Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Tesseract) Title: Five fundamental elements to expect in a FSM system
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Oct 10, 2017 • Features • FSM Systems • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Software and Apps • software and apps • Asolvi
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Tesseract)
Title: Five fundamental elements to expect in a FSM system
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
Synopsis:
Field Service Management technology has become essential to service delivery excellence. Service excellence is no longer a USP but a baseline requirement.
However, whilst technologies such as IoT and Augmented Reality are grabbing the headlines their potential is greatly diminished unless you have a fundamental layer of technology in place already.
This white paper explores what to expect from a FSM system and offers best-practice tips to help you get the most from your investment..
Overview
The white paper explores the following five key elements of a Field Service Management (FSM) System explaining the importance and offering best practice advice of how to get the most from your own system...
1. Contract Manager:
Contract management is often viewed as the starting point of almost everything within field service management operations. Without a view of your service contracts you cannot have to hand the answers for critical questions such as:
- What is the SLA on any given contract?
- Is a client under warranty or do they have an enhanced level of service contract?
- Does a contract include spare parts and/or consumables?
- Is the service contract due for renewal?[/unordered_list]
You could be at risk of potentially not meeting your clients expectations and so putting the potential of renewing or upselling service to that client in danger in the future – or on the other side of the coin, you could be giving valuable service away for free.
Therefore, Contract Management is perhaps the most important of the fundamental building blocks that you should expect to find within a modern field service management solution and perhaps the first area that you should make sure your team is fully versed in utilising.
2. Scheduling:
Scheduling comes in a number of different guises and the various different names given to types of scheduling options can be a somewhat confusing but broadly scheduling will come in three flavours:
- Assisted
- Optimised
- Dynamic
It is often assumed that a dynamic solution is required for a larger mobile workforce, but whilst the size of your workforce is certainly one consideration in which type of scheduling engine would best suit your service operation - this is not the only factor.
The complexity of the service work, as well as the variety of service jobs you undertake is another significant factor. For example an organisation that has a field workforce that services multiple different asset types – perhaps from multiple OEMs, and therefore has a number of different engineer requirements for differing jobs - would likely benefit far more from an optimised scheduling engine than an organisation that just fixes one or two types of assets for which all of their engineers are qualified to undertake repairs and maintenance.
3. Mobile tools and communications::
It is fair to say that the biggest revolution in field service has come from the rapid explosion in mobile computing power. Today’s smartphones are capable of greater computing tasks than even the laptops of just a few years back. For the field service organisation this is fantastic as it puts information at the field service engineers finger tips, empowers them to spend more time on maintenance and repair and less on activities such as paper work and enables them to deliver a far more effective and impressive service experience for the customer. Also, with the advent of smart phones, and then latterly tablets, has come greater communications tools than we could have ever expected ten years ago.
Also, with the advent of smart phones, and then latterly tablets, has come greater communications tools than we could have ever expected ten years ago.
However, whilst the mobile element in FSM technology is constantly evolving, essentially the most fundamental and core aspect that you want a mobile aspect of a FSM solution to do is to mirror your back-end solution and to do so in real-time.
4. Parts & Inventory Management::
Parts and Inventory management is perhaps an area that in the past has not received the focus and attention that it requires. It has often been the mantra of field service organisations that they are aiming to the get the right engineer to the right job, at the right time.
But that all becomes moot if the right engineer doesn’t have the right parts to hand as well. Consistently at industry conferences parts management remains a hot button and a common pain point for a huge amount of organisations. So whilst it is exciting to talk about emerging technologies such as IoT and Augmented Reality - a primary focus should be on ensuring our field service operation is as efficient as possible at a fundamental level, and that means getting a grip on parts management.
And whilst of course there are supply chain and logistics aspects to the conversation which can make things complicated – especially when you are using third party contractors – one of the most crucial aspects of good parts and inventory management is utilising a system that can keep track of where your inventory, including van inventory, is at any given point.
5. Integration:
We are living in a world of data lakes, data rivers, data mountains and all other types of data topography it seems! But all these vast swathes of data are meaningless unless you are able to draw insight from it, and quite often that means being able to let the data flow seamlessly from one set of business applications to another.
Of course, our vision of the future is that everything will be plug and play and all technologies will play well together nicely, but we aren’t quite there yet.
This is why integration is absolutely key in any modern business system – including FSM. Of course, our vision of the future is that everything will be plug and play and all technologies will play well together nicely, but we aren’t quite there yet.
