Partnership with industry-leading provider of mobile connection management solutions will improve mobile device performance, productivity and security.

JLT Mobile Computers, a leading supplier of reliable computers for demanding environments, today announced a technology alliance with NetMotion, a provider of dynamic Wi-Fi and cellular connection management solutions designed to improve the productivity of today’s mobile workforce. The partnership will make NetMotion available to JLT’s range of rugged mobile devices.

As a trailblazer in the field of rugged computers for over 25 years, JLT offers a broad range of high-performance vehicle-mount terminals, tablets, and handheld computers as well as comprehensive support, maintenance, and solution services. JLT rugged computers are used in industries such as warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, ports, agriculture, mining and other demanding environments.

NetMotion is a privately held, Seattle based software company specializing in managing mobile performance by helping connected devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets operate more smoothly, seamlessly and productively even in poor network environments. NetMotion tools include network monitoring, diagnostics and analytics to improve mobile device performance, troubleshooting and security; policy management to prioritize mission-critical applications; and data encryption, compression and split tunneling functionality to facilitate reliable and seamless connectivity.

“Our customers demand reliable, flawless connectivity, even in the most challenging environments. JLT’s partnership with NetMotion will make available industry-leading connectivity management tools that enable seamless, secure, and optimized wireless data service to all devices, no matter where they are,” said Eric Miller, CEO at JLT Mobile Computers USA. “With NetMotion, JLT devices avoid network slowdowns, bandwidth costs go down, and IT has the tools it needs to keep track of everything.”

JLT’s partnership with NetMotion not only helps JLT customers take full advantage of their JLT hardware, but by enhancing device connectivity and operation, remote device management, updates, diagnostics and content delivery all also become faster and simpler. The NetMotion client-server system tools transparently monitor, analyze and optimize application, network, device, server and API performance, elevating connection management to the same high standards of productivity and reliability as JLT’s rugged computing hardware.

JLT customers will be able to select from NetMotion products such as NetMotion Mobile IQ for monitoring and trend tracking, NetMotion Diagnostics for finding and fixing connectivity issues, and NetMotion Mobility for mobile-optimized VPN connections. These allow organizations to tailor-build powerful, customized systems that meet their business objectives as well as the needs of their IT operations and field workers.   

Italian utilities firm Italgas adopts hands-free solution from Realwear and OverIT to empower their field service engineers...

RealWear, the world’s leading industrial hands-free knowledge transfer platform for frontline workers today announced that Italgas opted for RealWear’s HMT-1Z1 intrinsically safe platform running OverIT’s field services software to support the digital transformation of its operations.

Italgas reports that with the RealWear-OverIT field services solution, they’ve moved beyond the consumer tablet, taking their digital transformation to the next logical level with a purpose-built device for restricted zones. They have already seen huge productivity gains with RealWear by solving complex and risk-sensitive job tasks even in ATEX Zone 1 restricted zones.

“We’re thrilled that our HMT-1Z1 systems are helping Italgas accelerate its digital transformation efforts, improving safety and reliability,” said Andy Lowery, RealWear’s CEO.“We are committed to delivering intuitive hands-free systems to accelerate knowledge transfer to the next generation of workers.”

The benefits of field service engineers going hands free...

Utility field workers performing maintenance work on gas infrastructure frequently encounter potentially hazardous situations that require immediate remote support and visualization of real-time IoT data of specific assets. Beyond just managing work orders, Italgas’s field services crews are required to visualize data and read technical documents while performing manual work. Italgas declares that keeping hands free via voice-controlled systems safely resolves complex issues quickly and avoids additional travel or costly service downtime in extremely restricted zones where gases are present.

At Italgas, gas distribution means guaranteeing network safety, service continuity and system efficiency. To improve service quality and safety, increase distribution system efficiency and have a positive impact on the environment, the third largest European utility has been investing heavily in the digitization of its operations.

"The innovative solution enables Italgas’s field workers to reference documents (e.g., technical datasheets, multimedia content and asset history) while using their hands to perform the maintenance on a specific asset..."

