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The way that customers interact with businesses is far different than it used to be, largely due to rising competition. If people aren’t happy with the way that you speak to them or handle their queries, then they have absolutely no qualms about taking their money elsewhere.

To help you out, Gemma Harding, Head of Corporate Services at virtual receptionist provider CALLCARE brings you her top four predictions for what the future of customer service holds:

The working day is changing and will continue to do so

Over the two years at CALLCARE, we have gathered data that shows a dramatic change in the way that people interact with customer service departments during their normal working day.

7am has now become the new 8am; people are starting their days earlier. Customer service centres have reportedly been seeing an increase in the number of calls from 7 in the morning onwards; undoubtedly as people attempt to get their admin out of the way before getting to the office.

People are taking their lunches earlier and are spending less time away from their desks dealing with phone calls. Whereas previously the most popular lunch time calls were made between 1pm and 2:30pm, they are now taking place from 12:45pm and 1:30pm.

 

Once the working day is over, it appears that people are using that free time to organise themselves, as there has been a 45% increase in the number of calls made between 6pm and 8pm from 2014 to 2016. Customer service calls aren’t dropping off till 8 in the evening.

Artificial intelligence will grow

Speaking to a robot over the phone isn’t everyone’s favourite part of calling a customer service centre. In fact, one in 10 people from our survey stated that their biggest customer service frustration was having to deal with too many options in order to be directed to the correct department. Having to press a dozen different buttons just to be able to speak to a real person is a real life pain point that businesses shouldn’t ignore.

But this could actually be the path to a more efficient and cost-effective future, with just a few amendments to the way the system works.

However, here at CALLCARE we believe that too heavy of a reliance on artificial intelligence would start to detract from the effectiveness of customer service. What we would like to see moving forwards is support from this level of advanced technology that works hand-in-hand with humans on the other end of the phone.

Data-driven customer service

Some companies may not realise it, but they actually have a tremendous amount of information at their fingertips. All the data they collect, sometimes without being aware of it, from their existing customers can help provide all sorts of insights into improvements that they can be making.

Don’t be afraid to start digging into the data that you have at your disposal. Everything from the times that your calls spike to the most popular queries tells you something different about how you can improve your service. And certainly don’t be afraid of sharing; it isn’t just your direct customer service advisers who can use it to their advantage.

Saturday will become the sixth weekday

For most people, the weekends are made for relaxing, but CALLCARE’s data appear to show that Saturday has become an extension of the working week. Compared to 2014, we have seen a 60% increase in the number of customer care calls being made on a Saturday between the hours of 9am and 6pm. This makes it almost as busy as a standard working day.

For most people, the weekends are made for relaxing, but CALLCARE’s data appear to show that Saturday has become an extension of the working week. Compared to 2014, CALLCARE has seen a 60% increase in the number of customer care calls being made on a Saturday between the hours of 9am and 6pm. This makes it almost as busy as a standard working day.

 

Again, this is all down to convenience. Companies should be making their customers work hard to get in touch with them; it should be as quick, easy and painless as possible.

The weekend isn’t treated the same as it used to be, just the same as Bank Holidays and evenings, so businesses should be doing whatever it takes to ensure that their customers’ requirements are catered for.

 

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"Bill Pollock, President Strategies for GrowthSM takes a look at some of the findings of their 2017 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey to explore the degree to which UK Field Service Organisations are  investing in new technologies and analytics…”

Each year, Strategies For Growth^SM (SFG^SM) conducts a series of Benchmark Surveys directed to the global services community. The preliminary results of the 2017 Field Service Management (FSM) Benchmark Survey clearly reflect that UK/Europe Field Service Organisations (FSOs) are continuing their focus on addressing the top market drivers that impact their geographic marketplace – and in many cases, at a significantly higher rate than their global respondent counterparts!

