diagnostics.

However, such applications require investment in digital content, something that many AR users have often not considered, as well as a process of experimentation and development.

Another finding is that following implementation of AR, many managements don’t take the necessary action to lock-in the AR benefits by pushing through change in the support and field service processes. For example, few companies eliminate technical manuals and drawings from a field engineer’s toolbox, delaying the necessary adjustments.

And, while many companies market their AR capability to customers, few have developed AR-based offerings. Yet our survey shows that customers would welcome AR-based support if it would help to reduce costs and improve performance, notwithstanding issues of confidentiality or privacy.

The process to integrate AR into a company’s mode of operations and to maximize its benefits will, as for any new technology, be arduous and bumpy. But the impact on costs and productivity is becoming clear. Though most don’t yet formally track it, 72% of our respondents said that AR is on par with or has exceeded expectations.

Augmented Reality in Service: Ready for Prime Time? Visit the Service in Industry Hub Shop to download the flyer or purchase the report. For more information contact titos.anastassacos@si2partners.com or visit Si2Partners

 

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Sergey Krasovski, Strategic Marketing Analyst, Trimble explores the opportunities that augmented reality can present for field service organisations... 

The mass and wide-scale adoption of augmented and mixed realities are gathering pace across a multitude of industries. To define, augmented reality refers to the process of superimposing a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world. Mixed reality is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations.

In the field service industry, this emerging technology can play a significant role in changing the way field technicians and the business collaborates to resolve technical issues, provide support and access documentation. Indeed, technologies such as AR smart glasses can overlay digital information (such as text, video or audio) onto the human field of view, interactively and in real-time. ABI Research sees a turning point for AR smart glasses, predicting that 21 million units of AR smart glasses will be shipped in 2020, with sales expected to reach $100 billion.

 

Optimizing Service Workflows

Mixed and AR technologies present strong use cases for the field service industry for optimizing service workflows. The ability to perform time-critical jobs thoroughly, quickly and first time around, by obtaining the right information from the correct source, is one.

Historically, service technicians had to sift through paper manuals or search their own memories to find a fix for complex equipment issues. This was an onerous process to go through and often resulted in a disgruntled customer. Today, however, Augmented Reality headsets provide technicians with the ability to communicate, collaborate and solve issues more efficiently. They could be dispatched to a job where they could see the service manual, real-time data and technical details about the product directly overlaid on it. There would be no need for a clunky laptop, phoning a colleague for assistance or contacting the back office for customer information; everything they need would be accessible with a flick of their head.

There is a big place for Augmented Reality in optimising service workflows. However, deploying new technology takes careful planning to realise the full benefits.

 

Empowering Less Skilled and Ageing Workforces

In mission-critical industries, such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture, ensuring that the service team captures knowledge and transfers it efficiently across the organization is a ‘must have’, not a ‘nice to have’. Asset downtime or system failure is not an option as it may result in entire projects grinding to a halt and monetary losses. Issue resolution needs to be quick and this is where collaborative video tools can best support a less skilled and ageing workforce.

 

"Video collaboration with augmented peer-to-peer help is being designed and implemented to connect less skilled technicians with more skilled ones remotely..."

 

Video collaboration with augmented peer-to-peer help is being designed and implemented to connect less skilled technicians with more skilled ones remotely. A technician with specific areas of expertise may reside in an office and virtually walk an apprentice through a service call, step-by-step. Markups can be made during a video call between an expert and field technician to visually show what needs doing and to be sure the field technician is clear about what to perform service on. The expert can draw a circle or arrow on a screen to highlight a specific area, eliminating costly mistakes.

There are parts of the world where you can’t get the right expertise for a job or flying out a specialist may prove too costly for a company. Augmented reality eradicates these concerns by allowing experts to take those of less skill through the entire process. Not with a manual and not on the phone, but they can actually see what they are doing.

Many technicians are performing this peer-to-peer help in ad hoc ways today; using tools like Facetime and Skype. This, however, has resulted in issues. For example, sending a facetime request to another technician can be very disruptive. It is also difficult for the technician requesting help to know who to contact and if they are available. Whilst the time spent by the expert is not often tracked. For organizations that want to successfully scale this technology, they need to consider how to integrate it more tightly into the service workflow.

 

"As technicians age and a new crop of workers join the business, it is imperative that the latter be able to leverage past knowledge. An ageing workforce is putting pressure on service organisations..."

 

As technicians age and a new crop of workers joins the business, it is imperative that the latter be able to leverage past knowledge. An ageing workforce is putting pressure on service organisations. The benefit of augmented or virtual reality is its potential as a highly detailed, highly visual training tool. Companies are recording repairs being performed on older pieces of equipment to be used as a reference by less experienced technicians. By utilising augmented reality to make markups pointing to specific equipment details, service companies can create a searchable library using descriptive metadata, and hashtags for quick access. This is a great way to offer on-the-job training and avoids the downtime and loss of productivity associated with having the entire team come into the office to learn new techniques.

