ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘managing-the-mobile-workforce’ CATEGORY

In this third excerpt from an exclusive fieldservicenews.com presentation Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined by John Hunt, Managing Director, EMEA, Astea to discuss the key findings of a research project Astea undertook with WBR.

Here, they turn their attention to the findings that were uncovered as the research focussed in on the adoption of IIoT amongst manufacturers as the two discuss just how widespread the adoption of connected field service is in today's business eco-system.

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Field Service delivery has become fundamentally reliant upon mobile computing technologies, almost all field service technicians now utilise a smartphone for at least some proportion of their work-flow during maintenance calls. 

So it is with keen interest that we look at Mark Jackson and Kevin Billings, Directors & Industry Principals, Telecoms & Media, Pegasystems predictions to what to expect within the realm of mobile across the last twelve months against a backdrop of transformative technologies and the latest regulations...

Prepare for fall of fixed-line home broadband

The advent of 5G means consumers will no longer need to rely on home broadband to access high-speed internet. For some customers, this means they will only require one internet contract which will allow them to seamlessly transition from the home to mobile. This will be particularly beneficial for rural communities who aren’t always able to access a fast internet service. In the US we’ve already seen Verizon going after cable-dependent areas, encouraging their customers to purchase a 5G hub as a replacement to home broadband, and we’ll soon see this trend appearing in the UK when 5G services go live.

Digitising the B2B offering – an untapped opportunity for telcos

As the B2B market grows next year, CSPs will have to pull their socks up to expand their service portfolios and dramatically ramp up their service levels. Business customers demand a differentiated ‘enterprise grade’ level of service, for example ensuring SLAs are met and the promised service specification is delivered in a certain timeframe. Fixed and mobile services are converging, and cloud-based solutions are being offered to reduce capital expenditure for customers and will open up new opportunities from connected devices and applications through IoT. To achieve this goal, an end-to-end automated digital operation is a must for CSPs to capture revenue, reduce operating cost and realise strong returns from new B2B services.

The mobile app is dead

 Hundreds of apps clog up the average smartphone and 2019 is going see a big app shake-up that could be terminal. Yes, smartphone memory is increasing, but the constant pinging of notifications, using up data and, battery consumption, has led to “App Fatigue”. Customers are simply ignoring or deleting all but their essential apps from their phones. CSPs will realise that investing thousands of pounds in an app that nobody will use is not the wisest initiative, particularly with today’s customers having more and more channels and devices available instantly to them to use - Alexa, WhatsApp, Skype and more. In order to support their customers’ digital demands whilst simultaneously increasing engagement, CSPs need to deliver a personalised experience via combined omnichannel AI and end-to-end Robotic Automation to enable streamlined, efficient journeys.

Can we cope with a connected everything?

IoT has become the fastest growing part of telco businesses. In fact, Samsung has announced that they want ALL of their devices to be connected - from your TV to your oven. While 5G will help facilitate IoT, it poses a myriad of challenges for the companies involved – who owns and is responsible for the data? On one hand, if businesses and individuals hand over their information in return for using an IoT network, companies can offer a better service or a cheaper contract. On the other, the responsibility of managing and keeping this data secure dramatically increases the burden of compliance. Companies need the right compliance tools to stay on top of this before it spirals out of control. Being able to prove CSPs are compliant to ever-changing rules means they, like the banks, will embrace regtech that can be created and configured easily and quickly without needing to have a deep knowledge of coding.

Strategic sales to raise new service development capital?

The development of new 5G networks is an overwhelming task, and telcos need to work out where to invest time and money in investing in new 5G networks. So, where do they start? With network rollout demanding a huge capital investment, next year will we see more and more telcos selling off businesses in other countries to raise capital to be able to invest in 5G network construction in their more profitable regions?

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Bill Pollock, President of Strategies for GrowthSM gives us five questions that we need to be able to answer if we are to meet our customers’ service expectations...

Help build the next Strategies for GrowthSM analysis report by participating in their current benchmarking research project by clicking this link and taking their current Warranty Chain Management survey... 

The margins on hardware, software and services revenues continue to compress due to increasing competitive pressures, and as customers are becoming more knowledgeable about the growing number of support options available to them.

As a result, customer service is now an even more important factor in establishing and maintaining a strong position in the overall services community.

