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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Oneserve
Title: The Oneserve Field Service Survey
Download: Click here to download the white paper

By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis

At the end of 2015 Oneserve conducted a comprehensive survey of c.15,000 organisations of various sizes across the UK. The aim was to understand:

1. How UK field service businesses prioritise their operational and strategic objectives
2. To what extent their field management software is successfully used to achieve them

Together the results highlighted a key issue: that many businesses are missing out on the potential value of field service software, and may need to re-assess their choices. The survey responses also threw up more questions around the causes of this missed potential, and what the future holds for field service management. This white paper evaluates these findings...

Overview

Drawing on a comprehensive and far reaching survey this white paper distills the research into a number of key findings including:

Key priorities for growth:

To understand the relationship field service software has to business success, Oneserve asked their respondents what their top priorities were for achieving business growth. The three key drivers were maximising efficiencies, utilising data and exceeding customer expectations.

The missed potential of field service software

Working smarter and for less cost is clearly of huge importance to field-based businesses. It is here that field service software holds the most value for organisations; driving both competitive advantage and revenue growth. Yet the survey revealed that many organisations are missing out on the potential business value that correctly used field service software can provide.

Untapped efficiencies

What does efficiency mean for field service delivery? Intelligent stock and asset management, high ‘first-fix’ rates and fast response times, preventative initiatives, and improved scheduling? Or, getting the right person with the right parts to the right place at the right time? A deceptively complex interplay between people, processes and technology. However,  3 out of 4 companies said they could do a lot better at maximising efficiencies.

Unused Data

All efficiencies and customer service improvements come from intelligent and proactive use of data. Leveraging the comprehensive data points that arise from an intuitive and well-integrated field service software solution should provide essential information on trends and inefficiencies, and allow crucial insight to improve processes.

Yet, despite spending large amounts of money on expensive software packages that should provide valuable information in an easy-to-use, relevant format, 80% of the survey respondents admitted they proactively use less than half of their available data.

 

What’s the issue?

The results from our survey appear to show a clear disconnect between the strategic objectives of businesses and the value they are extracting from their field service software.

Whether it’s missed opportunities for promoting efficiency, under-used data insights or compromised customer care, the potential benefits of a fully integrated field service solution are simply not being fully realised.

More control for less cost

The future of field service management lies in providing more control, with less cost. Allowing businesses to adjust their solution to fit their own specific requirements no longer requires a team of experienced coders or hugely expensive professional service days that are lucrative to the software providers but prohibitive to the customer.

The recent development of ‘low code’ software solutions that allow the client’s business to implement, configure, amend and evolve their solution themselves through easy-to-use application development dashboards now means more robust, flexible and intuitive options are available - a true ‘Software-as-a-Service’ offering that provides maximum value for minimum long term cost.

 

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For more detailed information on each of these topics and a more in-depth look at overcoming the challenges the survey presents click here to download the white paper now!

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In his leader for issue 12 of Field Service News, Editor-in-Chief Kris Oldland discusses the number of field service solution providers companies flourishing in an industry that is going through seismic change and evolution... 

 

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Click here to download a digital version of Field Service News issue 12 now

 

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As the field service conference season enters full swing there have been plenty of solution providers banging the drum of late...

Indeed, the list of field service solution providers at Field Service USA held in Palm Springs a month ago was a certifiable who’s who of the industry, and alongside what was a truly fantastic three days of education, there were a number of big announcements from some of the industry’s key players.

ClickSoftware announced a new solution that takes advantage of some pretty slick artificial intelligence algorithms, Trimble Field Service Management introduced an entire new end-to-end FSM suite called Pulse whilst ServiceMax announced a very interesting tool called Service Performance Metrics that brings together analytics and best-practices in a highly innovative solution.

Then there were the new kids on the block such as Help Lightning, whose ‘mobile merged reality’ solution we’ve championed in Field Service News previously as a great use of an emerging technology that could have a truly disruptive impact on the industry.

Another honourable mention should also go to Co-Tap whose collaboration tool is perfectly set to help empower knowledge sharing and intra-engineer collaboration, a perfect tool for the emerging millennial workforce.

Not to be out done by their software counterparts, there has been plenty of innovation coming from the hardware side of the industry of late as well.

