ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘software-and-apps’ CATEGORY

Yorkshire based company Service2 show that smaller companies don’t need to wait until they grow before adopting a field service software platform...

One of the biggest changes to field service companies in recent times has been the advent of the Cloud and the Software as a Service (SaaS) model and perhaps the biggest shift that the introduction of SaaS has brought is that for the first time ever field service software is no longer the domain of large enterprise companies only.

Due to the subscription based nature of SaaS offerings smaller companies are now able to access the types of software that only a few years ago would have been cost-prohibitive to them.

As such they are able to offer their customers similar levels of service as the big boys whilst at the same time being able to reap the benefits of enhanced productivity and efficiency such systems yield. The playing field has been well and truly levelled – or at least so the theory goes.

However how does this filter down in reality?

Is there truth in such assertions or is it just a case of clever marketing spin form the software providers?

To find out how field service management software can help a small company we spoke exclusively to Kate Lovery at Service2, a Yorkshire based Gas appliance installation and maintenance provider who have implemented the ServiceMax platform.

The business originally came into being when founders James and Chris, who both have background in engineering themselves, (Chris was predominantly working with catering equipment and boilers whilst James was more focussed on heating and ventilation) found themselves being approached with promises of Directorships for a new start-up.

However, as is sadly often the case, the promises didn’t meet reality, but the seeds of a successful business had been sown between the two, so in November 2011 they decided to set up by themselves.

Having started like most young businesses do taking as much work of any form that they could to build up the business and establish contacts and clients on the way, they quickly established a successful niche for themselves as they moved away from domestic jobs and began establishing a strong reputation for contract based commercial work.

Big name clients such as NG Bailey, Norland, and the Marriott group soon came along and with them so did more engineers, more office staff and 200% year on year growth.

However, the flip side of such success is the growing logistical headache of how to manage the business.

 

As Lovery explains “We’ve got a really nice spread of clients but my focus over the last year has been look how can we manage this? I can’t manage ten engineers and how ever many clients on an Excel spreadsheet so what are we going to do?”

“I needed to stop and ask how can we take this forward and be more dynamic? How can we be faster, quicker, more streamlined.” She adds

With the need to find a solution Lovery began opening the conversation up to the team and in fact it was one of their engineers who suggested ServiceMax.

At the same time she also had a recommendation from one of their commercial partners for the SaaS based field service software provider. Contact details were swapped and soon they were reviewing the ServiceMax system.

“They came to see us and gave us a presentation and we looked at it and thought about it and then initially put it on the back burner.” Admits Lovery.

Something that many companies in Service2’s position will do as the day to day tasks of keeping your business growing take over your To Do list.

However, Lovery was wise enough to take a step back, to focus on the forest rather than the one tree ahead of her as it were and realised if Service2 was to continue to grow they would be better off acting sooner rather than later.

“We thought you know what we really need to do this now.” She concedes “Our plan is to be twice the size, three times the size year on year and I thought I don’t want to be implementing a system for 50 people when I can implement it now for 15.”

“I also wanted to make it an integral part of our DNA. How we go through our processes, how we perform.” She adds

 

Such an approach is of course extremely forward looking and one that many companies only realise they should have taken when it’s too late. However for Lovery it was simple common sense.

“Coming from a clients service/account management background for me it is absolutely vital that we can manage our accounts properly, we just simply wouldn’t be able to grow unless we do” she explains

“With our previous system I just couldn’t see how we could manage that. It’s just too many plates spinning, For us it’s like we’ve employed the system instead of employing another person to some degree."

And it’s not just the task of managing the engineers that is proving useful to Lovery. It is also the ability to keep a much closer eye on the P&L.

“Before we didn’t have such huge visibility we didn’t really have much transparency to be honest. Not because it’s wasn’t there I just didn’t have time to go and find the information I needed.” She explains

“Unless I’ve got a system like ServiceMax how can I track every nut and bolt that is purchased against a job? I can do some costing and put some rough numbers around what our profit and loss is but without a system like this in truth “ To me that’ visibility is really, really vital. It’s about being able to see both where we can maximise profitability but also where we can make cost savings etc.”

