What exactly is RVA, and why is it rapidly gaining traction? In this article by Michael Blumberg, President of Blumberg Advisory Group, we'll get to know more about this game-changing technology.

Remote Visual Assistance (RVA) is not exactly new technology. It has been around for a couple of years now pre-COVID. However, it was only until COVID that it gained the attention of many businesses.

RVA is one of the emerging solutions amid the challenges posed by the pandemic. But what exactly is RVA, and why is it gaining the attention it has today? In Blumberg Advisory Groups’ Buyer’s Guide to RVA Software, we’ll get to know this game-changing tech, why it is a worthwhile investment, and what to look for in an RVA software fit for your business.

WHAT IS REMOTE VISUAL ASSISTANCE (RVA)?

Remote Visual Assistance (RVA) incorporates augmented reality, including merged reality and 3D annotation, along with video collaboration tools to create a virtual environment where the receiver and provider of support can communicate instantly, on-demand, and in real-time.

It can deliver guided troubleshooting and remote assistance to customers and field engineers through remote virtual assistance software. These features meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited companies from sending onsite customer support due to health and safety concerns. This is one of the primary reasons RVA has become the new expectation for service delivery within the Aftermarket Service Industry (i.e., field service, call center, technical support).

USE CASES FOR RVA SOFTWARE

Field Service Leaders consider remote assistance software due to its many uses in the Aftermarket Service Industry. As it continues to prove its value to businesses, it has slowly become the preferred model for onsite service. Below are the most common use cases by business function:

• Call Center - Technical Support: Remote Support, Troubleshooting, and Triage, Customer Self-Service
• Field Service: Second Tier Support, Cross Border Support, Workforce Productivity, Scheduled Service
• Others: Application Support, Training, and Onboarding

BENEFITS OF RVA SOFTWARE

To get a more clear picture of the benefits that RVA software provides to companies, below are recorded improvements of companies who utilize RVA software in their business operations:

• 30% reduction in time to resolution
• 20% improvement in phone fix rate
• 35% increase in first-time fix
• 30% increase in customer satisfaction

The numbers above serve as proof of how RVA has enabled companies to optimize their service delivery performance continually. It has helped lower costs by resolving calls remotely and efficiently and avoiding FSE dispatching. Companies are also able to meet and exceed customer expectations through RVA. Besides improving operations, RVA also has a role in reaching business growth objectives - by monetizing its RVA investment when offering remote support or using RVA as a paid service.

CORE FUNCTIONALITIES A RVA SOFTWARE MUST HAVE

When looking for the best RVA software, there are three general core functionalities to look for: (1) collaboration, (2) access and communication, and (3) enterprise administration.

Collaboration: RVA software must have the ability to allow people at different locations to give and receive help through a remote, collaborative experience. There is a broad array of features that can support collaboration. The most critical of these features are 3D annotation.

Access and Communication: A successful remote session is where the giver and receiver can quickly communicate in real-time. Various features make this possible, including but not limited to in-app messaging and mobile web browser support.

System Administration: As with any software, RVA must-have system administration features that provide user access, manages user accounts, monitor system security, and perform many other functions such as call reporting & analytics, and platform integration, and API support.

A complete description of core RVA feature functionality can be found in Blumberg Advisory Groups’ Buyer’s Guide to RVA Software.

RVA SOFTWARE VENDOR CAPABILITIES

Now that you know the key features an RVA solution must contain, the next step is to evaluate vendor capabilities. Here is an overview of the core capabilities and competencies you can use to assess a potential RVA vendor:

• Application Ease Of Use: End-users can quickly deploy the software
• Customer Success Management: Strong bench of implementation subject matter experts
• Strategic Coaching: The vendor offers ongoing guidance on using RVA in other parts of the customer’s organization.
• Maturity Model Framework: Roadmap for end-user organizations to evaluate areas for improvement and future growth.
• Partnership Approach: Vendor is responsive, flexible, and collaborative; has built a partner network.
• Enterprise-Grade Support: Vendor’s support team can support the needs and requirements of enterprise size customers and integrate their RVA software with enterprise systems.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR RVA SOFTWARE VENDOR

Blumberg Advisory Group has also identified a few Should Ask Questions (SAQs) which are critical questions you can ask your vendors to make the best final selection. For instance:

• How sound is the vendor's company?
• How easy is the product to use and implement?
• What level of security and certification does the application have?
• How will the vendor support your future requirements?
• What is the vendor's track record?
• How scalable is the vendor's solution?