Integration varies from provider to provider but often it is led by the integrations they have been asked to undertake, so if your current provider or a provider you have identified as being a good fit for your business don’t advertise integration with a specific system you are using – it is worth discussing the possibilities with them - especially if it is a common platform as making their product integrate may be useful for other future clients also.
This White Paper offers further details on each of the above elements and how to get the most from them.
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
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Aug 02, 2017 • Features • Connected Field Service • Future of FIeld Service • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Trimble
Resource Type: eBook Published by: Trimble Title: A Connected World: Field Service Insight Report
Resource Type: eBook
Published by: Trimble
Title: A Connected World: Field Service Insight Report
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
Synopsis:
Having been amongst its earliest adopters, field service organisations are well aware of the role that connectivity has in their everyday operations.
By the nature of field service a wide range of elements come into play and the difference between what makes a great working day or a poor one, are all too often to do with how these components are connected.
Overview
The eBook focusses on four key areas in which the connected world is impacting field service delivery - Connected Operations, Connected Customers, Connected Workforce, and Connected Intelligence.
Connected Operations:
The success of a field service organisation hinges on getting all parts of the organisation – the back office, the mobile workforce, the fleet management and billing and finance – working together.
Field service technologies have a critical role to play in connecting the many elements involved in the operations across the organisation and the eBook explores how the connected operation could look, not in the future but today.
Connected Customers:
Customer service is widely recognised as being the number one business priority with a proven link between customer satisfaction, retention and profitability.
Aberdeen Group report that organisations that reached a 90 percent plus customer satisfaction rate achieved an annual 6.1 percent increase in service, 3.7 percent growth in overall revenue and an 89 percent level of customer retention
Connected Workforce:
Mobile technology isn’t just changing service; it’s changing the technician as well. No longer just someone who can install or make repairs, a field technician is also a knowledgeable and trusted advisor.
With so much information at their fingertips, technicians can do their jobs more efficiently, resulting in an enhanced customer experience Field service leaders report that implementing a mobile strategy provided an 18 percent increase in service visits per technician and a 40 percent increase in service revenue contribution per technician.
Connected Intelligence:
Field service organisations are characterised by complex workflows and interdependencies which call for a sophisticated approach to measuring the KPIs that go across all aspects of their operation.
Our research shows that nearly 30 percent of field service managers believe that their organisation is ineffective at using the data they collect and just 1 in 5 believes they get the information they need from field service data to help do their job.
This conflict is a major issue facing all too many field service organisations – there is a wealth of business intelligence available to them but making use of it is seen to be an overwhelming, almost impossible, task.
Processing the volume and speed at which ‘Big Data’ is gathered and turning it into useable information is a major challenge.
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
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Jul 10, 2017 • Features • Management • Coresystems • crowd service • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Coresystems Title: 3 Traps to Avoid if You Want to Meet Your Customer Satisfaction KPI
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Coresystems
Title: 3 Traps to Avoid if You Want to Meet Your Customer Satisfaction KPI
Field Service Professional? Click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Preparing for the Connected Customer" sent directly to your inbox now
Synopsis:
For field service management (FSM), one of the most crucial KPIs is customer satisfaction.
Customers who are pleased with products and services are not tempted to seek out better solutions. In effect, guaranteeing customer satisfaction is a way of building up a loyal clientele and ensuring retention...
This white paper published by Coresystems explores three traps that every field service organisation must avoid if they want to ensure that they are meeting perhaps the most important KPI in todays competitive service landscape - customer satisfaction...
There are three things to pay close attention to when measuring this KPI: speed, quality and customer engagement.
The three traps many field service companies fall into according to this white paper are:
- Trap #1 - Long wait times
- Trap #2 - Diminished quality
- Trap #3 - Feeling left out
Overview:
There are three things to pay close attention to when measuring this KPI: speed, quality and customer engagement. This white paper offers an important list of ways to steer clear of bad service traps.
1st Trap: Long Wait Times:
Time is of the essence. Time wasted – on hold, repeating information to call center representatives who have no background knowledge of the issue, waiting for available service appointments or busy technicians – feels like time stolen to customers. A survey conducted by Aberdeen group showed that 51% of those surveyed were most dissatisfied with the waiting times for appointments.
Field service management software can play an integral role in increasing service response time by:
- By integrating quick response codes (QR code) into devices, companies give customers the technology to quickly transmit all the necessary product details to service providers with one quick scan.
