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A national commercial landscaping company has dramatically increased its efficiency and improved its environmental credentials after embracing digital transformation.

Since adopting the WorkMobile mobile data capture app, Grace Landscapes has saved many hours’ worth of filing and data inputting time each month and greatly reduced its paper waste.

Grace Landscapes, which has a head office in Yorkshire, is one of the forerunners in the commercial landscaping sector. Established in 1978, it has grown from one to more than 120 members of staff based in four different locations, with an annual turnover of £6million.

Previously, the company’s field workers relied on paper-based forms and handheld cameras to capture information on landscaping and maintenance projects.

This resulted in a cumbersome paper trail, with a three to four-day wait to receive paperwork back by mail. The information then needed to be manually inputted into its CRM system and filed away in a time-consuming process.

Grace Landscapes recognised that it could benefit from a digital solution to help manage its data more effectively, and as it decided to upgrade its company mobiles to smartphones, began to look into ways that they could be used to their full potential.

After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors.

[quote float="left"]After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors. [/quote]With the help of WorkMobile’s flexible form designer, information can now be sent back to the Grace Landscapes head office instantly, along with photographs. With this information automatically integrated into the CRM and saved in the correct file, it not only saves time but also leaves less room for human error.

Team members can now search for completed jobs and other data within seconds, something that could previously have taken members of staff many hours to do.

It has also greatly enhanced the company’s reporting capabilities, making it much easier and quicker to find out, for example, how many jobs each person has done, to see any outstanding work, or to check the risk assessments for each site.

Neil Pix from Grace Landscapes said: “Once we realised how much time and money our previous method of data capture was really costing us, we made it a priority to find a more sophisticated, digital solution.

“WorkMobile’s app was exactly what we were looking for, and the results we’ve seen have actually exceeded our expectations.”

All these factors have improved Grace Landscapes efficiency and enabled us to spend money on other areas of the business.

“We pride ourselves on being an environmentally responsible business, and even established our own on-site recycling facility over 10 years ago, so the major reduction in paper waste is a fantastic added bonus.”

Colin Yates, chief support officer of WorkMobile, said: “We’re delighted that Grace Landscapes has seen such immediate, tangible benefits from using our mobile data capture solution.

“Our goal is always to help businesses revolutionise the way they work, saving them time and money while also helping them to become more sustainable.

“With just a few simple changes, Grace Landscapes has embraced digital transformation and completely eliminated its reliance on outdated physical paperwork.”

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As part of a new mini-series of excerpts of from the latest white paper from IFS we take a look at how communication is changing and technology is evolving. In the first feature in the series we looked at how when it comes to communications, Customers Want It Their Way .At the end of that article we asserted that in truth, we live in a world of five generations of consumers and employees. The choice of communication channel is ours. We pick whichever works for us. And by the way, if you think letter writing is dead just ask any complaints team!

So what does this mean? Does it condemn organisations that want to do the right thing by their customers to every increasing cost? The answer depends on what generation of infrastructure you are using...

Are improving your communication channels a key issue for you?! The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

While a choice of voice and text has been available to all current generations, their accessibility and immediacy has been transformed over the last forty years: from landline to smartphone, from letter to instant messaging. Our preferences tend to be based on the dominant channel(s) within our peer group.

But before we start to look at that, there is another stakeholder’s point of view that needs to be included beyond that of the customer. No prizes for guessing that the advisors’ experience matters in equal measure. Once routing and triage business rules have matched customer need with the best qualified, available person, your advisors assume prime responsibility for the quality of outcome and the customer’s retained memory of the service experience.

That’s a lot to get right, especially with five generations of customers and personas to take into consideration. In fact, it requires single-minded concentration and attention on the unique needs and expectations of each customer to nail those deliverables consistently.

While we might imagine that multi-tasking is the obvious way through a busy day, it has a price. Our attention span is finite. Split it too far amongst competing tasks and something has to suffer. More often than not it’s the nuances of each individual customer need that is missed when advisors find their focus and listening power distracted by the logistics of helping the customer towards their outcome.

"There are many triggers for losing focus on the customer experience. For instance, desktops can rapidly become a mosaic of overlapping application windows as information and workflow is requested and generated..."