The Buyer’s Guide provides model answers to these questions to help you evaluate and select an RVA software solution.

Read more of Blumberg Advisory Group’s in-depth analysis of Visual Remote Assistance by getting a copy of the full version of the Buyer’s Guide today at go.helplightning.com/2021BuyersGuide.

 

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Michael Blumberg @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
• Read the 2021 Remote Assistance Buyer's Guide @ go.helplightning.com/2021BuyersGuide
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
• Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com

Localz, leading experts in digital customer engagement, location, and communications technology today announced a partnership with leading fleet management services and solutions supplier, Masternaut to enhance its customer experience and communications.

Part of the Michelin Group, Masternaut is already renowned for its market-leading scheduling and routing technology. The partnership with Localz will see its services used to power its new “On Time” customer offering. Masternaut On Time supports operations professionals by giving them more visibility of their team in the field. In real-time, they can see planned job schedules against actual activity, automate job dispatching, and deliver text messages to end-customers with an estimated time of arrival (ETA). If an unexpected event throws an engineer off-schedule for the day, managers are notified via automated live alerts, which allows them to be proactive and agile in redirecting a resource to where it’s most needed.

Localz technology will be used to enhance customer experience and communications 

“Over recent months we have received an increased demand for services that are reflective of a consumer model. Customers want to be able to manage their personal schedules so real-time updates have become a vital part of all services, whether this is a parcel delivery or service appointment. As a customer-centric business, we wanted to bring a similar tool to our customers to help them manage their business operations more effectively. This is why we have partnered with Localz to provide the best technology to power our On Time solution,” said Gilson Santiago, CEO at Masternaut.

Engineers, through an app, can receive live updates on appointment schedules and communicate directly with customers, keeping them up to date of their ETA. Field workers can also log live updates to jobs which are then fed back into the main system, ensuring a holistic view of all jobs.

“Today’s consumers are connected and justifiably impatient as they place a high value on their time. Localz solutions are enabling leading fleet management platforms like Masternaut to offer customer experiences traditionally only seen in the consumer world. Real-time tracking and online communication are crucial to enabling not only customers, but businesses to keep track of their stock and service deliveries, ensuring great experiences for both alike. We are delighted to have been selected as the partner to power Masternaut’s On Time solution to help them continue to deliver world-class customer experiences in years to come. ” said Tim Andrew, CEO at Localz.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• Read more about Localz on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/localz
• Learn more about Localz @ www.localz.com 
• Learn more about Masternaut @ www.masternaut.com
• Follow Localz on Twitter @ twitter.com/localz
• Follow Masternaut on Twitter @ twitter.com/masternaut

 

IFS today launches IFS Cloud™, a single platform that innately connects all its products to deliver the end-to-end capabilities a company needs to orchestrate its customers, people and assets and deliver amazing Moments of Service.

Customers can choose to deploy best-of-breed or leverage the power of connecting their value chains across capabilities such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), asset management (EAM) and field service (FSM).

With IFS Cloud, IFS offers a unique and single technology platform with one common user experience, one data model and one consistent support offering. IFS Cloud brings simplicity, choice and innovation to organizations that need to evolve to new business models, control costs, expand faster and serve their customers better. By implementing IFS Cloud, companies can easily scale and simply switch on new functionality (such as additional modules or new innovative capabilities) when the time is right for their business.

IFS CLOUD MAKES IT PRACTICAL AND AFFORDABLE FOR CUSTOMERS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEWEST TECHNOLOGIES

Likewise, customers can choose how and where they deploy IFS Cloud, which has been engineered for the cloud but can be deployed on-premises with a choice of residency. Unlike many offerings, IFS customers will benefit from the same solution functionality and delightful user experiences, regardless of their deployment choice, without compromise.

As a departure from competing, legacy suites and software portfolios that rely on complex and costly integrations, IFS Cloud is designed to make it easier and more cost-effective for customers to buy, deploy, run, and update their enterprise software. IFS Cloud marks the start of twice-yearly feature releases, giving customers the choice to move to the latest version as and when their business is ready.