Of course the Field Service Software market is a highly competitive one and despite the recommendations Lovery looked at some of the other providers available before opting for ServiceMax. So what was it that made them the preferred option? “I found ServiceMax to be a to be a lot more dynamic.” She starts “I also liked the fact that it was Cloud based not something that was built on our system.”

“At times you think well we’re only a small company of 15 people, how is that going to work for us - but surely principles that the business is built on, the foundations, they are the same regardless of size.”

 

“For me best practice isn’t what the engineers on the other side of town are doing, I look to Cannon and GE and those types of brands and ask what are they doing? So I love the fact that ServiceMax has small family owned businesses as much as multi-nationals as part of their client list.”

It is here that we perhaps begin to see why ServiceMax have gained such a glowing reputation from this particular customer.

For whilst Lovery is clearly very happy with the software, her endorsement of the software provider runs far deeper than product alone.

“I really like the networking opportunities and the different people it would bring you into contact with that other providers couldn’t offer.” She continues referring to the many client focussed seminars , workshops and conferences ServiceMax run each year.

“I’ve really enjoyed the seminars at their usergroup and  for me just being able to take part in that type of event, listen to other peoples issues – what they love about the platform what they don’t, is just so helpful.”

“You don’t know what you don’t know so, just listening to others who have been with the platform longer or have experience managing bigger teams than ours, such sessions are really useful.” She adds.

It is through such activities that ServiceMax are able to encourage their customers to grow with the platform. An approach that generates more than enough brand loyalty to make these events worthwhile.

“The last thing I would want to do is change a system at some point in the future, It may seem cheaper or easier at the time to have taken another platform but we really like the direction of ServiceMax as a company and it seems that they are someone we can grow with. It seems that they don’t stand still at all. There approach is very much ‘how can we make this package work for you” Enthuses Lovery

 

In addition to the networking opportunities that ServiceMax offer to their user base it is also their commitment to delivering excellent customer service that has Lovery so impressed.

“Our account manager has been really excellent I have to say” she comments “he has been really supportive, helping us make the right connections, just offering support and advice when we need it, on that level the client service is fantastic and that’s the case with the whole team so far.”

And with a dedicated project manager available Lovery is confident that she will be able to be fully adapt the software to their needs as the company continues to grow and evolve.

“Because I’m implementing it myself my project manager, who I speak to two three times a week is teaching me the tricks and tools that I might not have been aware of and that has given me a certain amount of independence to run with it.”

She explains “If in six months time I want to make a few changes I’ll be able to do that myself”

Indeed in the often ruthless world of corporate software it is refreshing to note Lovery’s enthusiasm for her provider.

Yet by giving Lovery and Service2 the freedom to make such changes, and empowering them to be able to manage their system as their business grows, supporting them with excellent service, and helping them establish a wider network of contacts, ServiceMax are likely to secure the business of this fast growing company for many years to come.

 

---

 

be social and share this feature

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: NetMotion Wireless
Title: Service Mobility: The right technology for the right tech
Download: Click here to download this white paper

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

Synopsis:

Written by Aberdeen’s Aly Pinder, this white paper highlights the key trends in field service driving further interest in and adoption of mobility. This report will also take a look at what capabilities are necessary to successfully deploy mobile tools.

Overview:

Topics within the white paper include:

1. Mobile still has a strategic place in service

Many firms have identified the field service team as a channel to not only deliver service but also interact with the customer. The importance of the technician to the success of the organization has led to the search for weays to equip them with the right tools. These tools must help these valued resources excel at their jobs while also providing invaluable insight to the rest of the organisation.

