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As we continue to bring you a selection of features from The Service Manager Handbook (2015 edition) published by Advanced Field Service we now turn our attention to one of the core tools for building future success, namely the implementation of Analytics and intelligence

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In today’s challenging business environment, there is little margin for error. Service managers need an even greater and fully in-depth understanding of their business to improve business planning, helping them make better-informed decisions, to ultimately keep ahead of the competition whilst attracting new customers and retaining their existing customers.

Instant access to management information

The benefits of replacing hand-crafted reports and spreadsheets with more interactive, integrated and intuitive tools are well documented.

As well as removing the unnecessary heavy wastage of man hours, and delaying what is often critical business decisions that can impact your opportunities to not only grow but also identify areas of weakness within your business that could potentially lead to loss of clients, easier access to your data improves control of your business with the following key insights:

• Intelligence to recognise emerging trends: Today’s business environment is faster paces nad more dynamic than ever before, whilst in the past reputations could be built on doing what you do and doing it well, today standing still can lead to dangerously dramatic decline in business, particularly from a service point. Since the economic crash in 2008 service has risen to become the key differentiator between businesses and with modern consumers (both B2B and B2C) well equipped to air any grievances in public via social media the pitfalls of failing service can be catastrophic for a business. As technology continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, it is imperative that service orientated companies embrace this to stay ahead of the competition and deliver service excellence at all times.
• The ability to identify and seize new opportunities or ward off threats: Of course embracing technology doesn’t just mean delivering better standards of service to customers. New emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things can help businesses move from a traditional break-fix reactive approach to a more efficient and cost effective preventative maintenance approach. Through remote monitoring optimum performances can delivered across the install base ultimately leading to less service calls in the long term.
• Power to understand key areas delivering profit (and loss): As the old adage goes you can only manage what you measure. Field service companies are perhaps uniquely positioned to be able to gather more information about their customers than any other industry as they have the benefit of ‘eyes and ears’ on site with your customers. The flow of this information from business unit to business unit allows for far greater insight of where new potential revenue streams may lie, as well as profit leakage may be occurring.
• Fast, informed decision-making based on accurate and live information: The rise in prevalence of dashboard analytics now make it possible for field service managers and their colleagues in other business areas such as procurement and sales to see trends based on the data collected easily and instantly, empowering them to make critical business decisions, and to get them right.
• Unprecedented insight into the most/least profitable areas of your business: In terms of data collection, processing and analysis we are truly living in a golden age. Businesses that harness the power of the data they have access to not only have superior understanding of their own businesses but also of their customers and most crucially of their customers pain points.

Your back-end service management solution should be able to do all the work of collating real-time information automatically across your jobs.

It should also make easy work of presenting it in the formats that are most useful to your management team, providing full visibility of contract profitability and equipping decision-makers with instant access to vital information on the business, including your profit forecasts.

Easy-to-understand analytics

As a matter of course, your data should be regularly analysed in a multitude of ways and in varying degrees of complexity, from viewing a daily high-level graphical KPI dashboard, down to examining detailed monthly reports.

Not surprisingly, analytical dashboards are fast becoming the service manager’s reporting tool of choice. They offer true anytime/anywhere reporting, via a browser or mobile device, in a way that makes it easy to instantly grasp the significance of the information.

If you have this dashboard facility in your service management solution, you’ll be able to drill down to the original data source to analyse all your core data including: customer status; financials; performance and productivity of engineers, with hours worked and number of visits; stock and supplier KPIs; calls by equipment, site and efficiency; costing of jobs and engineers; call response times.

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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US communications network operator AT&T and Telogis, the connected vehicle technology provider, are to collaborate to offer integrated, reliable connectivity  solutions for businesses around the world.

Telogis provides intelligent data solutions to companies including Ford and Volvo and with AT&T will be able to implement an advanced network solution to deliver a reliable, highly secure stream of data nearly anywhere in the world.   The AT&T service management platform allows Telogis to easily manage the data, devices and services that support its customers. AT&T also is working with Telogis to help with over the air updates and provide unique split billing capabilities.

“We’re offering Telogis a complete wireless network that enables two-way, real-time data communication between the vehicle and office,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions. “We look forward to driving new innovative services together in the fleet marketplace and offering true global solutions to our mutual customers.”