Every day, more services organisations are relying on customer service to differentiate their otherwise commodity-like offerings in order to bring customers in, keep them happy, and make them loyal. However, while it is not “rocket science”, any services manager can look like an “Einstein” if he or she embraces the rudimentary aspects of customer service throughout all phases of services marketing and promotion, sales prospecting, writing the contract, and managing the customer account over time.

"Every day, more services organisations are relying on customer service to differentiate their otherwise commodity-like offerings in order to bring customers in, keep them happy, and make them loyal..."

While there are many ways to go with respect to defining and establishing a strong customer service mentality within the organisation, the most direct path to determining whether your organisation is on the right track is to test yourself on a number of questions that will indicate how well positioned your organisation is from a customer service perspective.

The basic questions that any sales, marketing or customer service professional should be asking, and a corresponding set of guidelines for addressing each of them, may include:

Does your organisation have a formal customer service or customer care department? Does it have a well-defined customer service mission or charter? Is it adequately staffed and empowered?

Surprising as it may seem, some services organisations have no formal customer service or customer care infrastructure. Even in cases where other departments may be “managing” portions of the company’s customer service activities (e.g., handling complaints, responding to inquiries, etc.), there may still be no formal company-wide procedures or processes for managing customer service. As a result, any customer service activities provided are probably not being performed in a consistent manner. Further, in cases where customer service is performed essentially as a “secondary” activity to the department’s otherwise self-defined “primary” activities, lack of adequate staffing, empowerment and accountability may become major inhibiting factors.

Is there a formal process for handling customer service activities? Are specific responsibilities defined and assigned? Is there accountable ownership?

All functions within the organisation require formal processes to ensure effectiveness. Documented processes are even more important when they involve customers and other external parties (e.g., vendors, dealers, etc.). But processes, in and of themselves, do not get the job done. They must be followed by specific personnel, with specifically defined roles and responsibilities, in order to be effective.

The capability to track who actually has “ownership” of each customer service activity as it is being performed will be critical in measuring overall company performance, as well as providing an ongoing record of success (or failure) in meeting the company’s customer service goals and objectives.

Does your company management promote and encourage customer service? Are there incentives for doing it right, or sanctions for doing it wrong?

Regardless of where your customer service personnel get their primary inspiration, they must still be fully supported by management at all levels. However, this is clearly a case where actions speak louder than words. Management must do everything possible to articulate and communicate its philosophy of customer service throughout the organisation in order to empower its customer service personnel to get the job done – and reward them for being successful at it.

How interactive is your organisation with the customer base? Does it communicate with them enough? Does it provide them with a means for giving their customer service input and feedback?

A one-way street for customer service is never adequate. A services organisation’s customers must also be able to articulate and communicate their concerns to the organisation, and they will need to know how to do so. Accordingly, the organisation should have a formal process in place for soliciting and receiving customer service input and feedback from customers. The process should be well-documented and promoted, easy to access, user-friendly and sincere. Most importantly, all communications coming from the customer base must be quickly and satisfactorily answered. It is generally also a good idea to summarize some of the customer feedback and related company responses in a communicated format such as a company newsletter or Blog, or on the company Website (e.g., FAQs, Customer Service Update, etc.).

Are your customer service personnel properly trained? Do they have all of the necessary tools to get the job done?

Just because certain individuals are “good with people” does not necessarily mean that they are fully equipped to handle all types of customer service situations. It may mean that they have the “right stuff” – but they will still need to receive the “right training.” Even with the proper training, a customer service representative is often only as good as his/her ability to get the job done. This requires access to all of the necessary customer service and support tools, such as guidebooks and procedure manuals; software systems that allow them to log in calls, and track how and when corrective actions are taken; and state-of-the-art mobile communications capabilities.

As you can imagine, there are dozens of additional questions that will still need to be answered before you can be certain that your organisation is addressing all of its key customer service issues. However, these five questions should be at the head of your list in order to make an initial assessment of exactly where your company stands with respect to its customer service philosophy.

Visit Strategies For Growth SM website @ https://pollockonservice.com/

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ServiceMax, a GE Digital company, has recently commissioned independent market research specialist Vanson Bourne to explore the trends in asset connectivity. Here we look at some of their findings...

Asset and service data will be a crucial element of making the transition to a more outcome-based business model - something that is high on the agenda for many companies currently.

However, at present, surveyed organisations are not accessing the full potential of this data due to their inconsistent use of digital tools and technology. While 98% of respondents report that their organisation uses automated digital tools and technology to aid the collection and utilisation of asset service data, only around half or fewer state that these tools are used in the collection (51%), aggregation (43%) or analysis (52%) stages of the process.

