BigChange Field Service Software Facilitates Business Transformation for Pinnacle Group

Jan 19, 2022 • News • BigChange • Digital Transformation • field service management • Service CRM • EMEA • COMPLETE SHUTTER SERVICES

Pinnacle Group has transformed its customer experience and increased operational efficiency following the implementation of the latest field service management software from BigChange.

Pinnacle Group has transformed its customer experience and increased operational efficiency following the implementation of the latest field service management software from BigChange.Supporting over 300,000 homes, 200 schools and 100 public and private buildings, Pinnacle is one of the UK’s largest facilities management providers. Using BigChange, Pinnacle has achieved a significant improvement in transparency and communication with clients by delivering live operational information and has overcome challenges resulting from the pandemic which saw a reduced workforce facing an increased workload.

USING BIGCHANGE'S FIELD SERVICE SOFTWARE, PINNACLE CAN RECORD, MONITOR AND CONTROL EVERY TASK IN REAL-TIME

“Since implementing BigChange we have seen real time savings and productivity gains resulting in better quality of service, reduced resources and costs, and increased client and customer satisfaction,” commented Raaj Bharania, Pinnacle Group Business Manager. “This can be directly translated into contract extensions and new contract awards.”

Pinnacle is a community-facing, people-first business that delivers, manages and maintains communities and places – including multi-tenure housing, schools, open spaces, public and private buildings, retail schemes, distribution centres, manufacturing plants, utilities and broadband networks – as well as a range of complementary employment and wellbeing outcomes. Formed in 1994, Pinnacle operates nationwide with major hubs in London, Chelmsford, Slough, Birmingham, Leeds, Morecambe, Stoke and Carlisle. Pinnacle provides integrated Facilities Management across all sectors and the frontline operation makes around 1,400 call outs per day with an 80/20 split between scheduled and reactive.

Since implementing the complete job management solution, which incorporates customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, financial management and business intelligence in one simple to use and easy to integrate platform, Pinnacle can record, monitor and control every task in real-time. Details of site inspections and service delivery visits are captured, recorded and reported, complete with before and after photos, using a traffic light system allowing operatives to self-certify works.

“By giving clients access to the BigChange platform we have been able to reduce the time spent monitoring and reporting as they can access the information they need when they need it,” said Area Manager Marcin Rosiak whilst Business Manager Seundouss Laroussi added, “BigChange has been transformational for us, and our clients, and we cannot imagine our operation without it!”

BigChange has already been deployed on over 90 percent of Pinnacles soft FM contracts where it has been tailored to meet specific KPIs, SLAs and reporting requirements and roll out on the remaining 10 percent is ongoing. Further planned work includes the transition to a completely paperless operation and the use of BigChange to improve workforce engagement and health and safety management.

How AI Is Being Used To Speed Up The Delivery Of Off-Site Services To Clients?

Dec 22, 2021 • Features • Artificial intelligence • Digital Transformation • field service management • ryan condon

In this article for Field Service News, Ryan Condon, Head of Content at Comparesoft, discusses how Artificial Intelligence is changing field service management.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was something we imagined would transform our lives in the future. But, since it’s now a part of our everyday lives, field service managers and technicians should get up to speed on how AI is changing Field Service Management (FSM) for the better.

When most customers say that speed of service is the main motivator for customer service—as many as 80% of Americans according to PWC—it’s good to know that AI has the ability to speed up the delivery of off-site services.

So, what is AI?

In essence, AI is when machines simulate or mimic human intelligence. It’s a broad, catch-all term that includes subsets such as machine learning and deep learning. All of which aim to enhance and add to human interaction with positive effect.

What Does AI Look Like for FSM?

The traditional model for the field service industry was to once assess, diagnose, and then resolve failed equipment or machinery. But since the advent of AI devices, and the distancing measures taken to address the impact of the pandemic, AI has given way to a transformation of these standard practices.

Today, by predicting when problems may arise before they occur, or estimating when machinery will need repair, AI technology is speeding up field service delivery and, with it, customer satisfaction.

AI devices include a broad range of software and hardware. Much of AI falls into the category of Internet of Things (IoT) or, in other words, devices that are disrupting field service management in very positive ways.

For instance, utilities company Thames Water are using sensors and real-time analytics to forecast asset failures. This is helping them move faster in situations that demand it, such as unexpected storms or water leakages.