“Telogis provides mission-critical intelligence for some of the world’s largest mobile businesses and automotive manufacturers, and our customers demand the quality and reliability that only a provider like AT&T can deliver,” said David Cozzens, CEO, Telogis. “As we continue to capitalise on a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar global market for connected vehicle and equipment technologies, AT&T provides the scalable infrastructure and backbone Telogis requires.”

 

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The Internet of Things is predicted to have a huge impact on customer service. In this article,  Paul White, CEO mplsystems, identifies the top three changes he expects to occur.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical objects embedded with electronics, software and connectivity that are able to be controlled remotely with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Gartner have predicted that three years from now, 5% of customer service cases will be autonomously initiated by connected devices as more objects connect to the internet. This is supported by Nicola Millard, Head of Futures and Insight at BT, who recently commented at mplsystems’ customer conference, “I think a lot of the technologies we are starting to see like the Internet of Things could be used more proactively with the contact centre so it becomes more in charge of demand rather than just responding passively to it.”

The IoT introduces opportunities, but how will it really change to the day to day running of the contact centre and the role of the agent?

1. The contact centre will start delivering proactive rather than reactive customer service

Our number one prediction for the Internet of Things is that it will transform the contact centre from a reactive inbound customer service centre to a proactive outbound service. This will be achieved by devices being able to self-diagnose problems and immediately alert the contact centre of the issue, often before the customer realises. The integrated system will automatically trigger an outbound call to be delivered to the agent desktop who will then offer proactive customer service, rather than waiting for the product to fail and the customer make an inbound enquiry.

For example, washing machines will be able to self-diagnose problems and notify the manufacturer when a part needs replacing, the contact centre is then able to make a call to the customer to notify them and fix the device before a more serious problem can occur, significantly improving the customer experience.

 

Alternatively, products that needs refills, such as drinks dispensers, will be able to send a notification straight to a field based workers mobile device, who can then add this to their list of jobs and deliver with their boot stock. This means that they will never need to alert the contact centre, alleviating the number of calls and requests they are having to deal with.

2. The role of the contact centre agent will become more specialised and they will be better prepared

As a result of devices detecting and alerting the contact centre of problems, the contact centres agents will transition from receiving high levels of inbound, reactive customer requests to delivering an outbound proactive service. This will result in the agent’s role transitioning from a generic customer service role to a specialist in a specific product or problem type. Agents are going to need to know about the faults that are being alerted in the contact centre as they will often be more informed about the issue than the customer and will need to convey this information. At the point of engagement, they will not just be aware of the issue but will have remedies in place and may even have started applying them to resolve the problem. From a business perspective, the level of customer service is greatly increased, agents are more knowledgeable and productive and the business should experience cost savings through a more streamlined, proactive way of working.

3. Masses of new data will help to improve the customer experience

The Internet of Things will bring with it a whole new explosion of data that, if managed correctly, can be of enormous value to the contact centre and customer experience delivery. Contact centres will be able to gain more control of customer service by the Internet of Things providing them with new streams of information that is integrated in to their existing infrastructure. Customers will not have to wait in long queues, go through time-consuming security questions or try to explain complex faults, as agents are presented with all the information they need from multiple sources of data.

 

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September is a busy time for conferences, and if you are in the UK there's an opportunity to attend two very down to earth events.  Here’s a preview by Nick Frank,  who also reports on the latest developments in a campaign to re-invent manufacturing and service in the UK.

30th September: The Service Community

Hosted by the Aston University in Birmingham. A very different event for service industry professionals. We are expecting over 40 participants to discuss and debate how Big Data is being used to affect customer outcomes. Practitioners from Rolls Royce, Pitney Bowes and Inca will be discussing their personal experiences.  In addition we will have a view of the future from Andreas Schroeder of the Aston Business School. This event is unique: there are no sponsors, no hidden agendas, just professionals talking to professionals…a true community. To sign up see the Service Community website

6th October: Creating Value through Service.

A one-day conference hosed by the Cambridge Service Alliance . Although a paid conference, I always find the CSA events well worth going to as they present ideas that are on the leading edge of services development in industry.