For example, UK/Europe FSOs currently place their greatest emphasis on dealing with such key market drivers as:

1. Customer demand for quicker response time;
2. Internal mandate to drive increased service revenues;
3. Need to improve workforce utilisation and productivity; and
4. Need to improve service process efficiencies.[/ordered_list]

In fact, the 2017 results clearly show the increased importance of making process improvements compared to just one year earlier when process efficiencies did not even place among the top three market drivers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that UK/Europe FSOs are continuing to invest more in new technologies – most notably, the Internet of Things, or IoT, and mobile tools – in support of their respective field forces.

Susannah Richardson, Account Director, mplsystems, concurs with these findings stating that, “We’ve seen our customers increasingly asking about what further functionality they can add into mobile applications to improve effectiveness of their field force.It’s no longer simply about field technicians being at the right place at the right time with the right parts, but also about them being empowered to excel in the service that they offer and to provide additional services.”

 

“We’re also seeing organisations looking at ways to better manage the planning of their workforce in real-time. Typically planners spend lots of time managing exceptions, such as: emergency jobs; customer changes or job overruns and delays; even if they have scheduling in place, too often these are not flexible enough to handle live situations. We are seeing lots of interest in our new scheduling algorithms to handle real-time changes and IoT feeds (AESOP) and so improve efficiency in both planning teams and the field workforce.”

However, one of the greatest differences reflected in the UK/Europe survey results is in the percent of services organisations that are currently developing and/or improving the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) they use to measure service performance; (i.e., cited as a top strategic action by 65% of UK/Europe respondents, compared to only 47% overall.

Richardson agrees that, “Business analytics are a large part of all of our customers’ field services and business operations, which is why it is such an integral component of our solution offerings. Traditional measures don’t offer service performance, as they are operationally focused and don’t reflect customer experience. However, now we’re seeing our clients using our analytic tools to develop their own dashboards as they have become increasingly focused around KPIs specific to the service and experience that they are delivering to their customers.”

Another key factor that may be used to explain the heightened focus of UK/Europe FSOs for stepping up to improve their lot is that they continue to lag slightly behind their global counterparts with respect to service profitability (mean average of 35%, or slightly lower than the 38% attained among the overall respondent base, both in 2015/16 and 2017 surveys).

In addition, at a mean average of 81%, UK/Europe FSOs are also currently falling somewhat below the global survey population with respect to attaining desired levels of customer satisfaction (i.e., 83%). However, the research also strongly suggests that the market recognises the importance of stepping up to the challenge of improving their performance for these two key metrics.

Based on these survey findings, and other corroborating research, it is not surprising that the UK/Europe field services community also recognises that it will need to increase its investments in mobile tools and new technologies to compete effectively in an expanding global marketplace. In addition, it also understands the importance of building an effective Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or metrics, program to measure the impact that its strategic actions, technology investments and resource acquisitions will actually have on the organisation’s performance moving forward.

 

While UK/Europe services organisations cite current investments in mobile tools to support field technicians as somewhat lower (27%) than the overall survey base (40%), future plans (i.e., over the next 12 months) for integrating new technologies are reported virtually at par with the rest of the world (i.e., 35% in the UK/Europe, compared with 37% for the global survey base). Accordingly, these data suggest that the adoption of new technologies in the UK/Europe may be roughly only one year behind that reflected by the general survey population (which is mainly comprised of respondents from the Americas).

Planned strategic actions by UK/Europe services organisations through 2017 reflect an even more dynamic, rather than static, approach to the field services marketplace. For example, 54% of respondents plan to develop and/or improve their use of field service KPIs, or metrics; and just as many plan to improve planning and forecasting activities with respect to field operations (54%).

What these data primarily show is that the UK/Europe field services community recognises the need to take specific strategic actions to enhance and improve existing service processes and operations, and that these actions begin first and foremost with the need to develop and/or improve the use of service metrics and KPIs.

