by Ian Stewart | Jul 11, 2012 | Field Service Spotlight, Strategy & Leadership
The following post was first published on the ZenHVAC blog. It is republished here with permission. Let’s get something straight: Fires suck at scheduling. Where am I going with this? Read on. Depending on who you talk to, full maintenance contracts are either...
by Darren Weiss | Jul 11, 2012 | Strategy & Leadership
Take a quick stroll through the home appliance section of your local Sears, and you’ll be bombarded by major appliances that boast some sort of computer chip embedded inside, aimed at making your home “smarter,” more efficient, and more connected....
by Derek Korte | Jul 10, 2012 | Field Service Spotlight
The bad news keeps snowballing for Best Buy. Late last month, the struggling retail giant announced that it would layoff about 2,400 employees, including about 650 Geek Squad employees — a small percentage of the overall Geek Squad staff, but a bad sign nonetheless....
by John Ragsdale | Jul 10, 2012 | Mobile & Tech
The following post was previously published on John Ragsdale’s blog, Ragsdale’s Eye on Service, and is re-posted here with permission. I had a great inquiry from a TSIA member today who is working on a mobile device strategy for their field service...
by Field Technologies Online | Jul 9, 2012 | Mobile & Tech
Municipalities have been using GIS (geographic information systems) for everything from sewer planning to garbage truck routing for quite some time now. Likewise, law enforcement agencies have leveraged both GIS and mobile computing to help target enforcement efforts...
by Darren Weiss | Jul 6, 2012 | Field Service Spotlight
Field jobs are generally dirty jobs. Techs encounter cramped spaces, ancient cobwebs, and years of accumulated dirt and grime on a daily basis. But how often are they dealing with blood and, ahem, body parts? For the brave and emotionally stable folks who choose crime...
by Field Technologies Online | Jul 5, 2012 | Mobile & Tech
As an increasing number of businesses deploy mobile applications, there is more discussion of which OS to choose for rugged tablets. This is happening for a variety of reasons, including the need to integrate tablets and other mobile computing devices along with...
by Sean Lyden | Jul 3, 2012 | Field Service Spotlight
Shortly after 2:30p.m. Tuesday, March 22, 2011, Joshua Morris, 32, lost control of a cargo van owned by his employer Dara Toy Company, of Macedonia, Ohio. The van swerved out of the northbound lanes of I-71 in Ohio, across the center median and all three lanes of...
by Derek Korte | Jul 2, 2012 | Strategy & Leadership
Companies can no longer get by on the strength of their products alone. These days, the quality of their service is as important as the quality of the product. But companies have wildly divergent methods for dealing with their customers: Some outsource their customer...
by Sara Suddes | Jul 1, 2012 | Field Service Spotlight
Running a successful service operation means respecting your employees as much as your most valued customers. In field service, however, employers are often prone to treating new hires as if employment is a privilege rather than an opportunity that has been earned....