Plus, there’s US firm Aquant’s AI-driven Remote Triage. Thanks to decision-making AI, this system is supporting an increase in first-time fix rates. By offering its users a range of possible solutions to problems, it asks questions about the symptoms of each piece of faulty equipment and helps technicians get a head-start before they’ve reached the site.

By reducing the length of response time to urgent matters, AI is improving all aspects of delivery – from communication to scheduling and customer service. And, according to 80% of industry experts, these efficiencies are boosting employees’ morale and their skill sets.

How AI is Used by Field Service Companies

The use of AI in field service management has grown in recent years. Here are some of the ways it’s supporting improvements in the field and making delivery faster:

Job Scheduling and Dispatching

By using intelligent technology to analyse various data sets, AI programs use specific algorithms to determine whether future jobs are likely to be successful or not. This is helping service technicians to achieve higher first-time fix rates than before.

Where it used to be incumbent on dispatchers to ask customers the right questions before technicians arrived on-site, this predictive technology is freeing up dispatchers’ time for more visits while reducing repeat visits.

Automated scheduling, via AI programs, is also changing the way schedulers handle their workload. By giving them the time back to focus on more difficult cases, real-time AI scheduling is managing those easy, quick win scheduling jobs while letting staff focus their time on what matters. Equally, AI technology is overcoming problems with repeat or inappropriate bookings by prioritising jobs according to data held on technicians’ skillsets, locations, and availability.

Predictive Maintenance and Management

AI Management Software is helping field service companies take a proactive approach to addressing field service needs. By using a wide range of data, AI enables more accurate forecasting. This is preventing potential failures, errors, and interruptions to field service. It’s also driving productivity through a reduction in errors.

AI technology is able to optimise route management in real-time, which is particularly helpful during emergencies. So, if there is heavy traffic, for example, a technician can decide whether they’d be able to get to a site or otherwise find an alternative or nearby technician who could help address the issue in time.

By addressing unplanned or unforeseen circumstances before they happen, field service companies are better able to address problems and reduce negative cost implications from any disruptions or interruptions to service.

Computer Vision AI

Computer Vision is where AI algorithms process, analyse, and make sense of visual data such as images or videos. They do this in the same way as humans, basing their complex assessments on pattern recognition.

So, when it comes to technician’s seeking additional expertise on specific areas of a job—where they may not know themselves—Computer Vision AI can interpret the technician’s problems and provide solutions based on the images it sees. So, how does this work in practice?

Stage 1: Technicians use their smartphones to take pictures, having followed instructions on the app

Stage 2: Neural AI networks process the image by detecting specific aspects and acknowledging the issue

Stage 3: The system sends back information to technicians relating to the issue

Stage 4: Technicians resolve the issue and send back the new images

Stage 5: Once the photo is clear of all issues, AI confirms the job is complete

Guidance Through a Knowledge Base

Having an up-to-date knowledge base is a great way to provide field technicians with the additional tools and information they need to ‘self-help’ when problem-solving issues.

But there will be times when they either can’t find the information they need or don’t know where to look for it. This is where AI comes in – to aid field service technicians with finding the solutions they’re looking for.

Using technology such as Natural Language Processing, AI enables a computer to understand the full meaning and intention of any written or spoken language. By summarising bigger amounts of text, AI is helping technicians get the information much faster than they would have.

Areas Of Field Service Management That AI Can Improve

While AI has been embraced by the industry in recent years, there are many ways it can help management teams to make significant and lasting improvements to service delivery.

Customer Experience

Keeping customers and clients happy is the essence of field service management. So, it’s good news that AI can help. With fewer opportunities for in-person interactions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, companies can keep customer communication more consistent with AI-driven communication channels.

24/7 helpdesks are possible with the help of AI-supported chatbots. Because, when customers need support, chatbots can be there at any time of the day. They can assist with general queries, or even with helping the customer navigate the knowledge base.

Self-service portals are also an excellent way to keep the customer in control. Self-service allows customers to register problems, upload photos of the issue or schedule maintenance jobs themselves. This will not only speed up maintenance but will keep customers satisfied.

Job Prioritisation and Optimisation

The beauty of AI and machine learning technologies is that they can handle the jobs that we don’t want to do. For example, by prioritising based on a range of factors such as location, type of machinery, skill levels, customer needs, and any KPI’s, customers are more likely to get the service they expect. This also makes sure technicians and dispatchers’ optimise their time.

