Field Service News is proud to announce a brand new educational portal for field service management professionals - The FSN Knowledge hub which went live today. 

Housed within the FSN Elite platform, the FSN Knowledge Hub will be a curated collection of educational content that is relevant for field service management leaders that will be provided by a range of industry-leading educators with a deep range of knowledge, insight and experience including Mark Homer, Steve Cummins, Dave Hart, Jim Baston, Jan van Veen, Nick Frank, Michael Blumberg, Kris Oldland all producing content for the hub initially with many other highly respected industry names also set to join this all-star roster of leading thinkers within the global field service sector.

Members of the newly launched FSN Elite platform, which acts as a hub for a number of communities within the industry (such as the Service Leaders Network, HQ4, Service Community and MoreMomentum) have had access to over 100 resources included on the platform at launch plus early bird access to the courses within the Field Service News Masterclass program which includes one new course for field service leaders being rolled out each month for the next six months. 

However, with the launch of the FSN Knowledge Hub, this content is now available for the first time to non-FSN Elite members who can purchase items individually if they wish rather than take a full annual membership. 

 

Industry-wide access to information either on a subscription or one-off basis:

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief and Founder, Field Service News commented "the way we have structured FSN Elite, to include access to all FSN Premium resources, the Field Service News Masterclass, tickets to our physical event in Edgbaston later this year plus the weekly Zoom discussion sessions all for one annual fee of less than most companies charge for a one day ticket to an event, makes a lot of sense for those field service management professionals committed to improving their own performance and that of their field service operation in general.

"However, we also understand that a lot of the content and courses included within this exceptional resource library are often of interest from people from outside of the industry who may have an interest in just one particular course or piece of research - so we're pleased to be able to offer a route to access the content for these people as well without them having to commit to an annual fee.

"The major benefit of creating the FSN Knowledge Hub, however, is it allows us to give a platform to some of the smartest people in the industry to build their own educational courses while simultaneously giving the industry a dedicated central hub for education in our industry - something we are badly lacking at the moment - which most other sectors have in place. The FSN Knowledge Hub is a step towards establishing something that can benefit every field service company in the world." 

FSN Knowledge Hub content is available for anyone to access, with non-FSN Elite members being able to purchase content directly on the platform, while FSN Elite members can access all Field Service News content free of charge and will receive discounted rates on third party courses. 

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Financial Essentials for Service Leaders

The first third party course to be included on the platform, Finance Essentials for Service Leaders is produced by Field Service Associates and can either be purchased as separate standalone courses or as one program. 

For a seasoned service leader, fully mastering the nuances of finance within a successful service operation can be a challenge. For a new service leader, it can be a complex and confusing area full of complicated language and unfamiliar concepts. To help service management leadership professionals help navigate their way through this new area of understanding.

This program is produced by Field Service Associates whose co-founders have over 70 years of industry experience and is authored by Steve Cummins and offers excellent guidance into the often overwhelming area of service finance with clear explanations, detailed guidance and practical exercises to work through that re-enforce your learning.

The program includes four modules:

• Financial 'Basics' for a Service Leader
• Finance Essentials for New Service Leaders 
• Financial Control for Service Leaders 
• Financial Planning for Service Leaders 

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The entire program is available for just $559.99 | €464.99 | £399.99 for the general public or for $489.99 | €409.99 | £349.99 for FSN Elite members

Alternatively, each individual course can be purchased for $179.99 | €149.99 | £129.99 for the general public or $139.99 | €114.99 | £99.99 for FSN Elite members

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PLUS!!! To celebrate the launch of the FSN Knowledge Hub the team over at Field Service Associates have agreed to offer a further 33% discount off all prices on this course for the next 30 days.

To claim the discount visit the program page by clicking here and use the code FSAL33 at checkout!

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ANOTHER PLUS!!! While FSN Elite is in its 4 month beta launch, you can sign up for FSN Premium for just £299 | €349 | $399 a year) and get an upgrade for free to FSN Elite for the entirety of your first twelve-month subscription giving you over half off the full price!

 

1927 Media Ltd, the publishers of Field Service News the world most widely read resource for field service professionals has announced Field Service News Live! a collection of events to be held in Birmingham, UK on October 27-28th this year...

With the tagline 3 events, 2 days, 1 community Field Service News Live! is set to welcome the field service community back to the face to face meetings for the first time in over a year and promises to be a unique format that reflects the multi-factored approach to helping the field service industry that has come to be expected from the global leader in education and information for global field service leaders. 