The utility first deployed the automated scheduling of work orders in 2004, pioneering the adoption of a Field Service Management solution to allow its workforce to avoid the need to visit the office to collect tasks in the morning or physically hand off documents at the end of their shift. In 2012, to efficiently manage its approximately 44,000 miles of pipelines and 7.6 million assets, Italgas became one of the first utilities to use consumer devices for its workforce.

The implementation of OverIT’s Field Service Management solution was a success and Italgas quickly moved onto an even bigger challenge: how could workers operate hands-free and benefit from the features of the tablet app while performing manual maintenance tasks? Italgas' Digital Factory, the utility’s innovation department, developed the idea of using head-mounted devices (HMDs) and assisted reality. Currently, the innovative solution enables Italgas’s field workers to reference documents (e.g., technical datasheets, multimedia content and asset history) while using their hands to perform the maintenance on a specific asset.

Data collection via voice provides further efficiency, enabling users to update asset information without any manual input. Italgas’s goal is to increase the number of field workers supported by the solution and expand its functionality. At Italgas, the knowledge gained from long-tenured workers is critical. Capturing their expertise and transferring it to less experienced technicians on the job advances digital transformation for the utility.

Further Reading:

• Discover more news and analysis from OverIT on Field Service News here 
• Visit OverIT's website here 

Machines in the Netherlands are most likely to encounter cybercrimes; Ireland is least likely

The severity of cyber-breaches has become more and more intense in recent years. As a result, security experts at Specops Software sought to find out which (Western) European countries are the most cyber-insecure for citizens.

To find out, Specops Software calculated which country is most likely to encounter cyber-crimes by analysingthe percentage of cloud provider attacks on Azure and the monthly percentage of machines that encountered cryptocurrency mining, malware and ransomware.

The results show the Netherlands is the most vulnerable European country to cyber-crime, with the highest rate of cybercrime. This could be due to the large number of cloud provider incoming attacks (16.28%) to Microsoft Azure in their country.

Next is Bulgaria, who have experienced 17.55% incoming attacks/encounters. In third place is Belarus (10.83%), followed by Ukraine (10.35%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (7.06%).

The United Kingdom rank 17^th, due to a high number of cloud related attacks, in comparison to other European countries. 

Ireland are ranked as the least vulnerable country in Europe, where they had the lowest cybercrime encounter rate in every category, except cloud provider attacks – where there is 0.36% recorded incoming attacks on Azure, detected by Azure’s Security Centre.

Cloud attack encounters:

The Netherlands received the highest number of cloud provider incoming attacks, with data stating that 16.28% of Azure accounts have faced breaches. They are followed closely by Bulgaria (11.68%).

Other countries among the highest cloud attack encounters include France (2.73%), United Kingdom (2.02%) and Finland (1.72%).

Cryptocurrency encounters:

On average, Belarus has the highest number of cryptocurrency mining encounters every month, with 0.42% of machines recording the issue.

Next is Ukraine (0.33%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (0.25%) and Bulgaria (0.17%).

The least vulnerable country is Ireland, where only 0.01% of machines encountered cryptocurrency mining. 

The United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Germany and Netherlands are second least likely to encounter cryptocurrency mining, as only 0.02% of machines in each country had.

Malware encounters:

Belarus has the most malware encounters in Europe, with 10.17% of machines in the country encountering them each month on average. 

In second place is Ukraine (9.57%), followed by Bosnia (6.76%), Romania (5.92%) and Bulgaria (5.66%).

The country with the least malware encounters is Ireland, where only 0.7% of machines in the country encountered malware each month on average.

Finland (1.27%), Norway (1.33%), Netherlands (1.33%) and Denmark (1.35%) are among the countries least vulnerable to malware encounters.

Ransomware encounters:

0.09% of machines in Ukraine encountered malware on average every month, making them the most insecure country to malware encounters in Europe. 

Belarus are second most vulnerable, with 0.06% of machines encountering malware, followed by Bosnia (0.05%), Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Greece and Croatia (0.04%).

Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Finland encountered the smallest number of ransomware threats, with only 0.01% of machines facing them each month.

It used to be that investing in a Field Service Management (FSM) system gave your business a competitive advantage over your competition. The prevalence of FSM in the marketplace now means those that don’t take advantage of the latest FSM systems may begin to face a competitive disadvantage.