- By taking advantage of the latest developments in IoT, like sensors, companies can rely on predictive technology to respond to breakdowns or glitches before they occur.
- By relying on a crowd service , companies can be sure they have a sufficient workforce with the expertise needed to handle customers’ technical service issues.
2nd Trap: Diminished Quality:
According the Aberdeen group survey, when asked to list their top four (out of twelve options) reasons for being dissatisfied with customer service, 58% of those surveyed stated that it was technicians who could not solve their issues due to a lack of expertise or equipment.
Should your customer survey indicate that clients are dissatisfied with the level of quality your service technicians are providing, the most immediate response you can take is to ensure that your technicians are properly trained to perform the tasks at hand. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find experienced and highly-qualified specialists. This is where the targeted use of FSM software can have measurable positive implications.
3rd Trap: Feeling left out:
Some companies make the mistake of assuming that a customer is content to report a problem and sit back and wait for the solution to appear.
This is a dangerous assumption to make. 38% of customers surveyed reported that they were unhappy about technicians not arriving on time. They were not content with knowing that technicians were on their way, they wanted to be able to track the progress of their repairs from start to finish. They wanted access to 24-hour status updates.
They wanted to be able to report problems when they occur, and not have to wait for the limited window of opportunity during which customer representatives were available.
Want to know more? Field Service Professional? Click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Preparing for the Connected Customer" sent directly to your inbox now
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Jun 14, 2017 • Features • Astea • Future of FIeld Service • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Customer Satisfaction and Expectations
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Astea Title: Preparing for the Connected Customer
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Astea
Title: Preparing for the Connected Customer
Synopsis:
This is the era of the connected customer—consumers who are used to having the entire Internet at their fingertips, who can instantly interact with friends and associates via text or social media, and who can quickly summon a ride, make restaurant reservations, or order a gift with a few clicks and swipes on their phones.
Connected customers present both challenges and opportunities for field service organisations. Their expectations have increased based on their experiences interacting with other types of service providers such as Amazon.com, Uber, FedEx, and Zipcar.
These customers want more information, along with faster, better service, and more control over their experience.
This white paper asks if your organisation is ready to meet their increasing demands...
Overview:
Supported by research by Frost & Sullivan, this white paper covers three key areas:
Rising Expectations of the Connected Customer
Connected customers are intimately familiar with the capabilities of mobile computing technology in a way that they were not 10 years ago. They expect field service technicians to be able to access those same or even more advanced mobile capabilities.
Leveraging Customer Connectivity
Enterprises are rapidly embracing mobility. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, 47% of North American businesses have at least 11 different mobile worker apps deployed, and 88% plan on introducing at least one new employee-facing app within the year.
Meeting the Challenge of the Connected Customer
Engaging effectively with connected customers requires an investment in field service management (FSM) and mobile technology that can keep pace with the technology in which your customers already have access. There are a number of challenges involved in that process, including:
- Navigating a fragmented and confusing market
- Predicting customer needs
- Determining the best technologies to deploy
Want to know more? If you're a Field Service Professional then click here to apply for a complimentary industry subscription to Field Service News and get the white paper "Preparing for the Connected Customer" sent directly to your inbox now
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May 19, 2017 • Features • Predictive maintenance • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • dynamic scheduling • IFS • IoT
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: IFS Title: Utilising dynamic scheduling in a predictive maintenance world
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: IFS
Title: Utilising dynamic scheduling in a predictive maintenance world
Synopsis:
People assume that machines will talk to each other as part of IoT, but it seems that the integration of data from IoT projects is something that is lacking.
In fact, it’s common to see organisations working with multiple IoT projects because of the disconnected flow of data. Effective use of real-time data from IoT projects enables operative predictive maintenance, which can link to advanced scheduling, more effective delivery of service, and higher customer satisfaction ratings. But how do these three business strategies link together?
In the context of this white paper, IoT means using data coming from sensors, in combination with data interpretation to predict maintenance needs. From those predictions of maintenance needs, the most efficient field schedule can be created through advanced scheduling based on data provided from the machine in the field, technician skills, and parts and tools needed for maintenance.
These predictions in combination with advanced scheduling take the schedule beyond drive time and identify the most effective use of your most important asset—the field service engineer
Overview:
This white paper covers four key areas:
IoT Strategy:
No matter the industry, any company can leverage an IoT strategy. Mobile phones, tables, machines and other devices continuously collect information that can be analysed and acted upon.
