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Bittium and Getac have established a partnership to improve productivity, security and user experience for field workers in the most demanding environments...

Bittium SafeMove Mobile VPN and Analytics software will be available as an option on all Getac’s rugged tablets and notebooks across Europe from May 2016.

Getac, the global designer and manufacturer of rugged mobile devices, offers the most extensive rugged computing product lines including notebook, tablets and handheld computers. Its products are found across the globe in a wide range of sectors from military and defence, law enforcement and public safety, utilities, field service, oil and gas, telecommunications, healthcare, transportation to manufacturing.

Bittium SafeMove Mobile VPN is an advanced remote access solution that provides mobile workforce always-on, secure and seamless connectivity to the corporate network regardless of time and place. Bittium SafeMove automatically establishes the connection to the best available network with no user involvement. SafeMove also enables application-specific control of the data traffic in different networks, for example according to network speed. This ensures that business critical data is always a priority, and also defines which applications and services are allowed to use paid networks. Ease-of-use, solid security and extensible data collection and analysis tool for measuring and monitoring connectivity performance improves productivity and ensure the best possible user experience.

 

“Getac’s rugged devices are an excellent choice for professionals working in demanding environments, where secure and reliable connectivity are crucial. Bittium meets this challenge by bringing SafeMove Mobile VPN solution available for Getac’s customers. It is also important to understand how the software and devices behave in the field, to be able to optimise business processes. SafeMove Analytics is the perfect tool for that. Getac’s and Bittium’s products thus complement each other and we truly believe that our cooperation brings significant added value to customers”, says Jari Sankala, Senior Vice President, Sales at Bittium.

Chris Bye, President at Getac UK comments; “for almost 30 years we’ve been focused on providing durable, and reliable, mobile computers that withstand the harshest of environments. The partnership with Bittium further enhances Getac’s value to customers by adding the key critical area of security. We are proud to offer powerful solutions that significantly enhance the way our customers operate in the field.”

 

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Komatsu Forest, the sole supplier for Komatsu timber harvesting equipment in the UK and Ireland, is reaping the rewards having implemented a Mobile Workforce Management solution from BigChange Apps. Since introducing JobWatch, Komatsu Forest estimates it has improved operational efficiency with engineers achieving a three percent gain in productivity. Customer service has been boosted with same day reporting and timely invoicing, and the company has also improved health and safety compliance with automated vehicle checks and risk assessments.

David McIlwraith, Managing Director of Komatsu Forest Ltd, commented, “This was a completely new system for us. For years we have been running our business on spreadsheets, and this resulted in a high level of admin due to the paper trail produced. We were also in the market for vehicle tracking but knew we wanted to everything through a single system.”

[quote float="left"]“On the few occasions we have needed it, the 24/7 RoadCrew support has been excellent; good response times and regular updates.” [/quote]JobWatch from BigChange Apps offers a paperless way to plan, manage, schedule and track Komatsu’s mobile workforce. This powerful web-based platform combines back office software, mobile apps, fleet management and real-time vehicle tracking in one simple to use system.

Prior to the introduction of JobWatch, Komatsu operated a paper based reporting system with engineers completing paper timesheets and job reports – often late and with varying competency. This information was then manually entered into a number of different systems, for example, customer invoicing and payroll. Since implementing JobWatch, Komatsu Forest estimates it has saved in region of 1,000 man hours per year through the automation of essential documents and timesheets. Customer service has improved as service reports are filed on the same day the work is completed, and invoices are issued more promptly, improving the business’s cash flow.

“We now handle all documentation and all time management through JobWatch,” continued McIlwraith. “This includes vehicle checks, timesheets, risk assessments, job cards, machine inspection reports and much more. When we need it, JobWatch will also handle our stock control and invoicing, and we have even had the system adapted to cover workshop usage too. Literally, our engineers do not need to pick up a pen – everything is done at the touch of a screen.

“On the few occasions we have needed it, the 24/7 RoadCrew support has been excellent; good response times and regular updates.”