The event comprises of three distinct elements: 

 

The Field Service Expo: 

The field service expo is free to attend for all management professionals working for organisations that have a field service operation. With a focus on giving field service organisations a one-stop-shop to find solutions to the challenges, they face as we collectively begin to plot a path forward into the new normal of field service in a post-pandemic world. 

Key features include:

• Find all of the leading solutions that can drive your field service operations forward in one place.  Rugged Mobile Computing Solutions, FSM Software, Dynamic Scheduling, Augmented Reality, Fleet Management, Logistics and Last Mile Solutions and more... 
• Dedicated solutions theatre for attendees to hear real-life case studies on how the solutions on show have been implemented by field service organisations
• Recruitment clinic - hosted in partnership with some of the leading engineering-based universities in the UK, this drop-in clinic is designed to help field service companies overcome the pervasive ageing workforce crisis by giving direct insight into what the next generation of workers are seeking from future employment
• and more... 

Find out more and register for free @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en/field-service-expo-2020

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The Field Service News Symposium Live

Available for all FSN Elite members The Symposium is a new type of conference for the new normal where the focus is on guided peer-to-peer learning and discussion amongst senior field service executives and leadership. The Symposium brings the concepts of FSN Elite back into the physical world. Our focus is not to put on a schedule of speakers talking at the industry but on facilitating groups of industry leaders to discuss the challenges we all face together. We've replaced death by PowerPoint with genuinely productive conversation that will drive the industry forward.

Key features include:

• Field Service News Research Live Debrief and Discussion
• Industry Ask Me Anything Sessions
• Field Service News Masterclass Workshops
• CrowdThink - a unique approach to solving the key industry challenges as a community
• and more... 

 

The Field Service Awards:

Available for all those who attend the Field Service News Symposium Live, the Field Service Awards will be an evening of celebration of excellence and innovation in our industry. Relax and trade tales with your fellow service leaders over drinks as we raise a glass to our award winners.

 

Find out more about the Symposium and Awards and how to join FSN Elite @ https://fsnews.lpages.co/fsn-live-conference/

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Commenting on the announcement of Field Service News Live! Field Service News Editor-in-Chief and Founder, Kris Oldland said "I am so excited about this announcement!

"Field Service News has grown from a humble start-up brand to becoming a true global leader in the eight years since we launched. I was so proud of our team and how they led the industry during what has been an incredibly challenging 18 months for the whole world. We've continued to innovate and keep the industry talking. The creation of FSN Elite has taken that approach one step further and now the time is right to bring those conversations back into the real-world as well." 

"The concept of being a platform to facilitate discussion in the industry, to have a genuine dialogue rather than just broadcasting in one direction is very close to my heart. It is, I believe the way all events and business media need to evolve if we are to truly serve our markets - and I, and all the team here at 1927 Media Ltd are incredibly proud to be leading the way in this concept for the global field service community." 

 

IFS, the global cloud enterprise applications company, announces that it has concluded the acquisition of Axios Systems.

The transaction, which was initially announced in March 2021, combines two pioneers of the service management space: IFS, with its leadership in Field Service Management and Axios Systems, with its strength in IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Operations  Management (ITOM). The combined IFS Enterprise Service Management proposition is unique in how it enables companies to orchestrate their value chain and optimize their workflows so they can not only deliver amazing moments of service to their customers, but also so they can maximize revenue creation opportunities and increase profitability.

IFS STRENGHTENS LEADERSHIP in service management with THE ADDITION OF AXIOS SYSTEMS' POWERFUL ITMS AND ITOM CAPABILITIES

Since the acquisition was announced, IFS is proud to have attracted many of the best leaders from the sector to bolster the already growing team at Axios Systems. Now under the framework of a dedicated Business Unit within IFS, the team are focused on delivering new product innovation, increased investment in customer experience, and a more focused, industry-led, go-to-market.

Martin Schirmer, President of the Enterprise Service Management Business Unit, commented, “Over the past two months I have met with many employees, customers and partners who I would like to thank for their openness and enthusiasm for what lies ahead. It’s clear to me that we have acquired a company with many assets and strengths, in a market that is evolving and in need for further disruption. With the investment we are committing as well as our customer-centric approach, I am confident that our current customer base will benefit, which will in turn help attract new customers, and we will further extend IFS’s dominance in the overall service management space.”