Collaborative video tools not only provide the field team with the real-time assistance when solving complex issues, they also connect field service to the entire organization. Indeed, video content, such as markups and screenshots, can be captured by augmented reality tools and stored in a cloud. The stored data can then be tied with a work order and include valuable metadata such as geolocation, type of equipment, date of last service etc. If such data is centrally stored and can be easily accessed, it could be used for purposes like new technician training, proof of work and so on.

For more information on how you can look to roll out augmented reality across your field service operations, visit: www.trimblepulse.com

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Epson, providers of the Moverio® augmented reality (AR) smart glasses platform, today announced both the availability of the new Moverio BT-350 ANSI Edition smart glasses and the release of the Upskill® Skylight® AR platform on Moverio...

The availability of Upskill’s award-winning software with the new BT-350 ANSI Edition allows the Moverio platform to be used in a variety of commercial environments, with the goal of driving greater worldwide adoption of the technology.

Skylight, Upskill’s AR software platform interface allows hands-on workers to get the job done faster and more accurately by connecting them to the people, information and equipment they need while remaining hands-free to focus on their tasks and their tools.

“Epson was one of the first companies to see the value of smart glasses in the enterprise and their Moverio hardware is an established, trusted name in the market,” said Brian Ballard, CEO and co-founder, Upskill. “By offering the Skylight platform on the Moverio BT-350 ANSI Edition smart glasses, we add increased choice for our customers looking to adopt high quality, industrial-grade AR devices to their operations to drive significant performance improvements across their workforce.”

We’re confident that addressing this workplace safety requirement and collaborating with Upskill, will enable enterprises to accelerate smart glasses adoption across the workforceDesigned to be worn in environments that require safety glasses, the new Moverio BT-350 ANSI model includes indoor and outdoor safety shields that meet ANSI Z87.1 safety certification requirements. Featuring a flexible and durable hinge-based headset, the Moverio BT-350 ANSI smart glasses can be worn comfortably on a wide range of head sizes.

Upskill has received numerous awards for Skylight, including recognition as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, Gartner Cool Vendor, Hannover Messe Hermes Award Finalist, and most recently, Augmented World Expo’s “AR Best in Show,” to name a few. On average, customers using Skylight on smart glasses see a 32 per cent performance improvement in use cases that span manufacturing, logistics and field services. Skylight on the Moverio BT350 ANSI Edition creates a smart-safety glass solution for use anywhere eye protection is required for a safe working environment.

“Since Epson launched its first iteration of the Moverio smart glasses seven years ago, we have been diligently working to enhance the technology to meet the demands of end-users, including the need for an ANSI edition of the Moverio glasses,” said Michael Leyva, product manager, augmented reality solutions, Epson. “We’re confident that addressing this workplace safety requirement and collaborating with Upskill, will enable enterprises to accelerate smart glasses adoption across the workforce.”

Support and Availability The new Moverio BT-350 ANSI smart glasses will be available in July 2018 for $1,199 (USD) through authorized Epson resellers and Epson.com. For additional information on the Moverio BT-350 ANSI Glasses please visit fs-ne.ws/GNQh30l7Eh1

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In this episode of The Field Service Podcast, Field Service News Editor-in-Chief talks to Kevin McNally, Sales Director for Asolvi about how technologies such as Cloud, Mobile, Artificial Intelligence and IoT have enabled smaller companies to not only meet the service standards of their larger peers but in some instances exceed those standards...

Did You Know? You can now subscribe to The Field Service Podcast on iTunes! Check it out here and subscribe to get the podcast straight to your phone, desktop or tablet as soon as they are released! 

Want to know more? Field Service News have published a white paper sponsored by Asolvi that explores this topic in further detail. This white paper is available exclusively for fieldservicenews.com subscribers.

If you are not yet a subscriber and are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary subscription below (after reading our T&Cs here first) and we will send you a copy of the white paper as soon as we receive your application.

Click here to apply for your complimentary industry subscription to fieldservicenews.com and access the white paper now!

Note: Please do take the time to our T&Cs (available in plain English at fieldservicenews.com/subscribe) and note that this content is sponsored by Asolvi)
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Sara Mueller, Field Service Portfolio Director, WBR looks at how the rapid evolution of service excellence is a double-edged sword of opportunity and challenges...

I’ve been a conference producer for Worldwide Business Research (WBR) for over ten years, but most of my friends still don’t understand what that means or how I spend my days.

My mom finally gets it though.

I told her that I conduct market research by talking to service executives to learn what their biggest challenges and initiatives are. I also talk to their vendors and solution providers to understand what innovative technologies and services they provide to solve these challenges. Then I write a conference program and recruit thought leaders to speak about these subjects to bring the industry together and help advance service organizations.

Throw in fun parties, innovative formats that get people talking, and beautiful venues where people enjoy building business relationships, and you’ve got the essence of a WBR Field Service event!

