Trimble announced last week the launch of Trimble Field Service Management (FSM) Connect, an advanced development environment and a standard set of Web services and APIs that can enhance field service business processes by allowing access, use and sharing of data across a variety of different systems.

Following the recent announcement of Trimble Horizon, the new cloud-based platform for FSM solutions, FSM Connect is the third in a line of new features and solutions announced this week as part of Trimble's spotlight on empowering mobile workers.

"Most companies have multiple solutions that collect data, which has to be manually interpreted and checked against the same or similar data from other solutions," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble's Field Service Management Division. "FSM Connect is a package of Web services for Trimble customers and partners that provide a comprehensive and reliable way to enable a seamless information flow between Trimble FSM solutions and back-end or third-party systems. This means the value of data can be realised across an organisation and the most up-to-date information can be shared instantaneously, a vital requirement for organisations with mobile workers out in the field."

"The amount of information a field service organisation needs to operate successfully can be daunting and one of the biggest challenges it faces is the lack of integrated data to provide a consolidated view of their processes. With FSM Connect, we can enable them to solve this challenge," said Cameron.

FSM Connect enables organisations by providing a single point of access for their field service information. In addition, it allows users to feed the integrated data into business analytics and reporting systems to make more-informed decisions about their field work that can drive productivity and enhance knowledge management.

Other benefits of FSM Connect include:

• Decreasing manual data entry by automatically sending data to other applications
• Increasing operational efficiency by centralising and streamlining data views
• Providing bidirectional flow of data that allows full integration across the organisation

Trimble will be hosting a Webinar with Aberdeen Group on Thursday, 30. Oct. Aly Pinder, senior research analyst of the Aberdeen Group, will discuss the key emerging technologies empowering workers out in the field, including the use of mobility. To register for the Webinar, or to sign up for a recording, click here.