Something up in UK manufacturing

There is something up in the UK which will have tremendous implication on field service in the future. I was at the House Commons with Professor Raj Roy and his team from Cranfield as well as senior leaders from some of the UK’s leading manufacturing and engineering companies when they presented a case for a National Policy for Through Life Engineering Services to MPs.

Through Life Engineering Services can be described as ‘Engineering for Life’ – making things work better for longer; delivering lifetime value from products, assets and infrastructure

Cranfield’s EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing has been working on the engineering expertise that underpins the ability for companies to provide their customers with AVAILABILITY and/or OUTCOME based contracts. These contracts reflect a world where customers no longer want to purchase the asset, but are redefining their needs in terms of outcomes - Rolls Royce’s Power by the Hour is one of the best known examples.

Research has shown that the TES market in the UK generated £23bn revenues for the UK. The exciting thing for the UK is that politicians, technology and industry are starting to realise that manufacturing must re-invent itself, if it is to be sustainable and competitive. They see that manufacturing is no longer just about the product. With the IoT, data and analytics it has become much much more fuzzy. This has tremendous implications for field service. A National Policy will speed up this change and hence the new skills sets required to effectively operate in these re-defined business environment. We will return to this subject at a later date.

Welcome back from summer!!

 

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Remote asset monitoring specialist Software AG  is integrating its Digital Business Platform with ServiceMax's field service management solution, enabling customers to turn remote asset monitoring events into actionable field service requests.

Software AG customers currently using the predictive maintenance solution on its Digital Business Platform can now access ServiceMax’s field service platform.  The Digital Business Platform connects to any sensored gateway, pulling all equipment sensor data, performing real-time analysis and generating customized alerts. These alerts are then sent to the ServiceMax platform where they are turned into work orders. Once created, the work orders are delivered to service technicians in the field. The integrated offering allows companies seeking to increase the effectiveness of its maintenance services to do so with one integrated platform that combines best of breed technology and expertise.

Software AG’s solution for predictive maintenance exploits the Internet of Things by continuously analysing real-time equipment sensor data via machine monitoring to understand when maintenance will be required. The location of technicians are matched to replacement and repair equipment available and job completion time to identify the best technician available to perform the needed service during a scheduled downtime. By predicting remaining useful life of machinery and specific components, equipment manufacturers are able to schedule technicians earlier and order consumables and replacement components before customers even know they are needed.

Dave Yarnold, CEO, ServiceMax, said: “ServiceMax’s partnership with Software AG will add immense value to the ServiceMax platform and underscore the Internet of Things’ incalculable impact on the future of field service automation. We’re very excited to be able to provide our customers with a predictive maintenance platform that will enable them to boost operational efficiency with end-to-end control platform for field service.”

Sean Riley, Global Manufacturing & Logistics Director, Software AG, said: “As the Internet of Things becomes increasingly intertwined with the way people live and work, proactive and predictive service will be a critical differentiator driving real business value. The key to predictive asset maintenance is its ability to act upon the results of real-time analysis and communicate reliable expectations to the parties involved in maintenance services efforts. With the Predictive Asset Maintenance blueprint, maintenance program managers can capture, analyze, aggregate and act upon streaming IoT data in order to maximize equipment uptime, quality performance and yield. It’s a tremendous competitive edge.”

 

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As the ServiceMax Max Live event draws near an exciting name has been added to the agenda that is sure to make the event a true highlight in the field service calendar this year....

Held in Paris from the 2nd to the 4th of November, the event brings together field service professionals to discuss how technology is driving field service, what are the key trends that are emerging and how can we harness them to drive further efficiencies in our own field service delivery.

At last year's event Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland was impressed by the varying range of professionals and experts both speaking and in attendance.

"What has really struck me about the group here," Oldland commented, "is that firstly it is a really broad mix, with companies as large as Sony through to small family run companies with less than ten engineers, yet they are often facing similar challenges and those challenges are as real for a local SME as they are for your household name multi-nationals"

"What has been really impressive about the ServiceMax approach, that has been really evident here at MaxLive, is that they are listening to their client's pain points, whether they be SME or Enterprise, and are reactive to that. There is a real community feel amongst the companies here, and with a fantastic list of guest speakers, there is a very positive vibe amongst the delegates as we look to what the future holds for field service."

