Many service techs are equipped with smartphones and iPads to get their innately mobile jobs done, but at some organizations, there isn’t complete mobility buy-in from the C-suite. That will have to change, as 70 percent of mobile workers will use a tablet or hybrid device that has tablet-like characteristics, according to Gartner. It’s clear that mobile streamlines the operations process, allows techs to be more productive, improves customer satisfaction and boosts business performance.

Customers want faster service and mobile is one way to reduce fix-it time while making more on-site visits due to a streamlined process for sending techs to homes. According to the Aberdeen report, three in four organizations feel pressured to make mobility a priority because of customer demand for improved service, whereas half say the reason is an increased volume of service requests and increased market competition.

The Value of Mobile Techs

When field techs are mobile savvy, they have instant access to practical instructions for fixes and customer information about their next site visit. Mobile creates a streamlined process by eliminating the need for an operator that directs field techs to their next job, instead relying on apps to send a tech to his next visit within seconds of completing a job.

“For example, a quick look at service history on a mobile phone can inform a technician in route that the customer has called the helpdesk multiple times complaining of a product/equipment failure,” writes Aly Pinder Jr., senior research analyst at Aberdeen and author of the report. “This is invaluable information that can help the technician approach the customer with a bit more care; insight that wouldn’t be available in route if the technician was tethered to a static paper schedule.”

Just as organizations are concerned with the aging workforce — the average field service tech is 32 years old — they see their technologies and processes becoming obsolete, demanding that they be replaced with flashier technology. Once the new mobile devices are in techs’ hands, they need to use them to their greatest ability. The top ways that organizations are doing so is by improving data integration between the field and office, providing real-time information and leveraging a company-wide mobile strategy, according to the report.

Service organizations that leverage mobility the best see more techs performing jobs rather than spending time in transit, improved employee satisfaction and an increase in service contracts renewed. To make mobile strategy a core business goal, organizations must get the buy-in of the C-suite and the front-line techs to reap the value of data integration and a streamlined process.