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OnProcess Technology, a global pioneer in service value chain optimization, today announced OPtimize a digital transformation service leveraging predictive analytics to improve post-sale business outcomes.

Building upon OnProcess’ domain, AI and automation expertise, OPTimize enables businesses to drive unparalleled gains in service revenue, cost savings and customer experience.

“Post-sale service is vital to OEM and service provider success. Not only does it drive customer loyalty, it accounts for the vast majority of a business’ profitability. Many companies struggle with managing the fine balance between revenue, cost and customer experience, and more often than not, one or two get sacrificed for the other. When that happens, business suffers,” said Mike Wooden, CEO, OnProcess Technology. “OPTimize enables OEMs and service providers to streamline critical business processes and maximize those three service components. We make it possible for businesses to unlock new levels of post-sale value.”

“Service Council’s research has benchmarked thousands of service leaders over the years, highlighting how top-performing organizations (Service Champions) combine a holistic approach to out-performance; establishing a balance between operational and customer-facing commitments to yield commercial business success,” said John Carroll, CEO of Service Council. “OPTimize is positioned to solve service and executive leadership’s conundrum of finding an equilibrium between what has long been considered adversarial forces: profit, cost and customer experience. This is an exciting release and OnProcess is a vendor to watch.”

OPTimize provides the visibility, intelligence, automation and exception management required to improve the service value chain, from sales order management, remote triage and inventory management, to field service management, fraud prevention, warranty management, and even end-of-life services. Using OnProcess’ proprietary real-time control tower, predictive analytics and award-winning solutions, OPTimize ensures the precise balance of revenue growth and cost to serve reductions, with an optimal customer experience within your post-sale service value chain.

• Reduce Cost to Serve: Clients dramatically reduce capital expenditures, minimize operational costs and improve efficiencies throughout their post-sale services.
• Grow Revenue: OPTimize speeds time-to-revenue, reduces revenue leakage and boosts customer retention, all of which result in greater post-sale revenue.
• Enhance Customer Experience: Clients eliminate needless triage cycles, improve service quality and resolve customer issues quickly. Service events are transformed into productive, positive engagements that consistently meet and exceed customer expectations.

Click here or email sales@onprocess.com for more information about OPTimize.

 

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Fujitsu Limited and Ericsson have entered an agreement to deliver end-to-end 5G network solutions and related services under a strategic partnership. The two companies are joining forces to develop this based on their combined portfolios – spanning radio access and core network – for the dynamic 5G market in Japan, connecting communications service providers to the global 5G ecosystem.

The two companies aim to initially provide systems and solutions for the Japanese market, and seek to further expand their collaboration to other customers globally.

In the 5G era, mobile communications service providers anticipate the ability to provide highly scalable, and intelligent services through open and globally standardised technology for core and radio access network for more efficient network operations.

Ericsson and Fujitsu’s strength in research and development will ensure the best path for bringing global 5G solutions to Japan, as well as exploring a wider global market.[/quote]As a leading network technology provider, Fujitsu is making concerted efforts to support open standards activities driven by major telecommunications providers and aims to achieve broad interoperability for its radio access products in global markets.

As a world leader in 5G, Ericsson has worked closely with mobile operators around the world in the development of 5G, through standardization, trials, and prototyping.

Ericsson and Fujitsu’s strength in research and development will ensure the best path for bringing global 5G solutions to Japan, as well as exploring a wider global market.

Tango Matsumoto, Executive Vice President, Head of Network Business Group at Fujitsu, says: "Through this partnership with Ericsson, we will provide flexible 5G network systems that are open and standard compliant, and will leverage our expertise in wireless technologies and network integration to a wide range of customers in and outside of Japan. From mobile broadband, expected to be the first widespread use case of 5G, to the Internet of Things (IoT) and beyond, this partnership holds out the promise of exciting new business opportunities."

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson says: “Our global expertise in 5G combined with our understanding of the local market puts us in an excellent position to support the introduction of 5G in Japan. By working closely with operators and partners, we are creating solutions that will bring successful use cases and applications to the market. With Fujitsu we get an excellent partner to accelerate this development.”