There are many triggers for losing focus on the customer experience. For instance, desktops can rapidly become a mosaic of overlapping application windows as information and workflow is requested and generated.

Moreover, these are not consistent interfaces. They can range from mainframe style green screens to back-office ERP systems and cloud CRM interfaces. Legacy organisations typically expect advisors to toggle between half a dozen screens for certain customer jobs. There are even some sectors with double-digit complexity when additional third-party applications are used, such as customer eligibility checks.

Navigating all this is a daunting challenge for anyone just arriving at a new contact centre. They have the challenge of live engagement layered with the unfamiliarity of multiple systems and their idiosyncrasies. No wonder that much contact centre induction time is soaked up in systems familiarisation and training at the expense of customer experience skills.

On top of all that, it is not uncommon for larger contact centres to endure 20%+ annual attrition rates. Given the learning curve just described, a continual drag on performance and service reputation is created that is hard to overcome.

Finally, one of the most common complaints against the contact centre versus a typical online experience is that organisations never remember customers’ profile and history, despite asking for it multiple times. ‘Know me’ is a key mantra in digital economies.

But within the fast moving dynamics of a live engagement, advisors cannot be expected to hunt down relevant customer information in order to personalise an interaction. Even when captured in CRM, that information can remain hidden from view nestled behind multiple tabs and menus. No wonder we still hear the ‘system is slow today’ apology as the search for relevant details continues in the background.

There are multiple negatives from this way of working.

More time has to be spent on each customer, which inflates headcount costs. It then gets worse if the outcome is failure to find the right answer or get something done

immediately. Handoffs to other teams generate more work, inflate inbound queues with progress checking customers and put a big dent in the quality of customer experience for those who suffer.

Advisor motivation takes a hit too, as the pressure mounts on working harder. Command and control culture is reinforced to meet targets and the chemistry of an empowered employee culture driving positive customer experience starts to dissolve as a result. The ongoing stress of being underequipped and unable to do your best can hollow out the enthusiasm of even the most dedicated advisor.

But the good news is that it is possible to work smarter as opposed to expecting the team just to work harder. Advisors have the same right as customers to expect low effort engagement. This happens when a great desktop experience is enabling the right customer experience.

Want to know more? The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Adopting IoT as part of the greater service and business environment involves keeping up with industry changes as they take place. That means incorporating better measures when needs arise in any business area and keeping cost-effective solutions in mind for future progress of the company as a whole.

Research indicates IoT deployments are set to skyrocket over the next four years, growing 140% to exceed 50 billion connected devices by 2020...

As the cost and complexity of deploying connected devices continue to fall, IoT projects are no longer a far-fetched dream but a deliverable reality, already transforming a huge range of industries from Field Service to Manufacturing. Martin Clothier, Technical Director at Columbus UK, explains how businesses of all sizes can quickly seize advantage of IoT to deliver operational efficiency, provide actionable insights and improve business processes.

The Internet of Things has comfortably moved beyond the ‘hype’ stage of recent years, with IoT devices and projects now cheap enough to be viable for almost any business. Smaller IoT projects are capable of reaching full operational status in as little as a week. Deployments currently range in ambition from a dozen sensors to capture warehouse temperature, to monitoring the output and performance of remote oil fields across Africa.

There are more and more industries now taking advantage of IoT – and their success lies in identifying the right use case and ensuring they successfully harness device data to produce actionable insights.

Use Case One: Turning inefficiency into opportunity

The manufacturing industry is set to gain from IoT deployments that focus on using connected devices to provide a detailed, real-time picture of existing business operations and identify bottlenecks inefficiency. With repetitive processes running around the clock, any minor improvements to efficiency in the production cycle can generate major savings for a manufacturer.

"Identifying anomalies at an early stage can allow employees to take immediate corrective action to avoid excessive wastage, unnecessary asset strain or increased production cycle times..."

IoT sensors connected to machinery generate continuous streams of performance data, which can be analysed on platforms such as the Azure IoT Suite to identify leaks and bottlenecks hindering production. Identifying anomalies at an early stage can allow employees to take immediate corrective action to avoid excessive wastage, unnecessary asset strain or increased production cycle times.