Cisco IBSG predicts there will be 50 billion internet-connected devices by 2020. This is an astonishing 100 percent increase from 2015.
This increase in internet-connected devices provides the opportunity to embrace IoT in a big way by leveraging large quantities of data from connected devices.
Predictive maintenance:
As unplanned downtime can disrupt an entire organisation, diminishing down-time is invaluable to organisations.
A survey conducted by Nielsen Research demonstrated that downtime costs an average of $22,000 per minute.
Because downtime can be so costly, most organisations invest in predictive maintenance in an effort to replace worn-down parts before they cause downtime. A well-designed IoT solution is a step in the right direction.
Leveraging real-time with advance scheduling:
When real-time data from an IoT solution connects with an advanced scheduling solution, a field technician can be notified of high-priority maintenance, prioritised by the advanced scheduling solution’s ability to adjust a schedule by responding to customer SLAs as appropriate.
The solution generates the most efficient, cost-effective schedule, identifying travel routes for the technician in closest proximity to the site of maintenance, with the right tools and skill-set to meet the maintenance needs.
Benefits of an IoT solution:
To move from reactive maintenance to predictive and preventive maintenance, an IoT solution providing real-time data should be implemented. By attaching sensors to equipment and facilities, an organisation can gain information about the condition of the equipment and facilities and how they are being used.
A task could be assigned to a field technician who travels to a customer site to address an issue before a customer is even aware that they have an issue.
The field service system analyses the data and issues prescribed actions that automatically lead to tasks being performed based on rules defined by the user. For instance, a task could be assigned to a field technician who travels to a customer site to address an issue before a customer is even aware that they have an issue.
Talk about a high customer satisfaction rating!
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Apr 19, 2017 • Features • Coresystems • crowd service • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Coresystems Title: Understanding Crowd Service Solutions: The Evolution Of Field Service
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Coresystems
Title: Understanding Crowd Service Solutions: The Evolution Of Field Service
Synopsis:
Companies looking to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the rapid advancement of digitalization in their respective industries have long been concerned with Field Service Management (FSM).
They have reimagined their business philosophies around the conviction that customer satisfaction is a major priority and that new innovations are also shifting customer demands. Innovative CEOs and service executives know that FSM software alone will not be enough to meet real-time service expectations and needs.
They are looking to something with the groundbreaking potential to revolutionise the services industry and customer experience. They are turning to crowd service solutions. What promises does crowd service offer the field services industry?
How can you use them to improve brand loyalty? Why will they be the only way forward in the age of IoT?
This white paper outlines the premise that the only way forward is to combine field service management with crowd service technology
Overview:
The white paper explores three key areas in establishing the case for a new crowd sourced approach to field service that leverages the growing 'gig-economy' in order to meet growing customer demands whilst reducing operational costs for field service organisations.
The Service Executive Bible: What Matters Most
It is only logical that service executives would be primarily concerned with optimising the customer experience.
In fact, a study conducted to determine key issues facing service executives in comparison to other business executives highlighted how much CSOs value customer satisfaction over other KPIs.
However, with the manpower currently available to them, CSOs are running up against a brick wall. In order to continue achieving their aim of consistent customer satisfaction improvement rates, they need a bigger team of technicians and experts who can keep up with the new pace being set by the latest innovations in technology. The trend is heading towards crowd services.
It will soon be the only way to meet the demands of a growing workload.
The Evolution Of Field Service
Just as the rise of machines gave rise to more advanced and capable machines, so to have field services evolved over the years. What used to be an analog process of collecting and sharing information about customers and devices, has now become automated, and in some cases completely digitalized.
This has in large part been the response to the need for more streamlined and efficient processes. FSM software ensures that everyone is on the same page: the company, the technicians, the customers.
The white paper explores the development of FSM in depth focussing on:
- The Way It Used To Be: The Analog Approach
- Today’s Standard: Field Service Management In The 21st Century
- Where We Are Headed: Crowd Service And Predictive Maintenance
Crowd Service Technology
A crowd service is a pool of skilled, freelance service technicians who are available to respond to service calls when needed. These crowd service technicians possess the necessary IT know-how to address various technical issues. Thanks to field service management software, they also have access to internal company manuals, tutorials and videos as well as to customer and device/machine specifics for getting the job done quickly and effectively.