To learn more about IFS’s service management solutions, please visit: ifs.com/service. For more information on the Axios Systems best-of-breed proposition Assyst, please visit: ifs.com/assyst.

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Further Reading:

 

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com/
• Learn more about Axios Systems @ www.axiossystems.com/
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ twitter.com/ifs

 

Geo-data specialist, Fugro, is fueling a transformation journey to unify its people, processes, and business data with a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution from IFS.

With a 9,000-strong workforce in 61 countries, Fugro collects and analyzes information about the earth and the structures built upon it. The company helps its customers determine the optimal site for the safe, cost-effective, and sustainable design and construction of buildings and infrastructure by acquiring, analyzing and advising on geodata for clients in industries such as offshore and land-based energy, renewables, infrastructure, and nautical engineering.

 

IFS Software to empower Furgro employees worldwide with cloud-based capabilities across global finance and accounting, project management and procurement

The investment in IFS is part of a company-wide initiative that is aimed at bringing staff together in one collaborative way of working, on a centralized technological framework. Without a central system and access to one version of its business information, the company was challenged in leveraging efficient and collaborative ways of working, with common processes and effective business and financial reporting. To provide a single, digital home to its business units, the company opted for a flexible solution that could support its project-based business and ensure timely and accurate reporting in one fully integrated solution. The cloud-based IFS solution will support mission-critical processes including financial management, project and business management, project accounting, and purchasing. When fully deployed, the system will be used in some 40 countries worldwide.

“Companies like us, supporting our clients in managing their complex project lifecycles, are often forced to use separate software products to manage different stages of the project, creating multiple disconnects between data, people and time,” Fugro Chief Executive Officer Mark Heine said. “The IFS solution will standardize and harmonize our project-oriented processes in one highly intuitive ERP platform. Having all of our people accessing the same data and working in the same way will be faster and more enjoyable for our teams. We look forward to working with IFS to usher in the next phase of our company’s business transformation journey.”

Frank Beerlage, Managing Director, IFS Benelux, added, “Project-based service providers such as Fugro need business technology that can scale and flex as business and circumstances dictate. We have a very successful track record in developing tools for companies in some of the world’s most demanding environments, both offshore and onshore. Fugro is a well-respected brand in the project-based service space and we are excited to be working alongside them to establish new standards of efficiency and value.”

The solution will be implemented in collaboration with management and technology consultancy, and Platinum-level IFS partner, BearingPoint.

Learn more about how IFS supports project-based businesses at www.ifs.com/corp/solutions/enterprise-resource-planning/project-erp-software/.

 

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/leadership-and-strategy
• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com
• Learn more about Fugro @ www.fugro.com 
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Learn more about the IFS Enterprise Resource Planning @ www.ifs.com/enterprise-resource-planning/project-erp-software/
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ twitter.com/ifs

 

More than half (57%) of SME owners plan to expand trade to new territories outside the EU and at home after the pandemic with the help of online tools, according to global small business platform, Xero.

The boom in e-commerce and new EU trading conditions are driving many SMEs to break into fresh territories and customer segments. According to Xero’s Future of Small Business report, more than a third (36%) say it’s too expensive to sell to European countries, due to Brexit trading regulations and import-export charges.

This hasn’t dampened small business ambitions. It’s pushed 44% to explore new markets for the first time, with one third (33 per cent) increasing their customer base geographically during the pandemic due to a bigger focus on borderless e-commerce sales.

A THIRD OF SMALL BUSINESSES INCREASED THEIR CUSTOMER BASE GEOGRAPHICALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC DUE TO A FOCUS ON BORDERLESS E-COMMERCE SALES, AS COMPANIES QUICKLY ADAPTED AND EMBRACED NEW TECHNOLOGIES

The rise in remote working and rapid adoption of new technology has made it much easier to sell beyond physical location. 2 in 5 (41 per cent) say that online tools have been key for targeting new customers both at home and abroad. And 34% of SME owners are now more willing to hire staff that are completely remote as a result of Covid.

“The way small businesses operate on a global scale is transforming and it’s positive to see the impact of Covid and Brexit hasn’t dampened their ambitions. Technology and automated software in particular – like e-commerce platforms – have undoubtedly opened up trade opportunities for small businesses, allowing them to trade both across the UK and further afield,” said Donna Torres, director of small business at Xero.

