Having undertaken a recent research project exploring trends amongst field service companies involving use of the Cloud for Field Service Management Systems as well as the ongoing development of mobile solutions for field service, Field Service...
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Sep 24, 2015 • Features • mobile apps • mobile computing • Research • ClickSoftware • cloud • field service • Managing the Mobile Workforce
Having undertaken a recent research project exploring trends amongst field service companies involving use of the Cloud for Field Service Management Systems as well as the ongoing development of mobile solutions for field service, Field Service News, sponsored by ClickSoftware are pleased to bring you this four part report exploring the research findings written by Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland....
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FIELD SERVICE, MOBILITY AND THE CLOUD
Cloud computing has been a key topic in field service circles for some time now. In fact it seems every time we read about a company implementing a new service management system it is mentioned that they opted for a Cloud based solution. Indeed the benefits of the Cloud are well documented.
Less reliance on IT, built in disaster recovery, regular and free updates, lower overheads, and so on and so forth. And the Cloud is no longer a particularly new technology. It’s not emerging anymore, it’s emerged. In fact it is now almost twenty years ago that Salesforce, a company born in the Cloud when it was just not more than a whisp of cirrus in the stratosphere, first began evangelising Cloud computing as the way of the future.
Fast forward to today and Salesforce is the leading player in the CRM sector and despite not having a direct presence within the field service sector, is arguably one of the key driving forces for the adoption of the Cloud in our industry. How often do we hear companies stating that ‘integration with Salesforce’ was a big factor for them when deciding to opt for whichever of the numerous modern service management suites are available.
Certainly those service management software providers that were savvy enough to develop field service apps for the Salesforce App exchange such as ClickSoftware’s ‘ClickWorkforce’ have gained something of a competitive edge in recent years by doing so.
Yet despite these seemingly all conquering headlines the reality highlighted by various research appears to be very different at least for the adoption of the Cloud as a platform for field service management solutions. Indeed our own 2014 research project showed that only 23% of companies were running there field service management software in the Cloud. So why this discrepancy?
Is it a case that we in the trade media are over egging the pudding and putting to much hyperbole around the use of Cloud in field service?
Is it a case that Cloud looks like a more attractive prospect from distance...
This is of course valid and many companies will eke out every last drop of functionality they can from their existing legacy systems rather than face the turmoil of moving a business critical operational tool from one system to another. But if this is the case surely we should start seeing a growing momentum towards the Cloud year on year? With this in mind Field Service News in partnership with ClickSoftware has decided to the revisit this area of research some 18 months on.
When writing the report for last years research I concluded that the Cloud is set to become an established platform for field service technology, and even ultimately become the most commonplace method of distributing field service software. Is it time I reassessed that statement, or is the momentum of the Cloud slowly gathering pace?
ABOUT THE RESEARCH:
The research was conducted online across July and August this year. The respondents were a mix of Operations, IT and Business Leaders working within organisations that had a field service operation.
Company sizes range from SMB’s with under 10 field workers to the enterprise level companies with over 800 field workers. In total 150 respondents answered the survey with respondents coming from a number of different verticals including Manufacturing, Engineering, IT solutions, construction, fire and security, healthcare and more. As with our 2014 survey after the question ‘Is your current field service solution on premise or in the Cloud?’
The survey split into two in order to give us insight from those currently using the Cloud and those that are still on premise. This enables us to better ascertain the benefits being seen by those using the Cloud alongside the reservations of those who are not.
MID SIZED MOVEMENT
The headline statistic to come out of the research is that indeed there has been a slight shift towards more companies using the Cloud than before. In fact there has been a swing of 3% in favour of those using the cloud with 26% of companies now having their field service management solution in the Cloud versus 74% who are using on-premise.
26% of companies now have their field service management solution in the Cloud
However, a logical continuation of that thinking is that we would find those companies with larger field worker numbers more likely to remain on premise than those smaller companies for the simple reason that they are more likely to have invested in the expensive infrastructure to run an on premise solution and would therefore potentially be more tied to their existing system - making a switch to a new solution harder work.
