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In our serialisation of The Service Manager Handbook (2015 edition) published by Advanced Field Service we have covered a wide ranging number of topics key to the modern field service manager's role. Now we take a look to the future with three key technologies the handbook highlights that could be critical in your field service operations before not too long...

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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You can expect your field service software provider to keep a watching brief on the technology landscape and to identify practicable developments that have genuine potential to improve efficiency and lower costs. Those bright ideas must translate into a business reality that brings added value.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication

Among the innovations currently attracting attention in the field service space is M2M communication, which forms the basis of the ‘Internet of Things’ in allowing networked devices to exchange information and perform actions without manual assistance.

M2M technology provides valuable insight into the performance of equipment, vehicles and field engineers. With this crucial business intelligence, organisations can shift from reactive to predictive service, ensuring issues can be identified and resolved more quickly to meet rising customer expectations.

 

Typical solutions enable the remote tracking of a business’s field-based assets, smart metering to monitor and control energy and utilities and telematics systems to enhance service delivery performance through automated processes.

Despite forecasters predicting that the worldwide M2M technology market is set to continue growing, many businesses remain cautious about adoption due to limited time and resources and cost pressures. Furthermore, most service organisations will need to wait for manufacturers to introduce the capabilities of M2M before they can take full advantage of it.

Wearables

The idea of wearables, whereby information, such as schematics, is piped through to field service engineers through their smartglasses, is very attractive. It has to be admitted though that this is more of a long-term prospect.

The Field Service News research sponsored by Advanced Field Service found that while around a third of respondents saw the advancement of wearables happening within the next 12 months, citing reasons such as the advantage of hands-free working and health and safety, 66% did not think wearables would become part of their field engineers’ toolkit.

 

It is, however, definitely a field worth watching, with innovations becoming mainstream, such as the new SmartCap that monitors brain activity and sends an alert if an employee starts to nod off when driving.

3D printing

3D printing also has potential to revolutionise the field service industry. In the foreseeable future, an engineer might well be able to identify which parts of a product need replacing, upload the specifications and print the required part. Imagine the impact on first-time fix rates and the reduction in inventory!

A recent Advanced Field Service survey found that while 43% of businesses are currently using M2M and just over a quarter (26%) of respondents are considering M2M. In contrast, 31% said they had no plans to do so.

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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The selection of a field service management system that meets the needs of your company is one of incredible importance. In this installation of our serialisation of The Service Manager Handbook (2015 edition) published by Advanced Field Service we look at some of the key considerations field service managers should be aware of when selecting their own field service management systems... 

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

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Whatever your goals – growth, increased efficiency, cost savings or improved customer satisfaction – you differentiate your business by demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness to customers’ needs.

The latest advances in service management technology provide businesses with increased opportunities to automate processes, uncover new revenue streams and add value for customers.

The power to transform your business

Questions to ask your management team:

• When was the last time we thoroughly investigated and evaluated our business processes?
• Can we accurately pinpoint where time is being spent or which are the most/least profitable areas of the business?
• Can we say with confidence that all of our teams are consistently working at optimum efficiency?[/unordered_list] 

Successful service managers maximise their use of available technologies to eliminate unnecessary manual processes, such as making multiple entries of the same information. Freed from laborious, manual administration, such as timesheets, your staff can spend time on higher value tasks.

Moving to a modern, secure and reliable service management solution will enable your organisation to significantly improve its productivity through streamlining processes and cutting costs.

A note on cloud: Cloud-based solutions, where IT resources and services are accessed via the web, remove the need for the software to be physically located on your premises or in a data centre. Increasingly, service businesses are using cloud-based applications and enabling their engineers to access and enter data via the cloud field.

Finding the right software for you

With what might seem an overabundance of software providers promising the earth, how can you go about finding the solution that’s right for your business, both now and in the future?

Here are some pointers...

Prioritise: Internally agree which processes you are looking to automate and improve, and make these requirements your priority. Think, too, about where you want to be and what you want to be able to do tomorrow, so you don’t get ‘boxed in’ by your purchase within a few short years.

Get buy in: Establish a product steering group that includes people from across the business who will either use or be affected by the implementation of a new system.

Requirements: Look at your requirements against the supplier’s feature lists.

Integration:Modern software solutions can no longer afford to work in isolation. Explore the areas where information needs to be shared across multiple systems.

