The world of field service and the world of technology have been intertwined for a long time now. In today's world of IoT, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning it could be put forwards that Data is not the fundamental building block of field...
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Jun 14, 2019 • Features • Augmented Reality • Cognito iQ • Data Analystics • Future of FIeld Service • GDPR • Mobile Technology • Video • wearables • Cloud computing • IoT • David Bochenski
The world of field service and the world of technology have been intertwined for a long time now. In today's world of IoT, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning it could be put forwards that Data is not the fundamental building block of field service excellence. Field Service News and Cognito iQ have explored this concept in a new series and here in this first instalment David Bochenski, CTO Cognito iQ outlines how field service companies can the data within the organisation and why they should be doing so.
Want to know more? There is a video with Konica Minolta's Head of Direct Service, Ged Crannny outlining how they have revolutionised their business through data analytics available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers on the link below...
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The rate of change in technology in technology continues to accelerate and shows no sign of stopping. Whereas ten years ago it was broadly the case that the technology you used at work was superior to that which you might have had at home, the arrival of smartphones and the app stores that support those devices them, has fundamentally flipped that relationship. For most of us, and especially the digital native Millenial cohort feeling like the tools that they are given to use at work are pretty much from the dark ages compared to the phones, tablets and wearables they use at home.
The abundance of end-user mobile devices has created a paradigm shift in user expectations for any company providing service into peoples homes or businesses. Customers now assume that within seconds, they should be able to request whatever they want, be it a service or product and track it on route to them instantly via their handheld devices.
Being told these days by a provider that someone may arrive between 8 am and 6 pm and "by the way can you make sure someone will be around to let them in" is not even close to an acceptable level of service.
The disruptor companies have driven much of this change in expectations. People like Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo have been changing the game in their respective industries. Amazon, for example, has recently announced that they can deliver your package directly into the boot of your car without you even being there.
"Being told these days by a provider that someone may arrive between 8 am and 6 pm and "by the way can you make sure someone will be around to let them in" is not even close to an acceptable level of service..."
The reason these 'Internet Age' companies have been able to fuel and satisfy this shift in expectations, is in part down to their ability to leverage Cloud technologies. In the case of Amazon, they have even pioneered those technologies themselves. Whereas just five years ago there was still legitimate debate about whether the Cloud would become a truly viable option, today this debate has been firmly settled in favour of the Cloud.
Even the most risk-conscious sectors such as banking and finance are seeing Cloud native disruptors enter their market, with the FinTech sector thriving with companies like Monzo and Starling making the established banks sit up and take note. In fact, with the more stringent GDPR coming into force those companies who chose to move early into the Cloud are finding the compliance requirements that much simpler to implement than those still reliant on their own data centres and infrastructure.
Having taken the leap into the Cloud, those companies that are willing to continue their investment now have access to world-class data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to further drive home their advantage.
However, it is not all doom and gloom for the established field service companies out there trying to keep up with the technological changes and ever-increasing challenges faced from disruptors. Let's not forget that these companies can be at the bleeding edge of technology adoption. After all, field service companies were putting mobile devices into the hands of their engineers and receiving real-time data live from the field long before Steve Jobs, and Apple had put the Internet in everyone's hands.
I firmly believe there are emergent technological trends that will allow such companies to do so again and remain relevant in a digitally ubiquitous world. As well as providing exceptional user experience through their Cloud-based apps, the companies that are succeeding know how to use the data that is collected by these applications, to close the feedback loop and use that data to drive further improvements to their businesses.
Now, of course, GDPR has been introduced in part to stop companies doing just that and to ensure that their users are given proper visibility, control and consent over their data - which is entirely right, but again I believe this actually presents an opportunity for the more established SME companies to 'win one back' over the start-ups.
"Field service companies were putting mobile devices into the hands of their engineers and receiving real-time data live from the field long before Steve Jobs, and Apple had put the Internet in everyone's hands.."
SMEs are more likely to be better placed to comply with the new GDPR requirements, having more likely already got ISO certified and are also probably more used to operating effectively within regulated and controlled markets. So the learning curve for such companies adapting to these regulations is less challenging than companies grappling with such legislation for the first time.
There are also a few critical areas of technology where I can see innovative field service organisations being able to capitalise to deliver the next wave of innovation into our sector.
The first of these is being able to make sense of the explosion of data now made readily available as more and more devices become Internet-enabled. The hype around IoT has, in my view, yet to be justified. But once you are in a position as an organisation to harvest data from your machinery directly into the Cloud, and then apply machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities on top of that data - you can start to gain real actionable insights into the fundamentals of your business that can allow you to gain significant advantages over your competition.
The final part of the puzzle is now how to best close the feedback loop and leverage those insights back into the field in real-time.
We are now seeing companies increasingly looking into how they move past the handheld mobile app into more advanced interface solutions. For example, advances in voice technology now mean an engineer can talk directly into their device rather than having to stop and enter information into the tablet.
Augmented reality devices such as Google Glass, which were shunned by the consumer market are experiencing something of a renaissance within specific workplace settings including of course field service and are now capable of surveying the area and alerting engineers to impending health and safety risks.
This approach can also deliver process based benefits in terms of a reduced time to train engineers on new skills and assets and to help resolve issues faster and more effectively.
In summary, combining new types of user interfaces, voice gesture and AI, together with real-time streaming of IoT data and intelligent learning algorithms all running in the Cloud can unlock tremendous efficiencies for field service organisations and help them deliver the next level of service for their customers.