Whether or not you grasp the function of my job, I’m sure you can relate to the four major trends I see impacting field service over the next few years.

They are:

1. Driving service innovation using technological advancements like augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis.
2. Doing more with less by determining the quickest, most efficient way to automate field service operations.
3. Transitioning to a customer success organization that sells customer business outcomes.
4. Aligning talent recruitment and training with the needs of an evolved service/support business model.

Driving Service Innovation Using Technological Advancements Like Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Big Data Analysis.

Augmented reality pilot programs are well underway and starting to reveal the best ways to use this technology for remote-assisted repair and troubleshooting.

Whether hands-free wearables or tablet devices are the hardware of choice, there are numerous software options to choose from to execute an AR strategy.Whether hands-free wearables or tablet devices are the hardware of choice, there are numerous software options to choose from to execute an AR strategy.

It’s clear that AR is not just a buzz word, but a concrete field service tool that’s here to stay and will be implemented by the majority of service organizations within the next three years.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotization are continually being explored in order to understand where technology can replace unnecessary human work, increase automation, and drive productivity. Bots are being used to get information to field service teams quickly and for memory nudging.

Virtual assistants or virtual customer agents are starting to be the norm. Innovative service organizations are looking to the further future to use machine learning to building autonomous services or self-healing, self-repairing products.

And, finally, data: Since devices became connected and IoT found its way into more and more products, we’ve never had more data on hand. Companies are spending their resources to ensure the data that is being gathered is clean, relevant, and easy to interpret.

It’s being used to measure product quality and gain performance insights from the field. Data visualization and analytics tools are helping to validate and adapt maintenance schedules, customer experience, and revenue generation.

Whether you classify this information as “big data” or not, it’s clear the data you now have available from connected products is essential for making “big” important business decisions and learning how you can better serve your customers.

Doing More With Less By Determining The Quickest, Most Efficient Way To Automate Field Service Operations.

Service executives are exploring the best tools for service automation in order to get more work done without increasing headcount. The speed of change and ease of implementation are key factors going into technology investment and process decisions.

Change management has never been more important. And lean, six sigma, and kaizen are being used to look beyond manufacturing to service operations to reduce complexity and streamline processes.

Artificial intelligence, as mentioned above, comes into play as a leading tool to increase automation.

Transitioning To A Customer Success Organization That Sells Business Outcomes

Service organizations are continuing their business model evolution away from selling products towards selling results, up-time or customer business outcomes.

Part of this entire company cultural shift has led to the development of “customer success” organizations.

Rather than calling the customer-facing side of the organization customer service, or support, or technical support, companies are using the name “success” to describe how they go above and beyond for the customers, owning responsibility for the success of their customer’s business.

Customer success takes into account being a trusted advisor to customers to ensure they are leveraging all the capabilities of your product offeringCustomer success takes into account being a trusted advisor to customers to ensure they are leveraging all the capabilities of your product offering. It, of course, brings together service and call centre support, as well as sales.

Customer success is sometimes its own department, or it can be a combination of sales and service. Of key importance is to understand how all parts of the organization that contribute to customer success can have aligned goals and incentives.

Service organizations are exploring customer engagement software and the best ways to measure the customer experience throughout all points of contact.

Aligning Talent Recruitment And Training With The Needs Of An Evolved Service And Support Business Model.

With a shift to more cloud and software-based services, the required skill set of technicians is changing.

Companies need to recruit for a new skill set while still trying to fill gaps in their team caused by baby boomer retirement, a lack of apprentices after apprenticeship programs were discontinued during the economic downturn, and with the positive challenge of business and customer growth.

Some companies are choosing to bring in computer science software folks, then train them on the hardware piece.

Some are using veteran career-placement programs to find qualified, screened, and trained talent.

Given field service and support is highly influenced by technology, its clear the industry, its solutions, and your customer needs will continue changing rapidly. On top of this, the current workforce needs to be trained to service products that are supported by more automation and digitization.

Even recruiting for women is taking a higher priority at many organizations, since women make up half of the workforce, but generally a much smaller percentage of the field service industry. Diversity and inclusion efforts are being carried out with the knowing that aligning goals, incentives, and measurement against these efforts is imperative to their success.

Given field service and support is highly influenced by technology, its clear the industry, its solutions, and your customer needs will continue changing rapidly.

This is a good thing as you’ve never had more ways to be able to move the needle of the service you provide your customers.

Plus it keeps things interesting for someone like me (a conference producer for your industry)!

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Augmented Reality ticks all the boxes of a technology that could have a truly transformational impact on field service delivery and offers a viable solution to many of the challenges of an ageing workforce. However, 2017 research by Field Service News revealed that adoption of AR is still lower than expected - so just what is holding everybody back?

It is long been a widely held belief here at Field Service News that Augmented Reality (AR) will one day play a hugely important role in field service delivery.