BigChange founder and CEO Martin Port added, “Securing tangible returns on investment for our customer is what BigChange and JobWatch are all about, and working with businesses like Komatsu Forest to achieve this is truly rewarding.”

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TomTom Telematics has announced the launch of  WEBFLEET for Sales Cloud, an app that integrates TomTom’s WEBFLEET telematics platform with Salesforce, making it easier for sales staff to use the CRM system on the road. It will also enable companies to manage their sales forces more efficiently and empower them to connect with customers, partners and employees in a whole new way.  The app is available on the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace.

The integration between WEBFLEET and Salesforce helps to reduce cost and administration time through automatic trip reporting and simplified appointment management. Businesses and drivers are also provided with greater insight into driving performance.

“Companies are looking to transform the way they connect with customers, partners and employees to thrive in the age of the customer,” said Ryan Ellis, VP, Product Management, AppExchange, Salesforce.

“By leveraging the power of the Salesforce App Cloud and integrating real-time telematics data with Sales Cloud, TomTom Telematics provides customers with exciting new opportunities to improve business performance through connected car technologies.”

Taco van der Leij, VP Marketing at TomTom Telematics added: “Integrating WEBFLEET with Salesforce is a natural extension of our Logbook application, which automates mileage registration for expense claims. Both help to make business administration easier for staff on the road, providing them with tools to improve their sales performance. Furthermore, by combining telematics and CRM, sales managers can gain visibility and insight into performance in the field.”

WEBFLEET for Sales Cloud allows office staff to assign client appointments in the Salesforce calendar to the employee’s TomTom Pro Driver terminal. Dashboards allow trip data to be compared with opportunities, leads and closed deals to analyse the effectiveness of each sales representative.

 

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New UK research shows that UK SMEs have a bullish attitude towards investment over the next 12 months. SMEs are most likely to invest in IT equipment, cars, vans and plant & machinery.

Research carried out for London-based SME asset finance and leasing specialist Norton Folgate revealed that of 400 surveyed  four in 10 (39%) of SMBs planned to invest in new IT equipment over the next 12 months, spending an average of £5,290 each.

Cars are the second most popular working asset among SMEs, 18% of business owners planning to acquire at least one over the next year, spending on average £14,496.

Plant & machinery (12%) and commercial vehicles (11%) are in third and fourth places with SMEs spending an average of £7,426 and £11,163 on these respectively

According to the findings, 10% of SMEs intend to use asset finance and alternative finance to acquire their working assets, underlining the growing popularity of this sector.  Indeed, more than half (53%) expect demand for alternative finance – including asset finance - to increase over the next two years.

Norton Folgate, part of the Amicus Group since 2015, reports seeing a significant increase in the number of enquiries among SMEs. Robert Keep, Founder and Principal, said: “Most SMEs understand the critical importance of up to date IT systems and this is reflected in their willingness to invest in new equipment over the next 12 months.

“We’re finding that many small business owners increasingly see the value of using asset finance to acquire these rather than tying up working capital or turning to bank overdrafts and expensive credit cards. Being part of Amicus has put us in a very strong position to further enhance our asset leasing and finance capabilities.”

John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus commented: “It’s encouraging to see such significant numbers of SMEs are committed to investing in their working assets and the growing importance of asset finance.  Norton Folgate has built a very strong reputation in this field and is playing an integral role in our strategy of offering a diversified range of specialist lending services.”

 

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Geotab, the Canadian telematics platform provider, has won the North American Product Leadership award in Frost & Sullivan’s 2016 Best Practices Awards.

Frost & Sullivan presents the Product Leadership award to the company it considers has developed a product with innovative features and functionality to gain rapid acceptance in the market. Geotab was recognised both for innovative fleet management telematics solutions and for the partnership-based model that has helped its fast growth.  The company now has 500,000 vehicles in 70 countries using its platform, and over 900m data points are collected daily.

“Geotab’s hardware engineering and software development success has made it a one-stop fleet management solution provider, while most competitors specialise in one or the other,” said Frost & Sullivan Senior Analyst Krishna Chaithanya. “Due to its ability to offer customers technologically superior services compared to other telematics companies in North America, Geotab has witnessed remarkable earnings growth. Company revenue stood at $76 million in 2015, up from $59 million in 2014. The company estimated that its 2016 revenue would exceed $105 million.”