These actions are then complemented by the need to invest in the right mobile tools and technologies to empower their resources both in the field, and in the back office;, to improve existing processes; to meet the growing needs of customers; and make greater contributions to the organisation’s bottom line.

 

However, the greatest impact on the future of Field Service Management is most likely to come as a result of the growing acceptance of Cloud-based technology. Among those UK/Europe organisations currently planning an FSM implementation in the next 12 months (or considering doing so in the next 12 to 24 months), a Cloud-based solution is preferred by 40% of respondents, compared to only 20% citing a preference for Premise-based – basically, a 2:1 ratio in favour of Cloud.

However, roughly two-out-of-five respondents (40%) remain undecided at this time (compared to only 33% for the general survey population). Still, Cloud-based FSM solutions appear to be the dominant preference, regardless of global geography.

In 2017 and beyond, the focus will likely be even stronger on the customer in terms of striving to meet (and exceed) their demands, preferences and expectations – or “back to the basics”. UK/Europe FSOs will continue to plan to accomplish this mainly by improving the processes they use for delivering their services; the KPIs they use to monitor their improved performance over time; investing in new tools to support both field technicians and customers; and integrating new technologies into their existing FSM or Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) systems.

 

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Richardson and the team will be attending Field Service Management Expo next week where mplsystems will be unveiling a new genetic algorithm based scheduling tool, to find out more visit them on stand N650 and for those unavailable to attend you ca contact Richardson directly at susannah.richardson@mplsystems.co.uk

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Astea
Title: Preparing for the Connected Customer

 

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Field Service Professional? Click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Preparing for the Connected Customer" sent directly to your inbox now

 

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Synopsis:

This is the era of the connected customer—consumers who are used to having the entire Internet at their fingertips, who can instantly interact with friends and associates via text or social media, and who can quickly summon a ride, make restaurant reservations, or order a gift with a few clicks and swipes on their phones.

Connected customers present both challenges and opportunities for field service organisations. Their expectations have increased based on their experiences interacting with other types of service providers such as Amazon.com, Uber, FedEx, and Zipcar.

These customers want more information, along with faster, better service, and more control over their experience.

This white paper asks if your organisation is ready to meet their increasing demands...

Overview:

Supported by research by Frost & Sullivan,  this white paper covers three key areas:

Rising Expectations of the Connected Customer

Connected customers are intimately familiar with the capabilities of mobile computing technology in a way that they were not 10 years ago. They expect field service technicians to be able to access those same or even more advanced mobile capabilities.

Leveraging Customer Connectivity

Enterprises are rapidly embracing mobility. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, 47% of North American businesses have at least 11 different mobile worker apps deployed, and 88% plan on introducing at least one new employee-facing app within the year.

Meeting the Challenge of the Connected Customer

Engaging effectively with connected customers requires an investment in field service management (FSM) and mobile technology that can keep pace with the technology in which your customers already have access. There are a number of challenges involved in that process, including:

• Navigating a fragmented and confusing market
• Predicting customer needs
• Determining the best technologies to deploy

 

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Want to know more? If you're a Field Service Professional then click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Preparing for the Connected Customer" sent directly to your inbox now

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Kris Oldland deliver's his editorial leader in issue 17 of Field Service News where our theme was the ever changing nature of field service...

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to apply for a complimentary industry professional subscription now and get a digital copy of issue 17 sent straight to your inbox instantly

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Now any regular readers of this column will know that I’m a big fan of change.

Not that I think change needs to be wholesale and sweeping. No I subscribe much more to the journey of continuous improvement method of change. I like the concept of constant refinement, of being in constant Beta.

As a result of such an outlook I do tend to focus on innovation quite closely, which is a happy coincidence that there seems to be constant innovation within the field service sector too.

So I often talk about changes in our industry. Changes in business processes such as the shift towards servitization or the concept of crowd service

Changes in technology such as the emergence of Augmented Reality and IOT as two highly credible emerging technologies that the field service industry must embrace.