Max Henderson, Co-Founder of Hotpod Yoga, also commented: “Dealing simultaneously with a global health pandemic and Brexit, has certainly been challenging. Luckily for us, the reaction in the UK since lockdown restrictions eased has been extraordinary and we’re seeing our classes hit 100% capacity across the whole country. 

“This kind of rebound has meant we're back on the front foot and looking to launch around 40 new locations across the UK and Europe within 12 months - but with that comes a lot of work to understand the rules of operating in different markets and of course a large amount of paperwork for things like customs and rules of origin.  We’re yet to see the immediate effects of Brexit on trading, with cross-continental trade having been put on hold due to various lockdown restrictions in each market, but given our success in the UK, we’re optimistic about the opportunity.”

Thea Paraskevaides, Founder of Beaumont Music, explained her situation: “Due to Brexit we've had to register for VAT in six countries which we were already distributing to. The amount of paperwork this has come with is overwhelming but using digital software like Xero has made the process far more streamlined.”

Xero has a dedicated Brexit Hub - here - with advice and resources to help businesses stay up to date.

Research methodology

The survey was conducted in January and February 2021 by Censuswide with 500 SME owners and 2,000 consumers.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/leadership-and-strategy
• Read more about the impact of COVID-19 in the Field Service Industry @ www.fieldservicenews.com/COVID-19
• Learn more about Xero @ www.xero.com/uk/
• Follow Xero on Twitter @ twitter.com/xero/

Vimcar, the fleet management software for small- and medium-sized businesses, has been working with international transport service provider Aircargo Transport to optimise its fleets’ route and track its vehicles – enabling the identification and tracking of a stolen vehicle in real time, resulting in minimal cost implications.Aircargo Transport is an international transport service provider, responsible for the efficient movement of air cargo and special ‘high value shipments’ via a 13-strong fleet of specially designed trucks.

Aircargo Transport initially installed Vimcar’s Fleet Geo to help optimise their fleet’s routes. With a strong focus on improving customer experience, the SaaS plug-and-play solution allowed Aircargo Transport to provide critical, real-time information on the whereabouts of their vehicles and location. Using this information, the team are then able to provide their customers with arrival times, down to the minute – even notifying the organisation when a vehicle had been stolen.

VIMCAR'S FLEET GEO ALLOWS AIRCARGO TRANSPORT TO OPTIMISE ITS FLEET' ROUTES AND TRACK ITS VEHICLES IN REAL TIME.

Sven Kirchner, Managing Director, Aircargo Transport says: “A notification came through to my mobile saying a truck was on the move. After speaking to the driver of the truck, we quickly realised it had been stolen. After a quick call to the police, they were able to track and secure the vehicle using Vimcar’s live tracking functionality before too much damage was done.”

“The truck had only travelled a small distance, but we would never have been able to find it had we not had the Fleet Geo software installed.” Kirchner says.

Ronald Clancy, UK Country Manager, Vimcar comments: “This is another great example of how businesses can benefit from Vimcar’s easy-to-use solution. As we found in autumn of last year, vehicle misuse threatens to add further economic strain to SMEs in the UK, with vehicle theft costing UK businesses more than £16,000 per year. For those looking into a telematic system, a GPS fleet management system that includes features such as live tracking, geofencing and data exportation would be the best way to curve vehicle theft and misuse.” 

Kircher continues: “Our aim is to provide our customers with critical, real-time information about the location of their goods, 24-hours a day. Punctuality is the top priority for us, no plane will wait for our trucks’ cargo. Vimcar’s solution has supported us hugely in optimising our fleets routes and making sure we are arriving on time, every time.”

Founded in Berlin in 2013, Vimcar is the leading provider of fleet telematics solutions to SMEs in its home country of Germany and introduced its Fleet Geo product to the UK market last summer. Vimcar’s SaaS telematics solutions cover all aspects of fleet management, including cost and document management, outlier analysis, CO2 reporting, real-time vehicle tracking, theft warning and route planning. With an emphasis on easy-use, affordability, and strong customer support, its products are perfect for fleets of 1-200 vehicles, particularly for smaller businesses with no dedicated full-time fleet manager. Vimcar aims to redefine fleet management for European SMEs by digitalising the company car of the future.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• Read more about Fleet Management @ www.fieldservicenews.com/fleet-management
• Learn more about Vimcar @ vimcar.co.uk
• Find our more about Aircargo Transport @ www.aircargo-transport.eu
• Follow Vimcar on Twitter @ twitter.com/goVimcar

Cyber security provider F-Secure launched F-Secure Elements: a new cloud-based platform that streamlines how organizations provision cyber security services.