The world moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you’ll never know if the latest packages can bring you a greater return on investment, more efficient running, greater employee engagement and happier customers.

Eagle Field Service, By Exel Computer Systems

So, what do Exel offer that would warrant a look at the Eagle Field Service FSM solution? Apart from it being fully integrated - and that integration extending into the EFACS E/8 suite of business solutions, offering you much more functionality than other providers can.

To look at the field service aspect specifically, we can look at two concepts that Exel consider will give you the edge over your competition. Firstly, that of scheduling your engineers.

Assisted Field Service Engineer Scheduling: 

Exel’s concept of Assisted Engineer Scheduling was born out of the realisation that service call handlers had to obtain and retain a lot of knowledge regarding engineer skillsets, the types of jobs likely encountered and the average time to complete them, amongst many other things.

The Assisted Scheduler relies on over 25 parameters to determine the optimum engineer/job planning schedule. It presents the call handler with the optimum option, as well as a few more alternatives ranked in order of suitability. Information is provided for each option, should the call handler wish to determine the reasons for the order – the final decision lays in the hands of the call handler.

No matter the experience of the call handler, your client’s concerns are allayed quickly, as the call handler is able to deal efficiently and professionally, from request to engineer dispatch.

"We realised that a company's service engineers are often a hugely under-utilised sales force. They often work closely with the client and can build a high level of trust, and they often have greater access to areas of the client’s site..."

Service Customer Resource Management (CRM)

Service CRM is a concept that was realised after talking to engineers to gain an understanding of their experience. Some of these engineers had been conscientious and pro-active enough to identify further business opportunities for their company.

Following this, we realised that a company's service engineers are often a hugely under-utilised sales force. They often work closely with the client and can build a high level of trust, and they often have greater access to areas of the client’s site.

They are in a position to identify potential value-add or upgrade possibilities and either feed that back to sales, or potentially arrange a quote there and then. This can all be done via the Eagle Field Service mobile application and relayed to the back office in real-time.

“There’s no need to tab between different systems, all the information that people want is in one place. Moreover, the scheduling of service engineers isn’t just easier than before, it’s also more powerful, resulting in a more efficient routing of engineer visits, and better optimisation of engineers’ time.”

“Roll it all together, and the combined effect of a reduction in paperwork, the elimination of duplication and data entry, and better engineer scheduling, has enabled a significant improvement in engineer utilisation” Nick Stokes, Safestyle. To read about Safestyle’s experience, click here.

Further Reading:

To learn more about Eagle Field Service, please view the brochure, here.

To read more about Assisted Engineer Scheduling, please view the data sheet, here.

To read more about Service CRM, please view the data sheet, here.

Or, alternatively, get in touch with the team @ Eagle Field Service here.

Nick Frank previews the next event.

The Service Community is holding its next event at the Henley Business School’s site near Henley on Thames on the 31st March.  

The event is being hosted by MCFT (McFarlane Telfer), a maintenance provider of commercial kitchen equipment who have a Royal Warrant for Services to the Queen. We are really excited that MCFT stepped forward to host the event as it is a chance for a successful UK SME with a customer base in the UK and Middle East, to show case their approach to Services.  

Chris Craggs, MCFT CEO will will talk about their vision for leveraging  technology to more effectively integrate with Customers as well as suppliers. He will talk about the key challenges in ‘opening the eyes’ of key stakeholders as to the mutual value that can be delivered, as well as the integration challenges that SME’s face in connecting to different ‘things’ in the value chain.  

Then Veronica Martinez from Cambridge University will share recent research on how blockchain technology is being used to enable customer order management. Veronica who has spoken at previous Community events and is a recognised thought leader from the Cambridge Service Alliance and the Centre for Digital Built Britain.

We will hear from two other practitioners. Chris Leather from €3.6bn Gauselmann Gaming Group will share how IoT Technology and thinking has been integrated into their service model to achieve maximum uptime of their gaming equipment.

As a buyer of services, Tim Bennet from Rolls Royce will provide a manufacturing perspective on why he buys services and perspective as an Asset User. This will provide excellent insights for any manager looking to develop their Service Sales function.