The Geotab GO7 is a small form-factor GPS plug-and-play vehicle tracking device able to integrate with a vehicle’s on-board diagnostics port.  The scalable MyGeotab platform and powerful tracking algorithms allow fleet managers to track vehicles in real time and provide actionable alerts to drivers. Customers gain an in-depth understanding of fleet movement, equipment health, stoppages and routing problems to ensure optimal time management and consumer satisfaction.

The real-time integrated fleet management capabilities in the Geotab platform may not seem cutting-edge in Europe, where operators have benefited from this level of functionality for several years now,  but it does appear to be a relatively recent development in the North American market, and the feedback capabilities of Geotab’s GO TALK impressed Frost & Sullivan.

It acknowledged that one of the key benefits of the Geotab solution is the company's input-output expander (IOX) technology, which allows businesses to easily expand their fleet management capabilities for specific needs such as satellite tracking, driver ID, hours of service, camera systems, and temperature monitoring.

Geotab has made its data open for easy integration with customers’ IT systems and third-party apps. “Importantly, Geotab’s competence in data engineering and solution development results in competitively priced products that offer in-depth information about productivity, safety, efficiency, and compliance” noted Chaithanya. “It supports advanced safety management for drivers and fleets, more constructive fuel management, constant monitoring of vehicle engine health, and strict reinforcement of safety guidelines.”

 

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Rugged computer designer and manufacturer Getac has unveiled the third generation of its F110 tablet and V110 convertible rugged computers. They feature the latest Intel Core processors which as well as optimised power performance, image processing, networking speed and efficient power management also deliver higher levels of data security.

Robby Swinnen, Vice President,  Sales and Marketing Group,  at Intel Corporation explains; “Data breaches start with misused or stolen user credentials. To address this concern, 6th generation Intel Core vPro  processors  feature Intel Authenticate Technology, a hardware-enhanced, multi factor authentication solution that strengthens identity protection by capturing, encrypting, pairing, and storing PINs, biometrics, keys, access rights, as well as other identification data in the hardware, thereby hiding the target from hackers to effectively strengthen the protection of corporate identities,”

Chris Bye, President, Getac UK, comments; “Rightly our customers demand the highest levels of performance available from Getac devices. With the latest upgrades to the V110 and F110 we’ve clearly achieved that as well as incorporating new technology from Intel to protect customers against modern data security threats.”

There's a choice of two Intel Core processors available: an i5-6200U 2.3GHz (2.8GHz) or an i&-6500U 2.5GHz (3.1GHz).  Improved RAM (up to DDR4 (expandable to 16GB) is matched to SSD  hard drives of 128GB , 256GB or 512 GB

There is built-in Intel dual band Wireless AC-8260 supporting WLAN 802.11ac, plus Bluetooth 4.2. The Intel HD Graphics 520 graphics card paired with a dual-lens design enhances on-site evidence collection and image processing capabilities.

Screen enhancements include 11.6in TFT LCD capacitive multi-touch screens, which are equipped with Getac 800-nit LumiBond 2.0 technology for clear visibility under bright lights. As well a touch, there is a new stylus pen and digitizer pen for more accurate interacting with applications while on the go.

A higher resolution FHD webcam will support video calls as well as facilitating streaming situations back to base, for example in healthcare or defence. Both tablet and convertible incorporate Getac’s LifeSupport hot-swappable battery design for uninterrupted productivity.

The V110 and F110 devices are certified to for water/dust resistance, protection against falling damage (up to 4 ft.), operating temperature range from -21°c to 60°c, as well as MIL-STD 810G and MIL-STD 461F for military standards, and the e-Mark vehicle safety certification.