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WorkWave, a leading provider of software solutions for the field service and last-mile delivery industries, recently announced its aim to reestablish its focus on customer experience, both through initiatives that further its position as a strategic partner to its customers, as well as with new features and functionality to promote better end-user engagement. As WorkWave’s customers are looking to not only run their businesses with ease but also grow and expand, WorkWave is committed to providing the tools and insight to enable their customers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

Along with its reestablished commitment to customers across multiple fronts, WorkWave is rolling out updated features that have a fresh, new look and feel, as well as new WorkWave PestPac® branding.

“WorkWave solutions have always enabled pest control companies to run seamlessly through its end-to-end platforms,” said Marne Martin, CEO of WorkWave. “Based on our experience and leadership in the space, we are now in a position to take our relationships to the next level and not only be a solution, but also a strategic partner enabling our customers to grow their businesses and provide the best possible service to their end customers.”

In an effort to increase WorkWave PestPac’s focus on bolstering the value it provides to its customers, WorkWave is holding an Executive Advisory Board during PestWorld. This meeting includes senior leadership from the top 15 pest control companies in the world, allowing WorkWave to have access to constructive feedback and industry insight, staying ahead of where the customer needs it to be. WorkWave also put in place its new Customer Success teams and initiatives, which combine customer relationship management and intricate product knowledge to help create and sustain solid relationships with its customers.

To help its customers differentiate themselves against the competition, WorkWave PestPac also unveiled a number of new features that are geared toward the end user, ensuring that they are receiving timely and quality service, and keeping them coming back for more.

These features include:

 

• Sales Assistant: A convenient way for customers to select, schedule and pay for services right through a pest control operator’s website. Sales assistant provides 24/7 customer accessibility to a business online.
• Route Op: Includes a new visual optimization tool that allows the user to make subtle adjustments to routes, as well as a new flexible workday calendar to add custom dates or holiday schedules. With Route Op, users have the ability to compare cost statistics, view drive time and mileage from each stop, and edit constraints right from the map.
• CustomerConnect Portal: Features a dashboard that provides convenient access to important documents and bills through targeted communications.
• EPay: A simplified payment process where the customer will receive their invoice via text or email, allowing for payment right through the link with no login.

 

These new features enable pest control companies to put the customer first and provide ways to ensure differentiation between their business and the competition. This not only enables pest control companies to succeed in the marketplace but also to expand and grow.

 

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TomTom Telematics has launched a new version of its fleet management Software-as-a-Service solution WEBFLEET 3.3 which allows fleet operators to review combined vehicle data from different sources in one easy-to-use interface.

The WEBLEET Plugin functionality allows a third party to generate notifications within WEBFLEET to draw the user’s attention to an event or a specific vehicle. This will highlight, for example, when a cold chain trailer temperature is out of range or a vehicle has maintenance issues which need to be addressed.

Using the company's award-winning WEBFLEET.connect open API functionality, the software enables flexible and easy back-office integrations to bring all information into one system.

[quote float="left"]For customers with bespoke software needs, this means faster and easier fleet control[/quote]For customers with bespoke software needs, this means faster and easier fleet control, integrating such services as safety cameras, temperature monitoring, alcohol testing, routing optimisation or ERP information within their WEBFLEET management system.

The technology is already being used by mutual customers of TomTom Telematics and VisionTrack to view vehicle camera footage directly from WEBFLEET.   

"Our customers who also use TomTom Telematics can now pull up incident footage instantly and review via the WEBFLEET interface, without having to open up the VisionTrack software independently," said Richard Lane, Commercial Director at VisionTrack.  "Having access to both visual proof and telematics data gives the clearest picture possible and helps to mitigate insurance costs. We’re excited to bring this new partnership to our mutual customers."

Beverley Wise, Director UK & Ireland for TomTom Telematics, added: “This new capability gives our customers an easier user experience, with faster and more convenient access to the management information they need to make smarter decisions.