Darren Roos, IFS CEO, commented, “The path to digital transformation is not a simple one. Most businesses are complex and have intricate value chains, which is why few organizations succeed and even fewer vendors provide the tools to truly enable it. At IFS, our single most important goal is to deliver value to our customers, and we want to provide a clear path for them to evolve to new business models, compete and win. 

Roos continued, “Customers have told me that their main goals are to drive efficiency, control costs and to develop better products and services. We know that to achieve this, cloud is a pre-requisite. Digital innovations need to be easily consumable and embedded into daily business operations, which is why I am confident that IFS will succeed where others have not. IFS Cloud is unique and delivers on customer centricity and experience as well as capabilities. I am proud to say we are again keeping our promise to deliver value so that customers can deliver on their Moment of Service.”

With digital innovations embedded, IFS Cloud’s architecture also includes new and improved application services for intelligent and autonomous business that can be natively leveraged across IFS products and across industries. This makes it practical and affordable for customers to take advantage of technologies such as machine learning (ML), augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR), artificial intelligence (AI), and internet of things (IoT), ready to use ‘out of the box’.  

IFS Cloud is being adopted by a number of pioneer customers across IFS’s focus markets of Aerospace & Defense, Construction & Infrastructure, Energy & Utilities, Manufacturing, and Service industries. One such customer is Cimcorp Group, a world-leading manufacturer of robotics and automation systems.

Commenting on the benefits of IFS Cloud, Cimcorp Technology Director Jyrki Anttonen said, “The manufacturing and manufacturing service industries are very dynamic and highly competitive, which means we are constantly looking for technologies that will allow us to work smarter and faster than our competitors. Company growth is certainly a goal, but we are a global business and therefore we need to have visibility into our operations globally so that we can target efficiencies, control costs and devise news ways to create value for our customers. IFS Cloud is a platform with next-generation technology built for our industry and this gives us the confidence we need to achieve this and flank the competition.”

IFS Chief Product Officer Christian Pedersen said, “IFS Cloud was designed and built to respond to customers’ needs when shifting to digital business models; something we never lost sight of over the last two years.” Pedersen continued, “We recognize that IFS Cloud will be pivotal in bringing success in a customer’s business and this shaped our approach in several areas: being able to make fast and informed decisions based on a single data model, being completely open with native APIs and providing one single upgrade experience so that customers can focus on what is important, which is to deliver exceptional moments of service to their customers.”

Also released today is the first instalment of IFS’s application lifecycle management capability, IFS Lifecycle Experience. IFS Lifecycle Experience features a portal that puts users in control of their application by fusing multiple touch points, to give them access to information, tooling, code, and permissions.

Learn more about IFS Cloud at www.ifs.com/corp/ifs-cloud/ifs-cloud-overview.

Hear what IFS customers have to say during the digital launch event: www.ifs.com/possibilities.

For additional information on IFS Cloud, read blogs from Antony Bourne, Christian Pedersen, Dan Matthews, Michael Ouissi, Riccardo Bocci and Raymond Jones.

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Further Reading:

• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com/
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Learn more about the launch of IFS Cloud @ ifs.com/possibilities 
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/ifs

 

In this new article for Field Service News, IDC's Aly Pinder discusses why the future of field service enterprises depends on getting the change in management right.

With a new year comes new beginnings and new changes. Often our business lives resemble our personal lives, especially in this current moment where the lines between the two are quite blurred. But for the field service organization, where work from home options are not an easy pivot, change isn't always a welcomed concept. Decades of expertise from front-line technicians can often breed a tried-and-true mindset around best practices and ways of getting the job done.

However, even the field team is finding that they have had to become more nimble, agile, and open to a next normal. In IDC's COVID-19 IMPACT ON IT SPENDING survey, 36.8% of manufacturers stated product and service installation would be converted to a contact-less experience. The ability to service assets, equipment, and products remotely or at least with limited time physically on site is a major shift for many service organizations and field service teams where getting hands on the machine for as long as it takes to fix the issue has been the norm.