Yet when we drill down into the data and separate the companies out into three groups – those with less than 50 engineers, those with between 50 and 500 engineers and those with more than 500 engineers we find that in fact this doesn’t hold true. Actually whilst the trends amongst the largest companies very closely mirror the respondents as a whole (25% Cloud vs. 75% On premise) it is amongst the smaller and mid sized companies that we see the biggest variance. Interestingly smaller companies, who are generally viewed as being the most likely to be attracted to the Cloud due to the more affordable Software as a Service subscription model that most Cloud vendors offer, were the group that were most reluctant to have their field service operations on the Cloud - with just 17% doing so.
Mid-tier companies were the group that had the most Cloud based systems
When we look at the same demographic in our previous research this is an increase of 21% of companies, so whilst on premise still remains the way the majority of run their field service management systems, a shift to the Cloud, amongst this demographic at least, is clear. Still the question remains why are we seeing more acceptance towards the Cloud within these mid sized companies than amongst their smaller counterparts? (If we accept the earlier premise that those larger companies may take longer to adapt due to greater change management challenges.)
One possible answer could be found in the make up of the decision-making units of those smaller companies. Of those companies with less than 50 engineers that are not using the Cloud, only 15% of companies had input from their IT director or equivalent whilst of those mid sized companies that have adopted the Cloud 71% involved their IT Director or equivalent in the selection of a field service solution.
Could it be that amongst smaller companies it is a case that without the input of a technology specialist, some of the headline fears around the usage of Cloud persist. Whereas amongst those larger companies, who have a more developed IT department adding their insight, perhaps there is more understanding of both the true benefits and dangers of the Cloud?
One question within the survey that could certainly give us further insight into this assertion was ‘Which of the following sums up your perception of the Cloud in business’ which had the following four options
- I believe it is the future of enterprise computing
- I see it’s benefits but still have some concerns
- I wouldn’t trust placing sensitive data in the Cloud but would use for general applications
- I think we should keep everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.
[/unordered_list]Given the fact that there was a fairly even balance between the two groups of company sizes, the varying responses certainly indicated a more cautious outlook towards the Cloud from the smaller companies than their mid sized counterparts.
Within the group of companies with between 50 and 500 field service engineers 58% felt that Cloud was” the future of enterprise computing”, with a further 32% stating that they “saw benefits of the Cloud whilst having some concerns.” Interestingly not a single respondent from this group stated “we should be keeping everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.”
When we compare this to the responses of those companies with less than 50 engineers we see the confidence in the Cloud significantly reduce with only 38% stating they “believe the Cloud is the future of enterprise computing” whilst 20% “wouldn’t trust placing sensitive data in the Cloud but would use it for general applications” and “5% stating they think “we should be keeping everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.”
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Sep 14, 2015 • Features • PTC • research • Research • IoT • servicemax
As we approach the half way point of our current research project being run in partnership with ServiceMax and PTC that is looking at how those in field service feel around the Internet of Things and it's likely impact on the field service...
As we approach the half way point of our current research project being run in partnership with ServiceMax and PTC that is looking at how those in field service feel around the Internet of Things and it's likely impact on the field service industries Field Service News Editor-in-Chief takes a look at the findings so far and what are the initial emerging trends...
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Reactive vs. Proactive
There has been a lot of discussion for quite some time around the need for field service companies to move towards a more pro-active model of working, moving towards a more preventative maintenance model instead of the traditional reactive break-fix -approach which has been adopted by service companies for decades.
By moving to a more preventative approach field service companies can of course begin to schedule in jobs to allow for optimum efficiency in terms of routing and planning. However, a regular planned maintenance schedule may mean a lot of wasted hours visiting sites where a device is perhaps underused and maintenance is unnecessary.
one of the big potential drivers of the Internet of Things in field service management is the ability to remotely monitor device performance and automate service requests from the device itself
To assess if this type of approach would be suitable in field service we first of all asked our respondents if they were working on a reactive basis or preventative or a mix of both. Our findings so far show that a mixture of both reactive and preventative call-outs is very much the way most companies operate with 36% of companies stating they “operate a proactive strategy where possible but are still mostly reactive” whilst the same amount state their “service is half proactive and half reactive”.
This would certainly suggest that one of the big drivers of utilising IoT in field service management is definitely, i.e. the trend towards preventative maintenance model of service delivery is already clearly identified as a means of improving efficiency within service delivery and so the potential introduction of IoT tools to improve this would likely be well received.
Underlying technology
In terms of field service management the Internet of Things is very much being talked about as the next big technology however for it to be utilised as effectively as possible it could be argued that it is imperative to have other underlying technologies in place. For example in the earlier section we looked at how moving to a preventative maintenance model could be really enhanced by IoT and we saw that indeed many companies are adopting this approach.