 

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Best practices, customer insights and recommendations distilled from 20 years of experience are included in the new book written by Mike Karlskind, Stephen Smith, & Alec Berry of ClickSoftware 

 

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Want to get a signed copy? Field Service News readers can pre-order a signed copy now! Register for your copy  @ http://bit.ly/1W6u3Fb 

 

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Over the last 20 years, ClickSoftware’s customers have managed billions of successful service engagements, and have seen firsthand just how hard service delivery can be.

Our new book Service is Hard: Turning Common Field Service Challenges into Customer Engagement Opportunities, contains insights, best practices and recommendations from experts, thought leaders, and analysts, representing hundreds of person-years of experience.

This book addresses eight of the toughest challenges in achieving consistently exceptional service, from best practices for customer experience to managing spare part consumption in the field.

The book’s chapters collect insights from leading service companies, implementers, industry experts, and software developers and provide recommendations on steps to take to successfully address each challenge.

They are:

1. Holding the customer’s hand – why customers expect superior service
2. Aligning conflicting stakeholder interests
3. Metrics for measuring field service management
4. Integrating field service management and legacy systems
5. Managing in-day schedule disruptions
6. Integrating parts into field service management
7. Achieving mobile application adoption
8. Turning the Internet of Things vision into value

 

The Customer Service Imperative

Global economic growth over the past century, driven by the manufacturing and selling of products, has created two groups of unsung heroes whose work is mainly out in the field: technical professionals who install, maintain and repair products; and service-based people who provide services such as home-based health care.

Both groups have typically been viewed as operational cost centres to be contained and optimised. The more recent realisation is that these service heroes are the driving force for effective customer engagement, the brand ambassadors who present the employer’s face to the customer.

 

These companies—from the smallest service contractor to the largest global enterprise—see superior service as a primary competitive differentiator and growth engine.

This shift in thinking recognises important truths about business today.

Customers want (and can mainly get) what they want, when they want it.

You no longer compete only against others who do what you do, or sell what you sell. You compete with every experience that your customer has with every company that provides your customer any type of service.

A Business and Technology Perspective

The nature of assets, equipment, tools, and knowledge used by service-led businesses addressing different vertical markets is unique.

Regulators, competitors, geography, customers and the supply of qualified service professionals are some of the varied characters of these service operations’ external influences, while internal influences include available capital, corporate history, reporting structure and executive strategy. Regardless of type of business or industry, Excel spreadsheets and legacy tools historically used for field service management (FSM) have facilitated only tactical and reactive approaches to the field service challenge.

 

While these tools allowed individual managers or dispatchers supporting a small part of a business or service to make decisions that suited a granular part of the business, achieving total operational awareness was not possible, much less efficiency and effectiveness. Today’s FSM solutions need to support an approach that can consistently deliver against the defined strategy, meet regulatory requirements and deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction while addressing the variability of each business and industry of operation.

Embracing the challenge is only step one.

Customer service excellence is a journey rather than a destination, a cliché that is as true as ever in the context of transforming service.

As noted in our book’s title, “Service is Hard” - it is challenging to implement business changes to improve service delivery and enhance the customer experience at the same time. Our advice: keep your eyes on the prize.

Building world class operations is not easy, otherwise every business would already have done it. Focusing on the top 8 challenges with the right team, the right mindset and the right technology solutions makes excellence in field service operation possible for any organisation.

 

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Want to know more? Field Service News readers can pre-order a signed copy of this book now! Register for your copy @ http://bit.ly/1W6u3Fb

 

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mplsystems, providers of contact centre and field service technologies, have recently announced their inclusion in Gartner’s 04 May 2016 “Magic Quadrant” - for the CRM Customer Engagement Centre.

This positioning follows their inclusion as a Visionary in Gartner’s 15 October 2015 Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) Western Europe, making them one of two vendors to appear in both Magic Quadrants.

This is the second consecutive year that mplsystems have been recognised in the Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center by Vice President and Gartner Analyst, Michael Maoz and Research Director Brian Manusama.

As stated in the report, “This Magic Quadrant examines the global market for customer service and support applications designed to engage customers through whichever channel they are using when they require assistance.”