"This intermittent use of automated technologies is not only opening the door for inefficiencies but is also directly leading to difficulties with data collection and utilisation..."

This intermittent use of automated technologies is not only opening the door for inefficiencies but is also directly leading to difficulties with data collection and utilisation.

Around four in ten respondents report that when it comes to the management of access to asset service data in real time (40%), aggregating asset service data in a structured way (39%), analysing asset service data (41%), and sharing asset service data analysis with the rest of the business (42%), their organisation either needs huge improvements in these areas, a complete overhaul or that they simply do not do this at all yet.

The difficulties regarding asset and service data are exasperated further by the 59% of respondents who agree that their organisation is held back from the successful analysis of data because the quality of it is usually poor.

Struggles are rife throughout the entire process, right from who is collecting it and how they do this, down to how it is being analysed and shared across the business.

How can these organisations possibly expect to make any informed, strategic decisions using the data that is readily available to them if the process is so disjointed, outdated and underdeveloped digitally?

Lack of Data Confidence

And these struggles have led to a distinct lack of confidence among surveyed decision makers and their colleagues, with only 50% of respondents reporting that they or other service leaders in their organisation completely trust the asset service data that they have access to.

But this will need to change because asset and service data is becoming an ever more integral part of organisations, and this is summed up by the 85% of respondents who agree that service asset data should be central to strategic decision making.

The requirement to boost trust levels is especially pertinent in those organisations where the C-suite is already using asset service data today (39%) or have plans to in the future (34%) because they will need to be able to trust in the data in order to make well-informed decisions for the business.

The use of asset and service data by the C-suite will also serve to set an example for leaders across other departments that this is the best way forward for the organisation.

Glaring Skills Gap

However, it is not just these deep-lying trust issues that are a concern for organisations, which is clear from the fact that only 22% of respondents are willing to admit that the IT and field service functions in their organisation work together completely effectively to achieve the goal of better data utilisation.

This lack of collaboration is compounded by a glaring skills gap whereby over three quarters (77%) of surveyed decision makers concede that the pace of data intelligence digitally collected by their organisation’s assets is outpacing the skills of those responsible for actually utilising the data.

Further to this, more than four in ten respondents report that the skills of engineers (45%) and the skills of management (44%) are a cause for concern when it comes to using data produced by advanced technologies (such as a digital twin) meaningfully. This should set alarm bells ringing for organisations because they are struggling with skills among both their employees on the ground and those higher up the organisation as well. It seems that even with the implementation of the appropriate technology for the collection and utilisation of asset and service data, there will still be work to be done in order to extract as much value as possible – this will likely need to be in the form of a rigorous training program.

An Appetite for Automation

A lack of collaboration between teams, an ever-increasing skills gap and an inconsistent use of the appropriate technology, leading to trust issues could become a recipe for disaster in these organisations if not addressed quickly.

"Over four in ten (43%) report that the automation of this process in their organisation is required to a huge extent, or that it is completely required because manually entered data never/rarely provides value..."

The need for automated digital tools has rarely been clearer, and respondents recognise this. Only 7% believe that automating the process of collecting and utilising asset service data is not at all required because all data manually entered by service engineers is structured and entirely usable.

Whereas over four in ten (43%) report that the automation of this process in their organisation is required to a huge extent, or that it is completely required because manually entered data never/rarely provides value.

Organisations will need to utilise automated digital tools more consistently if they are to progress, but they will also need to upskill their workforce and address any collaboration issues internally.

These three areas are crucial if asset and service data is to be utilised to its full potential and this will ultimately underpin the successful transition to an outcome-based business model.

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Michael Blumberg reveals some of the key findings of the latest research into field service Scheduling and Dispatch to come out of Blumberg Associates...

A critical success factor in managing a Field Service Organization (FSO) is the ability to effectively schedule and dispatch field service engineers (FSEs).

It is about making sure that technicians arrive at the customers’ site at the right time with the proper tools, knowledge, and resources to resolve the problem during their initial visit.

First Time Fix is the name of the game in field service. FSOs run the risk of incurring additional costs and damaging their customer satisfaction any time their First Time Fix target is in jeopardy.

