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Paul Whitelam, VP Product Marketing, ClickSoftware, outlines five key technologies he believes will soon be shaping our industry...

The field service industry continued its rapid transformation in 2016, with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics increasingly changing how field service suppliers manage their workforce.

Service-centric businesses are constantly looking for new ways to meet customers’ growing demand for convenient and communicative customer service.

2017 is likely to bring continued change and innovation, with new technologies reshaping service operations and delivery. It’s a great time to examine what’s in store for the industry this year, and what field service leaders might want to have on their radar. Here are five technologies set to improve the field service industry in 2017:

1) Machine learning and AI

Machine learning (when algorithms evolve and improve over time) and artificial intelligence (AI) also drove new changes in 2016.

With the ability to better process, interpret, and learn from data, more services suppliers can be predictive instead of reactive, and will be able to automate the tasks that don’t need human input. Increasingly sophisticated forecasting driven by machine learning will drive efficiency increases and cost savings.

2) Reaping the rewards of new realities

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) were a major force last year. Even though virtual and augmented reality are predominantly used in games such as Pokémon Go and The Lab, both are being adopted more widely in a workplace context to enhance employee productivity and customer experiences.

In 2017, an increasing number of field service engineers will start to see VR and AR initiatives being introduced to support their training and day-to-day work.

 

As experienced engineers age out of the workforce and businesses try to maximise existing resources, VR and AR will increasingly play a role in enabling training, remote coaching, and viewing more information on each task via wearables.

3) Connected customers

As our recent research showed, customer expectations are growing rapidly around the world. The demand for fast, friendly and high quality service that also fits with customers’ busy and varying schedules is becoming the norm. And, aware of the mobile-led technologies that now exist to support a higher level of service delivery, field service customers are voicing demand for engineer location tracking and up-to-the-minute communications.

This communication between the customers and engineers will give customers the ability to share photos, preferences and job information with technicians before their visit, sharing important information that will expedite the service delivery. Customers will also be able to share their customer experience with their provider after the visit, offering feedback that can inform future service decisions.

Field service suppliers that do not start to think seriously about modernizing their operations in 2017 in this way will see an impact on their ability to compete.

4) A smarter field service

A device is labelled ‘smart’ if it can connect to other devices through the Internet of Things.

This year, smart will become smarter and advancements in machine learning will create new opportunities for the field service industry.

There will be improved inter-connectivity of smart devices, which will enable field service engineers to use their smart devices to contact more experienced engineers when they need guidance.

 

This will improve engineers’ knowledge and skills, and also deliver better customer experiences through increased ‘first-time-fix’ resolutions.

Smart technology will also accelerate preventative maintenance, alerting the customer and technician when there is an issue with a piece of equipment before the customer needs to make the call.

Usage patterns and failures are therefore easier to recognise and plan for, minimising interruptions and failures when a device is connected through smart technology.

5) Autonomous vehicles will drive innovation

Autonomous vehicles are already being trialled in some parts of the world, but 2017 will be the year when the business masses start to investigate their potential in the context of business gain.

This goes a step beyond assisted driving, which is already allowing field service engineers to predict traffic and avoid routes that will slow down their journey. Autonomous vehicles can also reduce the number of multiple visits from engineers by delivering the necessary tools to the engineer onsite, or providing the required tools to the customer if the machine can be self-fixed.

 

In short, self-driving cars or drones could present a field service industry game changer and as autonomous vehicle technology improves—and in-country legislation relating to their use is put in place —discussions around the benefits these offer to industry suppliers will gather pace amidst the race to innovate.

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ClickSoftware, a leading provider of field service management solutions for the enterprise, today introduced Click Field Service Edge, a new cloud-based, mobile workforce management platform designed to meet the needs of the largest and most demanding field service providers.

Adoption of the cloud has more than doubled over the past two years and, with that, cloud-based software solutions have become entrenched in the business world.

Recognising the technological benefits for field service companies, ClickSoftware's first, cloud only, SaaS-based solution delivers field service management in an entirely new way.

With patented artificial intelligence, Click Field Service Edge connects enterprise customers with automated real-time insight and intelligent decision-making tools that provide a new level of productivity and efficiency to field workforce performance.

 

"As a company that has successfully managed billions of service engagements, and is exclusively focused on providing field service technology - since creating the market - we know what it takes to help our customers always be a step ahead of the demand, not just move in lockstep with it," explained Tom Heiser, ClickSoftware's Chief Executive Officer.

"We designed Click Field Service Edge to help prepare for the future, and transform the business of customer field service operations from reactive to predictive."

Benefits of the new Click Field Service Edge include:

Increased Service Intelligence and Collaboration:

Real-time status updates - including location and estimated time of arrival - provide organisations with competitive service advantages, enabling them to quickly plan, respond and deliver the best customer service experience possible.

Leveraging established service policies and intelligent decision recommendations helps increase business users' efficiency and productivity. Additionally, integrated tools and bi-directional communication, such as interactive appointment confirmation details, not only improve customer engagements, but also increase customer satisfaction, retention and organic revenue growth.

Ease-of-Use:

Intuitive tools and a flexible user interface allows mangers to create, test and deploy new functionality to drive user efficiency, productivity and satisfaction. Continual, seamless upgrades provide greater agility and enable business users to stay ahead of the competition while also eliminating the expense and time of IT integration.

Improved Scale and Scope:

Developed for the cloud, the solution's performance-optimised architecture offers efficiency, scalable and flexibility to continually support business growth and the changing technology needs of the market for decades to come. In addition, Click Field Service

Edge's intelligent mobile efficiency eliminates unnecessary data transfer on field devices to ensure that critical data is sent and received - even when connections are not optimal.

"It's clear that field service is in the midst of a shift from the basic 'install and fix' procedures to a much more strategic focus on customer engagement," said Jim Lundy, founder and CEO, Aragon Research.

"The influx of new cloud and mobile technology, the availability of big data and the arrival of IoT has led us to a place where field service is empowering businesses to differentiate their offerings, and positively impact every customer interaction throughout the service experience."

 

Click Field Service Edge is currently deployed with key customers including; Pacific Biodiesel, a leader in community-based biodiesel production and Southern Dock, one of the nation's largest providers of commercial doors, loading dock equipment and dock maintenance services.

"As a growing company, we needed a future-proof mobile workforce management solution that would fulfill our changing business needs while providing consistently great service to our customers," explained Katy Chandler, Director at Southern Dock.

"The advanced capabilities, together with a great user experience and the flexibility of the configuration options, made it an easy choice for us."

Click Field Service Edge allows any enterprise worker-from field service professionals to supervisors, dispatchers and managers-to build personalised, strategic engagements that resonate with their customers. These improved engagements, in turn, increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and customer lifetime value.

 

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