Even, the changing skill-profile of the field engineer as an incoming generation replaces an ageing outgoing one.

But the change referred to in this edition of Field Service News is actually a completely different type of change and for once I found myself wondering if such seismic change within our industry is good for us.

That change is amongst the solution providers, the pioneers and innovators that helped usher in so much of the revolution we are currently experiencing.

 

In the last 18 months we have seen most of the big names in field service  management solutions being acquired. Tesseract, IFS, ServiceMax, ClickSoftware, Telogis, and most recently ServicePower have all been bought up and that’s just a few from the top of my head.

There are many, many more.

The thing is that all of these companies had a common thread that allowed them to thrive in our industry. They were all independent companies who truly understood and cared about field service.

If I recall correctly the redesign of Solarvista a few years back took 3 MILLION lines of code, more than it takes to send a shuttle up to the space station, there are far easier sectors to enter, far easier places to make money as a software provider.

But it was the passion to help drive service forwards that was at the heart of many of these companies’ success.

Colin Brown former MD and founder at Tesseract for example came from an engineer background himself, so he got the challenges that companies were facing and was able to tailor that into a series of industry first solutions (i.e. first windows based solution, first browser based solution, first SaaS solution).

Similarly, Dave Yarnold, CEO at ServiceMax has spoken at great length about the importance of service - even going as far as to described ServiceMax once as a Field Service Enablement company who happen to use technology to do so.

And while Yarnold, remains on board in ServiceMax’s new guise as part of the GE Brand one just hopes that is infectious enthusiasm for great service delivery isn’t diluted by being in a bigger pond.

Indeed, the message from almost all camps is that it is business as usual just with bigger expectations, and quicker developments. On the surface it all sounds great and I must admit that it is fantastic to see the field service sector become such hot property globally - it’s just when so many great independent companies are bought within quick succession of each other it does make me a little nervous.

All Change maybe fine, just not at once, is all I’m asking.

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to apply for a complimentary industry professional subscription now and get a digital copy of issue 17 sent straight to your inbox instantly

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In this the final week of the first edition of our new series "The Big Discussion" we've now looked at three key questions on the important topic of Augmented Reality.

The idea behind this new series is that we take one topic, bring together three leading area experts and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

Our first topic has been Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

So far we've asked our panel:

"Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery?" , 

"What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?" and 

Do you see Augmented Reality ultimately becoming a standard tool included within wider FSM solutions or should it be viewed as a specialist standalone application?

and now onto our final question in our Augmented Reality Big Discussion...

 

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Question Four: How closely tied to the development of smart glasses is augmented reality – are the two co-dependent or are tools on smartphones/tablets sufficient?

Many visualise the ability to have a hands-free environment, where AR information shows up in front of them through smart glasses. However, very few enterprises have yet to adopt and deploy smart glasses, including devices such as Microsoft’s HoloLens, ODG’s R7 or RealWear, at scale. Although these glasses are advancing quickly. adoption of wearables in today’s market can be hindered by price, production and specific product limitations depending on the environment and user.

While hardware manufacturers continue to address these challenges, field workers are starting to reap the benefits of augmented reality using the hardware (smartphones/tablets) currently available to them, and most importantly, that they are comfortable with, while exploring glasses.

With so many AR tools available on today’s smartphones and tablets, enterprises are already realising success without having to make an additional investment in new hardware. With the addition of depth cameras and new computer vision techniques, handheld devices are becoming more and more practical.

 

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Smart glasses are poised to take the world by storm. Leading smart glasses companies (including Microsoft) have already invested billions of dollars in design and development. Clearly, augmented reality is a key driver behind the development of smart glasses.

With respect to field services, it’s important to remember that we’re still at a very early stage. Most smart glasses on the market today cannot support all field service needs. The decision on whether to use smart glasses or a smartphone depends on the industry segment and the use case. For example, when working with ink-filled printing systems or in high-voltage environments, smart glasses are critical for enabling hands-free collaboration.