There’s a lot at stake for FSOs when it comes to effectively scheduling and dispatching FSEs. There are significant challenges for FSOs, particularly if many service visits are required each day, dispatching is made from a large pool of FSEs, and the FSO is financially penalized by the customer when response time commitments or Service Level Agreement (SLAs) are not met.

"First Time Fix is the name of the game in field service. FSOs run the risk of incurring additional costs and damaging their customer satisfaction any time their First Time Fix target is in jeopardy..."

 

Over the last 10-20 years, FSOs have turned to advanced tools and technology to automate the scheduling and dispatch process to improve this activity.

These tools range from appointment setting applications to dynamic scheduling software based on artificial intelligence and operations research algorithms.

To understand how these tools are deployed in the field as well their impact on service performance, Blumberg Advisory Group and Field Service Insights in conjunction with Timing Software conducted a benchmark study among 150 FSOs. In this article, we will examine the impact of automated appointment booking applications and dynamic scheduling functionality on performance.

Most FSOs had limited flexibility in their appointment booking process.

• 59% offered their customers the first available time slot while the remaining 40% provided their customer with alternative options
• Approximately half (49%) set appointments 5 days out or longer. This reflects that they have limited ability to handle emergency and/ or expedited requests.
• Less than one-third (30%) were capable of booking appointments 1 to 2 days in advance. However, nearly two-thirds (65.7%) utilized automation to help identify or locate available appointment times.
• Almost three-quarters relied on the automation supplied by their CRM/ERP software vendor.
• Less than 9% utilized a separate, best of breed scheduling solution for appointment booking, while the remaining depended on a customized system developed in-house.

FSOs who utilize automated appointment booking offer a better customer experience than those who do not.

There is a higher level of customer engagement because it provides the customer with options and a feeling of control when service is provided.

Companies that utilize this functionality are four times as likely to handle a 500 or more service requests per day and experience a higher FSE to Dispatcher ratio that those who do not.

The second step from booking an appointment is the actual scheduling of FSEs.

• One half assigned FSEs to customer sites based on their skill set, availability, and proximity.
• Remaining 50% either determined the schedule for their FSEs by dispatching the same FSE to the same site every time or assigned the same FSE to the same site having the FSE determine their own schedule.

Two-thirds of survey respondents utilized an automated process/system.

Approximately half (51%) used software that contains some type of algorithm which optimizes scheduling based on specific criteria (e.g., cost, travel time, etc.) or pre-defined factors. Less than one-third (31%) have a scheduling system on a rules-based engine. The remaining 17% have an AI based system that improves their scheduling process based on dynamic variables.

"FSEs who use automated scheduling software are 47% more likely to complete 5 or more service visits per day..."

The use of automated scheduling software has several benefits to FSOs. Our survey results indicate companies who utilize this type of software are 45% more likely to handle 100 or more service requests per day.

They are also 39% more likely to experience an SLA compliance rate of 90% or higher. In addition, they are twice as likely to have FSE rates of 85% or higher.

Furthermore, FSEs who use automated scheduling software are 47% more likely to complete 5 or more service visits per day.

Our findings suggest that appointment setting functionality plays a critical role in improving customer experience, increasing service productivity, and operating an efficient dispatch centre.

Automated scheduling software provides measurable improvements with respect to FSE productivity and efficiency. In the last year, 99% of FSOs surveyed incurred a financial penalty or were required to provide a customer rebate for missing SLA/response time targets. Almost half (45%) missed these targets more than 24 times last year.

The use of advanced tools and technology like automated booking and scheduling software will have a significant improvement in reducing or eliminating the frequency of these occurrences.

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In this second excerpt from an exclusive fieldservicenews.com presentation Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined by John Hunt, Managing Director, EMEA, Astea to discuss the key findings of a research project Astea undertook with WBR.

Here, they talk about how the most cited goal for service-centric manufacturers in 2018/2019 is to increase innovation, agility and internal resource to support further development of new service initiatives...

 Want to know more? The full length video of this presentation is available as premium content to fieldservicenews.com subscribers...

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Trade service businesses across the UK can now forego their landlines and save significant amounts of time, money and logistics with communication, thanks to the latest solution by job management company simPRO.

simPRO’s newest feature, VoIP phone, allows users to use an inbuilt web phone instead of traditional phone handsets or third-party phone software.

simPRO Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Eastgate said the VoIP phone integration would provide a number of benefits to businesses that were looking to take advantage of the trade service industry’s inevitable digital future.