As customer expectations evolve to expect contact-less experiences while also receiving quality service, the field service organization will need to transform. However, in an IDC research survey of manufacturers, only 34.0% of sampled organizations stated a strategic approach to change management with senior leadership having invested resources to ensure transformation was successful. The rest of manufacturers had some resources in place for change management but nothing strategic or at an enterprise-wide level. This comes at a time of accelerated digital transformation for many organizations while disruption is impacting the way service is delivered, how customers interact with organizations, and where employees work. These divergent factors, of rapid change with limited strategic communication, can lead to field service teams feeling left out of the future of the business. The field service team, front-line technicians, dispatchers, schedulers, third-party contractors, and partners must be a part of any change from the beginning to ensure expedient success and minimal negative impact to customers. To achieve accelerated digital transformation in field service without the discord, manufacturers and service organizations should consider the following:

• Solicit insight directly from your technicians with regard to gaps in the technology solutions currently used and relation to their productivity. Digital investments for many organizations are implemented from the top down or from the IT team. Not many organizations have the front-line team spearhead technological initiatives. It shouldn’t be a surprise, field technicians by in large are remote and must be primarily focused on completing work orders. Time to test or pilot new technologies isn’t in their job description. However, this fact mustn't lead to the field team being bypassed all together. Field technicians know what tools they need, what knowledge would help them be more productive, and what types of capabilities would enhance their interactions with customers. If field service technicians believe changes in technology or processes area being made with them in mind and with their input, the transformation will result in less friction.
• Educate the field team on the value of digital transformation. Too often, technicians are the last to know about technology hardware and software changes. They are expected to just blindly go along with the latest tools and its inherent value to increased productivity. But this approach can lead to resentment as these technicians have gotten the job done prior to any changes in technology. Also, some enhancements can seem like digital automation just to track technicians more closely to be punitive or restrict creativity in work. Communicating the value of technology changes to productivity, the customer experience, and business goals will provide the field team with buy-in to support initiatives.
• Understand field service team member's desired working environment and interest in digital technology. Not all technicians are the same. Some enjoy going out and dealing directly with customers, and others just want to fix an equipment failure but not have to interact with others. Both profiles are valuable to the field support team. In a constrained talent market, manufacturers and service organizations can’t afford to turn anyone away. By identifying which technicians are willing to work in direct contact with customers and which don’t, service leadership can create dedicated teams that build on individual strengths. Furthermore, with the emergence of a profit- or customer-centric view of field service, many service organizations look to transform the field service job to be less about completing as many jobs in a given day to instead empower technicians to become advisors. This change also is not for all technicians. Assessing which technicians want to work directly with customers to drive value-add experiences and which just want to just solve problems, service leaders can segment the workforce for specific jobs.

Change management is not easy even in the best environments where teams are in constant contact with direct communication with leadership and each other. Field service organizations have an even tougher time as technicians are removed from direct lines of communication with those making decisions, and inherent to their job is a feeling of isolation. As a result, service leadership must approach new digital initiatives and change differently for the field team taking a strategic approach to education, communication, and deployment. Failure to take change management as a serious challenge can result in delayed rollouts, attrition, or degraded service quality.

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Aly Pinder @ www.fieldservicenews.com/alypinder
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Connect with Aly Pinder on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/aly-pinder-jr
• Find out more about IDC Insights @ www.idc.com
• Read more about Covid-19 in Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/covid-19
• Follow Aly Pinder on Twitter @ twitter.com/Pinderjr
  
  

The slow rate of technology adoption amongst many UK businesses could impact their ability to compete on an international scale – that’s according to a new study by YouGov and BT. The survey of over 1,000 businesses - ranging from SMEs to large enterprises - reveals the digital immaturity of some UK businesses, driven by a lack of awareness of key emerging technologies amongst business leaders and a failure to link technology benefits with improved business performance.

BT’s” state-of-the-nation report, “The Future In 2020 Review” , shines a light on the current take-up of digital technologies amongst UK businesses and their future investment plans, with one third having no plans to invest in new emerging tech over the next five years. Of the 14 new technologies highlighted in the survey, more than 50 per cent of business leaders – including Chief Information Officers (CIOs) – were only familiar with half of them.  Meanwhile, 40 per cent of those business leaders who have adopted new technologies worry that these have not been implemented successfully. This reveals a tech awareness problem amongst senior business and IT decision makers, which, when coupled with a digital skills gap, risks holding back the productivity and growth of UKplc.