Culture: Do not underestimate how the culture of your company will be affected. Explain to your staff the rationale for the change and how it will benefit them.

Expertise: Pick a supplier who has relevant experience in your industry and can provide references.

Create a shortlist: Once you’ve compared potential software packages against your key requirements, draw up a shortlist of your preferred vendors, who you will invite to demonstrate how their solution could work for your business. Ideally, this should be three maximum.

Planning: Be realistic about the time it will take for your system to be fully up and running and how much involvement will be required internally.

Support: Ensure your supplier provides you with timely ongoing support once you have implemented the solution.

Supplier stability: Pick a supplier with the resources to support all of their clients with day-to-day technical assistance, while still having a dedicated development team for producing new versions to continuously improve the software and keep it aligned to changing industry requirements.

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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As we continue our serialisation of The Service Manager Handbook (2015 edition) published by Advanced Field Service we look at mobile working and reporting...

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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Operating in a fast-moving environment doesn’t allow time for your engineers to wait until they’re back at the office to give you an update on their status. Having the ability to report onsite directly from their mobile device is invaluable.

With time-sheets, inspection sheets, job cards, expenses and invoices being completed on the spot, accurate data is fed back to the call-handling centre and engineers can move swiftly on to the next job. Live capture of information means that back-office systems have a constant stream of up-to-date information – reflecting the business as it stands today, not how it was days or even weeks ago.

Mobile software that works seamlessly hand-in-hand with your back-end service management software will give you the added benefit of instantly analysing the performance and productivity of your workers and can react immediately to any potential issues. You no longer have to be office-based to run your reports: this can be done at the touch of a button, whatever your location.

Sharing information with your customers

Mobile technology also enables you to share with your clients up-to-date information on your performance, with the latest stats and reports, demonstrating the value of your service.

If your service management system can provide this information in dashboard format, as opposed to spreadsheets, customers have the added reassurance of knowing that the data cannot have been manipulated at any point. This is a great selling point when tendering for new business or to extend a contract.

How are businesses like yours adopting mobile?

There is clear evidence of the wide scale take-up of mobile technology.

According to a recent Field Service News research project, commissioned by Advanced Field Service, far from encountering user resistance, it is a trend that is welcomed by engineers out in the field, as a way to make their workflow easier, enhance productivity and increase first-time fix.

Key findings of the survey include:

• 46% of field service companies are now using a mix of different digital devices – many are now in their second, third or even fourth generation of digital device for their field engineers
• 100% of companies still using pen and paper feel at a commercial disadvantage
• 57% of field engineers state that their digital device makes their workflow easier
• 81% of field engineers are happy to be using digital devices as part of their daily tools

Making mobile work for you

 The benefits of adopting an integrated mobile and service management solution are obvious. So, why then, do some mobile initiatives fail to become an integral part of the business? There are four common pitfalls that can impede the smooth transition to mobile:

Lack of integration

Poor integration between the field and back-office systems can make the mobile solution inherently unstable and lead to a disparity between the situation out-in-the-field, on stock, engineers’ timesheets and resource utilisation, and your back-office systems for scheduling, billing and reporting.

User resistance

Sometimes the biggest barrier to a successful roll-out of mobile technology is a psychological one. However, as research shows, engineers can be some of the most positive adopters of mobile.

Unnecessary complexity

Organisations embarking on mobile initiatives can attempt too much too soon.

Lack of synchronization

Whether working in a remote part of the country or stuck onsite in a basement, there are bound to be times when your engineers have poor connection or no signal at all. If the facility isn’t available to work offline, engineers operating in less-than-ideal conditions will be forever catching up, entering data later in the day.

So how can you overcome these barriers and what can you do to improve your chances of successful mobile adoption across your entire organisation?

Choose a system with mobile technology at its core

Avoid field service management systems where mobile functionality has been bolted on at a later stage. A seamless flow of information from the field to the back-office is essential.

Encourage user adoption

Engage your engineers at an early stage of the mobile implementation process through team meetings and later through formal training. In the Field Service News research, of those companies that did involve their field workers in the selection process the overwhelming majority (93%) felt that doing so had aided adoption of their chosen solution.

Keep it simple

Don’t try to introduce too much functionality too quickly. A gradual phased approach can in the long run be more effective than a ‘big bang’ implementation.

