Built on the Salesforce Customer Service platform, Field Service Lightning promises to harnesses the latest mobile and IoT technologies, enabling companies to deliver connected, intelligent customer service from phone to field…
Salesforce one of the world’s leading CRM companies, announced this month the launch of Field Service Lightning, a new field service solution built for today’s connected world.
Harnessing signals from connected devices and customer data from Salesforce, Field Service Lightning is designed to be a modern approach to field service that is built for mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT).
With Field Service Lightning, Salesforce state companies can now unite customers, connected devices, agents, dispatchers, and employees in the field with one powerful service platform to deliver a seamless customer experience from phone to field.
With 6.4 billion connected things in use today 2020 predictions stating that number will reach 20.8 billion, the implications for field service are staggering. As connected devices become smarter and more predictive, it will create new opportunities to reinvent the customer service experience.
Built on Service Cloud, Field Service Lightning is built to enable companies to deliver mobile, intelligent customer service from phone to field.
In the initial press release Salesforce have stated that Field Service Lightning users will be able to:
Connect their entire service workforce:
Field Service Lightning connects the entire service organisation from call centre to the field.
Agents, dispatchers and mobile employees in the field will be on a single, centralised platform, bringing a new level of transparency and efficiency to customer service.
Service agents will have a 360-degree view of the customer and can create a work order from any case.
Mobile employees in the field will now have access to the customer’s full service and purchasing history, empowering them to easily resolve any issue that may arise and possibly upsell the customer on another product.
For instance, a homeowner requests a service visit because their Internet connection has gone down.
After resolving the issue, the technician sees within the field service app that the homeowner has previously asked about a faster Internet connection.
Using this insight, the technician presents new packaging options and the customer upgrades to a faster Internet speed at a discounted rate.
Intelligently schedule and dispatch work:
At the core of field service is scheduling and dispatching.
Leveraging features from ClickSoftware like scheduling and optimisation, Field Service Lightning promises to take dispatching one step further by applying a layer of intelligence.
Scheduling is automated based on skills, availability, and location to optimise on-site service. Rules can be put into place to automatically assign senior field employees to complex service issues, and junior field employees to the routine service calls.
Because scheduling is automated, dispatchers can focus on the real-time view of service operations and adjust resources accordingly.
For example, if the first job of the day ends up taking longer than anticipated, a dispatcher can assign a different field employee to the next job so the customer’s appointment does not get delayed.
Or if a mobile employee gets delayed by traffic, a dispatcher could route another field technician to the job.
Track and manage jobs in real-time:
Customer service moves fast and forward-thinking companies need real-time access to their service data.
Field Service Lightning promised to enable all service employees to update work orders, issue change requests and adjust job status, anytime, anywhere and on any device.
A staggering 65% of field service workers still print out their service tickets and bring them in their vehicles, slowing down the service process
Now, an employee in the field can see their open work orders on their mobile device, update them throughout the day as they complete jobs, and all the information is seamlessly updated in Salesforce.
We are just beginning to see what customer service can look like in the era of mobile and IoT,” said Mike Milburn, SVP and GM, Service Cloud, Salesforce. “Field Service Lightning gives companies the ability to reinvent their approach to service by connecting the phone to the field on a single platform, resulting in an amazing customer experience.”
Pricing and Availability:
Available in most regions now Field Service Lightning starts at $135 for organisations that have at least one Enterprise Edition or Unlimited Edition Service Cloud license.