2. Mobility must keep service ahead of customer expectations

Will customers ever ask for service to devolve or become slower?  Customers will always want more for their dollars, sometimes even if they are not actually paying for their service. In regards to field service, the top pressure facing service organisations that is leading them to focus on mobility is the customer demand for faster service.

3. Mobility is more than a device

Much of the buzz around mobility and deploying new technology is around flashy new devices that have ever more processing speed. But inherent to this buzz is the fact that any technology will eventually become obsolete. The true value in mobile tools is the ability for this technology to provide insight and intelligence to workers in real time.

4. From paper to productivity

The goal of improved service for the customer starts with some key leading indicators: worker utilisation and worker happiness. Leaders outperform Followers in many key metrics, not least of which is the proof that exceptional field service aided through  mobile devices works (see renewal of service contracts with customers.) Happy and productive employees will go that extra mile to not only do their jobs, but even more importantly, word hard to positively overwhelm the customer.

5. Successfully deploy the value of mobility

Heightened performance in KPI is not a by-product of plugging in mobile technology alone. Top performing organisations implement strategic internal capabilities to ensure that a mobile strategy is maximised by the field to resolve customer issues efficiently.

6. Excel at making mobility key to service excellence

In order for mobility to avoid the buzzword wasteland, organisations need to see a direct impact on what matters to the top and bottom line, profitability. The key link to profitability is delivering the level of service that customers are willing to pay for. This valuable service is not the historical view of service, which was reactive, now service must go above and beyond.

To reach this level of success service firms should follow a few best practices implemented by industry leaders:

• CSOs drive service initiatives in mobile strategy. The chief service officer within an organisation must ensure that a mobile strategy isn’t just a product spend from IT. There must be a clear strategy that understands the ramifications and opportunity of real-time insight into technicians, customers, products, vehicles and equipment. A senior leader also will understand that all things even mobility, must come back to the customer and in turn profitability.
• Build buy in from the front line. A strategy is only as good as the workers that embrace it. Many initiatives have failed as a result of not gaining buy-in from the stakeholders , who ultimately have to use the tools being implemented. Therefore it is integral that service organisations work with front-line employees in regard to the identification, selection and deployment of any mobile technology. If the technician is involved in building the mobile strategy, they are more likely to work to maximize the value of technology for the organisation.
• Make data a source of insight for learning, training, and improvement. Data stored in a knowledge base at headquarters is a waste of time money and effort. Top performing firms empower their organisation to enhance products and service through the data captured in the field. Customers might let you get away with failure once, but they expect the service organisation to continuously improve. In order to improve, the entire team needs to be tied into service excellence.

---

Click here to download this white paper

 

---

 

be social and share this feature

Kony, Inc. a leading enterprise mobility company, recently announced that it has been named as a “Leader” and recognised as one of the best platform offerings for the enterprise, and most comprehensive cloud-based mobile solution on the market in the Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting a Mobile App Development Platform (MADP) Solution, 2015-16 report.

Kony was also highlighted as one of the most widely deployed application development platforms, with a broad range of both mission-critical enterprise and consumer-facing scenarios. As the largest pure-play provider focused on enterprise mobility solutions, Kony serves more than 20 million mobile app users worldwide and manages more than a billion user sessions annually.

“Mobile will be the ante to the game of commerce, productivity and loyalty,” said Thomas E. Hogan, chief executive officer, Kony, Inc. “As mobile is fast becoming a major catalyst for business innovation and process transformation for the enterprise, I believe companies will either lead with mobile or be left behind. The recognition of Kony as an industry leader by Ovum is a testament to the relentless focus and commitment by our Kony team to help our customers take full advantage of the power of mobile to advance their business agenda.”

According to the Ovum report, “Smart mobile devices are proving to be the preferred choice when connecting to the Internet, not only for consumers, but also now for enterprise workers.”

 

The report also states that many enterprises are prioritising mobile apps over all other app development requirements, for both external (business and consumer-facing) and internal requirements. Furthermore, enterprises today must have a mobile app strategy, driven by consumers choosing to do more with their mobile devices over traditional computers.