UK'S DIGITAL IMMATURITY

The report’s findings indicate that a significant proportion of UK businesses are trailing behind in the technology innovation stakes. While more than 40 per cent of businesses have adopted VoIP, no other emerging technology has an uptake of more than 25 percent. Currently only 20 percent of businesses have embraced IoT, and roughly 30 percent of businesses believe that 5G will play a role in their future roadmap despite forecasts that 5G will add $8trn to global GDP by 2030. When asked about technology investment plans for the next five years, nearly a third said they have no plans to invest in data driven technologies such as AI and Machine Learning.

Businesses in the medical, health and education sectors are revealed as those where the biggest gaps lie, with these industries not currently using any of the technologies listed in the study, while over a third of these have no plans to adopt them in the next five years. Unsurprisingly, IT and Telecoms tops the list for the broadest investment in innovative technologies, although this is still relatively low at 26 percent.

 

AN AWARENESS GAP IN C-SUITE

The failure amongst some businesses to embrace emerging technologies can be linked to a lack of awareness, with more than 50 percent of business leaders stating that they were not aware of the technologies listed - despite the respondents sitting in a C-suite role or within a senior IT team. For instance, 31 percent said they are not aware of AI and 60 percent are not familiar with as-a-service solutions and managed security services. And, of those that have adopted new technology, 40 percent of respondents believe these are not being implemented successfully, so businesses are unable to reap the benefits of their technology investments.

 

BUSINESSES FAIL TO LINK TECHNOLOGY WITH COMMERCIAL GOALS

The research also reveals that the most common reason for businesses not adopting new technology is a lack of understanding of how technology can drive improved business performance. While industry experts point to 5G and complementary tech as a key catalyst for the fourth industrial revolution and business transformation, almost half of UK’s businesses are yet to recognise the relevancy and benefits it brings to their business, rising to 57 percent for Machine Learning and AI.

When asked about core objectives, all business leaders agreed; increasing revenue, reducing operational costs and boosting productivity are key priorities for the next three to five years. However, almost a quarter of businesses struggle to see how digital tools can power commercial performance and achieve key business objectives.

One of the biggest barriers to technology adoption according to those surveyed is the financial climate, with 40 percent of business leaders citing that the current climate is impacting their technology strategy. Furthermore, 1 in 3 businesses expect skills shortages to hamper technology investment; even in the most digitally savvy industries such as IT and financial services, one-quarter believe that digital skills shortages pose challenges to technology adoption. In an effort to accelerate UKplc’s digital maturity, BT has launched its Skills for Tomorrow initiative with an ambition to reach one million business owners and their employees with digital skills by 2025.

 

 

Chris Sims, Managing Director of Commercial and Marketing, BT Enterprise’s unit said: “The research reveals that a significant proportion of UK businesses view new technologies as a cost rather than an investment to help boost growth. It’s clear that businesses need more support; whether that’s understanding what technologies to adopt, how to maximise the potential of that technology and how that translates into commercial success.

“As the 5G network continues to roll out across the UK, it will support the delivery and uptake of other emerging technologies like IoT, AI and VR. 5G coupled with these technologies will play a critical role in fuelling the post-Covid recovery, by boosting productivity, delivering new customer experiences and creating new business models. Whilst the research suggests that uptake of emerging technology is slow, the understanding and adoption of these technologies will increase as 5G becomes more prevalent. Businesses that can harness this early on can reap significant benefits; saving time, boosting efficiencies, unlocking innovation and creating a sustainable future.”

To support businesses through their digital transformation journeys, BT is planning to launch a new Digital Health Checker for its corporate and SME customers. This will give businesses a free online assessment of their digital maturity and will help them identify the best technologies to future proof their business and position them for growth.

Details of BT’s Digital Health Checker will be announced in due course. For more information on BT’s Skills for Tomorrow programme, please visit the website here.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Learn more about BT @ www.bt.com
• Find out more about BT Skills For Tomorrow programme @ www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow
• Read more about 5G on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/5G
• Follow BT on Twitter @ twitter.com/bt_uk

The following article by Michael Mendoza, Director of Industry Solutions and Field Service at Hitachi, provides an overview of why taking care of an issue the first time is crucial to your field service business and includes actionable ways to fix first-time fix rate issues.