Available from F-Secure’s service partners with fixed-term license subscriptions, or usage-based billing for greater flexibility, F-Secure Elements empowers organizations to pick cyber security services on terms that accommodate their needs.

Many organizations operate in complex environments dominated by a range of dynamic risks and opportunities. Keeping these complexities in mind, as well as the rising costs of security and the lack of experienced security professionals, it’s no surprise that an overwhelming number of organizations want to simplify how they source cyber security capabilities.

F-SECURE ELEMENTS IS THE FIRST CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM CREATED TO EMPOWER ORGANIZATIONS WITH FAST, FLEXIBLE, AND EASY ACCESS TO CYBER SECURITY SERVICES.

F-Secure Executive Vice President of Business Security Juha Kivikoski says these demands are driving a shift toward providing cyber security as services rather than products.

“Even with updates, products are static and can’t adapt fast enough to keep up with threats, or businesses, as they evolve. Services help businesses stay agile and are more cost-effective when delivered right, which is why the future of our industry is in delivering everything as a service,” he explained. “Having a platform designed for the servitization of cyber security can help organizations get better protection, which is why simplicity and flexibility are F-Secure Elements’ core design principles.”

F-Secure Elements is a modular platform that combines endpoint protection, endpoint detection and response, vulnerability management, and collaboration protection for cloud services (such as Microsoft Office 365).

F-Secure Elements’ key capabilities and benefits include:

• Comprehensive situational awareness and meaningful visibility across assets, configurations, vulnerabilities, threats, and events.
• Streamlined and autonomous operations to ensure efficient workflows and faster responses to real threats.
• Real-time, connected data flow between elements to enable faster detection of threats.
• Intelligent, extended detection and response capabilities for data-informed decisions.
• On-demand option to elevate difficult cases to F-Secure experts.

Usage-based pricing simplifies path to growth

A recent Forrester report emphasized the increasing importance for flexibility and usage-based pricing*: "During the pandemic, many clients became frustrated when vendors wouldn't lower license usage below baselines, even though the organization's usage had dropped off because of staff furloughs. Examine contracts and ask for flexibility to alter the licensing baseline under certain conditions and for the ability to carry forward unused license entitlements into the next year without additional charge."

With the transparency on usage provided via F-Secure Elements’ detailed invoicing for usage-based billing, organizations can make informed decisions on how to control security investments to prevent paying for idle licenses, or services they don’t need.

“Usage-based pricing helps organizations develop and adjust their security capabilities to focus on outcomes, and move from ownership to usership,” said Kivikoski.

F-Secure Elements was launched at SPECIES, F-Secure’s annual global partner conference. Video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axLDbj1_Nb4.

More information on F-Secure Elements is available here: https://www.f-secure.com/elements.

*Source: Forrester: How To Save Money In Security Software Negotiations: Techniques For Preparing For And Conducting Security Software Negotiations To Increase Value. Paul McKay, Sean Ryan, and Mark Bartrick, October 13, 2020.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Servitization @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization-and-advanced-services
• Read more about Cyber Security @ www.fieldservicenews.com/cyber-security
• Learn more about F-Secure @ www.f-secure.com
• Read more about F-Secure on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/f-secure
• Follow F-Secure on Twitter @ twitter.com/FSecure

Data management specialist Proact has signed a new partner agreement with LogicMonitor to enable Proact and its customers to better collect and consolidate critical performance and operational data on their IT infrastructure and cloud services.

The new partnership with LogicMonitor will enable Proact to provide its customers with enhanced monitoring services based on industry-leading AIOps (artificial intelligence for operations) toolsets. The functionalities to collect and consolidate critical performance and operational data insights will improve Proact's support offerings and provide even more proactive maintenance opportunities. Customers benefit as the insights can be used to prevent incidents from occurring, and to provide optimisation suggestions that lead to improved performance and efficiency.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH LOGICMONITOR WILL ENHANCE PROACT EXISTING MANAGEMENT CLOUD SERVICES

We are excited about this new partnership as we are seeing a strong market trend in movement towards AIOps. It’s a new mindset within IT operations where machine learning is applied to collected data, to predict what will happen within certain environments. This new partnership will benefit both customers that decide to operate our monitoring platforms themselves and those who use our Managed Cloud Services” says Per Sedihn, CTO and VP, Portfolio and Technology at Proact IT Group AB.