Ovum recognised Kony for developing a leading business to address the needs of enterprises as they turn to app development solutions that offer a build-once, deploy to many device operating systems and form factors.

The Kony Mobility Platform is an end-to-end mobile app development platform that offers full lifecycle support on-premise or on the cloud. In the Key Findings section of the report, Ovum states “The advantage of a wide-scope MADP solutions in one box is that developers have a one-stop solution, reducing tool overheads and integration issues, facilitating traceability of work assets.”

 

---

 

Be social and share this story

ServicePower a market leader in field service management technology, is pleased to announce that it has signed a five year contract for its ServiceScheduling solution with a leading global manufacturer of hot water products.

The client manufactures and distributes smart, sustainable, integrated climate and sanitary hot water products, such as biomass, solar thermal, heat pumps and micro-CHP heating solutions. The manufacturer operates in 70 countries worldwide, including Germany, France and the UK, as well as Eastern Europe, North America and China.

 

 ServicePower’s patented ServiceScheduling technology will provide the client with on-premise industry leading scheduling technology for both employed and dedicated contracted labour in Europe, beginning with Germany and expanding to France and the UK.  ServiceScheduling will enhance the flexibility, responsiveness and productivity of its field service team, while also providing it with the localisation and product features to support rollouts in countries across the globe.

 

Additionally ServiceScheduling will facilitate simpler installation and maintenance of the client’s hallmark brands by optimising the deployment of a variety of labour resources.

Commenting on the agreement Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower said "This latest customer win demonstrates further progress of the expansion of ServicePower into continental Europe and underlines the capability of our solutions to support global businesses.

Our continued investment in technology innovation was fundamental in this client’s decision to contract with ServicePower. We look forward to supporting our newest client as its deployments expand globally and its products evolve to include more IoT and M2M connectivity to offer increasingly proactive services which lower energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.”

 

---

 

Find out more about ServicePower in the Field Service News Directory here 

 

---

 

Be social and share this story

Severn Trent Services has been using service management software supplied by Tesseract for nearly four years. In the latter months of 2014, they saw the wisdom of upgrading to the latest version of the software, Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1).

Already they are enjoying huge time savings and greater efficiency as a result of the new components available to them. UK-based Severn Trent Services is part of a major international conglomerate that in total serves 4.2 million households and businesses throughout the world. It is the leading national supplier of water and wastewater services to businesses in the UK, currently providing services to more than 1,500 sites nationwide.

Their work includes water hygiene services; controlling and maintaining assets such as sewage and water treatment works and sewage pump stations; and connecting water supplies to housing developments. Their national status means they have the capability to give businesses with multiple sites the ease, simplicity and efficiency of dealing with one supplier for all their locations.

Severn Trent use Tesseract to run their water hygiene service, which is a hugely important part of their work. Essentially they make sure businesses comply with water hygiene legislation by carrying out inspections, cleaning tanks and pumps, performing disinfections and conducting remedial works to bring water systems to the necessary standard.

Moving away from labour-intensive processes

Before the upgrade, Severn Trent only relied on Tesseract’s software to manage their customer contracts and invoicing. Their field service management depended on a variety of manual and labour-intensive processes. Several different software systems were used to manage the engineers – one for allocating the jobs, one for travel planning and one for collecting feedback, time capture and other data.

“Extensive manual intervention was required to make these systems work together properly,” says Jack Fleet, Water Compliance Scheduling Technician for Severn Trent Services. “This eventually became clunky and we saw that there was too much room for human error. It also took up a lot of office time.”

In July 2014, Severn Trent reviewed their business, looking at how timely and how efficient their processes were, and how they could serve their customers better. Having been using some components of Tesseract’s service management software for several years, they decided to extend that usage to field service management. They wanted one whole, cohesive software system managing their engineers instead of several. A field service management overhaul By upgrading to SC5.1, Severn

Trent are now benefiting from Tesseract’s Remote Engineer Access software (REA). This allows engineers to log in remotely from their i-Pads, view allocated calls for dispatch, look at the call history for a site, product or customer, raise parts requests, add service reports and close completed jobs - amongst many other functions. REA completely streamlines field service management and removes the bulk of manual interventions that were previously necessary to perform these functions.

