Fleet solutions provider give free access to SmartFlow Driver and Subcontractor Management Apps during pandemic.

Microlise has announced it will be making its SmartFlow driver and workflow management app free of charge to existing customers.

The app will be provided free of charge for the duration of the Coronavirus crisis, both to customers not currently using SmartFlow, and to those customers who already use the application, with any increase beyond typical usage incurring no additional charges.

Easing Supply Chain Pressure

The announcement comes as increased levels of consumer buying, fuelled by Covid-19, adds pressure to a supply chain which is already at operating at a high-level. Furthermore, these heightened levels are expected to continue for longer than traditional peak periods.

SmartFlow, the firms says, is a simple mobile application that supports customers to track the location of temporary or third-party drivers, manage tasks, workflows and communications, and collect proof of delivery information. Users are able to provide the App to subcontractors or contract-based drivers, with set-up taking just minutes, with all the collected data feeding directly into the Microlise solution in place.

Commenting Nadeem Raza, Microlise CEO said: “Our customers are depending on our mission-critical systems as never before. We are doing all we can to support their efforts and have identified SmartFlow as a valuable support tool in the current climate. SmartFlow will allow our customers to add additional capacity, secure in the knowledge that they can manage the operational impact in an efficient, effective and transparent way. We are working closely with our customers during this time to proactively identify areas where Microlise can provide additional support - SmartFlow is just one offering that can be quickly deployed to support operators who need to bring additional drivers on-stream.”

Helps reduce development time of custom apps from months to weeks or days and effectively manages digital transformation projects...
Panasonic has announced TOUGHBOOK Omnia, powered by MCL, a complete end-to-end mobile enterprise software solution for Panasonic TOUGHBOOK customers. The professional service helps businesses reduce time to market for custom line-of-business software applications and helps to effectively deliver digital transformation projects. It offers consultation, hardware, software, integration and support to deliver immediate visible productivity improvements across the mobile workforce.
“Managing software applications across multiple platforms and operating systems can be complex,” explains Jon Tucker, General Manager Solutions and Engineering for Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Europe. “Traditionally organisations manage a diverse range of mobile IT devices, form factors and operating systems, operating a very siloed approach. Ensuring everything is integrated and kept up to date across all hardware and software platforms can be costly and time-consuming.”
“TOUGHBOOK Omnia is a cost-effective, end-to-end software solution approach from Panasonic, that can future-proof and greatly speed-up custom application development and maintenance cycles for mobile business operations.”

Integration provides fleet operators with engine filter performance data in real time from within the Geotab platform...

Geotab, a global leader in IoT and connected transportation, and Donaldson, a global leader in the filtration industry, recently announced a new integration that will enable Geotab customer’s to utilize Donaldson’s wireless Filter Minder® monitoring system. A first-of-its-kind remote, wireless filter-monitoring system for trucks and heavy-duty equipment, Filter Minder provides real time engine filter performance data to help fleet operators optimize vehicle maintenance and improve productivity.
Wirelessly monitoring the condition of truck engine air filters, Filter Minder provides customers with visibility into the remaining life of engine air filters, plus additional performance data. Seamlessly integrating with the Geotab platform, which is utilized by more than 500,000 class 6, 7 and 8 trucks across North America, the Donaldson Filter Minder system works in tandem with a fleet’s telematics solution to help businesses save money through optimized filtration maintenance.
“With the cost of fleet ownership continually rising, we intentionally set out to offer a simple solution for fleet managers with visionary companies like Geotab to help optimize fleets,” said Nate Zambon, Director of the Donaldson Filter Minder product line. “By integrating our Filter Minder solution into the Geotab platform, fleets can now receive Donaldson’s comprehensive filter analytics along with the most advanced telematics data—from their laptop or mobile device—to help lower overall cost of ownership and improve individual vehicle or fleetwide maintenance processes and performance.”
Recently introduced, the Donaldson Filter Minder system utilizes a vehicle’s telematics system to send filter performance data to the cloud through wireless sensors and receivers and provides predictive analytics that inform fleet managers when filters are approaching the end of their optimal life.
“As a global company committed to optimizing fleet management at every level, Geotab is proud to join forces with a dynamic collaborator that shares our vision for a truly connected fleet,” says Scott Sutarik, VP Commercial Vehicle Solutions at Geotab. “Integration with Donaldson will enable Geotab to continue its mission to equip its customers with the most advanced telematics solutions, while helping us innovate for a cleaner future.”

Firms says it is offering its employee safety software to any company looking to track the potential exposure of their workers to the coronavirus.

Today, any company, organization, or authority can get free access to the Safeture software platform to have their employees’ travel matched with those hot spot locations most impacted by the virus. Safeture can import trip data from travel agencies plus get real-time location data from mobile phones to be analyzed against with real-time updates of the virus’s location. This is especially important for large international companies, which carry an extra high exposure risk. All employees will get access to Safeture’s app to get real-time alerts and notifications.

“Right now we are at a critical stage for the coronavirus, and it is crucial companies identify employees who have been in high-risk areas so they can contain the infection and prevent it from spreading into the organization,” said Magnus Hultman, CEO of Safeture. “The situation is changing rapidly. From today Iran and areas in Italy, suddenly completely different places in other countries can be affected.

Register for your free trial @ https://www.safeture.com/

AR firm says service firms affected by virus can use tool free of charge during trial-period.

Augmented reality company XMreality is offering firms impacted by Covid-19 free use of its Remote Guidance Service tool for an extended trial period.