In terms of field service management the Internet of Things is very much being talked about as the next big technology
In fact the research supports the notion that IoT is part of a vanguard of new technologies being seen as the next generation of field service management tools which will be complimentary to and in addition to those technologies many companies having already invested in such as mobile computing, field service management solutions and telematics solutions which were being used by 63%, 51% and 25% respectively.
Views around IoT
Indeed the interim results of this research certainly seem to show a great deal of confidence in the Internet of Things as a field service management tool.
In fact 44% of companies think that the Internet of Things “will have the biggest impact on field service operations within the next five years?” whilst just half (49%) believe that “IoT will become a fundamental part of field service operations in the future.”
What is particularly interesting however is that having asked “When do you think IoT will become common place within field service operations” over two thirds of respondents (34%) said they felt it already is beginning to happen and also debunking the myth that IoT in field service management is the realm of only the largest enterprise companies, 68% of our respondents felt that the benefits of IoT could be felt by companies of all sizes.
Meanwhile almost a third of companies were planning an IoT strategy whilst a further 32% had either implemented or were implementing an IoT field service management strategy.
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Sep 08, 2015 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • future of field service • Research • Click • field service
Like any other industry, the world of the casino has had to adapt to the many trends and changes in which new technologies offer a range of options for maintaining, supporting and implementing operational activities. ClickSoftware explores how the...
Like any other industry, the world of the casino has had to adapt to the many trends and changes in which new technologies offer a range of options for maintaining, supporting and implementing operational activities. ClickSoftware explores how the role of field services will change.
With global gambling revenues rising to over $450 billion in 2014 the industry is clearly still massively profitable. And with changes in legislation that have helped deregulate a lot of red tape that previously inhibited the casinos' activities, it looks like global gambling will soar in the future.
However, such expansion provides new challenges and new opportunities for the industry. And from the simple field service operations of maintaining existing casino operations, to adapting to the new digital challenges offered by cloud-based gaming platforms, there are many questions as to how the role of field services will play in this new and exciting future.
A highly knowledgeable and ever-ready team of field service operatives must be on hand to provide support for the vast array of potential problems that could occur. Traditional casinos are massive operations that require a great deal of skill and forethought in how to maintain and operate the wide range of functions that the businesses provide. In terms of the actual gaming activities that are conducted, a highly knowledgeable and ever-ready team of field service operatives must be on hand to provide support for the vast array of potential problems that could occur.
The sheer quantity of gaming options can often present a headache to the field service engineer
Similarly, with a range of other activities being conducted under a casino roof ranging from entertainment, catering and hospitality, the field service operations will also be under a great deal of pressure to implement productivity software with dynamic scheduling so that knowledge is shared and activities can be aligned in these huge business operations.
As casinos operate with a highly visible 'front-of-house' operation, it's therefore highly important that any field service activity is conducted in a discreet and professional manner with the minimum of disruption to the business' activities. As such, mobile apps run on compact devices are the most effective way for field engineers to stay connected in this demanding situation.
The field service aspect of this changing relationship between customer and industry will be adapted to become specialised in the digital and technological side of gaming operations.
As such, the field service aspect of this changing relationship between customer and industry will be adapted to become specialised in the digital and technological side of gaming operations.
This is especially the case with the rise of cloud-based gaming that promises to allow people to enjoy streamed high-end games direct to their device. Such a method of playing games threatens to revolutionise the traditional console-based activities as the actual game will be stored, executed and rendered on a remote computer that streams live-video action of the game to the player's device.
This method of conducting gameplay could revolutionise the online casino experience as players will be able to enjoy a much wider variety of games from different systems regardless of what device they actually own.
And with the recent news that Sony had purchased the defunct cloud-gaming site OnLive, it looks like big business will be stepping into this exciting new area of gaming potential. Whether this will result in a centralising of operations remains to be seen, but it will undoubtedly result in a much higher technological adaptation on behalf of field engineers to keep servers running and ensure that connectivity between the customer and business doesn't suffer.
Despite all of the changes that are taking place in this rapidly growing and hugely popular industry, the key concepts of field service operations must stay the same however. So clear communications between operatives through the use of rugged hardware and mobile devices that take advantage of cloud-based support will all have to be implemented and sustained in order to ensure the smooth running of the modern casino environment.