Want to know more? There is a video with Konica Minolta's Head of Direct Service, Ged Crannny outlining how they have revolutionised their business through data analytics available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers on the link below...
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...
Feb 28, 2018 • Features • Management • Artificial intelligence • Intelligent Portals • MArne MArtin • Mobile Technology • servicepower • Technician Enablement
Field Service Technician enablement is both an important topic but also a frequently rolled out buzz-phrase that we hear within our industry. Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower digs deeper into the topic and helps us cut through the hyperbole to...
Field Service Technician enablement is both an important topic but also a frequently rolled out buzz-phrase that we hear within our industry. Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower digs deeper into the topic and helps us cut through the hyperbole to understand the key facts within this topic...
Technicians today are not the technicians of the past. Their expectations are continuously evolving based on the ability to consume information and communicate instantaneously from their connected devices among themselves, with assets, the back office and the end consumer.
ServicePower’s mission is to drive an excellent service experience and grow the value of every consumer relationship. To do that, we must focus on the technician.
Much time the past five years was spent talking about IOT. Less was focused on what a connected world means for the technician, and what is needed to work smarter. We know productivity, first-time fix and proactive maintenance is the holy grail of profitability for service organizations and customer experience. The technician is the key to both.
Consumer expectation of a seamless, digital experience has impacted the industry greatly as have technology trends, yet a true focus on technician enablement is still spotty.Consumer expectation of a seamless, digital experience has impacted the industry greatly as have technology trends, yet a true focus on technician enablement is still spotty. Our “best-in-class” customers bring technicians into the process related to user experience, and how data and workflow changes enable experienced technicians to be hyper-productive and how novice technicians become fully functional, faster. Likewise, the businesses which service a wide variety of equipment, work, or parts need technology that has best-in-class capabilities around artificial intelligence, data model flexibility, IOT, diagnostics, and robust, flexible mobile applications. They likewise need a consumer or dealer portal to collect and send technicians key information such as customer, product or service history, service contract or service level agreements.
Service technicians have become the “single point of failure” in the customer interaction because typical technology driven from the CRM and ERP ill-prepares them with a lack of information. Sales and financial systems provide customer and billing information but do not enable a game-changing service experience that improves brand, market share or revenue.
We endeavour to enable technicians to perform more efficiently with fewer points of friction in their daily activities. Consider the following.
Evolving Labor Supply
All technicians want to be successful on the job. The emerging millennial workforce uses technology every day. We must use veterans’ skills and talents while utilizing millennials to drive technology adoption. Functionality exposed to technicians is important. However, flexible date models, customer, product, and diagnostic information, available before and during a job, is equally important. First-time fixes don’t happen by accident.
Enable Technicians with Technology
Field service management technology is itself evolving, through artificial intelligence, but also more versatile data models that can use IOT or predictive information to update work orders, create differentiated service workflows, or deploy updatable forms in real-time, based on diagnostics. Asset data, IOT diagnostics and service history deliver service insights digitally, on-site. The best vendors and newest product releases do more with technology to achieve and exceed traditional metrics.
Intelligent portals
Intelligent portals are game-changing. They can do more than simply enable a service or technician location. Portals can digitally deliver appointment offers, which in the past, only the call centre would have had the insights to do. They can facilitate better service by allowing customers to upload connected smart sensor data, fault codes, photographs or videos of failed products, and interact with triage and field technicians. Portals better inform customers and prepare technicians to resolve issues in a single truck roll.
The latest mapping and location technologies provide consumers improved visibility of appointments, near-by technicians with schedule availability, and technician arrival estimates. Portals delight the customer and improve call centre efficiency by digitally handling booking, confirming and rescheduling appointments automatically.
Portals can even use AI, asset and service history to intelligently offer customers new products, accessories and services, without ever interacting with a call centre, snail mail or email, and before the technician arrives.
Mobile technology
Mobile technology has come a long way in recent years. While scheduling optimized technicians and parts together, status, and capturing payment are still a challenge for some organizations, overall, field service companies can now also use mobile technology to provide better, more personalized service in the field to every customer.
Effective mobile solutions deliver relevant customer, asset, parts, and diagnostic information in real-timeMobile applications provide entitlement, customer availability, asset information and technician location, real-time inventory, payments, and timesheet capability, as well as work order and technician status updates. Leading solutions were built with 100% configurability and flexible data models, which provide the opportunity to customize service events, improve first-time fix rates and improve customer satisfaction. Effective mobile solutions deliver relevant customer, asset, parts, and diagnostic information in real-time, as well as provide task lists, pricing and payments, and survey delivery for a faster, smarter, more satisfying experience.
Mobile technology is the best way to enable technicians to deliver the best experience.
Siri, Echo, Alexa and Cortana Aren’t Enough
Digital assistants are cool, but how can we make them more helpful? Displaying navigation, making calls or texts is handy. Digital assistants integrated with data hubs can deliver useful customer, asset, and predictive intelligence to technicians which require it to improve service delivery. `
Digital assistants become more powerful when integrated with AI, machine learning algorithms, asset and service history, predictive and repair information, providing an entirely different kind of assistance to field technicians.
AI can analyze data to derive cognitive insights and deliver it through digital assistants, resulting in the holy grail of better tech enablement, customer experience, and financial performance of the service organization or brand.
Technician Enablement Means Transforming Field Service Experiences with Technology
Friendly, competent technicians enabled with game-changing technology are the future. Sales secure customers, but your service technology retains them, increases your share of their wallets and grows your brand.
Don’t just give face value to technician enablement, own it, and make it a priority. Your brand and your customers will thank you.
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Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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