Connectivity is key

To be fully effective, your engineers need to be able to use the mobile solution offline as well as online. It must offer the ability to store information such as photographs, worksheets and customers’ signatures that are entered onsite, and then automatically transmit this information back to the call-handling centre once coverage is regained.

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

 

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In this the latest feature from our serialisation of the The Service Manager Handbook published by Advanced Field Service we look at the most important part of any field service operation, the field service engineers...

You are also able to download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

Your reputation, spread by word of mouth or increasingly through social media and online reviews, is founded on the experience your customers have of your engineers.

Unfortunately, customers seem more likely to broadcast a negative experience than a positive one, especially in the consumer or domestic service sector. Some disgruntled customers have even taken to posting video blogs of their experience of poor service. A video goes viral; word spreads like wildfire; and your reputation is permanently damaged. So how can you develop a service team committed to building your reputation?

Free engineers to do what they do best

A happy engineer more often than not results in happy customers. What motivates them best is using their time in deploying their skills rather than in endless form-filling. Consider ways to free your service team from the routine dross that saps their time and motivation, and empower them to be more productive and efficient.

Talk to your workforce

Holding regular face-to-face meetings between management and the workforce on the status of the business and sharing any development plans will all help build a team ethos, visibly improving productivity and enabling individuals to see the bigger picture. Whereas they might see the introduction of a new process or technology as a threat; you know it’s essential to the viability of the business.

Make your engineers your eyes and ears

With their close, on-the-ground contact with your customer base, even the most junior engineer can be a source of intelligence, such as feedback on how your customers regard your products and services: are they generally happy or are there murmurings about changing their supplier or service provider? Your field team is also a valuable channel for communicating your vision of quality and also for publicising forthcoming product updates or new services.

 

 

Encourage ‘self-monitoring’

Some service companies are using modern technology such as GPS tracking to weed out the worst instances of misconduct among their engineers. Others are adopting a more complementary method where their engineers choose their priorities and self-monitor their performance, an enlightened approach that can pay dividends.

Information: the vital tool in your engineers’ kit

As previously mentioned, engineers need the right tools for the job: their physical toolkit and information about the product, such as parts, diagrams, nature of the problem and known workarounds, as well as information about the customer, including their service history, plus, of course, essentials such as their contact details and location.

Be sure your engineers are fully aware of any recurring issues, such as a problem with a particular product, so that they can handle the situation with all due sensitivity. As previously mentioned, engineers need the right tools for the job: their physical toolkit and information about the product, such as parts, diagrams, nature of the problem and known workarounds, as well as information about the customer, including their service history, plus, of course, essentials such as their contact details and location.

 

Be sure your engineers are fully aware of any recurring issues, such as a problem with a particular product, so that they can handle the situation with all due sensitivity.

Mobilise your team

Information should also travel in the reverse direction: from the engineer back to base. Using their mobile device, engineers can send the customer’s sign-off back to the call control centre, along with any photographs or other supporting evidence, and details such as time to arrive on site and time to complete the job.

This information can be sent immediately to the contract manager to provide an instant report. A mobile solution is also a useful way to record exceptions to your usual high standards. In some cases, your engineer may be prevented from getting to the root of the problem. Was the equipment inaccessible due to a physical obstruction or the machine being unavailable for servicing?

A photo will provide supporting evidence should there be a query from the customer at a later date.

Room to grow

To maximise staff retention, it makes sense to create a rewarding work environment. A clear and defined development strategy and regular career mentoring are likely to encourage employees to stay. Pairing experienced engineers with new engineers will also speed up the learning curve and give individuals the opportunity to advance.

And those negative social media comments…?

Hopefully, the above tips will help to secure your reputation but if you do receive negative feedback online, you need to address it. If you respond courteously to comments – without being a pushover for compensation – you’ll be seen as a responsive, market-aware company.

Move the debate out of the public arena and offline as quickly as possible. You need to be vigilant but you can’t watch all social media channels all of the time. There are social media monitoring tools, such as Hootsuite, that will trawl the web for mentions of your company.

But once again, encourage your staff to report back on any negative social media they come across. Conversely, thanking customers for sharing a positive experience of your service is also well worth doing if you have the resources.

 

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Download the full 40 page ebook for free by simply clicking here and completing the brief registration form

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