Getac have announced the launch of the next-gen S400, a fully rugged laptop that has the footprint of a regular business notebook, whilst the Toughbook 20 (which Field Service News first reported as being in development back in March last year) is the world’s first fully rugged detachable and has been picking up some very positive comments since it became available at the beginning of the year.

Another impressive looking piece of kit is Gen2Wave’s RP1600 which I got my hands on this month. The RP1600 sits in the relative embryonic niche between rugged smartphone and handheld computer - a form factor that I can certainly see evolving rapidly. You can find my review of the RP1600 on page 36.

 

And if new technology launches are the drums being banged, then it is also important to note that there have been a number of new band leaders coming to the fore lately too.

Perhaps the highest profile of these is the new CEO at industry stalwarts ClickSoftware. Following the sale of the company to Californian private equity firm Francisco Partners, Tom Heiser has been appointed and in his own words one of his first tasks is to start ‘banging the drum’ a bit more about the innovations his R&D team are developing.

Another new CEO on the block is Chris Proctor of OneServe who has had a meteoric rise through the Exeter based company within the last year. Proctor also sees the need to raise the bar in terms of shouting about the Exeter based companies successes, and is not afraid to call out his competitors (as he did back in Field Service News back in November last year).

In this issue we’ve exclusive interviews with both Proctor (page 18) and Heiser (page 40) as well as another new face to field service Rei Kasai who recently joined ServiceMax from SAP and spoke to us about what exactly Service Performance Metrics means (page 32).

Of course, we can’t talk about new developments from solution providers with out mentioning Microsoft who with their purchase of FieldOne and it’s subsequent recent re-brand to Field Service have arrived firmly back within the field service sector with all the swagger of the Rolling Stones announcing a new world tour.

Like the Rolling Stones, Microsoft having been around seemingly forever, yet they still have it in them to mix it with the very best. By incorporating FieldOne into their wider Dynamics platform, the software giant have put together a very attractive solution and I spoke to Carsten Groth about Microsoft’s plans for Field Service which you can read on page 50.

With so much development and innovation in the sector it is truly an exciting time, and such fierce competition amongst field service solution providers is not only indicative of the growing importance of service within industry, but also can only be a good thing for practitioners when it comes to finding the right solution for them.

Bang on.

 

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Click here to download a digital version of Field Service News issue 12 now

 

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For five years UK based field service software provider Oneserve have been quietly going about their way, winning significant clients yet flying under the radar. Now with a young, dynamic new CEO at the helm they are ready to stop being the industry’s best kept secret and step into the limelight...

The story of Oneserve is not that of your average field service software provider.

For a start the company actually began life as an in-house field service management tool developed for Connaught PLC - a company that focussed on repair work in the social housing sector. After an employee buy-out in 2010 Oneserve emerged as a fully fledged solution with the advantage of being unencumbered by the initial costs of R&D that many start-up software companies may have faced when entering what is both a complex and busy market.

However, perhaps more importantly they already had an intimate understanding of what good service, and the tools to enable that, looked like.

After a few quick wins on ‘home turf’ within the social housing sector, the team at Oneserve have quietly yet steadily expanded their footprint across a number of different verticals picking up some top tier customers such as Lovell, Islington Borough Council and Sky along the way.

Yet when compared to some of their competitors such as ClickSoftware, ServiceMax and IFS to name a few, it is fair to say that such success has largely remained under the radar for many in the field service industry.

However, with the appointment of a new, young and dynamic CEO Chris Proctor in February earlier this year, it seems that Oneserve are now ready to step out into the limelight alongside their more established peers and start shouting about just why it is that they feel they are ready to become a disruptive force within the sector.

Indeed, Proctor, who was promoted from Sales and Marketing Director to CEO after just eight months with the Exeter based company, has already made an significant impact in the market with a blistering attack on his peers, accusing field service software providers of ‘holding innovation hostage’ in a press release issued shortly before he took over as CEO.

 

And whilst his background as a marketeer would suggest that he is certainly savvy enough to understand the power of such an assertion in terms of getting people to sit up and pay attention to Oneserve and what they have to say, when speaking to him it is clear that this was not just a simple marketing ploy. Proctor, is a passionate guy who truly seems to get the importance of service in today’s modern world.

And in his eyes technology providers should be simply making it easier for companies to deliver the levels of service excellence that twenty first century customers both expect and demand.