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Sep 02, 2015 • Features • Magazine • Magazine (digital editions) • MIcrolise • Research • resources • cloud • Field Service Forum • Servitization • SME • sony • tomtom
Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland reflects on a busy summer in the European field service industry in his leader for issue seven of Field Service News...
Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland reflects on a busy summer in the European field service industry in his leader for issue seven of Field Service News...
Click here and complete the brief form to download a digital copy of Field Service News issue seven now
I’ll be honest, when the doors closed on the third day of this year’s Service Management Expo I gave an almighty sigh of relief...
Not only was it the end of a very busy three days but it also marked the end of what was an incredibly busy conference season in the European field service industry and to be quite frank I think everyone needed to take five just to catch their breath.
Since we published the last edition of Field Service News we’ve attended the Aston Spring Servitization Conference, The Field Service Forum, The TomTom Telematics Developers Conference and of course the Service Management Expo and each of these events brought into focus some of the key conversations that are happing in our industry today.
There has been an abundance of excellent content produced by some of the leading figures in Telematics, Servitization, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and much more with each outlining how these varying tools and technologies will impact on field service.
And whilst long may it continue, it is also good to have a little bit of time in these long, hot summer months to let all these ideas, concepts and strategies tumble around in our heads for a while. Then, as we move into the final quarter of the year, our thoughts and plans around how we can harness some of these concepts, can solidify and evolve into strategies with substance.
And as I start to bring some of my own thoughts into focus my first initial observation is that so many of these new trends are interconnected.
In the past I’ve explained my belief in this column that we are entering a golden age of service, driven by a perfect storm of technologies emerging together and if anything the last few months have reaffirmed that belief.
Service is no longer an after thought but a primary business driver and if there was ever any doubt about this it was completely eradicated at the Aston Servitization Conference.
It was fantastic to see academics and industry leaders coming together to learn from each other and at the end of an intensive two days there was no doubt in my mind that this growing trend of Servitization was moving very quickly from academic theory with a handful of industry examples (albeit high profile ones) to a considerable shift in business thinking which is continuing to gather momentum.
Indeed the topic of servitization raised it’s head again when I interviewed Sony’s John Cooper with Cooper providing a perfect example of Servitization in a new contract with Spanish media outlet Telemadrid. As Cooper himself explains “when it’s pay-per-usage - it becomes all about the service.”
Which of course brings us back to the technology, for working in the parameters of an outcome based solutions contract means that your field service operations have to be highly efficient to ensure you are delivering the uptime levels such contracts are built upon.
“We are entering a golden age of service, driven by a perfect storm of technologies emerging together”
And it is not just the devices our engineers are repairing and maintaining that are becoming connected, it is their tools and even their vehicles themselves that are becoming connected also.
It is of course no surprise that the connected vehicle dominated conversation at the TomTom Developers Conference, but in fact it wasn’t the only game changer for fleet management discussed that day in Amsterdam.
We also saw TomTom Telematics redefine themselves as a Platform as a Service for the telematics industry with the launch of their Apps Store, and this new model for telematics, built on open integration, is something of a game changer.
It is a smart move by the Dutch Telematics giant and one which couldn’t have been better timed as another major player in the Telematics space, Microlise who have a phenomenal reputation within the haulage sector, have also turned their attention to field service with the launch of a very slick new solution Clear.
And then of course there are the two technologies that are underpinning most change in field service, Mobile and the Cloud. 18 months ago we researched the Cloud and I made some bold predictions around it’s adoption in field service. In our latest research project we revisit some of those claims and see if, how and why the adoption of Cloud based solutions in our industry has moved on at all within the last 18 months.
Time to let those little grey cells get to work...
Aug 31, 2015 • News • M2M • Oil&Gas • Research • Berg Insight
The installed base of wireless M2M devices in the oil & gas industry will reach 1.25 million by 2019 according to latest report from analysts Berg Insight: M2M Applications in the Oil and Gas Industry
The installed base of wireless M2M devices in the oil & gas industry will reach 1.25 million by 2019 according to latest report from analysts Berg Insight: M2M Applications in the Oil and Gas Industry
The number of devices featuring cellular or satellite connectivity deployed in oil & gas applications worldwide was 0.5 million at the end of 2014, says Berg, and is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20.1 percent and expected to reach 1.25 million units by 2019. Of these, 0.99 million are predicted to be cellular units, with the remainder satellite based.