But how will that belief begin to materialize and perhaps, more importantly, why has it failed to do so in a significant manner as yet? Yes, there are a growing number of case studies of organizations who have implemented an AR solution but they still seem to be the exception rather than the rule and mass adoption of AR still seems a long way off - but why?

Is it a case that we are pushing at an open door and as we saw with Cloud adoption? Is it just a case of waiting for the rest of the sector to catch up?

Scott Montgomerie, CEO, Scope AR certainly seems to think so.

The potential for AR in field service is tremendous and as the technology continues to prove its worth within organisations who were early to adopt it, AR will only become more pervasive“The potential for AR in field service is tremendous and as the technology continues to prove its worth within organizations who were early to adopt it, AR will only become more pervasive,” he asserts.

“The technology is uniquely positioned to close the growing skills gap in the field service industry by delivering on-demand knowledge transfer and empowering workers to become experts at any given task with little to no training.”

“The efficiencies this creates in terms of a) ensuring a procedure is completed accurately every time by delivering best practices and verifying completed work, b) time savings gained with regard to reduced mean time to resolution and equipment downtime and, c) improved customer satisfaction, will soon propel AR into becoming a table-stakes technology that field service companies can’t afford to go without if they want to remain competitive.”

Evans Manolis, Senior Consultant at another of the pioneers of AR in Field Service, Help Lightning, also thinks that AR has huge potential in our sector.

“The potential is unlimited,” he asserts. “We are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the positive impact that Augmented Reality will have on the field service marketplace and the future of service delivery.”

When used correctly, AR can positively impact several Key Performance Indicators that most field service organizations measure.“When used correctly, AR can positively impact several Key Performance Indicators that most field service organizations measure. From significant reductions in truck rolls, to increased first-time fix rates, to improved time to resolution, to maximized product uptime and better overall customer experiences, AR’s potential is easy to envision. AR is the future of service delivery.”

So given this potential, just what is holding companies back from getting on-board the AR train? What exactly are the objections and hurdles (perceived or real) which are holding field service companies back from adopting AR?

“The biggest objection to AR adoption is actually a misconception,” comments Montgomerie.

“Fancy videos and energetic Innovation Teams want to show the future of AR in industry, which often jumps past the practical applications that can scale saving time and money today.”

“The future of AR will include everyone having AR wearables, which are still limited in availability and costly today. While practical applications of AR can be deployed in scale to support field teams on wearables where available, AR solutions can also support handhelds like smartphones and tablets for everyone else. Combine this with the fact that wearables will become readily available and increasingly affordable in the coming months, and AR is something for now, not just in the future.”

However, cost is also a consideration that is holding some companies back as Montgomorie explains.

The cost of hardware remains a barrier to entry for many organizations. Equipping an entire remote workforce or team of field service technicians with a wearable device requires a sizable capital expenditure, one that most enterprise companies don’t have.“The cost of hardware remains a barrier to entry for many organizations. Equipping an entire remote workforce or team of field service technicians with a wearable device requires a sizable capital expenditure, one that most enterprise companies don’t have.”

This is set to change rapidly though as an increase in demand drives competition up and costs down.

“The cost of even the most sophisticated AR devices on the market, such as the HoloLens, are becoming more affordable,” adds Montgomorie.

“That, coupled with big investments from the likes of Apple and Google to deliver platforms enabling AR to be accessed on nearly any smart device, are quickly reducing the hardware-related hurdles holding many companies back.”

For Manolis the question is more about a reluctance to adapt radically new service strategies more than the additional costs.

“A few years ago, the major objections centered on the technology. AR looked really cool and was cutting edge, but did it work?” He asks.

“Fast forward a few years and now few question whether AR works from a product standpoint. But the reality is that the use of AR is not a technology play.”

“The technology works. The successful deployment of a service strategy rooted in AR is really about service transformation, not technology.”

“It’s about effectively changing the way organizations deliver service. It is about breaking down walls of resistance within service teams and about driving successful buy-in from the service teams tasked with using the technology. It’s about the entire company and not just the service department. It’s about effectively communicating early successes and focusing on what is in it for the service team. Most service leaders we speak with see this (change management) as a hurdle,” he continues.

“At Help Lightning we realized these challenges and have started a Coaching and Consulting Practice, to help our customers successfully use AR to transform their service organization and that has been the game changer for our customers.”

Manolis’ point about the importance of understanding the sheer magnitude of impact AR will have on how an organization approaches service delivery is a hugely salient one and it leads us to consider how AR will fit into the ecosystem of technologies that field service organizations include within their workflows.

Could it be that ultimately AR will become an integrated element of the Field Service Management solution as mobile did previously?Could it be that ultimately AR will become an integrated element of the Field Service Management solution as mobile did previously?

Montgomerie certainly believes so.

“AR will inevitably become part of the tools that field technicians and remote workers use daily in order to do their job. AR is the next evolution in user interfaces and is revolutionizing the way we see and interact with data and information.”