“One of the key things for us was that we really felt we wanted the system to be as intuitive and easy to use as possible,” Proctor explains.

“One of our core tenets is that we are always focused on the end user – always focused on how do we make life for that client better?”

It is not only a noble sentiment but also an approach that is ultimately winning them business, although Proctor himself admits that it is now time for Oneserve to step out of the shadows and kick on, building upon their success to date.

“We’ve been working incredibly hard and diligently for the last five years but we’ve been pretty quiet about it,” he comments.

“I don’t have a quarter of a million pound marketing budget, I can’t attend all the shows we don’t get involved in a lot of that stuff and as a result we’ve kind of kept under the radar of a lot of people. I know it was a surprise not so long ago when we won the Islington contract with a lot of people saying who are these guys?”

“Today we are powering about three and a half million working hours, I’ve lost count of how many engineers, we are working across multiple sectors and now we are being pragmatic in that we are now starting to talk a lot more about what we do.”

 

In fact there are two key facets to the Oneserve approach that appear to resonate with the needs of field service companies today.

Firstly it is a model based on licences rather than professional services which will appeal to those more cost conscious Finance Directors (are there any other kind?). And it is also a fully deployable self service product which will be of interest to both Operations folks and IT alike as it means more control of things like reporting and configurations, without having to go back to the vendor every-time a change is necessary.

This is a big plus in Proctor’s eyes and he uses a neat metaphor to explain his thinking.

“If you buy a car and you drive off the forecourt you turn left – why should you have to call an engineer out to configure your car to be able to turn left, and then right and then left again?”

“Whilst that may make your journey really efficient, it makes it very efficient for a snapshot in time but if you need to diversify, if you need to take a detour or a change in direction you have to go through the same process again.”

“Our principal is exactly the opposite in that if we give you the car, really the emphasis should be on the strength of the car, the strength of the support, the strength of the training and really the overall proposition to allow you get in and drive.”

Given their background as an in-house field service solution which previously had a 360 degree role for enabling service delivery at Connaught, is it a fair assumption to say that the understanding of good service delivery remains closely entwined in the DNA of both the Oneserve product and indeed the team itself?

“Absolutely,” Proctor concurs. “For me it’s really simple. The vast majority of service calls start with a negative. For example ‘my boiler has just blown up’ or this has gone wrong or that has gone wrong. Yes there are other more planned things but by and large it always focuses on a negative,” he explains.

“And we’ve all been on the end of those experiences, those times we’ve waited for an engineer that doesn’t turn up or turns up late, but we’ve also all had those really good experiences.

 

Where they’ve told you they are going to be with you around this time and then an hour or so before they are due they call you and tell you actually I’m going to be with you at exactly this time.”

“Where the engineer has come in, they’ve be really nice, they’ve been really efficient and professional, they’ve had all the tools they’ve needed, they’ve fixed the problem and they’ve been on their way really quickly. And the difference between those two experiences is palpable.”

“It’s the same in the logistics world. We all groan into our hands when we see our parcel is being delivered by Yodel instead of DHL -it’s that differentiation in service,” He adds

“We want to turn the paradigm on its head, we want to turn every negative into a positive. We can’t control the negatives, things will always go wrong and things will always break. But if we can enhance the interactions we can control, if we can make those better, we can improve the end experience and it comes back up the chain and makes everything work much more effectively.”

“And that really is our prevailing thought, that is what we are striving for.”

And whilst empowering their clients through a self-service based product is core to the ethos at Oneserve, Proctor also outlines how closely they continue to work with their clients in order to make sure that those tools they are providing allow companies to ensure they can deliver a positive service experience.

“It remains something very important to us so we do spend time with our clients, we do spend time with them understanding how they are using the system,” he comments.

 

“In the same way we do that digitally in terms of heat mapping and workshops and understanding really what that UX means to the end user - that is very key to us. Understanding how we can make those interactions more effective, more streamlined and more engaging is very important,” he concludes.

It is this commitment to understanding exactly how their clients are using their system that will keep Oneserve close to their roots as part of a service orientated organisation themselves, which in turn allows them to develop their product in line with the needs of their customers.

Hopefully this outlook won’t change as the company continues to grow, but one change that seems inevitable is Oneserve will not be a best kept secret for too much longer.