Another key advantage of smart glasses is that they enable both augmented reality and mixed reality. A hybrid of augmented and virtual reality, mixed reality enables users to overlay digital content onto a realtime physical space in 3D mode for highly realistic interactions.

 

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Development of smart glasses are important but not crucial. For XMReality with core focus on customers within industrial field service, hands-free options, like glasses working in rough environment is something there is a demand for.

However our customers struggle a bite on how to use glasses, there are also so many different preferences on what you like, monocular, binocular so smartphones/tablets are sufficient in most cases and also something one in general carries.

For us it is important to get an understanding on the customers use cases, to recommend what would be their best choice to use.

 

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The next instalment of The Big Discussion will be focussed on the topic of IoT and Servitization is coming soon... 

 

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Tom DeVroy, Senior Product Evangelist for field service management in North America, at IFS explores the relative benefits of Software as-a-Service (SaaS) and perpetual licensing models for FSM, and argues that businesses need to choose the software that meets their business needs first, then select the delivery model that best suits their business model – not the other way around.

The global field service management (FSM) software market is set to grow by more than 11 percent annually until 2020, driven by advancements in data analytics and mobile technology. As more companies select FSM software, they will have choices to make about how they license the software and where the software resides—on hardware they own themselves or in data centres operated by their software vendor or a third party.

FSM software is a vital tool for companies that operate mobile workforces. It can do everything from optimising the service schedule to ensure that the right technician is at the right job at the right time, as well as encompass the service supply chain to ensure appropriate parts are available to complete service projects. Advanced capabilities may even include complex depot repair, reverse logistics and the delivery of prescriptive maintenance information to technicians to guide them through complex service processes.

In short, FSM software enables an enterprise to ensure the efficiency of field service business activities, improve the customer experience and oftentimes increase revenue while mitigating costs.

 

Today, enterprises are much more likely to look at subscription-based Software as-a-Service model (SaaS), with the solution hosted off-site in the cloud. According to Gartner, more than 80 percent of software vendors will change from traditional licenses to subscription-based by 2020. But even if subscription pricing makes a lot of sense to a software vendor, it may or may not make sense to the software buyer depending on their needs.

Perpetual licenses attractive long-term

Up until the internet and broadband connectivity became a central component to most businesses, software was sold by default on a perpetual license basis. Purchased through a one-time license fee, the solution can be run either on a company’s own hardware or private cloud. The cost of the license is paid up-front and allows businesses to own the software outright with the rights to use it indefinitely, even if ongoing maintenance and support contracts are discontinued.

A company can provision software sold through a perpetual license on their own servers and support it with their own IT personnel. Or they can place it in a private or public cloud run by a third party vendor, including their software vendor.

Running software in the cloud allows a company to outsource common IT administration tasks while ensuring the server capacity can scale effortlessly as increasing user count or transaction volume demand. Cloud provisioning can also be attractive for FSM software because it can make it easier to access in the field.

The attraction of the subscription model

Software sold via subscription-based SaaS is also provisioned in the cloud. But unlike a perpetual license, the software is paid for typically through a nominal start-up fee to cover implementation and a monthly fee, generally on a one to three-year contract, rather than an up-front lump sum for permanent ownership. This is beneficial as the expense may be assigned to a given department’s expense budget because SaaS tends to involve a smaller up-front investment, below the normal threshold for a capital budget spend.

The lower up-front investment of SaaS also makes it attractive for businesses looking to start with a smaller footprint in FSM software that they can grow over time.

 

Organisations can implement an FSM solution in a single division or office as a proof of concept, perhaps limiting the scope of the initial implementation. When starting with a small number of SaaS users, businesses should always plan for the implications and costs of a wider implementation so the solution can be easily scaled across a broader number of users when needed.