This potential is not limited to minor efficiency improvements but can provide key metrics that drive business success. If we take, for example, the food and beverage sector – product quality is a top priority. Installing connected cameras above a production line enables manufacturers to introduce machine vision – monitoring and analysing the packaging, labelling and quality of products to ensure compliance and consistency.

Use Case Two: Space optimisation and the race against time

IoT monitoring is not restricted to simply monitoring and reporting physical asset conditions but can provide valuable insights into the two basic resources manufacturers have to juggle – space and time. At Columbus, we’ve worked to develop SpaceMAX that helps optimise usage of both workspace and time. With physical space at a premium for businesses – particularly in urban areas – optimised space usage can be invaluable in securing a competitive advantage.

Deploying connected beacons throughout a location such as a warehouse will capture the locations of assets, employees and vehicles from a forklift to a tow tractor. Harnessing the Microsoft Azure

platform, this location data can then be analysed to produce heat maps and identify hotspots, bottlenecks and other areas of inefficiency. By eliminating these we can optimise operations, product flow and the use of employee time.

Use Case Three: Tackling skills shortages by providing a helping hand to junior technicians

The threat of a skilled workforce shortage is well documented, with the UK cited as being particularly at risk. As the number of skilled engineers and field service technicians shrinks, the burden to complete detailed installation, repair and maintenance tasks falls increasingly on the shoulders of less experienced staff. Technology holds the answer to ensuring speed and quality is not compromised during remote site visits.

"The augmented reality aspect of the HoloLens can be harnessed to deliver contextual information such as service history and manuals explaining the maintenance process step-by-step..."

Here’s where developments such as the Microsoft ‘mixed reality’ HoloLens headset take centre stage. Using this headset senior workers can provide remote support and supervision for challenging maintenance tasks, tapping into a collaboration platform such as Microsoft Teams to discuss the task at hand. The augmented reality aspect of the HoloLens can be harnessed to deliver contextual information such as service history and manuals explaining the maintenance process step-by-step.

Remote assistance is just the first step for potential HoloLens applications. More advanced applications involve streaming real-time IoT data directly to the headset, such as telemetry of a production asset, assisted picking or put away, or projected life expectancy of individual components.

Bringing it all together – the icing on the transformation cake

By introducing connected devices to monitor environmental conditions, asset status and performance levels, we are generating significant volumes of data around the clock. But how can we translate data generated by machinery on the shop floor into actionable insights?

In order to make use of IoT data, businesses need to be able to collect, format and clean IoT data for analysis. Rules can then be set for actions to be taken if data falls outside of acceptable thresholds, such as staff being notified if a sensor detects a sharp rise in temperature. This is where cloud solutions come into play.

Cloud-based platforms such as the Azure IoT Hub introduce advanced machine learning tools to further identify complex patterns, and data visualisation for supervisors to closely monitor operational performance in real-time. By unlocking these previously unseen insights, IoT is enabling business leaders to make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency for the first time.

IoT can be also a significant asset to businesses by introducing increased automation of repetitive workflows – requiring just minor oversight from supervisors. Take field service as an example. Asset performance data from IoT sensors fed into the Azure platform can be analysed to detect anomalies, indicating a particular component is expected to fail shortly. Through a platform such as Dynamics 365 for Field Service, an automated work order can be created, scheduling an engineer to be dispatched with the correct component to complete maintenance before the failure ever occurs. This brings the added benefit of ensuring business processes are never brought to an unexpected halt through asset failure – an action which could cost thousands in lost revenue.

Staying ahead of today’s wave of digital disruption

The steady rise in successful enterprise IoT projects is testament to how IoT is today delivering on the promise of connecting people, processes and systems to enhance business operations and efficiency.

[quote float="left"]Businesses that have not yet developed an IoT strategy to enhance their operations are in danger of surrendering any competitive advantages developed through previous innovation.[/quote] Businesses that have not yet developed an IoT strategy to enhance their operations are in danger of surrendering any competitive advantages developed through previous innovation. But they must also be wary of avoiding the temptation of rolling out connected devices piecemeal, and instead opt for a comprehensive, measured IoT strategy that will consistently add value and deliver the in-depth business intelligence to make smarter decisions.