The oil and gas industry is characterised by remote and inaccessible facilities where wireless communication in many cases is he only viable option for transferring M2M data. Pipeline monitoring and tank monitoring are the top two M2M applications in the midstream and downstream segments, reports Berg, while on-shore well field equipment is the most common wireless application in the oil and gas upstream segment.
Wireless M2M solutions have become increasingly popular in oil and gas applications in the past few years. The main drivers for adoption are safety and environmental concerns, regulatory compliance and demand for improved operational efficiency.
“In 2014, M2M solutions in the oil and gas market experienced very healthy growth levels before slowing down at the end of the year when oil prices reached half of previous levels”, said Johan Svanberg, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. North America is the leading region for wireless M2M in oil & gas and energy producers in the region were particularly affected by the price drops which resulted in halted investments. This change in the market has however led to an increased focus on cost savings and efficiency. He adds that new technology and solutions with a demonstrated high ROI are prioritised, especially when combined with Solution-as-a-Service business models which minimise the initial investment. Automation, remote control and monitoring are extra important in order to make it cost effective to extract, transport and distribute unconventional resources such as shale gas and tight oil.
Sierra Wireless, Digi International, Orbcomm and Numerex are major M2M players that deliver solutions to a wide range of industries including oil & gas.
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Jul 13, 2015 • News • Connected cars • M2M • Research • big data • smart meters • telematics
Technology analysts Juniper Research are forecasting that in revenue terms the telematics sector will continue to outperform all other M2M markets over the next five years, with one in five passenger vehicles connected globally by 2019. Connected...
Technology analysts Juniper Research are forecasting that in revenue terms the telematics sector will continue to outperform all other M2M markets over the next five years, with one in five passenger vehicles connected globally by 2019. Connected cars will represent 20% of the global car market by 2019, the company predicts.
Smartphone-based models have become the key disruptor for M2M, as sectors such as healthcare, consumer electronics and retail continue to evolve. Juniper Research forecasts that the M2M sector will generate service revenues of over $40 billion globally by 2019 - doubling the size of today’s market.
Smart metering to see global growth
The new research, M2M & Embedded Devices: Strategic Analysis & Vertical Market Forecasts 2015-2019, observed that the roll-out of smart metering initiatives will see rapid up-take over the next six years, driven in part by governments’ ambitions to increase efficiency.
The utility sector, however, is not expected to generate similar revenues to that of the connected automotive sector.
The utility sector however is not expected to generate similar revenues to that of the connected automotive sector.
Mergers, acquisitions, new applications
Agriculture and environmental applications are starting to emerge as important new sectors in the M2M market, with applications as diverse as wild-life and farm animal monitoring, and increasing productivity through precise field mapping. Some of the industry’s most powerful players are coming together, such as the merger of KORE Telematics and Raco Wireless, and the acquisition by Huawei of the M2M technology start-up Neul.
Other key findings include:
- The US remains the leading geographical region for M2M, ahead of Western Europe. China is becoming increasingly important as initiatives by the country’s major carriers begin to take shape.
- Implementation of Big Data analytics will play an increasingly important role, particularly in areas such as telematics, smart metering and healthcare.
Key questions, says Juniper are:
- Which market verticals hold the greatest promise in terms of service and connectivity enablement revenues?
- What are the prospects for cellular-based M2M modules?
- How are smartphones and Big Data playing a role in the M2M universe, and how will these devices and technologies affect the M2M market moving forward?
- How is the API landscape developing and what role does it play?
- How will the IoT and the M2M universe interrelate with one another?
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May 22, 2015 • Features • Research • scheduling • software advice • Software and Apps
A recent study by US firm Software Advice, a company offering comparisons and research for dispatch software, identified a number of insights into how the levels of service provided by home services are impacted by dispatching technology with...
A recent study by US firm Software Advice, a company offering comparisons and research for dispatch software, identified a number of insights into how the levels of service provided by home services are impacted by dispatching technology with GPS-enabled capabilities.
We spoke with Justin Guinn, the field service market researcher at Software Advice, who conducted the study and developed an in-depth report on the topic. We discussed how, when it comes to home service providers, common customer pain points can include lengthy arrival-time windows and waiting on late technicians. We dove into how GPS-enabled software offers a solution to these pain points by providing more effective scheduling, routing and dispatching.