When it comes to field service management, it’s essential to have the right technician for right the job. You not only want to make sure your technician is prepared with the appropriate equipment, you need the ability to easily and effectively schedule (or reschedule) your team.According to the Aberdeen Group, about 25% of service calls require at least one additional visit. Unfortunately, added appointments can be expensive, time-consuming (on both ends), and lead to an unsatisfactory customer experience.One of the best ways to manage these potential problems is to implement a field service management software that includes service locations, predictive maintenance, work order management, product inventory, scheduling — and more. Here’s how to use the latest technology to improve first-time fix rate challenges

8 COMMON REASONS WHY TECHNICIANS AREN'T ABLE TO FIX AN ISSUE THE FIRST TIME - AND HOW TO FIX THEM

1. Lack of the right spare parts. It’s important to ensure that field service technicians are well prepared with everything they need to complete the job. Even the absence of one part can delay fixing the issue, which would likely require at least one additional visit — and more of everyone’s time.Solution: Use the right software to organize service calls, diagnose what parts are needed, and check inventory to ensure that the right parts are in stock and available to get the job done the first time.

2. Depleted inventory and stock. It’s understandable that inventory may be depleted, but properly managing stock levels is an easy and efficient way to prevent a technician from being unprepared and having to reschedule or line up a second visit.Solution: Using data analytics, forecast which parts or tools you should restock.

3. Poor Planning and Communication inventory and stock. Clear, effective communication is crucial, no matter the business, organization, or industry — and field service technicians are no exception. Lapses in planning or communication can lead to ill-prepared technicians, rescheduling challenges, and inventory concerns about whether parts are in stock.Solution: It’s important to schedule the right technician for the right job, and be sure to know whether the parts are in stock and available. Keep tabs on your techs with GPS fleet tracking and other software to ensure that the visit won’t go over the allotted time or leave insufficient time to complete the next job.

4. Too much manual paperwork. According to the Service Council, 46% of field technicians say that paperwork and other administrative tasks are the most unfavorable parts of their daily responsibilities. Even though it’s required and essential, this part of the job can be inefficient and more time-consuming than needed.Solution: Digitize and automate as much of the paper-based process as you can so technicians can spend their time on other important responsibilities. Plus, creating a digital process can streamline procedures, create efficiencies within the workplace, and ensure that all the appropriate paperwork and files are organized and easily accessible.

5. Unanswered questions. A technician may have all the right tools, equipment, and inventory — but more information may be needed. How can you fully prepare field service technicians so they are equipped with the right answers?Solution: Connect technicians to the main office and provide them with real-time answers and updates, including the ability to look at Frequently Asked Questions on their devices so they can try and solve the issue by themselves.

6. Scheduling issues. It’s inevitable that calendars and agendas may need to be modified, but planning in advance and having the ability to easily adapt to last-minute changes is crucial.Solution: Provide your field service technicians with the ability to schedule future visits if they know something will need to be adjusted or replaced soon. This is important because it removes the need for technicians to call the office and have other employees schedule visits on their behalf. The right software will keep all schedules up to date to prevent double-booking.

7. Being unprepared. A basic customer expectation is that technicians are prepared. This means that you want someone to show up on time — and with the right parts and knowledge. Without any one of these components, an additional site visit is likely needed.

Solution: By using analytics, you can look into which technicians run into which issues. You can also determine which clients or jobs have a low percentage of first-time fixes. By analyzing the data, you can see if improvements are needed in inventory or scheduling — or if tech training could increase the first-time fix rates for clients across the board.

8. Inadequate software management training. The right knowledge, education, and training are essential for any expert or technician using management software. Without these, you will likely have to reschedule or add additional site visits, which will likely negatively impact scheduling, time, and budgets for everyone involved.Solution: Training techs to properly use field service management software is essential to fix any issues that may arise. If a technician doesn’t know how to use the tools, the job will likely not go well.

At the end of the day, it’s inevitable that issues may arise, but ensuring that you have the right field service management software will help effectively manage potential problems — which ultimately means more efficiency, productivity, and an overall happier customer service experience.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• Connect with Michael Mendoza on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/mikeoza/
• Find out more about Hitachi @ https://www.hitachi.us/
• Follow Hitachi on Twitter @ twitter.com/Hitachi_US

As digital transformation spend is increasing around the world, businesses look for technology vendors whose ethics (29 percent) and culture (23 percent) align with their own. Interestingly, these considerations trump innovation in the ranking of desirable traits, demonstrating that having a similar cultural view of the world is playing a larger role in the selection process.