“LogicMonitor continues to evolve its partner strategy to focus not only on global expansion, but also on hyper-localisation. In the wake of the pandemic, many enterprises have turned to local organisations with market leading expertise to address their business needs,” says Sanjay Gupta, Global Vice President of Channels and Alliances at LogicMonitor. “We recognize the power in aligning with companies that not only have a global footprint but also established trust within their local markets. Partnering with Proact extends LogicMonitor’s availability via a trusted global IT managed services provider who has strong local ties within their key markets.”

The new partner agreement with LogicMonitor stretches across all countries in which Proact operates and will also act as a foundation for enhancing Proacts existing managed cloud services.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about Artificial Intelligence @ www.fieldservicenews.com/artificial-intelligence
• Learn more about Proact @ www.proact.eu
• Find out more about LogicMonitor @ www.logicmonitor.com
• Follow Proact on Twitter @ twitter.com/proact_it

In this third feature from a series of excerpts from an exclusive Field Service News white paper published in partnership with Help Lightning, that is exploring the practical questions surrounding Augmented Reality we explore the importance of effortlessness in any new technology we introduced into the complex machine of field service operations - especially one that can change our industry as dramatically as Augmented Reality... 

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Any new technology’s true strength when introduced into a complex workflow such as field service is that it needs to just work. It needs to be seamless and effortless for both the customer and the technician or engineer.

In this sense, AR is no different. It has to fit comfortably within the workflow. It has to integrate with other applications crucial within the field service management technology stack to be easily adopted. In a world of APIs and increasingly open architecture, this, on the surface, would seem a relatively simple request. Yet, in a world of data security and mobile device management, introducing a sophisticated new technology is not always as easy as it might seem at first glance.

So has AR reached this tipping point from exciting potential to effortless implementation?

York believes it has, although as he explains, AR is not actually a single technology but instead a set of technologies that can be used to solve problems of a variety of sorts.

“The visual assistance and the merged reality that we offer really is one of the most natural but the simplest of the augmented reality technologies,” York explains.

“It doesn’t require a lot of upfront capital cost, and it can be rolled out very rapidly. It can be rolled out standalone, and we have many customers who’ve got a lot of value in doing so with benefits across costs, revenue and customer satisfaction. These benefits are often not only incredible but also very achievable.

 

"We believe it’s incredibly important to use the devices that are already available and allow somebody to interact without even having to download an app..."

 

“However, even when these technologies are used as a standalone, it is important to remove any friction associated with using new tools and to make doing so a seamless experience for the customer but also for the call centre and the field techs.

“That’s really been a big focus for us. We look at every point in which there is potential friction in the process, and we say can we take that friction out?

“A good example here would be the inclusion of smart glasses within the technology stack. Smart glasses are fantastic. We support smart glasses. We have several customers experimenting with smart glasses, and we also have users who are using smart glasses in production today to roll out equipment.

“We have one customer that sells large, complex equipment to an international customer base, and during the pandemic, their equipment was in high demand, but they couldn’t go and set it up and train the customer. They started sending a pair of smart glasses with the equipment, so when local technicians or the customers themselves would put the smart glasses on, they would call back home using Help Lightning, and they’d be guided through an installation process as well as the training process.

“They were able to get their customers up and running with the technology even though they never had a physical interaction – so in the last twelve months, such solutions have proven to be really valuable.

“However, most people don’t have smart glasses, but all of us have a smartphone in our pocket. We believe it’s incredibly important to use the devices that are already available and allow somebody to interact without even having to download an app. A user can literally join a Help Lightning call by simply clicking a link in an email. 

“We’ve looked at every point in which there potentially could be friction; from the customer to the call centre all the way to the domain experts and the field techs. You can remove friction at each of those points through integrations. These are essential steps that allow the technology to work seamlessly and make it easier to improve those efficiencies by reducing the complexity often associated with using new technology.

“We have we have a lot of tools that allow us to integrate with Field Service Management solutions, Customer Relationship Management solutions and with Call Centre platforms. We even have integration with mobile apps. For example, we have a customer who has a mobile app that they use for service and in their mobile app, they have a call Help Lightning button built in. If the user clicks that button, it calls a group of technicians who are able to help with that product, at that location with that particular asset ID, at that exact time. Those kinds of integrations can be incredibly powerful for the customer.”

 

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