Field service managers are no strangers to the power of mobile devices and apps. Smartphones, tablets and even wearables like Google Glass have transformed the industry in recent years. But there’s still plenty of work to do, according to the Service Council’s Sumair Dutta.
Dutta’s latest research takes a comprehensive look at mobility maturity within field service. One big takeaway? A majority of service organizations use mobile tools, but that use is still fairly limited. Below, Dutta walks us through three highlights from the initial research results:
What’s the pulse of mobility in field service today?
Dutta: While most organizations have some mobile application in place (home-grown or purchased) for field service, we still see limited use of the functionality afforded by mobile. Most organizations are primarily still using mobile as a tool to automate work order and schedule management. We believe that these organizations need to start focusing on resolution improvement and revenue growth.
Image: The Service Council
At companies that are further along with mobility, are service leaders getting clever about how they use mobile tools to improve their businesses?
For organizations with more than three years of experience with mobile, there is a greater focus on broader capabilities that will assist with collaboration, resolution and relationship building. These capabilities include access to service and customer history, parts ordering and transfers, quoting, access to knowledge base, collaboration via messaging and collaboration via live video.
Any findings that surprised you?
Paperwork still accounts for nearly 20 percent of an average field technician’s day. Given the high level of mobile use, we would have expected a significant elimination of paperwork when it comes to field service tasks.
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