 

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Oneserve, a field service management software specialist, has made the bold claim that the market they operate in is being stifled by market leaders, who they state are putting their own interests before the needs of their customers.

In an explosive press release published yesterday the UK based FSM software provider went on to comment that there is a a fundamental flaw in the industry going as far as questioning the integrity of other providers and the quality of the service they deliver to the mobile field market suggesting that “The dominating business model lacks the flexibility to adjust to the prevailing market demand, and subsequently, opens up a field of discontent.”

Established in 2010, Oneserve claim that the current market needs a complete overhaul if it is to give customers what they are actually crying out for; innovative, joined-up solutions that offer real value for money and reflect the needs of a modern field workforce. Those that can not or do not sign up to this way of thinking they assert, will be quickly become fossilised as more innovative, flexible companies take control.

A spokesman at Oneserve commented.“Many of the large players in this market have grown wildly out of control, meaning that customers are now experiencing appalling levels of service and in many cases are paying extortionate amounts for professional services that should not be needed; increasing the true cost of ownership and hindering their ability to develop and grow without assistance.

 

“There are too many of these lumbering dinosaurs in our sector. They are falling so far behind the ball in terms of where the market should, and will, be heading over the next few years that extinction seems only round the corner for them. For too long the business model of selling cheap licenses and then pushing hugely expensive professional services, has been the tried and tested method of securing sales. But this is changing, and quickly, it has to be about a true SaaS offering, a flexible approach that allows technology of different types to talk to each other and giving customers what they really want; a self-service model that allows them the freedom to utilise the solution as they see fit, without having to purchase extra services on top.

“The financial turnover of a number of these dinosaurs in this market is impressive. What should be so worrying for them and their customers is that despite this many are making huge losses. This combined with their lack of appetite or ability to change is adding to the momentum of the huge meteorite that is speeding towards them. There is no sign that this momentum is slowing down. Unless they are able to turn their business proposition upside down, which is not easy with such huge losses and multiple VCs piling on the pressure, there is a real chance that they’ll be wiped off the face of the market.”

Whilst Oneserve are clearly not afraid to pull their punches the world of field service management is indeed changing dramatically. The advances made in the technology can make a difference to the way that organisations are able to manage, monitor and analyse their field force.

However, South Coast based company believe this is in fact causing even more issues than it resolves. With so many companies in the field service management sector jumping on and over hyping new technology and trends such as ‘Internet of Things’, without putting the basics right first. Core issues that customers are crying out for, such as self-service, are largely being ignored argue Oneserve whilst adding that there are many customers who want to buy the solution and run it themselves and not be held to the whole swathe of professional services that too often accompanies any purchase in this sector.

In a closing statement to the press release Onserve concluded. “Companies need to understand and reflect the fact that the roles of a field based workforce has changed dramatically over the past few of years. Field service management can no longer be a rigid structured solution, it has to be a flexible one that embraces the many aspects of what a mobile workforce needs. The self-service approach is absolutely what customers want and need. They are no longer satisfied being tied to hugely expensive additional services, but instead want to buy the solution and grow and develop without ‘forced’ assistance.

The world has changed and a new breed of faster, more agile and innovative companies are taking the places of the out-of-date lumbering dinosaurs that have dominated our sector for so many years.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Oneserve
Title: The metrics that matter: How actionable analytics can transform field service management performance­
Download:Click here to download this white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis:

The top strategic action for two-thirds of service organisations is to develop or improve the metrics or KPIs used to measure field service performance. And yet only 18 percent of companies believe they have the skills necessary to gather and use insights effectively.

These two statistics represent the predicament of many field service organisations today - they know actionable analytics are vital for business success, but fully utilising the information they gather is a daunting and difficult task. This white paper aims to disentangle the vast quantity of data available in the field service management industry by highlighting the metrics that really matter and demonstrating how analytics can be used to improve business performance.  

Overview:

This white paper covers the following areas:

Customer Centric and Servitisation

Many organisations have data at their fingertips but are paralysed by the complexity and number of data sources available to them. They rely on anecdotal evidence or intuition to make decisions rather than informed business intelligence in order to drive competitive advantage.

Research shows that service organisations that fully interrogate data outperform their rivals. A like-for-like comparison between organisations which use advanced analytics and those that don’t, reveals that adopters of analytics are seeing a 60% higher increase in year-on-year revenue.