And between these conversations, we will run a 60mins “Discussion Cafe” on the topics raised in the Community meeting.

So the 31st promises to be another excellent opportunity where 30-40 service professionals have a chance to learn from colleagues in a unique community environment  There are no sponsors, no sales people, no fees, just professionals who volunteer to share their experiences, facilities and time.  

You can sign up for this unique event through this link  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcfarlane-telfer-at-henley-business-school-tickets-78879652163 or by contacting us at info@service-community.uk

Investment will be used to accelerate growth, drive customer success and fuel product innovation.

Mize, a leading provider of connected customer experience platform and service lifecycle management software for manufacturers, today announced it has secured a significant equity investment from M33 Growth, a venture and growth stage investment firm. The investment will be used to accelerate growth, drive customer success and fuel product innovation at Mize.

As customer expectations grow, brands must deliver experiences that meet those demands, or risk customers taking their business elsewhere. Historically, much of the focus on customer relationship management has been on pre-sale interaction, but companies are increasingly recognizing the need to extend customer experience to post-sale, including service events. In fact, according to global market intelligence firm IDC, the ability to deliver enhanced experiences across customer interactions and service events has become a critical success factor for manufacturers. However, with data and processes spread across different systems, it’s difficult to properly track and service products. Manufacturers need a way to efficiently manage customer engagements across all channels, optimizing the service experience, driving up customer satisfaction and ultimately maximizing customer lifetime value.

Mize’s software platform is trusted by many of the top OEMs in the heavy equipment, consumer durables and automotive markets. No other software platform in the space can tie together customers’ needs across warranty, support, service and parts lifecycle management. Its Connected Customer Experience Platform brings together customer portals, knowledge resources, product registration, warranties and plans, servicing, parts and repairs post-sale in a more connected way, resulting in a seamless experience for the customer and improved operating margins and increased revenue for the company. While enterprise CRM and ERP systems claim to address these challenges, they have not been built from the ground up to directly address the unique requirements of managing the post-sale process and the complexities that come with it.

“Growing customer expectations have resulted in an increased demand for software platforms and applications that manage the entire service lifecycle,” said Mize CEO Ashok Kartham, a successful serial entrepreneur who is an industry expert on warranty and service management. “As companies transform the way they manage customer communications pre- and post-sale, Mize provides innovative technology and applications that support their strategic vision. We have joined forces with M33 Growth so we can leverage their financial and strategic resources to better meet customer needs and accelerate our growth globally.”

IDC positioned Mize as a Leader in warranty and service contract management and a Major Player in field service management and service parts management. “Mize delivers a wide variety of capabilities to support the evolution occurring within the service market, where primarily cutting costs is no longer the end goal,” said Aly Pinder, Program Director, Service Innovation & Connected Products at IDC. “Mize has a track record and a leadership team that has built a product, a set of functionalities and a platform that can deliver advanced capabilities across the varied processes.”

Managing the post-sale customer engagement process poses several challenges for manufacturers. In researching the market for solutions addressing these complexities, the M33 Growth team found that most platforms were solving only one component of the intricate workflow. Mize’s solution stood out as the only true enterprise grade platform that enabled manufacturers to manage the entire customer service lifecycle.

“Everyone has experienced the frustration that can come from engaging with a brand post purchase, whether making a return or getting a product serviced,” said Mike Anello, managing director at M33 Growth. “Typical post-sale processes have not evolved with the pace of customer expectations. Mize is solving for that pain point at scale by giving manufacturers the platform they need to manage the entire process. We see tremendous opportunity in the market problem they are addressing, the power of their platform and the experience of the leadership team. As a partner, M33 will help Mize grow its product offerings, customer success teams and market reach to strengthen the company’s leadership position.”

Sign up for HSO's latest webinar.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service is uniquely placed to assist in the digital transformation journey. As a leading Microsoft Gold Partner and Inner Circle member, HSO brings real added value to your business through unrivaled field service experience and functionality enhancements with HSO Dynamics Advanced Field Service.

Join Danny Wieder, Field Service Consultant and Stephen Manley, Business Development Manager, for a 30 minute webinar, where they will take you on a field service journey and explore real-life customer  stories.