Remote Technical Suppport

As the knock-on effect of the virus hits travel logistics - an essential strand of service delivery - experts who take up the offer can effectively provide technical support remotely without having to leave the office or home.

"Being able to provide swift and efficient technical support to customers or colleagues is crucial to the competitiveness of businesses and, in some cases, even for keeping vital infrastructure working," a press release accompanying the announcement read. "XMReality has now decided to help those companies whose operations have been affected by travel restrictions. The solution is already used in over 40 countries, including China. Accessibility is maximized because the recipient does not need any special hardware or software to receive instructions. All you need on site is a mobile phone with internet connection."

Commenting, Johan Castevall, CEO at XMReality said the company were happy to offer assistance during these difficult times for the service industry: “We are pleased to be able to help in a crisis. “We can see that a large number of companies are being hit hard by the effects of the Coronavirus, so we want to support them and facilitate their operations.” 

XMReality's announcement joins others in the service sector who are offering free use of their tools during the pandemic including Augmentir and ServiceMax. The software outfit are allowing new customers to access their real-time communication platform Zinc free of change for three months.

More information about XMReality's offer can be found here.

Communication Platform offered free of charge to new customers for three months as CEO says real-time communications can play key role in current situation.
ServiceMax's Neil Barua believes real-time communication will be the key to firms tackling the effect of Corona Virus and has made Zinc, their real-time communication platform available free, for three months to new users.

Travel

Speaking to Field Service News, the firm's CEO said the current situation is affecting how their end-users get to jobs, a key strand of service delivery and challenging their traditional service delivery model. "Our customers are dependent on being able to travel and visit customer sites," he says, "They are having to be flexible on how to accommodate service requests with their teams, creating opportunities for virtual trouble shooting and training of end users."

For end-users trying to satisfy pressurised service requests while adhering to constantly changing guidance from authorities and government, means now more than ever, firms need to be flexible and dynamic. Neil believes if firms are to prosper then clear communication channels will play a significant role. "As it is a constantly evolving situation, it is imperative that field teams have direct lines of communication across the service delivery chain to best serve customers in real time." 

In an effort to enhance connectivity during this time ServiceMax have announced the use of their own real-time communication platform, Zinc, which will be made available free of charge for three months for new users. "We know that our customers have important information to share," Barua said of the decision. "Employees need answers, reassurance and connectedness. We all need to work together and support each other in getting through these unique times safely."

SeviceMax's Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Stacy Epstein, will be part of our panel at Field Service News' Covid-19 Emergency Symposium which takes place online this Friday (20 March GMT), which you can sign-up for here.

AI-powered smart video solution can intelligently capture and classify video according to the severity of driving events.

Verizon Connect Integrated Video uses artificial intelligence (AI) to intelligently capture and automatically classify video according to how severe an event is, showing only what is relevant and important to business owners and operations managers, as well as machine learning to help businesses improve driver behaviour and protect the bottom line. Verizon Connect Integrated Video also provides real data insights to help commercial drivers stay safe on the road and protect them against false claims.

Additional features include a speed Overlay, which enables operations managers to easily view the speed of the vehicle directly within the video clip to determine if speed is the factor that caused the event; and Video on Demand, which allows operations managers to request 40-second increments of available footage.

"Delivering our commitment to customers means creating innovative solutions, powered by the latest technology that helps our customers move their business forward,” said Derek Bryan, vice president EMEA, Verizon Connect. “We’re delivering next-level solutions, powered by advanced AI and machine learning to help our customers be safe, productive and efficient all over the world.

Field Service News Research identifies trends amongst field service organisations and the Internet of Things when it comes to the KPIs...

A recent Field Service News Research has taken a deep look into how field service companies are continuing face up to the challenge of harnessing the vast amounts of data they are accessing each day... 

The Growing Dual Challenges of Data in Field Service... 

In a recent article for Field Service News Research, Kris Oldland explored some of the key findings their current research into the use of KPIs amongst field service organisations has revealed when it comes to analysing,  interpreting and reacting to data...

"In today’s connected world, there is just simply so much data being created that we are very much in danger of being overwhelmed and consumed by it unless we are not careful." Oldland wrote. 

"Paralysis by analysis can be a genuine issue that can stifle innovation. In a customer-orientated world, the ability to adapt quickly is becoming a crucial aspect of modern business. Yet, at the same time, so is the increasingly hackneyed phrase ‘data is the new gold’."

"The ability to be able to monitor, measure and then dissect each aspect of our operation - whether it be internally within our teams and operations or externally with regards to our customer interactions, can offer us the ability to leverage vast amounts of untapped insight into our businesses that can literally open up new revenue streams, or at least maximise to the fullest potential those we already have in place," he continues.

Some of the headline findings within the research which Oldland explored within the article include: 

• 67% of field service companies are now using IoT to provide data from assets in the field.
• 72% of these companies are using data from connected assets to predict failure and schedule maintenance around this data
• 54% of these companies can interpret data from assets in the field when providing triage
• 23% of these companies factor this data into the way they analyse field service KPIs

To find out more and also discover the impact of servitization on the KPIs field service companies are measuring check out the latest analysis from Field Service News Research visit https://research.fieldservicenews.com/drownin-in-data-or-gold

Project to be facilitated by Noventum Service Management and will focus on service-business models.

HSO has announced a research project with Microsoft to look into future service-business models.

The project will hone in on digitilasation as an enabler for new business models and how it affects increasing customer demands.
To enhance their findings research partner Noventum are looking for feedback from the service sector on the topic and have created a survey for participants to contribute, which you can do here. Those who take part will receive a full report of the project's findings.