“By allowing users to intuitively follow instructions or easily act upon insights by putting content when and where the worker needs it most - directly overlaid onto the real world - AR is delivering the on-demand knowledge transfer employees need to conduct complex tasks.”

“As the market matures, we expect to see fewer evaluations of how AR alone can drive value, but instead, the mindset will shift toward how it, integrated with other support tools, can impact a company’s bottom line collectively.”

Manolis also thinks that this will, without question be the case.

“Service delivery is changing rapidly. If you are delivering service today the same way you were 5 years ago, you are in trouble. And if you continue to deliver service that very same way, you will be extinct in another 5 years. Integration is a key element in the successful deployment of AR,” he states.

“Integrating AR technologies into service management software solutions like ServiceMax and SalesForce, is critically important,” he adds.

Of course, one additional theory as to why AR hasn’t yet set the world on fire is that in the minds of many field service executives it is intrinsically linked with the development of smartglasses - which themselves are struggling to overcome the stigma left by the widespread disappointment of Google Glass.

Is the widespread adoption of AR essentially actually tied to the adoption of smart glasses in reality?But is the widespread adoption of AR essentially actually tied to the adoption of smart glasses in reality?

Montgomorie doesn’t think this is necessarily the case.

“While smart glasses deliver the ideal hands-free experience to allow remote workers to more easily and efficiently repair or assemble a piece equipment, AR is successfully being deployed (and showing ROI) through the use of smartphones and tablets today. Considering that AR glasses are very limited in availability at this point, it is critical that adoption also includes handhelds so that an organization can support all employees today until glasses become more common,” he explains.

“With advances in hardware, we are expecting several new smart glasses to come to market in the next year or two, bringing down the price and solving many of the issues with the current crop of smart glasses, including field of view, battery life, durability and user experience.”

“It may be a few years after that, but within 3-5 years we expect many field service technicians to be equipped with smart glasses.”

Manolis also sees the future of AR not being dependent on smartglasses in the short term although he does see that changing in the future.

“The important word in the question is “essentially” and my answer to that is no,” he comments.

“We have many customers who have adopted and deployed our solution to their service organizations on a global basis and they’re not using Smart glass technology.”

“That being said, smart glasses will be the next wave of AR technology that we will see, but in my opinion, we are still 18-24 months away from that point. Today there are too many challenges to deploying smart glasses across large service organizations. They tend to overheat, battery life is short, field service techs tend to treat them roughly and they are prone to break, they are still expensive, and many service techs say they are hard to use. All of this will change as the technology improves over the next few years.”

With AR being such a quickly evolving market, FSOs should look for a technology solution that can be implemented today, but that is scalable enough to support devices or hardware platforms of the future,But what about those companies that want to move forward with AR in the here and now? Whilst it is still a sector in its infancy, there are an increasing number of companies offering AR solutions dedicated to the field service sector. So what should we be looking for in an AR provider?

“With AR being such a quickly evolving market, FSOs should look for a technology solution that can be implemented today, but that is scalable enough to support devices or hardware platforms of the future,” urges Montgomorie.

“In addition, it is important for FSO’s to identify a specific challenge with the vendor and ensure that this challenge can be solved. Just as important, FSOs need to remember that it does not need to be every challenge,” he adds.

“The first question a field service company should ask themselves is what is driving their interest in AR and what do they hope to accomplish through the use of AR? Once those answers have been given they should look for a company that fits their goals and objectives,” Manolis asserts.

“Then they should look at the product roadmap the company has laid out. They should be sure that the AR vendor they choose has a product that is easy to use. Frictionless and effortless for both internal and external customers. Finally, they should ask about what the AR provider can offer to help them through the process of service transformation and adaption of the AR solution.”

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Gunish Chawla and Daniele Pe, Senior Principals and Irish Manipis, Senior Business Analyst at Delta Partners have published a deep and far-reaching exploration of exactly how Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are set to become key platforms in the future.

We are already seeing an increasing number of forward-thinking field service organisations adopting such platforms so this detailed report provides some excellent, well-resourced context about the future of a technology set to play a very big part in the future of field service management...

The relevance of AR and VR in re-shaping user experiences and the implications on the telecom industry.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have the potential to become the next big platforms after PC, web, and mobile. Isolated applications of AR and VR have been around for a while, but the technologies to unlock their potential have only recently become available. We expect AR and VR to fundamentally transform how consumers interact in the physical world and how enterprises run their operations.

Augmented and Virtual Reality: Distinct but complementary technologies

In a nutshell, AR overlays digital imagery onto the real world, while VR immerses a user in an imagined or replicated world (see figure 1 below).