 

At this year's event however, there is now one added name to the speaker list that will surely drive interest even higher. That is Kevin Ashton, often referred to as the Father of The Internet of Things, who will be giving a keynote presentation.

Of course IoT is predicted to have a huge impact in a number of different industries, but perhaps none is more keenly anticipated than in how it will impact field service, so Ashton's experience and insight is sure to be extremely well received and it will be also provide an interesting backdrop to the recent research project being undertaken by ServiceMax, PTC and Field Service News which is exploring the impact of IoT in the field service industries.

This research is still open so if you haven't taken part yet you can enter the survey here 

As a thank you for your time there are five signed copies of Ashton's book How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation and Discovery up for grabs too!

 

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As we approach the half way point of our current research project being run in partnership with ServiceMax and PTC that is looking at how those in field service feel around the Internet of Things and it's likely impact on the field service industries Field Service News Editor-in-Chief takes a look at the findings so far and what are the initial emerging trends...

 

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Don't forget that you too can make your voice heard and have a chance to win ONE OF THREE £50 Amazon Vouchers. Click here to enter the survey now! 

 

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Reactive vs. Proactive

There has been a lot of discussion for quite some time around the need for field service companies to move towards a more pro-active model of working, moving towards a more preventative maintenance model instead of the traditional reactive break-fix -approach which has been adopted by service companies for decades.

By moving to a more preventative approach field service companies can of course begin to schedule in jobs to allow for optimum efficiency in terms of routing and planning. However, a regular planned maintenance schedule may mean a lot of wasted hours visiting sites where a device is perhaps underused and maintenance is unnecessary.

Therefore one of the big potential drivers of the Internet of Things in field service management is the ability to remotely monitor device performance and automate service requests from the device itself as soon as it begins operating outside of optimum parameters (but still within normal operating parameters so the device is showing the first signs of potential failure but is still functioning OK). This would allow for a much more effective planned maintenance approach delivering service far more efficiently.

 

To assess if this type of approach would be suitable in field service we first of all asked our respondents if they were working on a reactive basis or preventative or a mix of both. Our findings so far show that a mixture of both reactive and preventative call-outs is very much the way most companies operate with 36% of companies stating they “operate a proactive strategy where possible but are still mostly reactive” whilst the same amount state their “service is half proactive and half reactive”.

This would certainly suggest that one of the big drivers of utilising IoT in field service management is definitely, i.e. the trend towards preventative maintenance model of service delivery is already clearly identified as a means of improving efficiency within service delivery and so the potential introduction of IoT tools to improve this would likely be well received.

Underlying technology

In terms of field service management the Internet of Things is very much being talked about as the next big technology however for it to be utilised as effectively as possible it could be argued that it is imperative to have other underlying technologies in place. For example in the earlier section we looked at how moving to a preventative maintenance model could be really enhanced by IoT and we saw that indeed many companies are adopting this approach.

This would of course be further enhanced by dedicated field service management software to help ensure that those attending each job have the requisite qualifications for the device they are attending etc.

 

In fact the research supports the notion that IoT is part of a vanguard of new technologies being seen as the next generation of field service management tools which will be complimentary to and in addition to those technologies many companies having already invested in such as mobile computing, field service management solutions and telematics solutions which were being used by 63%, 51% and 25% respectively.

Views around IoT

Indeed the interim results of this research certainly seem to show a great deal of confidence in the Internet of Things as a field service management tool.

In fact 44% of companies think that the Internet of Things “will have the biggest impact on field service operations within the next five years?” whilst just half (49%) believe that “IoT will become a fundamental part of field service operations in the future.”

What is particularly interesting however is that having asked “When do you think IoT will become common place within field service operations” over two thirds of respondents (34%) said they felt it already is beginning to happen and also debunking the myth that IoT in field service management is the realm of only the largest enterprise companies, 68% of our respondents felt that the benefits of IoT could be felt by companies of all sizes.

Meanwhile almost a third of companies were planning an IoT strategy whilst a further 32% had either implemented or were implementing an IoT field service management strategy.

 

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In the continual evolution of field service, mobile will continue to be the most impactful technology for enterprise field service in the near future, more so than the Internet of Things, writes Sumair Dutta, Chief Customer Officer for The Service Council

Field service, as a discipline, is changing. The rate of change isn’t as dramatic as the typical prognostications of technology-focused publications and outlets. Yes, IoT is having and will have a huge impact. So will wearable technology. But remember, this is an industry that isn’t completely mobile. Pen, paper, and the clipboard, are still considered useful tools. Technology is increasing the rate of change in field service, but the overall industry is one that is still quite cautious.

