The Apple Watch (available April 24) has garnered the most attention for its use in the consumer world, but one can imagine skeptical thoughts of the smartwatch’s relevance to field service:
- “It’s not tough enough for the daily wear and tear of field service.”
- “It doesn’t replace either a phone or tablet for technicians in the field.”
- Another device to charge, and the battery life doesn’t even last a full day.”
These are all fair points. In fact, there is not really a differentiating feature that sets the Apple Watch apart from other smartwatches already in the market — besides the sexy design we’ve come to expect from Apple products.
So why do I believe the Apple Watch will impact field service? There are three primary reasons:
1. Simple and quick actions: The same way that apps on our mobile phones forced developers to create a simplified experience for those who were used to laptops and desktop computers, we should expect to see another level of simplification for the user experience on the smartwatch. The experience of smartwatch apps will have to focus on quick and simple actions. This bodes well for field service technicians who are multi-taskers by nature and who just want to see a notification on the watch and immediately respond through a quick touch or voice interaction.
2. Hands-free operation: If anyone values having two free hands to do a job, it would be a field service technician. A smartwatch is practically undroppable. You don’t accidentally leave it in the car. You don’t even need to reach into your pocket, which can be a big deal considering studies have shown people check their phones for messages more than 100 times per day. With a smartwatch, a field technician will have less of a chance missing that important text message from a team member while his hands are occupied on the wheel or doing work at a customer’s site.
3. A rising tide raises all boats: The previous two points are benefits that apply to smartwatches in general and not exclusively to the Apple Watch. But when Apple throws it hat into the ring of wearable technologies, everyone takes notice. We will see thousands of developers race to build the most popular apps on the Apple Watch. And, as we’ve seen in the past with iPhone and iPad, when the app ecosystem grows in iOS, growth in other app ecosystems will follow. Many of the apps built in this coming universe of smartwatch apps will focus on improving the experience and productivity of the workforce, including field service.
Though I have ideas, I’m not sure what that killer app will be that will justify the wide adoption of a smartwatch in field service. Given the mobile and multi-tasking nature of field service technicians, I fully expect to see creative apps introduced first on the Apple Watch platform that will measurably improve the productivity of field technicians — and I’m very excited for the possibilities.
A version of this article originally appeared on ServiceMax’s blog.
Great read Amit. However, don’t you think that there just isn’t enough real estate on the Apple watch (or any smart watch for that matter) for the technician to be able to do anything meaningful? For instance, filling out a work order, looking up customer information, on-site billing etc.
Hi Ani- great question! I completely agree with you that real estate constraints on the watch makes it challenging to provide a meaningful experience for the technician, particularly for data entry or browsing information. Beyond just notifications and alerts, I envision the opportunities will be with simpler interactions that can result in better data collection within the technician’s existing workflow. One example that comes to mind is a GPS-based stopwatch app that integrates with the work order schedule and allows a technician to quickly start/stop the time spent by tapping the watch. This kind of convenient interaction may yield better compliance to keep more accurate time tracking for customer billing and/or internal metrics tracking.
I’m sorry but totally disagree. Firstly, for service techs in all food manufacturing and processing environments, wearing a watch or any form of wearable is a no-no. Not so much for the potential of contamination if the watch comes off, but the potential for bacterial contamination on the skin under the wearable that’s of concern. (ever sniffed under your watch on a warm day?). Secondly when a service tech is on a job, being paid by the customer, then any SMS or notifications are a distraction and costing the customer. This also applies to phone calls and emails, etc. Surely any form of communication can wait until the service tech or trade-person has completed the job. My number one complaint by customers is field service techs taking calls or texting away instead of focusing on the problem.
Third and most important, “…less chance of missing that important text message from a team member while his hands are occupied on the wheel…”. Seriously? Driving whilst trying to read a message on your wrist watch has to be considered up there with high range drink driving. Try driving with your eyes closed for 5 secs, the time it takes to read a short message? Your comments are quite irresponsible. Aside from service, I once chaired a meeting with some of the participants constantly glancing at their wrists every time a notification came through. I stopped the meeting during each instance a participant was seen glancing at their watch until each removed theirs and put it aside. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a Samsung watch for 12 month now, and they’re great – when used wisely and appropriately.