Intelligent AI systems can also scan service requests and generate priority lists for customer tickets. By analysing data and gleaning insights on historical activity, intelligent AI is efficient in handling the management of scheduling and dispatch of technicians.

Accuracy and Efficiency

Most field service teams are doing everything they can to reduce the potential for human error and improve accuracy. But, in reality, staff teams have much to handle and need all the help they can get.

Using a predictive and proactive approach to maintenance, AI has the ability to make radical changes to levels of service efficiency. Through the infrastructure of IoT devices that track and monitor progress with precision, AI makes the work of field service technicians much easier by notifying them of necessary repairs and well in advance of when problems are likely to occur.

Also, with intelligent scheduling, AI enables technicians to arrive at a job based on the priorities of the business. Or, whichever factors are most important. With any changes to scheduling managed in real-time, AI-powered intelligent dispatching and inventory management ensures technicians have the right information and tools to have a better chance of meeting their first-time fix rates.

Complete Shutter Doors Boost Productivity by 20% with BigChange Tech

Nov 03, 2021 • News • BigChange • Digital Transformation • field service management • Service CRM • EMEA • COMPLETE SHUTTER SERVICES

Industrial doors company Complete Shutter Services has doubled its business and boosted productivity by 20 per cent since implementing field service management software from BigChange.

Industrial doors company Complete Shutter Services has doubled its business and boosted productivity by 20 per cent since implementing field service management software from BigChange.Providing a complete job management platform, BigChange cloud-based office software synchronises with a rugged tablets used by field operatives to provide real-time 24/7 visibility of every job nationwide.

Established 35 years with headquarters and factory in Rotherham and a factory in Harlow, Essex, Complete Shutter Services designs, manufactures, installs and services door systems for clients including BP, Shell, Jewson, Homebase, Marks and Spencer and the Co-Op.

BIGCHANGE IS A COMPLETE JOB MANAGEMENT PLATFORM BRINGING TOGETHER CRM, JOB SCHEDULING, LIVE TRACKING, FIELD RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INTO ONE PLATFORM.

“We’re in an increasingly competitive market and it is crucial to keep ahead’” says Paul Quealey, MD, Complete Shutter Services. “Our clients are also now much more demanding when it comes to reporting on jobs – they expect accurate and real-time reports. BigChange allows us to do just that and the platform is so easily adaptable that we know we’ll be able to meet any client need.”

According to Quealey, the biggest impact of BigChange has been in improving the quality of its services. The software guides field operatives through procedures on site ensuring everything is done correctly with consistent and complete reporting every time; backed up with time recorded before and after photographs. “We’ve possibly increased the quality of our services by 70 per cent with BigChange. That’s key to retaining and growing our business and the way we have deployed BigChange gives us a key competitive advantage,” he explains.

Complete Shutter Services was one of the first adopters of BigChange and played a central role in developing the platform for use in the industrial doors industry. BigChange is a complete job management platform bringing together customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, financial management, and online portal into one simple to use and easy to integrate platform. Jobs are automatically allocated based on real-time engineer availability, skills, live location and parts stock. This is significantly increasing productivity; minimising customer wait time and driving first time fix at competitive cost for clients.

“BigChange has delivered huge cost savings and we’ve increased productivity in the office by at least 20 per cent and we’ve made similar gains in terms of the number of jobs completed daily,” Quealey explains. “It’s also made business expansion very easy. New engineers can literally be up and running in minutes using the very easy mobile app. And when we opened a new office in Harlow, we just connected online to access the cloud-based software giving all the IT we needed, instantly.”

Complete’s field engineers use the platform to complete their timesheets and vehicle checks, before instantly accessing job information. Linked to vehicle trackers, the software provides navigation with live traffic to ensure the best route is taken and customers receive ETA updates by text and email. On arrival, engineers can create instant estimates and the app guides them step by step through health & safety and job-specific workflows including photo capture. On completion, the system generates job-cards that are automatically shared via a customer’s booking portal or via email.