The real opportunities of IoT are often hidden in full view! Many businesses find it difficult to identify the areas from which they will gain maximum benefit and ROI. Partnering with an experienced company such as Columbus can provide a ‘third eye’, helping companies develop an IoT strategy, deploy suitable hardware and software with sufficient scalability, and support the project from planning stage through to go-live – and beyond.

Columbus is hosting an IoT Quick Start Workshop at the Microsoft HoloLounge in London, 2 October, to help organisations develop their own IoT proof of concept, break down existing use cases and identify operations where IoT can add value and provide actionable insights. Business leaders can secure their spot at the workshop by registering here.

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As a cash cow of the service division, how prepared is your spare parts business to embrace increasing pressure from customer expectations, changing trade agreements, and intra-connected new technologies?  How will these and more affect your parts pricing strategies, logistics network, and warehousing management?

If you can take this 3-minute survey to help us build an accurate picture of current industry sentiment and the key trends in this area it would be hugely appreciated. Please take a few minutes to take @  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/parts2019

Upon closure of the survey, we will be working alongside Coppeberg who produce the excellent Spare Parts Business Forums both within the UK and Europe to create an ebook of the survey results, with expert commentary from industry insiders, as a benchmarking tool for you to evaluate the direction of your spare parts business - so take part now and keep your eyes out for this exciting forthcoming report!

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Places for the upcoming Service Community event which is being hosted by GE Power, are now becoming very limited...

The event will be hosted at Ge's state-of-the-art facility at Stafford on the 16th October from 11.00 to 16.00.

As one of the most sophisticated Buyers of Advanced services, Keith Rushton from the MOD will give unprecedented insight in how performance related services are purchased, and why the MOD has been so influential in developing the new BSI standard for Services. We have one of the best presentations on Selling Service Value  I have seen from Leon Sijbers of GE Power and Ross Townsend from Ishida will be sharing their Service Transformation story. Phil Newton from BT will share his experience of rolling out an Augmented Reality Solution to one of the largest Field Service Organisations in the UK. And finally, Mark Homer from GE Digital will share some research on the importance of Service Data in industrial businesses.

The Service Community creates discussions and insights that are far deeper than most conferences, due to the informal and intimate nature of our events.  This is because we are a community in the true sense of the word, run by volunteers, with no sponsors, no exchange of money, no legal entity no hidden agenda's, just real people talking about real things motivated by a desire to learn.

Please feel free to forward this information to colleagues who you think would be interested.  We look forward to seeing you in October and remember to register by sending an email to info@service-community.uk . We will then contact you to confirm registration and will send out the joining instructions nearer to the event.

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Volvo Trucks has been using connectivity for many years to support customers with efficient service planning. Now technologies are opening up new opportunities to take truck uptime even further. Enabling a deeper, more thorough analysis in real time so that we can predict some potential failures that may otherwise have resulted in an unplanned stop.

It is interesting for us in field service to monitor just how rapidly vehicle automation is moving forward in the logistics sector as it will surely translate from HGV to LCV soon enough and Volvo Trucks are currently pioneering in the field. 

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As humans, we communicate as readily as we breathe and eat. Whichever generation we are born into the desire to relate to the peer group we grow up with remains a constant. The difference lies in the communication technology at our disposal. in this the first part of a new series of excerpts from the latest white paper from IFS we take a look at how communication is changing and technology is evolving.

Are improving your communication channels a key issue for you?! The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

Sponsored by:

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

While a choice of voice and text has been available to all current generations, their accessibility and immediacy has been transformed over the last forty years: from landline to smartphone, from letter to instant messaging. Our preferences tend to be based on the dominant channel(s) within our peer group

Source: Global Mobile Messaging Consumer Report 2016 Twilio

Generation Z parents famously wonder why voice has become such an alien channel to their children. Millennials can still manage a weekend catch up call to parents but typically revert to texting amongst friends, even though workdays become all about email. Meanwhile, silver surfers boast an expanded repertoire of being natively comfortable with live voice and increasingly up to speed with family group messaging.

Naturally, this personal use cascades into our lives as consumers and employees. Retaining our choices is expected. We still want to communicate in ways that suit us. Adoption of these expectations is as common in B2B as in B2C markets. The technology has become ubiquitous.