Analytics for Field Service Management (FSM)

Analytics for FSM should be based around assets in the field, the resources (time, money and people) it takes to install, maintain and repair those assets and the customer experience. Initially an organisation may just want to understand the numbers around these key activities, then in time improve processes. Ultimately the goal should be to deliver forecast and predictive analytics that achieve optimisation across service delivery.

For field service this goal can be delivered at both strategic and operational levels, for example a director might want to understand how a shift in approach can create gains for the organisation, whereas a manager might want to understand how exactly that shift can be made.

 

Incorporate the metrics that matter

To ensure analytics are able to deliver valuable insight, the right KPIs must be identified. Every service organisation must identify their own metrics based on what success looks like for them. There are however some common measures in the service industry which should be tracked by any service organisation regardless of which sector they operate within.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for field service management should include:

• Business process
• Service delivery
• Customer service
• Operational efficiency

This is by no means an exhaustive list - each metric should unlock more in-depth measures which require analysis. Clear actionable insights will be revealed as part of the analysis from which the organisation can take evidence based decisions and improve the process associated with that measure.

This should be a constant cyclical review process. 

The analytics journey

Assuming a set of KPIs has been defined, there is a hierarchy of analytics that can be applied, dependent upon the richness of the data and the analytics resource available. The advanced analytics journey demonstrated in chart 1 articulates a staged approach, which starts by examining the data and finishes by optimising the intelligence which has been discovered. Evidently each step in the journey becomes more complicated and arguably more useful as the capability and complexity of the analytics increases.

Additional benefits of analytics

Increased customer retention Research by Aberdeen Group shows organisations that embrace analytics outperform their industry average figures for customer satisfaction, customer retention and service improvement. These organisations use analytics to gain a deep understanding of customer behaviour to preempt customer needs and desires without explicit interaction.

Higher levels of motivation in the workforce The mobile workforce is the shop window of any service organisation. In fact some organisations are even combining the role of technician and salesperson. The technician is highly qualified in product knowledge and often in the customer space; this puts them in a unique position of knowledge and trust to be able to sell to the customer.

Improved bottom line Organisations which reap the greatest rewards from business intelligence see a significantly improved bottom line.

Competitive advantage By continuously analysing in-house performance figures these companies can use this insight to monitor their competitors and ensure they stay at the top of their game. The best performing service organisations are twice as likely as all others to consistently benchmark service performance against peers and top performers in other industries.

Click here to download this white paper

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Research released by Halifax and the Empty Homes Agency to mark #EmptyHomesWeek which ran throughout this week reveals that over 600,000 properties remain completely empty in the UK.

This is a stark and worrying fact that is alarming on both the human and business level. Every housing provider knows it is important to have as few empty homes (or voids) as possible – not only do they cost money, they can also be a problem for local communities.

The research also highlighted that the public are concerned about this issue –  36% of people think empty homes are a blight on their local area and 74% believe their local authority should place a higher priority on tackling empty homes.

What more can be done to convert these empty properties into cherished homes?

Reducing the time it takes for repairs and maintenance teams to complete their part of the journey to re-letting a property can be one way to reduce void days.

Field Service software provider Oneserve have been working closely with a number of Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Contractors all over the UK. Through using Oneserve, a cloud based service management solution, customers are reporting better visibility and management of the void process which is enabling them to reduce turnaround days.

Phil Pemberton, Managing Director of Property Services at Sovini (One Vision Housing) commented:

“We have reduced our voids repairs and maintenance days from 10.09 in April 2014 to 8.99 in September 2014. This is a reduction of 11% and attributable to the process improvement we have achieved through using Oneserve.”

Adam Thompson, Managing Director at Oneserve added:

“It's great to see how organisations like Sovini are using Oneserve to turn properties around more quickly. We hope to increase the number of housing providers we work with in 2015 to deliver even more value to the sector.”

How do you optimise your service delivery and ensure an excellent service is provided to your customers? It’s a question that doesn’t have a single answer; there is no silver bullet solution. What’s more, every company is likely to take a slightly different approach and what works for one organisation may not necessarily work for another.

A key aim for every organisation, though, should be to operate as efficiently as possible. That’s why Oneserve’s latest white paper is designed to get people thinking about how they can improve the efficiency of their field operations (or mobile workforce).