In early 2015, nearly 200 organisations participating in a field service study conducted by The Service Council highlighted the following as their top focus areas for 2015:

• Process control, review, and management
• Field service execution
•  Talent management
• IT infrastructure for field service

These areas are similar to some of the priorities outline by survey participants in 2014. What is different about 2015 is the increased focus by organisations to lay a strategic foundation for their field service businesses to support sustained business growth. It's not just about cutting field service visits, but more about maximising the value of necessary field service visits. With this in mind, we see a continued evolution of field service around these three major areas:[quote float="right"]It's not just about cutting field service visits, but more about maximising the value of necessary field service visits

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1. Service Model Integration:
   Reactive field service isn’t dead. Organisations were more likely to see an increase in reactive field service visits in 2014 than they were a decrease in these visits. In 2014, 41% of organisations polled saw an increase in reactive field visits over the course compared to only 28% of organisations that saw a decrease. While organisations are looking to eliminate unnecessary reactive field service visits with the aid of connected or self-service business models, their service portfolios are still comprised of a heavy dose of reactive field service visits.  The primary goal with reactive visits is to increase efficiency so that the first reactive visit is the last reactive visit. However, organisations are also looking to enhance value delivered per service visit wherein an onsite visit is seen as an opportunity to share knowledge with, provide advice to, and improve relationships with the customer. Eventually the hope is that this leads to better trust, increased retention, and continued customer spending. In looking at the overall service continuum, the objective is to eliminate effort and inconvenience in dispatch-less service models but to maximise value when a dispatch is required. This requires a focused integration of the service delivery models around the end outcome felt by the customer.
2. Talent:
   While most organisations we poll are able to deal with their field service workloads with current resource levels, most are looking for new field service talent and are having a hard time a) finding this talent, and b) getting the talent trained and out of the door. Our research shows that 46% of organisations had unfilled positions for field service technicians at the end of 2014. In searching for new agents, organisations are prioritising customer management and communication skills so that these agents aren’t only good at fixing things, but are also able to effectively communicate with customers. Organisations are also looking to hire agents who are familiar with the use of mobile devices and applications adopted by the organisation. We’re also seeing a significant change in training philosophies when it comes to field service. The overarching objective is to get new hires out in the field as soon as possible and so organisations are prioritising online training, collaboration, and knowledge platforms, to provide field agents with an always-on and always updated mode of instruction while on the move.
3. Mobile: Mobile will continue to be the most impactful technology for enterprise field service in the near future, more so than the Internet of Things. The reason for this is that we are just scratching the surface of what mobile can do for field service, especially when it comes to workforce empowerment.[quote float="left"]We are just scratching the surface of what mobile can do for field service, especially when it comes to workforce empowerment

    

   While most organisations we poll have provided their agents with some form of mobile device, they have yet to fully empower their field agents with the capabilities of mobile technology. We’re still in the early stages of mobile maturity for field service wherein most investments have been made primarily to replace ineffective paper-based processes. However, mobility presents the opportunity to provide richer information to field agents to allow them to effectively resolve customer issues. It also offers field agents the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with broader groups across the organisation with the aim of improving productivity and enhancing customer satisfaction. Finally, mobility also allows organisations to create an army of data gatherers. This data can be used to monitor service demand, improve customer relationships, and identify opportunities for service business growth. In our 2015 service big data research project, 40% of organisations identified mobile point-of-service solutions as the avenue of data collection that they most wanted to tap into.

Field service is changing. The speed of change is picking up with the aid of mobile technology. Yet field service is still a human discipline, and human empowerment and engagement is key to supporting field service growth.

 

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This excellent infographic from ServiceMax highlights some of the key facts you need to know about the Internet of things.

How is IoT impacting upon your business? Is it something you are even considering? Do you think connected devices will change the face of field operations as we know it? Is this still tomorrows technology or is it something we should be implementing today?

Take our brief survey and help us build a picture of how IoT will impact field service and you could win one of three £50 Amazon vouchers...