“Invoices can be raised immediately on job completion and since the system allows us to provide such good proof-of-service, disputes are very much a thing of the past. For management, BigChange really does bring peace of mind. We’ve got access through a BigChange management smartphone app that gives us complete round-the clock visibility of everything going on. It means we are always in control and able to provide the high levels of service whatever the operational challenges,” Quealey adds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIELD SERVICE IS BUILT FOR CHANGE

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

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

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

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

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

DocuSign automates contract obligations in the field

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

Additional Information

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

Availability

Enhanced Scheduling and Optimization is currently available in beta.
Lightning Web Components for Field Service is currently available in pilot.
Appointment Assistant Self-Service Scheduling is generally available.
Visual Remote Assistant Two-Way Video is generally available.
DocuSign CLM for Salesforce Field Service will be available in 2022.

CSG Field Service Management Ups the Ante on Customer Experience, Recognized in the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant

Sep 14, 2021 • News • CSG • Digital Transformation • field service management • EMEA • shentel

CSG^® (NASDAQ: CSGS) is transforming the way companies engage with their customers by arming today’s leading brands with future-ready, innovative solutions that drive extraordinary customer experiences.

With a customer-first culture dedicated to delivering results, CSG Field Service Management. These factors combined CSG’s breadth of experience and its leading-edge capabilities in machine learning and augmented reality led to CSG Field Service Management’s first-time placement in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management.

CSG FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT AVERAGED 4.6 OUT OF 5 RATING ON GARTNER PEERINSIGHT™

“Field service management is often the ‘last mile’ of customer service that can make or break your brand and your ability to win in the marketplace,” said Alfred Binford, president of customer engagement for CSG. “CSG Field Service Management delivers both agility and game changing innovation for our customers that lead to greater cost and productivity efficiencies. More importantly, it creates higher quality customer interactions that lead to elevated customer experiences. Gartner’s ratings are deeply respected in our industry, and it is a tremendous accomplishment to be in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management. CSG will build on this momentum with our unique domain expertise in serving communications service providers to enhance our solutions and help our growing global customer base transform ordinary customer experiences to be extraordinary.”

CSG Field Service Management is a global, award-winning, multi-industry, cloud-based platform that optimizes field service operations before, during and after the day of service. The solution enables field technicians and dispatchers to make informed decisions based on real-time, predictive data that offers intelligent insights and increases customer satisfaction. These capabilities combined with automated reporting and timely, relevant customer communications help companies deliver a superior customer experience, while enabling seamless operations for both dispatchers and technicians. CSG Field Service Management supports hundreds of thousands of technicians and dispatchers every day and is the engine that processes more than 100 million work orders every year for some of the world’s largest communications service providers.

With an average 4.6 out of 5 rating on Gartner PeerInsights™, customers have commended CSG Field Service Management as “[a] powerful workforce management solution” matched with a great customer experience, “thorough communication and the willingness to assist. It was a phenomenal experience with the whole team that made our product successful.”

For more information on CSG Field Service Management, visit https://www.csgi.com/portfolio/field-service-management/. To download the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management visit https://info.csgi.com/FSM-GMQ-2021-Report.

Maintain Focus

Aug 16, 2021 • Features • management • BBA Consulting • field service management • Jim Baston • service strategies • Leadership and Strategy

In this final feature of his blog series on “supercharging” revenue generation through the field service team, Jim Baston, President of BBA Consulting Group, explains how to create a plan to maintain the focus and enthusiasm of your field team.

This is my last blog on supercharging revenue generation through your field service team.

Imagine opening up a reputable trade magazine and reading an article that states that you should stop maintaining your mechanical and electrical equipment. You read the following:

Engineers have just discovered that maintenance of mechanical and electrical equipment is not needed to keep equipment running at peak performance. You’ll get better performance by ignoring the equipment altogether. The equipment will run better and you’ll save money on not having to pay those service bills! This is great news for building owners and process managers. They can now take a hands-off approach, while getting excellent performance from their equipment.

Sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it? Who could possibly believe that the equipment that we lovingly maintain for our customers could possibly perform better if left un-serviced? In real life, without maintenance, filters will clog, belts will break and electrical connections will overheat. The cost of keeping things running, let alone performing at their peak will go up exponentially. Ultimately, everything will grind to a halt.

And yet, if we don’t take steps to help our techs maintain focus, is it not suggesting that we’ve similarly unrealistic expectations when it comes to their proactive performance? What are we doing for our field team to “maintain” their focus of making recommendations that will help the customer to be better off? We can do little or nothing and leave it to chance, or we can take the initiative to put into place a strategy to maintain focus and continually upgrade skills. The choice is ours.