Field Service News: Your new study shows the impact that scheduling has on customer satisfaction. What did you uncover?
Justin Guinn: Our study uncovered that accurate, strategic scheduling is imperative for successful field service businesses. We found that after a service provider is an hour late to an appointment, two-thirds of consumers simply won’t do business with that company again. In such a competitive market, this sort of customer attrition can kill a business.
Fortunately for service providers, proper scheduling, routing, and dispatching software directs technicians along optimised daily routes so that they most effectively get from appointment to appointment in a timely manner.
FSN: Things can always come up in the field. Is there something that service providers can do to retain those customers if they are running late?
JG: Interestingly, we found that 73 percent of consumers are more likely to rehire a provider if they receive a notification with an updated arrival time for the technician. Clearly customers expect punctuality, but this indicates they also just want to be kept in the know. We all greatly value our time, so this makes sense. This is why many field service software offerings feature automated text messaging capabilities that do just this.
FSN: So, technology can automatically help a business keep a loyal client base?
JG: Well, to maintain loyal customer base field service businesses first and foremost need to obviously deliver quality work with great customer service. Dispatching and scheduling software isn’t going to “fix” technicians with clumsy skills and/or crummy attitudes, but, like I mentioned, it does ensure punctuality and offer an effective remedy to late technicians. The software also enables applicable service segments to schedule repeat/recurring visits while onsite with customers, ensuring retention; some systems even act as a point of sale, allowing technicians to accept payment for the current job and any newly scheduled visits.
These capabilities above are great for increasing revenue and generating customer retention, but what about growing a field service business footprint? Dispatching and scheduling software plays an important role in achieving this growth by simply enabling technicians to get more work orders completed each day. We found that 95 percent of service business saw an increase in work orders completed per technician per day. Work orders equal customers, and the more customer interactions a service business can create, the more relationships they can build and the more chances for repeat business.
FSN: Apart from customer-facing benefits or the number of work orders per day, did you discover any other direct financial benefits of this kind of software?
JG: The other main benefit of this software comes into play by reducing overhead costs and expenses.
Our study showed that 89 percent of service companies see a decrease in fuel costs after adopting dispatching and scheduling software. It makes sense: optimised routing leads to less time spent on the road and less time spent sitting in traffic, thus less fuel being used. On top of that, our research shows that 95 percent of businesses see an increase in technician punctuality after implementing this kind of technology. This brings it back to the first point of getting mobile technicians to a job on time, thus retaining more customers.
Some of these systems can get even more granular by tracking technicians’ driving habits. For example, this capability allows the back office to see if a technician is accelerating too quickly, thus unnecessarily burning fuel. As a mobile workforce grows, so to does the impact of this feature. But no matter the workforce size, tracking and monitoring driving habits enables companies to increase safety by implementing and incentivizing driving best practices.
FSN: You had another recent report that found 54% of field service businesses don't use any software at all to manage their business. For that majority, why do you think they're hesitant to adopt technology?
JG: A likely reason that field service software adoption rates are so low is because companies/owners/managers might be intimidated by the many software choices. So instead of springing for software, they continue going about their manual ways until it eventually just becomes too much to handle. We talk to many field service operators everyday, and this is typically the predicament they’re facing.
They’ve been operating their business with “comfortable disorganisation,” but it’s taking a toll on their professional and personal life. That’s why we try to provide a personalised shortlist of products based on the needs of their business. In a sense, we’re typically the first step for field service operators to get their business in order and reclaim some sanity in their lives.
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May 20, 2015 • Features • Advanced Field Service • mobile apps • research • Research • resources
In the first part of this exclusive research project run in partnership with Advanced Field Service, we looked at the types of mobile devices being used in the field and why it seems that the days of pen and paper are becoming increasingly numbered....
In the first part of this exclusive research project run in partnership with Advanced Field Service, we looked at the types of mobile devices being used in the field and why it seems that the days of pen and paper are becoming increasingly numbered. In the second of this four part series we look at whether there is a future for wearables in field service, are devices being used rugged or consumer and has BYOD worked and in part three we looked at how engineers react and respond to the mobility tools they are given.