“VoIP provides a flexible, multi-functional solution that couldn’t be simpler to use. Without the need of a traditional telephone handset taking up space on the desk, users can make a call with a push of the mouse or keyboard and connect with people without any disruption to their workflow.

“Incoming calls, re-directs and on-hold calls can all be coordinated on the screen, meaning you can continue to use your simPRO software on your computer while simultaneously speaking freely to colleagues, customers and contacts about important deals, affairs, meetings, files, documents and agendas.”

Mr Eastgate said that while streamlining business communication was a major benefit delivered by VoIP, the costs involved were also a significant variable that would overtly improve a business’ operation.

"Incoming calls, re-directs and on-hold calls can all be coordinated on the screen, meaning you can continue to use your simPRO software on your computer while simultaneously speaking freely to colleagues, customers and contacts..."

 

“VoIP can be much cheaper to incorporate than a traditional telephone line, which typically requires a business to be set up with a costly telecommunications deal.

“It means that businesses that use VoIP need no longer worry about the reliability of their phone connection, the changing rates of their telco deal, and the cumbersome need for dedicated hardware,” he said.

simPRO’s VoIP capability is a product first for the company and is expected to take the lead in the UK market, as many VoIP solutions currently available are limited by specific communication hardware requirements and ties to the UK’s local telecom suppliers.

simPRO's VoIP service is provided to all clients at no charge - they simply continue with their existing VoIP service provider at existing rates whilst getting the benefits simPRO has brought through the integration.

“When using simPRO, the VoIP will draw information to produce caller IDs and maintain call logs which can be viewed in a browser window – all you need is the internet and a headset,” Mr Eastgate said.

“simPRO’s VoIP product is the very embodiment of job management and a great example of streamlining your processes to increase your profits and productivity.”

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Oftentimes field service directors and managers can see the importance of investment within a dedicated Field Service Management (FSM) ahead of their colleagues in the boardroom. In this series of articles Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi outlines how to build a case for investment to drive your field service operations forwards.

In the first instalment in this series, we looked at how FSM systems can deliver easy Return on Investment, in part two we explored how investment in FSM solutions can help you achieve better staff retention and in part three we explored how the implementation of an FSM solution can improve worker health and safety.

Now in the final part of this series, we look at the benefits an FSM system can bring to Customer Engagement as well as offer some concluding thoughts on the series...

Is building a case for investment in FSM a key topic for you?! There is a 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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Customer experience and customer engagement have become buzz phrases of recent times amongst senior executives within almost all organisations and the good news for field service professionals is that this shift of focus on service has meant an increased importance on ensuring field service management teams are able to deliver their service programs as efficiently, and effectively as possible.

Service indeed has now become the core differentiator within industry and field service is an excellent opportunity to make your service standards shine.

By investing in an FSM solution you're enabling your field service engineers to be true brand ambassadors of your organisation. By investing in an FSM solution you are giving them the tools they need to understand the specific needs of the customer they are visiting/history/asset history etc.

By investing in an FSM solution you are giving your field service engineers the tools to deliver the service excellence that will keep your customers loyal.

However, customer experience can also be enhanced through the implementation of FSM solutions in other ways than by empowering the field service engineer...

For example, many modern FSM systems also allow you to provide dashboards to your customers to offer greater visibility into how their assets are performing and how your service organisation is performing against any set SLAs.

Such transparency is very much valued in today’s digital economy where such metrics are becoming increasingly less of a USP and more of an expectation.

Indeed, many of the aspects of automation that an FSM can bring to your service delivery such as automating creation and delivery of work reports, messaging updates on engineer arrival times or even invoicing will improve both the efficiency of your service delivery and the levels of customer satisfaction you are able to achieve.

Conclusions: Avoiding a Competitive Disadvantage

For a long time, the key sales point for investing in an FSM solution was to gain competitive advantage.

However, we must now acknowledge that this is a maturing market and that maturation has been increased by the development of the Cloud-based systems.

So the question now is how much of a competitive disadvantage will you be in if you don’t implement a modern FSM solution – whether that be moving away from manual processes for the first time or upgrading to a new solution from a legacy product.

Investing in an FSM solution can improve your ability to meet health and safety requirements and protect your staff, make your customer’s happier, reduce field service employee turn over all while paying for itself within a relatively short time frame.

The question is no longer if you should invest in an FSM solution, but how to identify the right solution provider for you.

Want to know more?! There is a 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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