Maintaining focus requires that we put in place a strategy to constantly “maintain” the service our technicians are providing. This includes:

Talking about the valuable service provided by the field service team at every opportunity
Providing skills reinforcement on a regular basis
Coaching the desired behaviour
Keeping the team current on all of our company’s capabilities
Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of our tools and processes to ensure they continue to provide the support needed to help the techs do their job
Measuring and reporting on results

A special word about measurement. The proactive efforts of our technicians will generate new revenues so it’s natural to want to measure any revenue growth associated with their efforts. This could include measures such as overall revenue growth, growth of project business compared to the maintenance base, etc. But these types of measures only look at part of the picture. If we’re performing a valuable service, we should also consider other measures of the success of our initiative. These include:

Customer satisfaction scores
Customer retention rates
Emergency vs. planned work (the percentage of emergency work should decrease vs. our planned work which will have an impact on our labour planning)

And don’t forget to ask the customer how they feel about the service itself. For example, we could ask, “How happy are you with the recommendations our technicians are making to help you achieve your business goals?

This is the last blog in our series of supercharging revenue generation through the field service team. I hope you have found it of value. To return to the first blog in this series, click here. If I can be of any assistance, please just let me know. You can reach me at jim@jimbaston.com or call me at (416) 254-2383.

Reflection

Create a plan to maintain the focus and enthusiasm of your field team in each of the following areas:

Focus

Skills reinforcement
Coaching and development
Maintaining currency
- Skills
- Systems and tools

Measurement

Customer satisfaction and retention
Performance measurement
Operational impacts

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This course is available to purchase for just £299.

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Shentel Selects CSG Field Service Management

Aug 11, 2021 • News • Automation • CSG • field service management • Managing the Mobile Workforce • EMEA • shentel

CSG^® (NASDAQ: CSGS) empowers today’s leading businesses with game-changing communications capabilities that drive extraordinary customer experiences. With enhanced automation and an integrated, future-ready technology stack in mind, Shentel (NASDAQ: SHEN), a leading provider of telecommunications services across the mid-Atlantic United States, today uses CSG’s cloud-based Field Service Management solution to accelerate the company’s business transformation and deliver critical, high-speed broadband services to rural and underserved markets in the greater mid-Atlantic region.

With CSG as the backbone of Shentel’s operating support systems, the company has unified its operations to become a nimbler organization that can delight its customers by meeting them at the right time, on the right channels, via the right device.

CSG FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT ENHANCES SERVICE DELIVERY FOR SHENTEL, DELIVERING AUTOMATION AND FUTURE-READY GROWTH TO SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE RURAL MID-ATLANTIC REGION

“Investing in innovative technologies that power exceptional customer experiences is critical to Shentel’s mission to deliver compelling internet, voice and television services,” said Jeff Manning, vice president, operations, Shentel. “We specialize in providing advanced services to rural and underserved markets, because we believe that all consumers should have equal access to the essential products and services they need to live their lives. In the end, we chose CSG because their commitment to customer success matched our own, and their 25+ year expertise and leadership in field service management represented the best of breed solution we needed to deliver impactful results for our customers. With CSG’s cloud-based solution, we have the future-ready technology and automation we need to not only optimize the productivity of our technicians, but also exceed our customers’ expectations every step of the way.”

CSG Field Service Management is a global, award-winning, multi-industry, AWS cloud-based platform that provides a holistic view of field operations. With this solution, field technicians and dispatchers can make informed decisions based on real-time, predictive data and staffing models that offer greater transparency to customers and lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. These capabilities combined with automated reporting and relevant customer communications help companies create an unparalleled customer experience, while fostering seamless operations for both dispatch and field service employees.

“The future of field service management will require both digital transformation and business model changes that forward looking companies, like Shentel, will use as an opportunity to evolve their business,” said Alfred Binford, global head of customer engagement for CSG. “By moving their field service management operations to the cloud, Shentel is harnessing the agility and innovation of CSG to gain greater efficiencies that translate into higher revenue growth, but more importantly lead to higher quality customer interactions. With continuous enhancements deployed through CSG’s cloud architecture, Shentel can be confident in their ability to continue to help underserved markets into the future and bring more equity to the digital world.”