"We are extremely honoured to be included in Gartner’s CRM Customer Engagement Center Magic Quadrant 2016; we believe it is a reflection of our pioneering technology, which allows agents to deliver an exceptional experience, regardless of whether the customer contacts the company via phone, social media, website or mobile device.” comments Paul White, CEO of mplsystems.

“We feel our inclusion in both of these reports provides validation of our unique capability to create true Omni Channel solutions - bringing together CRM and multimedia, alongside automation and complex business process management.”

 

Gartner evaluated a number of vendors for the 2016 report, performing more than 150 online surveys and 50 telephone interviews with vendor references, as well as conducting over 1000 inquiries with Gartner clients, further evaluating the products.

The report states that; “at the heart of a CEC is a case management and problem resolution system. It requires a strong ability to create, split, federate, join, assign and escalate cases, if it is not to be of merely marginal benefit to a CRM initiative.

The functionalities evaluated in this Magic Quadrant include those for knowledge-enabled service resolution, social media/community management and offer management. Also evaluated, are interaction assistance tools and service analytics dashboards.” Gartner also reflected that, “to support customers, some interactions will remain human-assisted, while far more will be automated and some will require customer self-service through search tools or social media channels.”

mplsystems’ vision is to transform consumer experience and agent efficiency in the service center, by bringing together all multimedia communications with contextual customer data in a single unified agent desktop.

The software guides agents through complex business processes whilst removing the need to hand actions off to the back office for processing.

Alongside this, their innovative self-service module filters out simple interactions for automation as it seamlessly routes the remaining transactions for agent assistance. What makes mplsystems really unique is their ability to offer not only these customer service solutions, but also cloud contact centre and field service technology as part of a truly end-to-end Omni-Channel solution.

About the Magic Quadrant
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

FieldAware, a leader in mobile, cloud-based field service automation solutions, has announced the availability of its Spring product release, the latest software release for its mobile field service management solution.

This release includes integration to leading accounting software packages and moves the solution forward globally with its availability in French language localisation.

“We continue to focus our software releases on bringing additional value to our customers and adding market-driven features and functionality,” said Andy Murphy, director of product development at FieldAware.  “Today we are announcing our latest accounting integrations to further strengthen our integration portfolio.  This means businesses with established technologies already in place can seamlessly add FieldAware to their current infrastructure with minimal risk and accelerated benefit. In addition, we have quickly reacted to increased international demand by leveraging our agile software to release our first in a series of language localizations.

The integration of FieldAware’s mobile solution with the Sage, Xero and Quickbooks Online and Desktop platforms enables customers to streamline invoicing.

When a work order is complete, and a job is closed-out on a field worker’s mobile device, an invoice can be automatically generated in the back office.  The invoice includes all costs related to the work order, such as the cost of service and any parts/inventory consumed, and can be sent to the customer immediately.

 

The result should be an improvement in days sales outstanding (DSO) metrics by getting the job billed immediately; and less leakage because nothing falls through the cracks, every part is accounted for and every job is billed, by connecting the job in the field directly with accounting.  Integration of FieldAware with a customer’s accounting system also means that new companies, contacts and parts can be created in either system and automatically synced to both platforms.

“Integration with best-in-class technology platforms will continue to be a priority for us,” said Lynn Jones, VP, Marketing at FieldAware. “Integrations like these accounting packages, and our NetSuite and Salesforce.com integrations, help our customers drive their businesses strategically and extend the value of their incumbent systems.”

French is the first language to be released as part of FieldAware’s language localisation and international expansion strategy. Available on both the FieldAware web-based app and mobile app, it allows French-speaking businesses to immediately take advantage of the mobile-first field service offering provided by FieldAware. Additional languages will be added with each new quarterly feature release.

FieldAware’s made for mobile solutions provide field personnel with mobile tools that increase their productivity, generate more revenue and turn customers into brand advocates. Its Web-based back office functions are built on a flexible, cloud-based architecture with unlimited configurable fields that can accommodate virtually any business process.

FieldAware’s solution is integrated with the leading CRM, ERP and accounting systems and easily integrates with a business’s custom back office applications.

 

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