"Having real-time third-party information in one interface makes WEBFLEET the hub for optimal fleet control."

JLT Mobile Computers, a leading developer and manufacturer of reliable computers for demanding environments, sees an increasing demand for Android within many of its core segments, including warehouse logistics, transportation, ports, mining and agriculture markets.

Responding to this trend, in March 2018 JLT launched its latest generation JLT6012™ vehicle-mount computer with Android support and is now expanding its Android operating system product suite with three new fully rugged portable computers.

Being by far the most common mobile operating system for smartphones and other consumer devices, Android, with its familiarity, ease-of-use and flexibility is now growing in popularity also in the enterprise and vertical market space.

“No doubt, there is a lot of interest in Android on mobile devices for professional use within our core markets,” observes Per Holmberg, CEO of JLT Mobile Computers. “By providing Android alternatives for our vehicle-mount computers and now also our portable computers, we help customers save on cost and training, and simplify maintenance by running the same OS on all devices deployed in their operation.”

The three new products are the 5-inch MH1005A™ rugged handheld, the 7-inch MT1007A™ rugged tablet, and the 10.1-inch MT2010A™ rugged tablet. All are IP65 dustproof and water resistant, capable of operating in temperatures of -10 to +50°C (14 to +122°F), built to withstand even the most challenging working environments, and tested to applicable MIL-STD-810G requirements.

Powered by ARM® Cortex™-A53 octa-core 1.3 GHz processors, all come with bright sunlight viewable displays, capacitive multi-touch screen, front and rear integrated cameras, as well as data capturing functions including NFC reader and optional 1D/2D-barcode reader. For maximum productivity, all include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and mobile broadband and provide full-shift battery life or more.

The new rugged tablet and handheld units, which are available for immediate order, are offered with the same high level of support and services that JLT is renowned for. A wide range of accessories is available, including vehicle and desktop docks, high-capacity batteries, battery chargers, and hand and shoulder straps.

Contact JLT Mobile Computers today for more information about the new Android-based rugged handheld and tablets, or visit www.jltmobile.com to learn more about JLT, its products and solutions.

 

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FSH, the one-stop construction company servicing the north of England, has transformed its business with a 5 in 1 management system from BigChange.  Operating as a cloud service linked to mobile apps used by workers onsite, the solution provides FSH with real-time operational information for improving efficiency, productivity and service.

Employing 132 mobile tradesmen and 65 office staff, the Castleford headquartered company has regional offices in Hull, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  FSH specialises in insurance-related work, typically repairing flood or fire damaged properties.  A new construction arm handing reactive maintenance work is also driving expansion in sectors such as social housing and education.

“We work mainly for the UK’s biggest insurance firms and providing a consistently high-quality rebuild and refurbishment service is absolutely vital,” says Matthew Cappleman, Managing Director of FSH.  “The monitoring and reporting of our work on site is however just as important and that’s where BigChange comes in.  It gives real-time visibility of every job and provides an audit trail of all work.  We can manage the work better, improve customer service, and provide insurers with immediate job updates and evidence of work done.”

With a fleet of 132 BigChange equipped vehicles providing live data for managing operations, tradesmen are being equipped with rugged Samsung tablets running JobWatch.  Mobile apps completely replace paperwork with live data reporting and the devices capture useful time and location stamped photographs, as well as customer signatures.

"BigChange really does expedite everything as our tradesman can go straight to the job and put in a full, productive 8 hour day.  The system also ensures good work discipline and good practice as the tradesmen are in effect self-managing their work, backed up with their reports and photographs. With JobWatch there is no more sitting around and managers no longer need to go onsite to check the work.  Everyone wins,“ comments Matthew Cappleman.

Stuart Welburn, Finance Director at FSH agrees that BigChange has had a positive impact, adding “Certainly BigChange has been good for business and we estimate efficiency gains of 2 or 3 percent.  However, we anticipate it will improve our profitability not only through better utilisation of our resources but by generally improving our services to continually improve our reputation and win more business’.