Here are the four key components that we believe are essential to achieving efficient field operations:

• Cost optimisation
• Workforce performance
• Customer satisfaction
• Workflow rationalisation

Read on to find out how the components fit into an effective field service management strategy.

Cost optimisation

It’s said that cash flow is the lifeblood of every business; without positive cash flow, even profitable companies can fail. That’s why getting value for money should be, and usually is, a primary aim for businesses. For this reason, cost optimisation is of great importance.

There are a number of ways in which field service organisations can optimise costs. Three of these are:

1. Ensure effective stock control and procurement – the key to managing stock is visibility; it lessens the chance of over-ordering while allowing you to ensure you have enough stock at any one time. You can also use data collected over a period of time to analyse your requirements and forecast future requirements, potentially giving you the opportunity to negotiate better rates with suppliers.
2. ]Improve first-time fix rates – in order to achieve high first-time fix rates you need to send an engineer with the right skillset to each job. They also need the right parts and tools with them, while their proximity to the job should also be considered if you want to keep costs down. If you can get all of these things right, your first-time fix rate will improve and costs should be reduced.
3. Remote resolution and preventative initiatives – although not necessarily suitable for all types of field service businesses, remote resolution and preventative initiatives can help to reduce costs. Remote resolution could involve the use of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, which allows assets to be monitored remotely. Preventative maintenance initiatives can help to reduce the number of emergency call-outs and allow costs to be managed more effectively.

Workforce performance

Your people are the key asset of your organisation. An engaged and motivated workforce will be capable of achievements well beyond simply boosting productivity.

They could provide recommendations for improvements to current, inefficient working practices and even come up with innovative new business ideas if given the chance. They’re also the face of your company, so it’s important they are conveying the right message about it. Happy employees are more likely to portray a positive image of your company and deliver a great service to your customers.

So, it goes without saying that it is important to try and keep your workforce motivated. This is not always easy when they are all working in different places, as the nature of field service dictates they often will be.

There are however a few things that can be done to keep staff engaged and motivated:

• Make sure each field worker can easily contact their line manager, and that line managers regularly meet with employees in person.
• Encourage internal collaboration so people feel comfortable asking colleagues for advice. This will also help them to build relationships between each other and work better together.
• Set goals for each member of staff so they have targets to aim for (as long as they are achievable; unrealistic targets could lead to employees becoming demoralised).
• Invest in improvement programmes and allow your staff to share suggestions on how processes can be improved.
• Maintain training programmes for your staff and remember to keep them updated with changes in the business so they don’t feel as if they’re working in a silo.

Customer satisfaction

In today’s competitive business world, keeping customers happy is more important than ever. As we revealed in arecent blog, a 10% increase in customer retention levels results in a 30% increase in company value. So, while it’s natural to go out and try to win new business, the needs of your existing customers should be kept front of mind at all times.

However, customers expect more from their service providers these days. They have greater choice and information is a click away. As a result, they are more impatient and expect issues to be resolved quickly. Meeting customer expectations is undoubtedly becoming more and more of a challenge.

Gone are the days when customers were willing to sit in and wait for a visit at some point during the day. They want to know exactly when an engineer will arrive and fix their issue. So, precise schedules must be built for all your field staff. And that’s just the first challenge – next you need to ensure these schedules are met. To do this, accurate initial diagnosis of the issue is required, as this allows you to estimate the time required for each job and take this into account when scheduling your field staff.

Another key expectation of customers these days is excellent communication. They expect to be able to contact companies in a number of ways – phone, email and social media to name a few. Therefore, try to make it as easy as possible for customer to contact you, and clearly highlight the ways in which they are able to.

Workflow rationalisation

In a recent report from The Service Council, 38% of organisations indicated that they could save 30 or more minutes per day, per technician with a basic change in process. For these organisations, this could lead to average annual cost savings of £525,000.

This statistic demonstrates the value that can be found in optimising your workflows. After all, they keep field service organisations ticking over, enabling staff to carry out their daily routines and meet the expectations of customers.

Any organisation that wants to become more efficient should review its workflows. They’re difficult to perfect but over time you should be able to identify ways in which they can be improved and streamlined.

To conduct an effective workflow review, you will need to collect as much data as possible from your existing processes and then analyse it to root out inefficiencies. For example, you can look at how many jobs per day are completed on average by your engineers and see if this matches with your expectations and targets. If it’s lower than expected, it would indicate a process review is required.