Address the Service Lifecycle

A field service software buyer should prioritize their specific requirements first before looking at deployment models and license methods. It is important to remember that regardless of whether the FSM solution is purchased through a perpetual license or by subscription, FSM software will always fall short if it does not address the entire service lifecycle.

Beyond scheduling, dispatch and field mobility, there are many areas of field service applications should include to drive substantive value. Automated call handling, routing and dispatches are important to optimize call center functionality and day-to-day tasks, while traceability systems and spare parts management can give complete control over supply chains - keeping businesses safe and compliant.

Reverse logistics is another key requirement for businesses dealing with complex repair environments, as is project management for instant communication with remote personnel out in the field. Strong support for serialization will ensure compliance in regulated industries and support recalls when necessary.

Flexibility First

Another important thing to consider is the timing of software updates. Even when field service management is purchased through a subscription-based license, your business should always maintain control over when you upgrade to new versions.

There are many SaaS-based FSM products where the supplier will dictate when an update will occur. This could happen in the middle of your busiest season when adjusting to a new version of software would be too time-consuming.

 

Businesses need a solution that works around them and their operations, not the other way around. SaaS deployments ought to deliver pricing convenience, reduce potential downtime by hosting software in an ITIL environment, and reduce the level of effort required to manage the solution.

Having the option to choose if owning the software outright on a perpetual license, or acquiring software through subscription, is a benefit to a potential buyer. Rather than the vendor dictating your IT infrastructure and license acquisition, it gives you the customer the flexibility to choose what is best for your organisation. If a software vendor is committed to giving you control over your software environment, they will offer you this flexibility.

Software first

Whether businesses choose a perpetual license or SaaS field service management software, the focus must always be on the FSM solution and that it matches all of the key business needs. Only then can you choose your delivery model. With a fully optimized FSM solution available on both models, businesses can make sure their field service can meet specific needs, now and in the future.

 

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There has been consitent talk about the role of 3D printing could play in field service logistics and spare parts management for many years now but still we have yet to see a clear solution arrive using the technology. Kris Oldland talks to Tim Helsen, UPS to see if it is on the horizon and if so how will it work and what benefits will it bring...

KO: 3D printing has for a while been positioned as a major disruptive technology within supply chain management, but can it really be a magic bullet to help field service companies meet the challenge of getting parts to their engineers in a more timely fashion?

TH: At UPS we see two potential areas for using additive manufacturing in field service operations and spare part supply.

Firstly, 3D printing has the potential to be used for a more tailored part supply based on customer needs at any given moment in time. In particular for older machines where spare parts are not on high demand and the moulders that were used for mass production are not available anymore. In situations such as this, spare parts can be created through additive manufacturing at a relatively low cost and supplied to the engineer in a short amount of time.

A broader use of 3D printing technology can be imagined in situations where the manufacturer is making adjustments to a certain part based on data collected from the field. Here, additive manufacturing can help to redesign a certain part and allow to manufacturer to quickly distribute the improved material.

 

Furthermore, if manufacturers only stock high demand items and switch to 3D printing technology for low demand items, they can significantly reduce their overall inventory levels and operating costs.

KO: What are the challenges and benefits for a field service organisation to adopt 3D printed parts as part of their spare part management strategy?

TH: The key benefit is that field service organisations can tailor spare parts according to the needs of their customers and thereby improve customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. The key challenge for field service organisations will be to make the financial investment and accumulate the knowledge and the expertise to switch from traditional manufacturing to 3D printing.

UPS has integrated 3D printing facilities into its global network and built up expertise in additive manufacturing, so our customers do not have to.

KO: There are numerous examples of high quality 3D printed parts being used in industrial products, but realistically with today’s technology and infrastructure are 3D printed parts a valid solution in terms of spare parts management for field service companies?