 

Severn Trent also have the benefit of Tesseract’s flexible Email Service, which automates the sending and receiving of emails from Tesseract Service Centre. Severn Trent are using the Email Service to handle customer appointments and reports, but automated emails can be triggered by all kinds of activities, such as when calls are logged and closed, and parts have been shipped.

Finally Severn Trent are using Tesseract’s fully customisable Reporting Service, which enables customers to schedule and run reports at any time during the day or night.

A bespoke feature

Currently in development is a bespoke feature of the software, which Tesseract are producing especially for Severn Trent. This feature will help to assess whether certain site restrictions mean that specific engineers are required to attend them. For instance, the engineer might need to have a DBS check, a certain qualification or skill set, or a certain level of training to be able to work at the site.

Tesseract are looking at inserting some additional fields to the allocation software to help Severn Trent assign the right staff. “The good thing about Tesseract is their enthusiasm for customisation,” says Jack Fleet.

“They are developing this feature specifically for us because they are persistent in wanting to improve and expand what they offer. If this feature ends up working for us, it’s something Tesseract will make available to other customers.

In the same way, if Tesseract develop something for another customer and think it will work for Severn Trent, they will make it available to us.”

What does the future hold?

Tesseract’s SC5.1 went live at Severn Trent Services on December 1st 2014 and already Severn Trent have seen a massive saving in office time. Efficiency has improved enormously thanks to REA and the upgrade has made customer contracts and invoicing more effective and timely as well. Severn Trent have plans to install Tesseract’s Prospect Centre. This is a sales enquiry and action follow up module allowing for the registration of both existing customers and new sales leads so that sales activity can be monitored. It contains data such as the sales source, sales value, product required and next action date, and has a helpful ‘Salesman’s To Do List’ feature. Severn Trent also want to implement Tesseract’s Quote Centre, which enables sales teams to generate quotes and easily convert them into customer contracts once the quote is accepted.

 

However, Severn Trent’s more immediate priority is Tesseract’s Diary Assist, which they will incorporate in July 2015 in order to further streamline their field service management processes. Diary Assist is a centrally hosted web service for call optimisation which handles both planned and reactive maintenance calls. It allocates jobs to engineers based on skill sets, availability, travel time, customer site cover times and various other factors, and effectively automates the deployment process even further.

 

---

 

Find out more about Tesseract in our directory section by clicking here

 

---

 

Be social and share this case study

Landmark Quest, a leading provider of risk management, mobile solutions and bespoke software for lenders and surveyors, has announced that Connells Survey & Valuation Ltd., now has more than 300 surveyors using its Q-Mobile property data capture solution on Panasonic’s Toughbook tablet PCs, generating major efficiencies with valuation service delivery to mortgage lenders.

In July 2014 Connells Survey & Valuation was awarded the exclusive contract to deliver valuation panel management services to Principality Building Society.  Under the contract, Principality Chartered Surveyors also joined Connells Survey & Valuation business.

Q-Mobile, used in conjunction with Panasonic Toughbooks, improves workflow, standardises surveyors’ site notes and allows Connells’ surveyors to access supporting data for each valuation report while they are on site.  The mobile software provides a seamless process from the receipt of a valuation instruction, scheduling the appointment, undertaking research and the inspection, through to transmission of the valuation report to the client. Connells have been pioneers in developing and using Landmark Quest Q-Mobile, which has supported their surveyors being more efficient in responding to increasingly complex service requirements and improving the customer journey.