Fundamentally, AR and VR create a new way of interaction using gestures and graphics that are highly intuitive to humans. VR creates an illusory “sense of presence” in an imaginary world created through a computer-generated simulation. For instance, this allows users to experience travelling, shopping, creating, talking or interacting with people remotely in a completely different way. In contrast, AR allows people to access digital information in their real-world environments, thereby allowing “simultaneous existence” in both physical and digital worlds. Both AR and VR are transformative in nature and likely to co-exist as immersive platforms.

A whole new realm of opportunities

We are still at the beginning of the AR and VR revolution, but there is no doubt that they have the potential to revolutionise multiple industries over the next five to ten years, transforming the way we interact with the surrounding world, unlocking new experiences, increasing productivity and efficiency (see figure 2.)

From the use cases, one can infer that AR and VR will create a shift that is comparable, if not greater, than that of the smartphone and underlying platforms.

This potential has been recognised by major technology giants and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer).

Facebook made an early bet in 2014 when it acquired Oculus for $2.1bn and since then it has acquired over ten other AR/VR players. Other technology giants have followed suitFacebook made an early bet in 2014 when it acquired Oculus for $2.1bn and since then it has acquired over ten other AR/VR players. Other technology giants have followed suit – Google launched Google Cardboard, Google Glass and backed Magic Leap; Microsoft launched HoloLens and Apple acquired AR software maker Metaio. Samsung has multiple projects coming from its in-house C-lab incubator such as Monitorless (PC-viewing glasses), Vuildus (VR home furnishing), Relúmῐno (smart aid for the visually impaired) and TraVRer (360-degree travel video platform).

While technology giants and OEMs have been leading the charge, telecom operators have been slow to react, but, in recent years, we see operators in developed markets beginning to dip their toes in the water. For example, Telefonica launched start-up incubator Wayra currently supporting eight VR and four AR start-ups. SK telecom has developed 360-degree VR live broadcasting capabilities and BT is trying to revolutionise the sports experience through VR enabled football match telecast.

For AR and VR to become the next big platforms, challenges must be overcome

While significant progress has been made in this space over the past few years and the ecosystem today has hundreds of companies, thousands of employees and over $4.5 billion invested, with expectations to become an $80-100 billion industry by 2025, AR and VR today are still emerging technologies.

For AR and VR to fully materialise and provide the impact described above, significant hurdles need to be overcome.

These can be grouped into four main categories:

1. Bulky and expensive devices: Despite the emergence of lower cost hardware options such as Google Cardboard ($15) and Google Daydream ($99), the majority of AR and VR equipment is very costly, e.g. HTC Vibe ($799), Oculus Rift ($600) and Google Glass ($1,500). In addition to the hefty price tags, the current AR and VR equipment is bulky and cumbersome (e.g. presence of wires). Though it may be suitable for static experiences (e.g. watching a movie), it will be a challenge in an immersive environment that requires freedom of movement and authenticity as functionality (e.g. employees in the manufacturing industry, who deal with dangerous machinery, and cannot be exposed to potential hazards).
2. Scarcity of “killer” content and applications: Without a wide variety of popular applications, it will be hard for AR and VR to reach mainstream success. Although there are many applications on the gaming and video front, AR and VR have yet to find their “superstar app” – i.e. the use case that makes the technology fundamental for both consumers and enterprises.
3. Limited penetration of technically ready smartphones and devices: Technical issues such as smartphone battery life and graphical capabilities hinder the adoption of AR and VR. To have the best AR and VR experience, devices need to have superior image display and audio capabilities (at least 2560x1440 resolutions), powerful processors (e.g. 820 Snapdragon), large memory space and adequate battery life. Today less than 10% of 2.8+ billion smartphones worldwide are compatible with Samsung Gear and Google Daydream.
4. Insufficient network speed and latency: Fully immersive 360-degree experiences require at least 25Mbit/s for streaming and can go up to 80-100Mbit/s for HD TV. With a global average of 7.2 Mbit/s, only about 12% of global connections satisfy these requirements. In addition, low latency is critical to delivering the best AR and VR experience because even small delays can have a disorientating effect. For instance, when a user turns and the landscape does not move simultaneously, the user may experience motion sickness. VR requires less than 1ms latency and currently, the global average latency is 36ms on fixed and 81ms on mobile.

The case of Pokémon Go (free-to-play, location-based AR game) clearly illustrates the situation. When Pokémon Go was released in July 2016, it exceeded 100m downloads within a month of its release, becoming the most downloaded mobile gaming app of 2016. It single-handedly proved how profitable and widespread AR could be, generating over a billion dollars in revenue for developer Niantic.

This was achieved with a game that was “simple” enough to work with smartphones without the need of any additional device and the content was a “killer hit” as demonstrated by the take-up. Despite the success, key issues emerged in terms of device capabilities and network. Pokémon Go requires the smartphone device to have long battery life, GPS sensor and compass.

Users without these functionalities would drain their batteries within a few hours or have to settle for a pared down version of the game which detracted from their enjoyment and experience. On top of device capability issues, Pokémon Go also experienced issues on mobile networks. Despite only taking up roughly 0.1% of the overall traffic, the game accounted for >1% of all sessions on the network.