TH: Despite 3D printing’s current shortcomings in some field service situations (parts made from several components, large or complex parts that take a long time to print,..), UPS offers field service providers value because we combine an on-demand 3D printing manufacturing network at central air hub locations with a global logistics network. Together, they form an on-demand economy business, allowing for asset-light operations if you are a field service company.

KO: Do you think 3D printing solutions will become a standard tool offered by major logistics providers (such as FedEx, UPS, K&N etc) or do you think it will remain a specialist sector?

TH: 3D printing is going mainstream. And as it does, the technology is likely to revolutionise traditional manufacturing and redefine our notion of supply chain logistics.

3D printing is available at more than 100 The UPS Store locations in the U.S., and the pilot program is so successful among small and medium-sized businesses looking to leverage the technology, that we expanded our 3D services across the U.S.

 

We partnered with a 3D printing company to build a 3D printing facility at our global Louisville hub and in 2016 began offering this service in Asia too, with scope for further expansion.

 

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Today's connected customer is more empowered than ever before. This brings about it's challenges and also its own opportunities. Are you ready to embrace these? Are you prepared for the connected customer?

This handy infographic from Astea offers a useful checklist and some helpful insight into making sure your company is taking advantage of opportunities rather than coping potential threats.

 

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Want to know more? Field service professionals can access an accompanying white paper "Outsourcing Field Service" after claiming their free subscription to Field Service News! Click here to subscribe and get the white paper sent to your inbox now!

 

 

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Want to know more? Field service professionals can access an accompanying white paper "Outsourcing Field Service" after claiming their free subscription to Field Service News! Click here to subscribe and get the white paper sent to your inbox now!

 

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As we move into week three of our new series we've now addressed a couple of big questions around the core topic of Augmented Reality.

The series is called The Big Discussion and the idea is that we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks, to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

On this first topic of Augmented Reality and our experts are Evyatar Meiron, CEO, Fieldbit, Niklas Rengfors, Head of Sales & Marketing, XM Reality and David Nedohin, President, ScopeAR...

So far we've asked our panel  "Just how big an impact can and will Augmented Reality have on field service delivery?" and "What advantages does Augmented Reality offer over video calls such as FaceTime and Skype etc?"

and now onto this weeks question in the Big Discussion...

 

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Question Three: Do you see Augmented Reality ultimately becoming a standard tool included within wider FSM solutions or should it be viewed as a specialist standalone application?

Augmented reality is a communication technology that will be integrated into FSM tools and made available to the workforce to access when and where they need it.

This may be required to meet government regulations, to engage with an expert, or improve competency or safety.

However, AR will be a tool in the toolkit that will be used when needed, and part of a larger set of technologies.

If a picture, voice call or video is appropriate, perhaps AR will not be needed, but as workers become more familiar with the value of AR once integrated into their FSM apps, it will be a tremendous resource, when it is needed.

 

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As mentioned earlier, augmented reality is a disruptive technology that is radically changing the way organisations perform field service maintenance. It is an innovative platform that uses new technologies.

For this reason, augmented reality is more likely in the short term to remain a standalone tool that complements FSM solutions. That said, some of the more basic telesupport-oriented augmented reality features - those that enable real-time remote communications between the onsite technician and the expert at company headquarters - could be integrated at some point with the FSM software.

In contrast, the knowledge management component, including the information capture, storage, sharing and search capabilities, is more complex in nature and requires specific expertise. I believe that this component will continue to develop as a separate specialist system.

 

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Definitely included within wider FSM solutions, we are currently working with different partners already, IFS to mention one is strong partner in field service.

By connecting information flows between systems for example between mobile work orders and XMReality, it adds a lot of value to the customer.

Can be things like storing for documentation purposes, saved videos later then used for training purposes etc. As solutions to display or create content gets more efficient AR will most likely become a standard tool.

 

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Next weeks the final question: How closely tied to the development of smart glasses is augmented reality – are the two co-dependent or are tools on smartphones/tablets sufficient?

 

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