The top two vendor traits selected were specialist industry expertise (32 percent) and long-term solutions (30 percent). This is unsurprising, considering poor advice from vendors tops the list of why digital transformation projects fail at 37 percent, according to a research study from global enterprise applications company IFS.

Combined with poor vendor advice, technology selection teams, especially among businesses with revenues around the one-billion-dollar mark, are also being pressured by senior management to select well-known vendors even when they are a poor fit for the company’s actual needs.

Despite the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of companies are planning to increase their digital transformation spend, according to study findings earlier this year. With more businesses investing, with the aim of driving revenue post pandemic, the cost of failure is high and it’s becoming even more important to get investment right.

37 percent say poor vendor advice is the main reason why digital transformation projects fail

A resounding 48 percent of respondents at companies with revenues between 850–950 million US$ stated that they had been forced by senior management or the board of directors to use a well-known vendor that was a poor technological fit.

 “The fact that a non-tangible such as ethics is ranked among the top three vendor traits is inextricably linked to the fact that poor advice from vendors was rated as the top reason for failure,” IFS Chief Customer Officer Michael Ouissi said. “Companies investing in technology should expect their vendors to adhere to sound sales and marketing practices based squarely in actual customer value.”

With a focus on previous experiences from past digital transformation projects, the study finds that budgets and timelines are two major pain points. Respondents indicate that failure in past projects makes management more reluctant to engage in future digital transformation efforts, with budget overruns topping the list of reasons management may put the brakes on critical projects at 28 percent and 26 percent saying blown timelines on past projects have made management more risk averse.

Further analysis of the findings shows that success of these digital transformation projects primarily hinges on finding the right technological fit (44 percent) and establishing clear objectives (50 percent). In fact, the top-three vendor trust factors highlighted by respondents are on-time delivery (44 percent), support before, during and after project completion (41 percent), and delivering projects faster to value (35 percent).

 

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Further Reading:

• Download a complimentary copy of Digital Transformation Investment in 2020 and Beyond:
  The Technology Equation @ www.ifs.com/digital-transformation-investment-in-2020
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ twitter.com/ifsuk

 

IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announces the availability of new and enhanced capabilities in its customer engagement software enabling companies to respond to the challenges facing the traditional call center and transform their customer engagement. IFS is leading the way for service organizations to become knowledge and outcome centric throughout the entirety of the service experience.

Forward-thinking companies have become customer obsessed knowing that new business and customer retention rely on it. IFS’s customer experience applications are engineered to provide visibility and context for the customer, the contact center, and the service organization throughout the service cycle, through technology that is easy to deploy, configure, and use. This includes enriching work processes with automation and AI capabilities to ready companies for a future where self-service will be at the start of 85 percent of customer interactions by 2022, up from 48 percent in 2019.

The importance of engaging customers through a single, unified experience across every channel—voice, e-mail, chat and social—has never been greater. IFS believes companies overlook this area at their peril. Gartner notes:* “By 2022, 50 percent of large organizations will have still failed to unify engagement channels. This will result in the continuation of a disjointed and siloed customer experience that lacks context. 

highly configurable and integrated omnichannel hub to IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEs

In this latest release, businesses can enjoy:

• A smooth transition from a telephony-based support center to a full omni-channel contact hub in a matter of days—complete with a customer service agent desktop
• A new customer engagement studio that allows companies to configure their own customer service desktop while eliminating the need for costly one-off customizations
• Simple integration to enterprise resource planning (ERP) and field service management (FSM) applications, agents are empowered to handle issues rapidly, driving front-office productivity by an average of over 40 percent

“As businesses use service offerings to power their way to growth in the new normal, the imperative has never been greater to focus on the customer experience,” said Marne Martin, President of IFS Service Management. “Businesses need a single view of a customer, yes, but they also need a complete service management solution that delivers on the service outcome that a customer expects in order to drive net promotor score, sustainability, and growth. This is where IFS is leading the way to deliver sustainable outcomes and knowledge-based service, which is the future for more and more service businesses.”

IFS’s latest investments in customer experience also include remote assistance and “On My Way” to provide a complete customer management solution for businesses looking to grow their service capability and transform their customer experience.

