Creating a mobile strategy for your field services organisation

In field services, mobility refers to a lot more than mobile communications. For service workers, the smartphone is often the main – and sometimes only – means of communication back to the office. Most field services employees have mobile phones, but few companies actually have an overall mobile strategy, in fact, 83% of companies have still not deployed one. With people becoming increasingly mobile this stat needs to decrease drastically.

 

A successful mobile strategy for a field services organisation can include:

·         Using the latest 4G/LTE mobile plans on offer which offer dramatic improvements in speed, capability, and base level functionality.

·         Using new “native” mobile features, such as WiFi calling and advanced messaging. 

·         Deploying mobile-first field services management applications, complemented with powerful general purpose apps.

·         Providing a mobile presence to your customers, allowing them to interact with your organisation using their preferred method of communication.

 

Implementing a mobile strategy doesn’t need to be considered an impossible task. There are a handful of steps to consider when setting a mobile-first approach up, that will ultimately provide a better, more efficient and cost-effective service for your customer.

 

1.       Planning forward

Evaluate the plan options from your available mobile operators. Most major providers have upgraded their networks to support 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), and in fact EE recently announced that it is looking for 90% coverage of 4G by 2020. This will be highly beneficial to UK businesses and will enable more companies to move away from fixed point telephones and towards the mobile-first way of working.

 

There are lots of benefits to this improved mobile service; for your organisation, the key benefits are faster data, improved battery life, high definition voice that offers crystal clear voice when both subscribers are on the same LTE network.

 

In addition to the benefits brought by a network upgrade, several mobile operators offer new functions that help you do more with your mobile phone’s “native” capability. For example, advanced messaging allows rich communications, contact, message-read receipts, picture sharing and video sharing – all from the one device. This can be really valuable in your day-to-day field services activities when you need to take a picture or video during a service call and share with colleagues.

 

2.       An appetite for verticals

In 2011, an American entrepreneur stated “software is eating the world”. He was discussing the way that a variety of industries are being disrupted by software and online services. This is happening in field services at a rapid pace as software-based field services management (FSM) solutions drive increased automation of business process and workflows. Benefits include workforce optimisation, better allocation of resources (capital assets as well as human resources), enhanced transparency of organisational processes, and improved customer satisfactions. Most FSM solutions include some combination of scheduling, dispatch, work order and forms digitisation, location tracking, inventory management, and payments. It doesn’t hurt that these FSM solutions, when effectively implemented, can be cost effective for your company as well.

 

Forward-thinking FSM solutions have begun to include collaboration and communications from inside the mobile application itself. Examples include sending the customer automated SMS text messages informing them of the assigned service technician’s estimated time of arrival; service dispatchers finding in real-time the best technician based on locations, skills, and availability; and real-time communications and collaboration (i.e., chat, voice, video calling).

 

3.       The supporting cast

Beyond FSM mobile applications, several general purpose mobile apps may prove to be useful to service teams. Team-centric storage enabling file sharing in the cloud helps create a knowledge base, storing soft copies of manuals, troubleshooting guides, reference pictures, videos, and audio recordings. The choices are plentiful and include Dropbox, Box.com, Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive, and Amazon’s Cloud Drive, among others. As well as apps focused on collaborative note taking include Evernote, Google Keep, Microsoft’s OneNote and Notability.

 

4.       A more intimate customer conversation

Up until this point, the discussion has been more inward facing with ways to enhance internal operations of your field services team. But perhaps the most important reason to recast your business communications strategy to be more mobile-centric is to better service the most important person to your field services business: your customer.

 

With a mobile-centric operations model, as a services company, you have an opportunity to be more sympathetic to your customers’ issues and respond more quickly and with appropriate measure. Imagine a scenario where your customer can text your company about an issue, your company quickly responds via text with a proposed appointment, the customer confirms, and the FSM solution provides service ETA updates via SMS and upon arrival on site. Issues that the tech deals with requiring a more senior set of eyes are resolved more quickly. The tech can collect payment immediately. A short post-service survey can be delivered via SMS. Periodic promotions (e.g., air conditioning check-up with change of season) can be presented to customers that opt in. The relationship becomes more direct, more intimate, and more personal.

 

When it comes to creating a strategy, understanding what your options are as a field services organisation its essential: mobile plans and capabilities have evolved, devices are now more powerful and capable, and mobile applications focused on field service management have reached a high degree of maturity. In addition, general-purpose mobile apps can augment overall business process.

 

An effective mobile strategy supports business objectives of optimising effectiveness and productivity in your daily operations and delivering superior service to your customers. A mobile-first strategy also allows your customers to interact with you via their preferred communication method, and why wouldn’t you want to deliver a better overall experience for your customer?