This ten times differential was the result of communication sessions opening with Niantic servers every time an event happened in the game. Driven by the massive uptake, the cumulative effect from both bandwidth and sessions negatively impacted networks, especially when the game drove large groups of players towards specific geographical areas.

What role can telecom operators play in the AR and VR ecosystem?

As mentioned, telecom operators are yet to make a credible play in this space. However, we believe that they can play a fundamental role in helping overcome some of the challenges illustrated and thereby enable earlier materialisation of the AR and VR promise. This is where operators’ typical strengths such as network infrastructure deployment or devices distribution capabilities come into play.  But beyond helping drive these new technologies, we believe AR and VR have the power to transform the role of operators in the ecosystem.

If we believe that AR and VR will be the next big platforms, we should be able to imagine a world where we no longer look at our phones, but rather look up to visualise the content in front of our eyesIf we believe that AR and VR will be the next big platforms, we should be able to imagine a world where we no longer look at our phones, but rather look up to visualise the content in front of our eyes, and interact with the device through machine-learning enabled voice or visual recognition. In this scenario, the role of the smartphone would be significantly diminished.

This would provide a fresh opportunity for operators. Operators have missed the opportunity to play a significant role in the smartphone ecosystem - in terms of capturing a share of a customer’s mind and interaction time, and therefore monetising it. However, if the role of the smartphone diminishes, and new platforms take over, then opportunities arise for operators to play a pivotal role in the digital ecosystem beyond connectivity. This is where the roles of ‘open enablement platform’ and ‘application and content provider’ become relevant for operators.

Pragmatically, we have categorised the role of operators in the AR / VR ecosystem in four groups based on the level of involvement of the operator and the expected transformational results:  1) Device distributor, 2) Connectivity provider, 3) Open enablement platform, and 4) Application and content provider.

• As a ‘Device distributor’, operators would resell devices to end-users, and make them more accessible by subsidising, leasing or financing them as operators have been doing for smartphones.
• As a ‘Connectivity provider’, operators would need to ensure that last mile networks have intelligent traffic management solutions, high quality compression algorithms, low-latency and high bandwidth capabilities to offer users immersive experiences that are realistic, engaging and entertaining. As such, 5G technology will be critical in helping overcome network limitations. Similarly, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), an initiative launched by Facebook in collaboration with operators, infrastructure providers and system integrators, focused on tackling the engineering challenges of delivering high-resolution video and virtual reality, will play a key role in enabling AR and VR take-up. However, driving these network transformation projects will require large investments on top of ongoing CAPEX requirements. Operators need to determine whether they can successfully and sustainably monetise this investment, which poses the following key questions:
  • Will the surge in data usage from AR and VR applications be enough to justify the effort? Could operators monetise the quality of service demanded by AR and VR through specific tariffs or network boost add-ons?
  • Can an AR and VR ready network be leveraged as a tool to boost differentiation, hence customer acquisition and retention, therefore driving the operators’ revenue share in the market?
• In an ‘Open enablement platform’ role, operators position themselves as the ‘glue’ that brings together different players in the AR/VR ecosystem: end-users, developers, devices manufacturers and content creators, effectively allowing different players within the ecosystem to develop solutions, ensuring interoperability and widespread adoption. This enablement platform will not only have typical network functionalities such as QoS management (deploying bandwidth intelligently based on pre-defined rules and parameters), robust content delivery network, and compression algorithms (to reduce network strain), but also a developer portal with tools such as APIs (to connect the different ecosystem providers and enable the longer tail of developers), dedicated SDKs, ready-to-use ‘basic’ AR/VR algorithms, billing capabilities and an analytics layer.
• As an ‘Application and content provider’, operators would collaborate with industry players to deliver AR and VR specific applications and content (e.g. video, gaming, shopping, manufacturing, etc.), where AR and VR will support specific use cases. This will help operators explore new revenue streams directly through app/content-based revenue models, and revenue sharing with app/content developers but also indirectly through improved positioning (meaning better customer acquisition and retention), and higher customer engagement (translating in a share of wallet and data usage boost). Korea Telecom (KT) is an example of an operator that is going down this path. For the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, KT plans to release a whole suite of AR and VR applications. These include Sync View (viewers watch the games through athlete’s lens), Interactive Time Slice (100 camera angles and screens), 360 VR Live (panoramic view of the games) and Omni Point View (all around view of the games). Along similar lines, BT is planning to drive its ambition to revolutionise sports watching to a new level by delivering fully-immersive, interactive VR content, which will place people right at the heart of the action.

In summary

While AR and VR are still emerging technologies, their mainstream adoption will increase dramatically as hardware costs fall, device functionality gets more sophisticated, more ‘killer’ content is developed, and network speed and latency improve. While it’s true that in the short-term, AR and VR will remain relatively niche, the mid to long-term potential could be transformational.