 

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Water and waste company Severn Trent is on the lookout for new and innovative ways to manage its water pipe network, and is now looking to the robotics sector to help provide solutions to some very specific issues.

The company is looking for individuals, companies and others to share their research or practical solutions to issues such as checking on water pipes buried several feet underground or even the automatic repair of pipes that have burst.

Dr Bob Stear, Deputy Chief Engineer at Severn Trent, explains: “Simply put, we want to see what’s out there when it comes to robotics and whether there’s anything that already exists, or which could exist in the near future, to help us with some of the issues that we face today with the thousands of kilometres of water pipes that we own and operate.

“It might be that there are devices, or research, that has a practical application in our industry but which was actually developed for something completely different.

“The beauty of this process is that we have no idea what diverse technologies might come back --but we absolutely do know the areas of our business where we think a technology solution could help us, and therefore our customers.

“We’re really excited to see what’s out there in the world of robotics and look forward to talking to the market about how this fascinating technology can help us to deliver wonderful water to our customers.”

Full details and provisional tender documents are accessible via the Bravo Solutions Tool:

severntrent.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login under the project identifiers;  project_666 - Request for Information Soft Market Test Robotics Market  and rfp_648

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Captec, designer and supplier of specialist computer platforms, has announced the launch of a brand new fully rugged tablet, built specifically for mobile workforces.

The lightweight, 8-inch VT 681 provides smaller fleets with an affordable Windows-based tablet and has been developed by Captec to disrupt the market currently dominated by more expensive rugged hardware.

Ruggedisation features include IP-67 protection and drop-testing to 1.2 metres, enabling the tablet to comfortably withstand the stresses of challenging environments including rough treatment, dust and water ingress and shocks.

With built-in GPS and an optional barcode scanner, the VT-681 supports the application needs of today’s mobile workforce across sectors including construction, field services, utility fleets and emergency services.

The addition of an integrated hand strap delivers maximum comfort on-the-go, while the active stylus pen increases the functionality available to field service professionals, even in wet conditions.

 

"With built-in GPS and an optional barcode scanner, the VT-681 supports the application needs of today’s mobile workforce across sectors including construction, field services, utility fleets and emergency services..."

 

For mobile workforces requiring use in and out of vehicles, Captec has also developed the IVM-681 vehicle dock, designed to accommodate the VT-681 tablet.

The new Captec dock is robust, compact and quick and easy to use. It features USB and power pass through and has been constructed to offer hassle-free, one-handed cost-effective docking.

To meet the critical safety requirements of in-vehicle applications, the dock has been tested for its ability to endure shock and vibration – enabling tablets to stay securely mounted, even in the event of a collision.

Gerard Marlow, Sales Director, Captec, said:

“We’re excited to be able to introduce this new rugged tablet into our range. Our aim is to provide mobile workforces with flexible, powerful and cost-effective mobile computing solutions that make their jobs easier and provide peace of mind that they’re equipped to withstand all the rigours associated with fieldwork.”

As well as developing the new tablet and dock, Captec offers a complete installation service. By fully managing everything from vehicle audits and custom cable looms to installation and through-life support, Captec optimise in-vehicle applications for reliability, safety and longevity.

Find out more about the Captec VT-681 rugged tablet here - https://www.captec-group.com/product/captec-vt-681-fully-rugged-tablet/

 

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You know the feeling. Whether it’s a patch of water by your washing machine, or an alert from a failing substation, it’s that sinking certainty that something’s wrong and that you need an expert to fix it. From that moment, everything depends on what happens when you make that first call, or raise the ticket.

On the surface, the whole concept of customer service comes down to that feeling.

Do you want customers to experience a twinge of anxiety and annoyance when they contemplate contacting you? Or just a passing moment of irritation about the problem itself, because they know it will be easy to get it resolved quickly?

In this article, we’ll look at how consumer-facing and industrial organisations can use technology to make service a positive, brand-enhancing experience, that builds customer loyalty, reduces cost and creates profitable extra revenue.