Matthew Morgan, Area Director, Connells Survey & Valuation (former Chief Surveyor at Principality Surveyors), comments: “At Principality Surveyors we were researching the best mobile technology system on the market.  Connells Survey & Valuation has an unparalleled reputation for quality service delivery and had already made a major investment in its service involving Landmark Q-Mobile and tablet PCs. This was taken into consideration during the tender process.”

 

Ross Bowen, Managing Director of Connells Survey & Valuation, adds, “Using Q-Mobile has delivered tangible benefits to our clients and superior customer outcomes. We are now even better placed to manage our surveyors’ workloads and work patterns during the course of the day. Within the space of just a few weeks of rolling out Q-Mobile, it has become the established platform underpinning the delivery of our professional valuation services.”

Ross Bowen explains that introducing the new surveying team to Q-Mobile and the latest mobile working methods required three days’ initial training, but has paid dividends in efficient working practices and time saved when responding to queries.

“When a query is raised by an underwriter or solicitor, we can push this out to surveyors in the field and they can respond immediately and effectively. Information such as site plans, photos and post valuation queries are all in one place, so it is much easier to access at the surveyor’s fingertips, speeding response times to clients and their time to mortgage offer Using Q-Mobile in the field has also more than halved the time taken to respond to post valuation queries from two days to under one day,” enthuses Bowen.

Whilst highlighting the benefits, Ross Bowen emphasises that Connells’ investment in Q-Mobile and tablet PCs was part of implementing its next generation service delivery model. “Being able to access data from mobile devices in real time is a major change for our industry and it’s helping to evolve the working patterns of the profession.”

Rachel Brookes, Product Manager at Landmark Quest comments, “We are delighted to be able to support the integration of the former Principality Chartered Surveyors into Connells Survey & Valuation, by using our mobile data capture software to standardise reports and improve validation, efficiency and quality for all surveyors. We will continue to work with Connells to further develop Q-Mobile to incorporate datasets, such as the homebuyer report.”

 

---

 

Be social and share this story

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: mplsystems
Title: Seven Key Steps to Achieving Customer Service Excellence in the Service Industry
Download: Click here to download this white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

Over the last few years we have seen major change in nature of our customers; they are now expecting, and demanding, much more from customer service. In fact, nearly 70% of customers will leave a business if they don’t receive the customer service they expect.

Customers are now demanding quicker response times, more visibility, more control and much more knowledge when speaking to the customer service team.

This white paper analyses what factors influence customer perception of the quality of service delivered, how we measure it and ways service business can improve service delivery.

Overview:

Topics within the white paper include:

1. Successfully measuring service quality to continually improve customer service

Increasingly businesses are adopting analytics to gain deeper insight into operational performance and customer behaviour to improve the customer experience. However it is reported that only 20% of organisations believe they have the technology and skills to gather the necessary insights to effectively measure performance.

Big Data is a buzz word making its rounds across a variety of industries and the field service sector is no exception. Over the last 10 years, field service organisations have become overwhelmed by the relentless flow of information coming in from multiple sources, in various formats and through an array of tools.

The major challenge businesses are facing is not only how to make sense of the massive amounts of data they collect, but knowing what they need to be measuring in order to improve the customer experience, as well as operational efficiencies.

2. Providing a Consistent Level of Customer Experience Across all Channels

Traditionally the service industry has primarily used the telephone as the main channel for customers to find out the status of their service request. However today’s customers have 24:7 access to an array of channels through their mobile devices and expect to able to contact a business through their channel of choice.

A more consistent, cross-channel customer service can be created by having a solution that can manage multimedia in a single universal queue (including voice, email, click-to-chat, fax, SMS, web and social media), rather than service desk agents having to deal with piecemeal technology and legacy systems that are disparate and complex.

All these channels can be placed on the agent’s desktop allowing them to see all required customer details, despite the channel they chose to contact them via.

3. Equip all Customer facing personnel with full, consistent, up to date knowledge

Knowledge is the key to providing high levels of a personalised customer experience and it is important to share this knowledge across the business and not keep it siloed within departments. Although many companies are trying to establish ways of effectively achieving knowledge share, it is common to face difficulties in keeping this knowledge up-to-date and making available to the right person at the right time.