Operators can adopt a passive approach, where no specific step is taken in the advancement of the AR and VR industry beyond the ongoing modernisation of the network (e.g. 5G deployment), which naturally supports the materialisation of the AR and VR promise. This is unlikely to result in significant monetisation potential, and could further decrease operator relevance in the ecosystem, pushing operators further towards being pure connectivity providers.

Digitally-minded ambitious operators can champion and drive the AR/VR space by positioning themselves deeper in the value chain as a ‘platform enabler’ and/or ‘application and content provider’ Alternatively, digitally-minded ambitious operators can champion and drive the AR/VR space by positioning themselves deeper in the value chain as a ‘platform enabler’ and/or ‘application and content provider’. This implies early investment in the required network capabilities, a build-up of additional competencies on top of the connectivity layer and collaboration with technology players that are pushing the boundaries of the industry to develop end-user solutions. Operators that choose this path and do it right can leverage the novelty factor to reposition themselves within the ecosystem of tech and device players and in the eyes of the end user.

The telecom industry track record suggests this is a long shot for operators. Over the last decade, they have generally been poor at innovation and have time and again missed the opportunity to leverage their unique assets to position themselves strongly in the digital space. Nevertheless, there is intention from many leading operators to make a serious play within the digital space – AR and VR could well be the foundation to spearhead this transformation.

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Field Service News' Big Discussion has a simple premise - we take one key topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and then put three core questions to them to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

This issue our topic is the what to expect in 2018 and our experts are Michael Blumberg, Blumberg Advisory, Bill Pollock, Strategies for GrowthSM and Jan Van Veen, moreMomentum

The first question we tackled was What is the biggest challenge facing field service companies in the next 12 months?

Our second big question in the series was What is the biggest opportunity facing field service companies in the next 12 months?

And now onto the final question in this instalment of the Big Discussion...

What one technology do you think will have the biggest impact in the next 12 months?

Bill Pollock: Clearly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will have the biggest impact on field service in the next 12 months. In fact, while some field service companies are still debating whether or not to implement Augmented Reality (AR), the more progressive – and aggressive – services organisations are already embarking on their respective AI and ML implementation programs.

The application of AI for positively impacting key services-related areas such as customer experience and workforce productivity, while also allowing companies to move from a preventive maintenance to a predictive maintenance service model will be stunning! In addition, many organisations are already beginning to realise the benefits of using AI and ML for improving their overall service parts management activities, as well as for supporting data-driven decisions by allowing them to process, understand and share information that they didn’t even know they could cultivate as recently as just a year or two ago.

One caveat, though: services managers will need to closely align with their companies’ CTO and CIO before embarking on an AI/ML program, as their respective knowledge of the technical aspects of these “new” technologies will certainly help throughout both the decision-making and implementation processes.

AI and ML are not a fad – they are here to stay, and now is the time for field service companies to embark on that journey.

Jan Van Veen: I try to think of one technology that will impact on all companies. This depends on the industry and where the field service is on the continuum from reactive maintenance to advanced services. Also, the impact of new technologies will always be over a longer period of time.

I do observe that most field service organisations have little view on the impact of Augmented Intelligence and Deep Learning systems which can process and learn from unstructured information in writing and speech. These systems are now having practical applications in various sectors, including technical services.

We have already seen Doctor Watson of IBM massively beating the smartest people in the game ‘Jeopardy’ (search for it on YouTube). Dr Watson is already providing quite accessible web services to use the functionality and have their first field service solutions.

This technology will not only completely reshape our knowledge systems and the scarce skill sets we need for remote diagnostics, it will also be a crucial vehicle for developing advanced data-driven value propositions.

I hope to see more and more manufacturers engaging with a few trusted clients and the right data-driven partners to explore the opportunities from this technology.

Michael Blumberg: I think blockchain technology will have the biggest impact on the Field Service Industry in the next 12 months. A brief definition of the blockchain is that it is a decentralized and distributed digital ledger used to permanently record transactions across data, text, video, or audio files. It is extremely secure and scalable.

The blockchain includes within it the concept of a “smart contract”, a series of if-then statements related to a transaction.

This makes it the ideal technology for building an IoT platform. The blockchain can be used to record sensor data and then trigger service events (i.e., field service dispatch, parts shipment, corrective actions, etc.) based on smart contracts. These transactions can also be monetized in real-time; like a virtual cash register. Any disputes can be resolved by verifying the blockchain transaction itself.

This is just one of many use cases for block chain technology in the Field Service Industry. Other use cases include asset tracking, spare parts authentication, knowledge content sharing, and SLA management. 2018 will be the year where these use cases are implemented in field service and produce measurable results which eventually lead to large-scale adoption within the field service industry.

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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, the third and final excerpt from the full one-hour long webcast, Oldland and Notter discuss how field service organisations can and are turning to the latest technologies including Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things to ensure they keep attrition rates for their field service engineers low

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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