With CSG Field Service Management, Shentel can now:

Achieve operational excellence: Leverage automation and real-time data to optimize everything from one hour appointment windows for customers to job scheduling. Easily manage complex resource profiles, such as skill and license dependencies, to match the right technician with the right job and efficiently manage field workload in real-time. Real-time reporting puts data in the hands of field supervisors to better equip them for boots-on-the-ground decision-making and enhances employee engagement while completing extra jobs per day.
Deliver relevant, proactive customer communications: Keep customers engaged and informed with streamlined appointment selection, dynamic technician ETA notifications and automated communications via the customer’s preferred channel of choice. Easily communicate between customers and technicians to create satisfying, collaborative experiences for both parties that reduce missed appointments, lower operating costs and meet the customer at the right time on the right channel via the right device.

CSG Field Service Management is part of the company’s end-to-end customer engagement portfolio that provides flexible, personalized customer engagement solutions and a fully integrated approach that differentiates customer experiences in today’s digital world. The platform supports hundreds of thousands of field service users every day and is the engine that processes more than 100 million work orders every year for some of the world’s largest communications service providers.

What Field Service Organizations Should Expect In The Post-Pandemic World

Aug 03, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • field service management • Marc Tatarsky • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy

In this new article for Field Service News, Marc Tatarsky, SVP of Marketing at FieldAware, discusses what organizations in the field service sector should expect as the world gradually reopens for business.

As we enter just past the halfway point of 2021, it feels as though the trials and tribulations of the last 24 months are finally working their way into the rearview mirror. While the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t entirely behind us, much of the world is indeed getting back to a new normal of operating, and the global economy is kicking back in. With the global vaccination rate reaching over a majority of the population in many countries (well over 50% and rising), summer vacations are starting to kick in. Airlines are adding flights, global business events are beginning to go back on the calendar, and many businesses are re-evaluating their office policies.

There is no doubt that the ramifications of COVID-19 are still being felt. Some of the effects of a paused global supply chain are still creeping up in many unanticipated areas – chip manufacturing shortages, surging lumber prices, and even a national chicken wing shortage in the US. But as the dust begins to settle and we analyze some of the lasting repercussions from our survival responses to COVID-19, several unique business model implications have risen to the top. For example, within the service management sector, one lasting transformation has been the consumerization of the end-to-end service experience.

THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE PANDEMIC WILL STILL AFFECT THE FIELD SERVICE SECTOR AS COMPANIES QUICKLY TRY TO ADAPT TO THE "NEW NORMAL"

Something interesting happened when the service industry was forced to deal with the global pandemic. A blurring of B2B and B2C customer experience (CX) expectations occurred. New biosecurity requirements forced many field service organizations to adopt new processes and technology quickly. They needed to fulfill requirements to be accountable for the timing and biosecurity of their dispatched resources. In addition, businesses and employees of all levels were exposed to the art of the possible in their personal customer experiences regarding home deliveries, food services, and other remotely delivered services. The patience for working with an organization that doesn’t take a 360-degree view of customer experience is waning.

Businesses expect the same level of service and data continuity for their business interactions as they do with their consumer interactions. Consumer industry giants like Amazon, Uber, and Netflix are leading the way. Raising the bar of expectations for what customer satisfaction and customer experience can be for all businesses resulting in elevated expectations for understanding past and future service history à la Netflix and point-to-point transparency and status monitoring à la Uber as well as a true 360-degree buyer experience à la Amazon. Businesses expect their B2B interactions to incorporate many of these consumer experiences and have increasing demands for a truly transparent customer experience.

"One of the most critical elements of any modern field service management system is interconnectivity and data transparency across various systems of record."

Field service organizations raced to adopt new processes and technologies to accommodate expanded service delivery requirements as part of their required response to COVID protocols. However, many of these efforts were rushed into production, leaving the overall customer experience somewhat flat. Now that the new normal operations are stabilizing, advanced service organizations are taking a closer look at their execution models and identifying necessary enhancements and optimizations to deliver the customer experience anticipated. They know the patience for adapting to and getting the workflows right has shortened, and B2B expectations have risen.

One of the most critical elements of any modern field service management system is interconnectivity and data transparency across various systems of record. With the rising consumerism of the service experience, customer data, history, and the workflows associated with field activities must be thoroughly interconnected and transparent. It is not sufficient to have a closed-loop field service workflow. The workflows must interact and leverage data and insights across the organization to enable a seamless 360-degree customer experience.