Over the past two years, IFS has seen strong growth in its service management business with more than 50 percent of revenues coming from its field service customer base in the first half of 2020. New license sales across its service management applications, including its recognized FSM offering, grew by more than 150 percent in first half 2020 compared to first half 2019.

 

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Further Reading:

• Learn more about IFS Customer Engagement @ www.ifs.com/customer-engagement/
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ twitter.com/ifsuk

 

IDC's Aly Pinder discusses what the next stage of field service could be and what technology can help ride the uncertainty.

 

The service world, like our daily personal lives, have been greatly impacted by the past few months. Supply chains have been strained. Financial markets have seen dramatic swings in valuation. Lives have been personally changed forever. The field service operation has had to deal with all these aspects of the crisis and more.

Technology Pivoting in Service

But now that we, in some cases, can say we are past the first or second phase of this pandemic, what will be our 'next' normal? I say 'next', as I believe it would be a bit naive to think we will just have one 'new' normal as things continue to evolve at a rapid pace. From my perspective, the next normal will be a determination by service leaders and organizations as to a longer-term strategy for the next two plus years which incorporates risk assessments for future global disruptions and customer impacts and what technology and processes changes are needed.

Short-term many manufacturers and service organizations conducted stress tests and operational adjustments to ensure mission critical assets and equipment were prioritized and customers who had essential status could be provided the appropriate level of service to meet customer needs. But longer term, service leaders will need to rationalize the pre-pandemic momentum, interest, and hype around some of the technologies at the forefront of digital transformation taking field service from a manual, paper-based set of processes to the autonomous and augmented technician of the future?

IDC believes, based on some compelling data we are refreshing every two weeks, that IT spend on projects will take a bit of a dip in the coming quarters. However, some projects and investments will actually accelerate to meet the next normal that manufacturers and service organizations will face in the last part of this year and into the early part of next. For manufacturers, technologies around remote access, mobility, and enterprise social will see the biggest increase in demand.

 

"The expectation that every field technician has a tablet or smart glasses is a bit premature..."

 

This should come as no real shock to most of us, the ability to resolve issues remotely, on a mobile device, or glean knowledge through shared collaboration are a key component to keeping technicians out of harm's way or avoid missing an SLA because a customer's site cannot be accessed as a result of new protocols.

Remote access

In recent IDC Manufacturing Insight's research, just about one-third of equipment are considered IoT-connected today and therefore have a unique IP address and software within them to enable service and product performance information to be communicated over a wireless network. This percentage was only expected to rise to just under half of all equipment in three years. In order to meet the needs of remote monitoring, connectivity, and resolution investments will need to be made to accelerate these numbers of connected assets. In a post-COVID-19 world access to products and assets for the field service team will become a critical differentiator with regard to critical assets and 99%+ uptime goals.

Mobility

This may seem like a trivial investment for many readers of technology publications but a number of large, mid-size, and small organizations still work in a world of paper or manual processes. The expectation that every field technician has a tablet or smart glasses is a bit premature. But the need to have real or near-real time data at one's finger tips to make split second decisions will be an opportunity for service organizations over the coming months and quarters. Inefficient and manual processes and the delays they lead to won't be tolerated by customers that expect to move to 100% or higher levels of production as soon as businesses can re-open.

Enterprise collaboration

Collaboration isn’t only a technology for office workers that have had the privilege of a near-seamless transition to work from home. Field technicians will need to be able to share best practices and content with their peers, customers, and the back office in ways they hadn't before. From a talent and knowledge management perspective, junior field service technicians will need to be productive quickly to meet service demand and collaborative tools can aid in democratizing knowledge.

It is easy to say we are entering a period of a new or next normal. What is hard is to forecast how dramatically this disruption will impact IT investments for service; it is clear there will be a reaction. But in the wake of this current pandemic and preparation for global events of the future, manufacturers and service organizations must ensure they can maintain a level of quality service their customers demand even when access, data, or physical technicians isn't available. The optimist in me believes we will come out of this with a new-found strategy around technology to support our daily lives and our work lives. And field service won't be separate from this next normal. Stay safe and healthy.

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Aly Pinder @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/alypinder
• Connect with Aly Pinder on LinkedIn here
• Find out more about IDC Insights @ https://www.idc.com/
• Read more about Covid-19 in service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
• Read about the IDC Insights 2020 Manufacturing report @ https://www.idc.com/prodserv/insights/#manufacturing