We’ll also explore the idea of servitization, and the fact that, these days, the service is the product. Customers are buying outcomes, not products, and it’s great for your bottom line.

 

THE SINGLE VIEW: IT’S GETTING PERSONAL

Much is written about the difficulty of getting a single view of the customer, when they can get in touch through your website, your contact centre, your twitter feed and so many other channels.

It matters because your customers always have a single view of your organisation.

No matter how they connect, and no matter how the experience looks and feels, customers form an instant judgement of what your organisation stands for as soon as they make contact.

That one-in-a-million moment is your first and best chance to win their hearts and minds or, at least, calm their anxieties. An easy, personalised and effective experience sows a seed of loyalty that can blossom into revenue when they next come to make a purchasing decision.

You may have thousands or even millions of customers, but at any moment the only one that matters is the one entering a ticket on your service portal, or calling your service team.

 

SERVICE: THE NEW MINDSET

This single view across multiple channels is one of the primary drivers of digital transformation. Organisations are using technology to close the gaps between themselves and their customers.

Ideas around ‘customer focus’ have been around for decades, but there is a renewed momentum behind them now that customers have such high expectations and wield so much immediate power.

Online services such as Amazon and Uber have created simple, rewarding service experiences that customers now expect from almost every organisation, while a single comment, positive or negative, can be amplified in moments across multiple social media channels.

 

"Getting closer to customers requires more than a digital transformation. It calls for a change of culture across the organisation and a deeper understanding of the entire customer journey..."

 

But getting closer to customers requires more than a digital transformation. It calls for a change of culture across the organisation and a deeper understanding of the entire customer journey.

If your structure and processes do not reflect a customer-centric strategy, then you will struggle to deliver the value that you promise.

Any investment in building a customer relationship can be compromised in a moment by a call that is not answered quickly, or a technician who arrives late with the wrong equipment.

In this customer-centric competitive environment, service has become a defining differentiator, creating new opportunities for profitable revenue. Products are increasingly commoditised, with little to choose between them, so it’s the service that comes with them that can be the deciding factor when customers buy.

In some instances, this servitization transcends the product, so that customers pay only for the benefits, rather than the product itself. The operators of Amsterdam Schiphol airport, for example, pay for a guaranteed level of illumination, rather than investing in lighting systems. Philips and their project partners Cofely provide lighting as a service, retaining ownership of the products themselves.

The Schiphol example also highlights the fact that this is not just an issue for consumer-facing organisations. Service is equally critical in business-to-business markets, where failures of critical assets can compromise service level agreements.

This may lead to financial penalties and, worse still, reputational damage that may ultimately lose the contract altogether.

 

JOINING UP SERVICE

Turning service into a decisive differentiator relies on an end-to-end integration of every aspect of service delivery. Data needs to move freely from the customer endpoint – whether it’s a smartphone app, a chatbot, or any channel – to the back office systems that log the service delivery process.

Artificial intelligence is playing a big part in service optimisation now, with the internet of things helping to automate many routine processes. A sensor on a pump at risk of failure can automatically raise a ticket that schedules a maintenance job and checks the inventory for the right parts. The engineer can arrive on site with everything needed to complete the job in one visit, with minimal need for human intervention in the process.

Customers also want more control, with AI enabling self-service apps and web portals.

Rather than joining a call queue, customers can raise their own tickets and track their progress through to the moment the technician arrives. This also relieves some of the pressure on support center agents, who spend less time on routine calls and more time on more complex cases, which again contributes to great customer experiences.

 

FIND OUT MORE

IFS is a global leader in field service and contact centre technologies. We advise consumer and industrial organisations on strategy, change management and the implementation of our solutions for a complete, connected service delivery capability.

The modular, open architecture of our solutions allows you to introduce services as you need them, and to integrate them easily with industry-standard applications such as Oracle and SAP. We’ll help you make service a rich source of revenue and growth while boosting efficiency, increasing productivity and reducing costs.

Visit https://www.ifsworld.com/uk/news-and-events/one-in-a-million/

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