While this sounds intuitive, many single-vendor solutions lack the functionality or easy connectivity to accomplish this task without significant customization and professional services investment. A best-of-breed approach can often offer better ROI and additional functional advantages by providing unconflicted integration, improved specialized usability, and scale. This flexibility and robust field service-specific capabilities help meet the changing needs and requirements of the service organization – now and in the future.
Many field service segments are bracing for a surge in demand and must be agile to respond. For example, infrastructure service organizations such as renewable energy must not only contend with macro demand pressures created by a global sustainability push but, in the US, a looming federal infrastructure mandate. As both sides of the aisle start to come together to work through the pressing infrastructure challenges in the US, it appears a significant, albeit slimmed down, infrastructure bill is gaining support. This new federal legislation, combined with the global focus on sustainability and reduced carbon emissions, has set the stage for the next wave of demand in a segment that had raised customer experience expectations accelerated by COVID-19 activities. This surge in demand and hyper-focus may create a new mini “crisis” in the supporting field service management activities. Leading vendors in the segments impacted by this surge (and similar surges) will need to closely evaluate their service delivery model to ensure they can deliver on the rising expectations and capitalize on the boom in demand.

IFS’ Growth Trajectory Continues with Software Revenue Growth at 20% for H1, Driven by Impressive Rise in Cloud Adoption

Jul 26, 2021 • News • Cloud services • Digital Transformation • field service management • IFS • GLOBAL

IFS, the global cloud enterprise applications company, today announced its financial results for the first half of 2021. After a strong Q1, H1 is evidence that the company is successfully executing its growth strategy and pursuing its transformation...

With more companies recognising the benefits of deploying in the Cloud and turning to IFS to digitally transform and deliver their moments of service, all software revenue line items grew double digit driven by a steep acceleration in cloud revenue (+79% YoY) and recurring revenue (+27% YoY).

Continued improvement in the quality of the revenue mix with software at 74% of revenue AND H1 Cloud revenue up 79% YoY

H1 also saw some key milestones for IFS, including:

The acquisition of Axios Systems extends IFS’s service management proposition into ITSM and ITOM to create the most compelling Enterprise Service Management proposition on the market. Combined with IFS’s leadership in Field Service Management, this secures IFS’s ambition to cement itself as the market leader in broader the Service Cloud space.
The launch of IFS Cloud, IFS Cloud is built using the latest technology including the industry’s most modern UX, digital-twins for enhanced performance, low code/no code development, containerization and a composable architecture which are all critical to creating business agility and realizing value.
The global launch of IFS’s new branding together with the Moment of Service sets out IFS’s clear strategy to align its value proposition to Servitization to enable organisations to deliver their Moment of Service.

IFS CEO, Darren Roos, commented: “IFS is a technology led company with the single goal to make the latest technology advancements available to our customers in a way that creates value fast, has a low total cost of ownership, and is easy to consume and use. H1 is evidence that our strategy to focus on this and to build agility into our product operations so customers can respond to the market fast is working.” Roos continued: “Customers can see the difference in what IFS is doing, and that ensuring their success is why we do what we do. They also see that very few other vendors offer flexibility in deployment, depth in product and powerful technology while shaping their business around customers experience.” Roos concluded: “Delivering our Moment of Service to our customers is a very real mission for IFS, and the sharp rise in cloud adoption is testimony to that.”

IFS Chief Financial Officer, Constance Minc, commented: “I believe our H1 performance is evidence of a strong and successful strategy. We are delivering double digit software revenue growth at 20% and our share of software revenue and recurring revenue continue to increase improving future performance predictability.” Minc added: “The upward trend in our performance is not only present in the last 6 months but over the long term as demonstrated by the double-digit growth in LTM software revenue for the past 3.5 years.”

Other financial highlights include:

H1 software revenue was SEK 2.6bn, an increase of 20% Year on Year
H1 recurring revenue was SEK 2bn, an increase of 27% Year on Year and representing more than 80% of software revenue
H1 cloud revenue increased 79% Year on Year representing more than 39% of software revenue
Proportion of license revenues from net new customers is 54% of total

* Note: all figures based in Swedish Krona and reported in constant currency.

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THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE PANDEMIC WILL STILL AFFECT THE FIELD SERVICE SECTOR AS COMPANIES QUICKLY TRY TO ADAPT TO THE "NEW NORMAL"

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Continued improvement in the quality of the revenue mix with software at 74% of revenue AND H1 Cloud revenue up 79% YoY

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