Analysing your data is key here. If you run into difficulties at this stage, you’ve already identified a way in which your processes can be improved. Consider firstly how data is collected – do you have a service management system in place that collects it automatically or are you relying on manual processes to do this? Secondly, do you have a system that allows you to analyse this data effectively through dashboards and reports? If not, it’s worth considering a service management solution that does have this capability.

You can find out more by downloading the Oneserve Guide to Efficiency which covers everything discussed here and much more.

Mobile workforce experts Oneserve are inviting clients and their customers to take the Efficiency Hunter Challenge.

The challenge involves completing a quiz based on Oneserve’s four components of efficiency: Cost, Workflow, Workforce and Customer Satisfaction.

After answering a set of specially designed multiple choice questions participants are revealed as one of four efficiency heroes; Cost Crunching Hero, Workflow Warrior, Team Power Trooper or Satisfaction Supremo.

The Efficiency Hunter campaign is the brainchild of Oneserve Chairman Mark Tincknell, who said:

“We wanted to do something different, an engaging campaign that would resonate with business people everywhere.  Customers are at the heart of every business, but inefficiencies can undermine the customer experience and send costs soaring.”

Beyond the light-hearted approach of the quiz, participants are encouraged to take a serious look at efficiency by downloading a free white paper. The paper goes into detail about how to achieve efficiency in their field operations and how mobile workforce management software could help.

Mark added

“Through the power of analytics Oneserve gives business leaders transparency, veracity and the ability to understand and transform the performance of their business”.

The Efficiency Hunter campaign launches on 1st October. Find out what kind of efficiency hunter you are by clicking the link: http://www.oneserve.co.uk/efficiency-hunter

Oneserve Contact information:

Key Contact:  Andrew Ford
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 354 335
Email: Andrew.ford@oneserve.co.uk
Web: www.oneserve.co.uk

 

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Services Provided by Oneserve:

• Call Centre management software
• Workflow management software
• Workforce scheduling software
• Mobile workforce management software
• Supply chain management software
• Asset management software
• Analytics and finance software
• Parts and stock control software
• Void management software[/unordered_list]

 

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All about Oneserve:

Oneserve is an award winning Field Service Management Software Solution; supporting a wide range of industries in getting the most out of their field based teams.

Not only is our powerful system clear, robust and flexible, our software is easy to implement, provides you with valuable knowledge about your business and personnel, generates significant efficiencies within your team, improves productivity of your workforce and delivers exceptional customer experience.

Unlike other providers, the key difference we provide is you - the ability to configure and implement the software yourself, giving you more control whilst saving on cost.

Our Cloud-based system will allow you to:

• Better manage resources, abilities and improve response times
• Streamline and automate your processes to improve the efficiency of your business
• Get jobs done more quickly and effectively
• Improve productivity through better allocation of resources
• Make smarter and better decisions
• Deliver time and cost efficiencies to your organisation

“In the last six months we’ve increased productivity by a further 25% by working closely with the Oneserve team” Phil Pemberton, SOVINI

 

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Latest Case Studies from Oneserve:

Facilities Management - Vivark

Merseyside-based Vivark is a social enterprise providing
facilities management and building maintenance services
to over 14,000 properties in Knowsley. Click here to read more 

 

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Property Services - Sovini

Sovini Property Services provides day-to-day building
repairs and investment works to over 16,000 homes in
the North West. Click here to read more

 

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Resources from Oneserve:

White Paper: Avoiding the common workflow pitfalls in field service

 It is very easy to say that field service operations should run more smoothly, it’s far harder to say how - and even harder to make it happen. This whitepaper identifies the most common pitfalls and highlights strategies to both identify weaknesses and make improvements.

 

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White Paper: The Oneserve guide to efficiency in field service management

Highly efficient field operations are the bedrock of competitive advantage and revenue growth. Any gap in efficiencies will hamper service delivery and damage the customer experience, often leading to detrimental financial and reputational costs. Find out how to capture efficiency here...

 

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White Paper: The metrics that matter

The top strategic action for two-thirds of service organisations is to develop or improve the metrics or KPIs used to measure field service performance1 . And yet only 18 percent of companies believe they have the skills necessary to gather and use insights effectively.

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