It is important for businesses to understand that knowledge sharing needs to go beyond the confinements of the office walls and extend out to the mobile workforce who depend on knowledge sharing just as much with those in the office.

As customer facing employees and those who go out to fix problems and meet customers, it is essential for them to be able to access the information they need, when they need it.

4. Client Self Service and visibility of service status

The customer’s ability to arrange service calls or get status updates with a company is an important element of how a service organisation is viewed by its customers.

Online portals are currently the most used self-service channel within the service industry, however the functionality of these portals is still quite limited and often do not provide the customer with the control they require. One of the main problems that is limiting self-service portals is the lack of integration with existing business technology such as scheduling systems and field service engineer’s mobile device technology.

Organisations need to ensure that when implementing self-service portals, they are integrating them to all necessary back office systems to allow customers to not only access basic information such as billing, service requests or appointment booking but also allow them to make payments, amend or cancel appointments or have real-time updates of their service delivery without human interaction.

5. Motivate and train your technicians to go beyond basic repair

The field based engineers of your organisation are not just the ones who fix, prevent or manage customer requirements, they become the face of the business and one of the only employees from your business that the customers sees.

With this in mind, it is important to ensure the business is getting the most out of their remote workforce by training them in not only providing the best repair and maintenance service, but also by improving their soft skills in order to successfully communicate, listen and train customers on the products and maintenance best practice.

6. Increase help desk productivity with technical training and automation

Whilst training your engineers to carry out additional tasks such as quoting and ordering, it is also important to ensure that those on the service desk are also doing as much as they can to help improve the customer experience.

The traditional role of the service desk is to log customer requests and schedule them for the next available or most skilled engineer to go out and visit the customer. However, what if the service desk could provide some level of expertise in trying to find out more about the service request to better inform and equip the engineers and on some occasions even help solve the customers problem remotely, over the phone?

7. Stay one step ahead of the customer with proactive maintenance

The amount of reactive service requests coming in to an organisation can cause complexity for scheduling as well as effecting engineer availability, parts ordering and the amount of time it takes for the problem to be fixed.

To avoid the amount of reactive jobs being received, businesses should implement a strategy to track performance of components and analyse common faults in order to predict when maintenance will be needed.

The internet of things will also have a huge impact on service delivery and although still somewhat in its infancy, will soon be able to transform the industry

 

---

 

Click here to access this white paper now

 

---

 

Be social and share this feature

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in their own way,” reads the famous opening line of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The same could be said of companies — so we’ve found as we’ve helped more field service firms shift from paper-based processes to automated ones asserts Phillipp Emmengger of Core Systems

Field service companies usually come to us seeking a more streamlined way of doing things. They typically are working under the burden of a heavily paper-based process with unique, time-consuming ways of doing things. One customer, for example, required technicians to re-enter their data back into their systems after their day was done, while another passed the paperwork to teams of data-entry clerks to enter the often illegible information. Neither was ideal.

Our potential clients typically focus on the efficiencies and the cost savings that can be achieved. How can we dispatch technicians faster? How can we ensure they have the necessary information they need, and to get data back to the office? How can we increase first-time fix rates? And, how can we invoice faster? But once the software is in place, and customers start enjoying the benefits of a more efficient process, they begin to notice something else: that not only are their customers happy, they’re happy. The work environment and the work culture has shifted to one that is positive and efficient.

 

As Lisa Erling, Chief Financial Officer at the California-based Vegetable Growers Supply, a packaging supply firm, said of the new work culture that emerged after their move to automated services, “It’s a whole new business.”

As with happy families, happy field service companies appear to have certain traits in common.