Now in the final part of this series we turn our attention to what is field service professionals expect from a field service mobile application
There is also a white paper accompanying this series, with even further insights, which you can download here
Operating systems
Having taken a look at whose making the decisions lets return to the decisions being made.
Earlier in this series we looked at the choice between rugged or consumer grade products but what about the software?
Around a third (32%) of companies state they have mixed multiple OS’s in use amongst their field engineers.
Aside from these companies however the most popular OS is now Android which alongside the 16% of companies using Apple’s iOS is another clear indication of the rise in prominence of both Tablets and Smart-phones as tools being provided to field service engineers.
However, despite giving away ground to Apple and Android in the mobile market, Window’s still hold onto a relatively strong market share of the OS’s being used in field service with 23% of companies stating that this is their OS of choice.
Also similarly as with the figures around laptops maybe being distorted somewhat by the amount of companies using multiple devices, the same logic would also likely see Window’s market share increase as the majority of laptops would be on a Windows OS of some form.
Going Native
But in an age of HTML5 and Cloud based SaaS solutions how important is an OS anyway?
Well for a very large majority of companies (86%) it seems that operating systems are at the very least a consideration in the selection of a device, whilst for 41% of companies it is a very important factor.
When we reflect back to the worries identified earlier in this report around integration problems then perhaps this is understandable. Keeping HTML5 and web based applications in mind however, is it important for a field service app to be native to any given OS?
Again the majority of our respondents suggested that it is.
Over two-thirds (69%) of companies felt that it was important that a field service app is native to the OS it is running on, whilst 35% felt it was very important.
Of course a native app will not only appear far more polished it can often have far richer functionality as it is designed to work in tandem with both the operating system and the device itself.
And our research shows that expectations for field service apps is now extremely high.
Access to account information, access to technical documents, visibility into parts availability, delivery of automatic status updates, recording of time sheets, photo and signature capture and data security were expected as part of a field service app by more than 60% of our respondents.
What we want in a field service app – everything!
However, when it came to the functionality that was required in a field service app the most important element by far was “Access work schedule and complete jobs on site” which almost two thirds of companies (63%) placed amongst the most important functions they require in an app.
What is definitely encouraging is that the most common reason for companies upgrading their existing systems is to improve the service they are delivering to their customers.
Finally lets look at why companies invest in field service solutions.
What is definitely encouraging is that the most common reason for companies upgrading their existing systems is to improve the service they are delivering to their customers.
I am a firm believer in putting the customers at the heart of all we do in field service and it appears I am not alone in this ethos.
However the good news is that often by doing so we can see other benefits. One of these is improving productivity which was the second most commonly cited reason for investing in a new field service management solution.
This was followed by the “reduction of paperwork” and “cost savings” being the third and fourth most popular reasons for a new system while “Automation of routine tasks” was the fifth most popular reason cited. Finally despite the often painted Big Brother impact of a field service solution, visibility into workers was actually the least common of the reasons given for introducing a new field service management solution.
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May 13, 2015 • Management • News • research • Research • Trimble
New study links high customer satisfaction with service providers who fix it on the first visit
New study links high customer satisfaction with service providers who fix it on the first visit
Field service organisations need to become more efficient, develop better time-saving approaches and fix a problem on the first visit in order to meet customer expectations, according to a new study commissioned by Trimble Field Service Management
The study, which surveyed 2,000 adults in the UK, revealed that over half (52 per cent) considered fixing the problem on the first visit to be the leading factor in determining their satisfaction. Yet, one in four participants reported that a return visit was required. The most common reason for a return visit was that the technician lacked the appropriate tools or parts (40 per cent), while the technician lacking the appropriate skills was also revealed as a top factor (27 per cent).
"Technology is available that provides technicians with the visibility they need to get to the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time" John Cameron - Trimble Field Service Managment
"Technology is available that provides technicians with the visibility they need to get to the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time," Cameron added. "Customer expectations are only going to increase, so having the infrastructure in place to meet and exceed these expectations is critical to keeping customers happy."
Respondents also are not happy with wait times. More than 50 per cent considered 1-3 hours an acceptable appointment window, yet few had experienced this, with 32 per cent reporting wait times between 4-9 hours. 40 per cent of consumers claimed their biggest frustration with using a service provider was long appointment slots.
The independent study was conducted by OnePoll, a worldwide market research agency. For a summary of the report, visit: http://www.pages05.net/trimblefieldservice/Consumer_Research_Results/
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