The problem, of course, is that brands and employers keep finding themselves behind the curve as new channels pop up.

Take messaging for example. The absolute dominance of Tencent’s

WeChat within Chinese daily life is such that cash and credit cards are already in rapid decline. We now see the same payment system being offered to Western brands that recognise revenue growth from Chinese tourists requires a trusted and familiar payment interface.

In terms of ‘messaging as a platform’, enabling users to get most things done in their lives, from booking doctor’s appointments to paying bills, the West lags the critical mass of functionality that WeChat has already gained. As of 2018, we are still at the very beginning of monetising messaging as a trusted channel between customers and organisations.

Although business case logic makes us hope that the latest channels will replace existing ones, the evidence says otherwise...

From a customer service leadership perspective, this must seem like a never-ending road. Although old as an industry topic, web chat remains the next new channel for many organisations. Even those already up and running are still sourcing the best practices required to engage effectively. Besides chat, many have also had to deal with social media and now find themselves being told that messaging is the next iteration.

However, the story gets worse.

Although business case logic makes us hope that the latest channels will replace existing ones, the evidence says otherwise. It is an expanding, rather than declining set that most organisations deal with. As such, it is hard to imagine that a single channel will ever emerge as the ‘silver bullet’.

Email is often written off as a legacy channel yet OFCOM’s 2017 communications report shows it remained the single most popular channel for 16+ adults in the UK. What does that imply if you want to be a customer-centric organisation?

Voice might be declining as is often reported, and yes, there are those millennial orientated brands that don’t do voice because their customers don’t, but it remains the dominant live channel of choice by some margin. For many customers, it has unique qualities. It’s faster than text as a form of communication. It’s richer in terms of emotion. Text channels have to augment with emojis.

As the dominant channel, it also attracts negative press for the lack of sophisticated routing many organisations still subject their customers too. First contact resolution without bumps is not as common as it should be. Customers expect low effort outcomes. Even so, once the right person is found, live voice still fulfils many of the expectations customers have for what a service experience should be.

In truth, we live in a world of five generations of consumers and employees. The choice of communication channel is ours. We pick whichever works for us. And by the way, if you think letter writing is dead just ask any complaints team!

So what does this mean? Does it condemn organisations that want to do the right thing by their customers to every increasing cost? The answer depends on what generation of infrastructure you are using.

Want to know more? The full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

 Sponsored by:

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

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Web programmers and business managers across the United Kingdom will be able to integrate online applications faster and easier than previously possible thanks to a new API product released by global job management company simPRO.

simPRO’s ‘RESTful API’ product was developed as a software interfacing tool which allows various systems to connect and communicate with a new sense of efficiency, strengthening the bridge between simPRO and other platforms which may be used in the workforce.

An Application Programming Interface, or API, is broadly defined as software that allows two applications to talk to each other, acting as a messenger to allow third-party developers to retrieve and insert specified data into that application.

The simPRO API allows for seamless integration of data between it and other business software platforms.

simPRO Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Eastgate said the simPRO RESTful API would ultimately lead to better software integrations and an overall increase inconvenience for businesses.

“simPRO’s new API is a technical step forward, but its functions are good for users because external applications can be created to move data between simPRO and different applications,” he said.

“With the API you can now create integrations that connect simPRO to mailing and accounting systems, ecommerce, business websites, smartphone and tablet apps and document management systems.

“Thanks to simPRO RESTful API, businesses are able to integrate simPRO and third party applications easier than ever before.

“That’s what we strive to do at simPRO – removing time and complexity from modern necessities like program integration and online product use. We want to empower our partners in the United Kingdom to build valuable businesses around the information flowing through simPRO.

“simPRO’s new API systems will assist in managing workflows and improving efficiencies for thousands of trade service businesses,” Mr Eastgate said.

simPRO’s RESTful API was designed to be up to date with industry standards and features a Developer Centre where users can receive support through a dedicated forum and access assistance resource like code examples and program walkthroughs.

The new API will be made available world-wide upon release and be functional through simPRO’s Service and Enterprise range, making it accessible for a diverse range of users throughout the trade service industry.

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