Here are the top 6 ways we’ve found on how automation can create a happier work culture:

Technicians Are in Control of Their Day:

Field service software on mobile devices allow technicians to see and manage everything in their day. They can easily record and track their working hours, see the day’s schedules and if any changes occur to their schedule. With a mobile solution, the lines of communication between technicians and the back office are constantly open, meaning technicians are better supported, and don’t have to return to the office when problems occur.

Free Technicians from the Burden of Paperwork:

Forgotten forms, lost paperwork, re-entering data back at the office and even interpreting their own illegible handwriting used to add to the administrative burden of a technician’s day. With an automated, mobile solution, where everything is in one place and is filled out and captured in the course of the day, the hours technicians literally spent on the admin of their jobs is reduced. “Our employees are very satisfied,” says Johann Schild Jr, Managing Director of Herstellung & Handels, the German supplier of hydraulic systems and accessories, “They are able to save time, which they use much more effectively. They benefit from having all the data they need in their hands and they have less paperwork to fill out, which for a technician is always an advantage.”

Empowered Technicians Have the Information They Need to Perform at Their Best:

Mobile solutions give technicians everything thing they need to do the job right: service manuals, customer and service histories and inventory levels and the ability to order spare parts are all at their fingertips. As first-time fix rates rise, technicians feel empowered by their ability to quickly do their job right. Daniel Reichert, a service technician at Cald’Oro, the Austrian makers of high end coffee machines, says: “I am much faster in creating service orders or in finding spare parts. I can see at a glance what my colleague did during his last visit, what work he carried out on the machine and what the problem was. Everything is just much faster. You can see right away what part was changed during the last service or which item got damaged when. It allows me to narrow down the errors in no time.”

Improved Relations Between Technicians and Customers:

Technicians armed with the knowledge of who their customers are and their service histories can put customers immediately at ease and demonstrate quickly to them their understanding of their equipment and issues. But they can also make the repair process more transparent. Simple photo capture of broken equipment, for instance, can show customers (especially with inaccessible parts) where the problem has occurred and how severe it is.

Better Communications and Team Work Between Technicians and Back Office:

No one likes to have to constantly check in with their office or have their office checking up on them. With mobile devices, automatic status updates can be easily sent when a job is marked done, when snags are occurring, or when drive times are taking longer than expected. Open communications between all team members can also let techs tap each other for knowledge, and let techs quickly locate a supervisor if they need one or call in extra help.

Work Faster; Save Time:

If there’s one thing that makes technicians happy, it’s the ability to work faster and save time. No one wants to be bogged down trying to diagnose a problem, when a simple service history might speed up the process. No one wants to have re-enter information when easy data capture could let them do this as they work.

With technicians on the front lines and in the position of representing and advocating for your brand and company, their happiness has a direct impact on customer happiness.

 

---

 

Be social and share this feature

Espresso Service Ltd, an independent company founded in 1987 that specialises in servicing coffee machines, is set to implement Tesseract’s service management software in order to better serve its customers.


Espresso Service, who manage a network of engineers all over the UK, pride themselves on a wide skill set. Their engineers are ‘coffee experts’ and do planned and reactive maintenance on all brands of traditional and semi-automatic coffee machines. At present they rely on an internally installed, less specialised piece of software to manage their engineers. In order to move forward, they decided to look for a centrally hosted and more specialised system that would be a better fit for their needs.

Espresso Service identified a number of advantages to implementing Tesseract’s software, in particular the fact that Tesseract offers a constantly evolving platform for a monthly fee. They also saw the appeal of Tesseract’s software being entirely web-based. “It will allow anyone to do their jobs anywhere,” says Daniel Sewell, Chief Operating Officer for Espresso Service.

Espresso Service have plans to incorporate Tesseract’s entire suite of services in due course. Sewell says, “Our aspiration is to use every single function that is available, largely because we believe Tesseract to be the key to fundamentally changing our business for the better. We believe Tesseract will drive efficiency, spotlight any inefficiency, and ultimately help us to ‘work smarter’ and be the best that we can be.”

---

Be social and share this story