Topics

• Field Service trends, challenges and opportunities
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service & additional functionality developed by HSO
• Take a ‘peek’ at some of the emerging technologies
• Real-life case studies and experiences
• Questions

Register now to find out how to win more business and increase profits with digital field service transformation.

The Webinar takes place on 19 March.

Ericsson and Japanese communications service provider KDDI have successfully demonstrated cloud-native CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) pipeline delivery for KDDI’s standalone 5G Core network – a breakthrough in delivering software features speedily and efficiently.

The container-based technology enables automatic deployment of new software and functionalities, while maintaining the high quality and availability of the 5G Core network.

Communications service providers need faster and more efficient software delivery models to reduce time-to-market for new features. Given the complexity of telecommunications networks - where solutions are often comprised of multivendor products with real time applications - legacy delivery mechanisms will be insufficient to cope with the demands of 5G networks. Ericsson’s cloud-native CI/CD delivery model addresses this challenge.  

Ericsson and KDDI partnered to create a cross-organizational end-to-end 5G CI/CD pipeline – moving from native to virtualized and cloud-native network functions.  The pipeline seamlessly deploys software from Ericsson’s product development units into the KDDI’s environment without human intervention.

The CI/CD pipeline speeds up the software acceptance process through the advanced automation of software distribution, deployment, validation and feedback, while reducing human-error risks.

It shortens time to market of new software from months to weeks. Ericsson’s CI/CD pipeline enabled KDDI to deploy complicated sliced and distributed network functions more easily through simplified workflows.

Jan Karlsson, Head of Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “Our market-leading 5G core and unique CI/CD capabilities mean faster time-to-market, higher performance and cost efficiency. Agile delivery of services while maintaining high quality and availability is a must in 5G Core networks. Our CI/CD end-to-end software pipeline achieves this. We are happy to continue to work with KDDI to automate their network operation.”

Companies join to bring a powerful device level protection that helps secure the most vulnerable IoT and edge devices, in markets such as industrial and utilities, from outsiders, insiders, and supply chain attacks.

NanoLock Security, the market leader of flash-to-cloud protection for IoT and connected edge devices, announced it is joining with Adesto Technologies Corp.  to collaborate on flash-based embedded security and management solutions for low-density flash memory devices used in products such as smart meters, sensors and controllers in smart energy, water utilities, industrial facilities and more.

The Adesto and NanoLock solution provides a hardware root-of-trust in the device’s flash memory that blocks unauthorized modifications to prevent persistent control of the device. The control of flash updates is moved from the vulnerable remote edge device to a trusted entity in the utility data center, ensuring that only validated commands and updates will modify the flash. In addition, the hardware root-of-trust provides reliable and valuable data such as attack alerts, status reports, and detailed forensic data.

The solution is particularly important for critical infrastructure, where threats can come from various attack sources, e.g., outsider attacks (such as state-level attackers), insider attacks, and off-shore supply chain attacks. To keep infrastructure safe, it is crucial that remote connected devices, such as smart meters, are protected throughout their entire lifecycle from production line to end-of-life.

NanoLock’s technology protects connected edge devices from the moment they are created on a factory floor by prohibiting malicious code from being written into the flash, and provides protection and monitoring throughout the device’s entire lifecycle. This approach is both processor-and operating system-agnostic and requires virtually zero system processing power, which is critical for power-sensitive IoT devices.

“The addition of NanoLock’s flash-to-cloud security and management technology to our flash memory devices can provide robust, device-level defense and trustworthy management for a wide range of low-density IoT devices from smart meters to door locks,” said Graham Loveridge, VP marketing, semiconductor products, Adesto. “Traditionally, providing this level of security in low-density flash devices has been a challenge. We’re excited to team with NanoLock to show that we can provide it at an attractive price point.”

“NanoLock’s patented technology alongside Adesto’s novel flash technology delivers an important additional layer of protection and monitoring for utilities and industrial companies,” said Eran Fine, NanoLock CEO. “Through our alliance with Adesto, we are able to seamlessly secure a variety of IoT devices, such as smart meters, controllers and sensors, to bring new levels of protection and control to connected infrastructure.”