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Oct 24, 2016 • Features • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • IFS • Software and Apps • software and apps
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: IFS Title: Software selection for enterprise service management
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: IFS
Title: Software selection for enterprise service management
Click Here to access the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis:
white paper by IFS on selecting enterprise service management software. Click the links wihtin the page to download now!Choosing to invest in a new service management solution is one thing, selecting the right system for your organisation is an entirely different challenge...
Service is becoming a central pillar of most organisations operations and investment in the tools to improve your service delivery are well documented to deliver clear R.O.I. However, the market for service management systems is highly competitive with numerous different vendors offering a multitude of solutions.
This white paper written by IFS's Tom Bowe, one of FSN's 20 most influential people in Field Service, offers some excellent, impartial and objective advice as to how you can identify the right solution for your organisation...
Overview:
This white paper, published by IFS, discusses the following key topics:
- Common business challenges including rising competition, greater margin pressures and burgeoning communications demands
- How the right software can address these business challenges including improving vision, knowledge sharing and flexibility
- A dozen key questions to ask when selecting the right service management solution for your organisation
Common business challenges:
Rising competition:
Competition in services is rising, from both big players and small players. Consider a manufacturer providing field services to customers that have purchased their equipment. Today there are huge service players that come in saying they can service everything, as well as small, nimble service organisations with a regional focus.
So for the manufacturer, sophisticated global competitors pressure service at the top end and agile competitors with a local or regional focus pressure service at the bottom end. They’re getting squeezed, and in this they are not alone among service organisations.
Greater margin pressures
In many business sectors, markets have matured for strong product growth, threatening revenue streams and driving down margins. The challenge and opportunity here is service growth: a part of the business heretofore an afterthought has moved to the front in executive suites. The immediate need is to turn service from a cost centre into a profit centre. The window of opportunity to do this effectively will not stay open forever.
Burgeoning communication demands
The proliferation of technology has had multiple effects, all of which act to increase the need for fast and pervasive communications. We see this embodied in the ubiquitous smartphone, conditioning a generation to expect access to information 24/7/365 and answers to questions immediately at the touch of a screen or click of a mouse. This has changed the game in service delivery, where performance issues (i.e., risk) have become more pronounced with lack of responsive speed or inability to deliver as promised.
The flip side of this risk is the opportunity that comes with new technology.
How the right software can address these business challenges:
The right enterprise service management software supports an organisation’s ability to meet emerging challenges and respond to constant change by providing the foundation for enterprise agility. The concept of business agility involves the development of capabilities to achieve sustained competitive advantage in an unpredictable environment. Agility is the product of three foundational blocks—vision, knowledge, and flexibility—that effectively designed and developed software facilitate across the business.
A dozen questions to ask when selecting service management software
- DOES THE SOFTWARE PROVIDE ESSENTIAL ACCESS TO DATA—THE RIGHT DATA FOR
THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME? - SOFTWARE SELECTION FOR ENTERPRISE SERVICE MANAGEMENT
- DOES THE SOFTWARE ALLOW FOR FUTURE GROWTH?
- IS THE SOFTWARE APPEALING TO TODAY’S GENERATION OF WORKERS?
[/ordered_list]
To get the full list of questions (and why these questions are important) download the white paper by clicking the link below and completing the brief for and it will be sent straight to your inbox.
Click here to access the white paper
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Jun 22, 2016 • Features • Oneserve • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Software and Apps
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Oneserve Title: The Oneserve Field Service Survey Download: Click here to download the white paper
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Oneserve
Title: The Oneserve Field Service Survey
Download: Click here to download the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis
At the end of 2015 Oneserve conducted a comprehensive survey of c.15,000 organisations of various sizes across the UK. The aim was to understand:
- How UK field service businesses prioritise their operational and strategic objectives
- To what extent their field management software is successfully used to achieve them
Together the results highlighted a key issue: that many businesses are missing out on the potential value of field service software, and may need to re-assess their choices. The survey responses also threw up more questions around the causes of this missed potential, and what the future holds for field service management. This white paper evaluates these findings...
Overview
White Paper: The Oneserve Survey - click links at top or bottom of article to downloadDrawing on a comprehensive and far reaching survey this white paper distills the research into a number of key findings including:
Key priorities for growth:
To understand the relationship field service software has to business success, Oneserve asked their respondents what their top priorities were for achieving business growth. The three key drivers were maximising efficiencies, utilising data and exceeding customer expectations.
The missed potential of field service software
Working smarter and for less cost is clearly of huge importance to field-based businesses. It is here that field service software holds the most value for organisations; driving both competitive advantage and revenue growth. Yet the survey revealed that many organisations are missing out on the potential business value that correctly used field service software can provide.
Untapped efficiencies
What does efficiency mean for field service delivery? Intelligent stock and asset management, high ‘first-fix’ rates and fast response times, preventative initiatives, and improved scheduling? Or, getting the right person with the right parts to the right place at the right time? A deceptively complex interplay between people, processes and technology. However, 3 out of 4 companies said they could do a lot better at maximising efficiencies.
Unused Data
All efficiencies and customer service improvements come from intelligent and proactive use of data. Leveraging the comprehensive data points that arise from an intuitive and well-integrated field service software solution should provide essential information on trends and inefficiencies, and allow crucial insight to improve processes.
"Despite spending large amounts of money on expensive software packages that should provide valuable information in an easy-to-use, relevant format, 80% of the survey respondents admitted they proactively use less than half of their available data..."
What’s the issue?
The results from our survey appear to show a clear disconnect between the strategic objectives of businesses and the value they are extracting from their field service software.
Whether it’s missed opportunities for promoting efficiency, under-used data insights or compromised customer care, the potential benefits of a fully integrated field service solution are simply not being fully realised.
More control for less cost
The future of field service management lies in providing more control, with less cost. Allowing businesses to adjust their solution to fit their own specific requirements no longer requires a team of experienced coders or hugely expensive professional service days that are lucrative to the software providers but prohibitive to the customer.
The recent development of ‘low code’ software solutions that allow the client’s business to implement, configure, amend and evolve their solution themselves through easy-to-use application development dashboards now means more robust, flexible and intuitive options are available - a true ‘Software-as-a-Service’ offering that provides maximum value for minimum long term cost.
For more detailed information on each of these topics and a more in-depth look at overcoming the challenges the survey presents click here to download the white paper now!
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Apr 25, 2016 • Features • assisted scheduling • resources • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Exel Computer Systems • scheduling • Software and Apps
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Exel Computer Systems) Title: The helping hands of field service management Download: Click here to download white paper
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Exel Computer Systems)
Title: The helping hands of field service management
Download: Click here to download white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here
Synopsis
How to stay ahead of the ever-changing suite of Field Service Management (FSM) tools, including a focus on exactly what is the latest development of Assisted Scheduling?
Overview
The need for companies to employ some form of scheduling engine is clear, the benefits of adopting such an approach are thoroughly documented and clearly tangible. Introducing some level of automation will certainly deliver improvement in field service efficiency and productivity.
Indeed, the introduction of any level of optimisation within the dispatch role will inevitably lead to the reduction of fuel consumption costs that can make a compelling argument for implementation, for even the most cautious of financial directors.
The pile of case studies available to read extolling the benefits of scheduling are stacked high and readily available – each of them stuffed with positive examples and statistics to back up the claims FSM providers make, including how quickly companies have seen a return on their investment.
And of course the benefits of improved scheduling go far beyond the elements that are so clearly identified on a P&L. Customer satisfaction levels are often dramatically increased with the introduction of such tools.
The benefits of improved scheduling go far beyond the elements that are so clearly identified on a P&L.Customer satisfaction levels are often dramatically increased with the introduction of such tools.
With customer satisfaction becoming one of the key differentiators between you and your competition in this current age of information, the investment in a good scheduling engine that can empower your team to deliver top tier service could appear to be ever more vital.
Imagine if every person within your team could effectively schedule a service call...
This white paper takes a look at the on-going evolution of field service scheduling systems from manual solutions through to fully dynamic and automated optimised solutions, exploring some of the benefits and challenges of each.
It also then takes a closer look at the latest type of solution appearing 'assisted scheduling' and assesses whether this approach found in a number of next-gen solutions bridges the gap between those scheduling engines which are sometimes seen as prohibitively complex and expensive and those that offer little in the way of true optimisation.
Do assisted scheduling solutions offer a perfect balance for smaller and mid-sized organisation between the efficiency improvements of a high end solution and the human intuition of an expert dispatch agent? Finally the white paper touches on some of the other factors within a wider field service management system that can enable companies to truly take advantage of their scheduling system- be it manual, assisted or fully dynamic.
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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