How Do You Build a Modern Field Service Organization?

Leverage technology and innovative practices to optimize the entire lifecycle of field service operations.

How Do You Build a Modern Field Service Organization?

The operating paradigm that field service businesses have long used is break-fixing, or responding to a device failure after the customer reports a problem. The inefficiencies in labour and operations, combined with growing costs, have rendered this operating model outdated. It is also shown to be less than successful in meeting the rising demands of the client.

Modern technology keeps entering the field service sector, which is rapidly changing in interesting new ways. Because they provide clients with maximum device uptime together with increased visibility, efficiency, and profitability, these technological and workflow advancements are revolutionizing field service. To assist technicians in succeeding, field service has evolved to integrate automation, artificial intelligence, new learning tools, and mixed reality.

Updating a field service organization requires the capacity to gather, process, and extract useful insights from data. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, intelligent, predictive systems can automate laborious human processes, including data collection, problem diagnosis, and issue resolution. AI can enhance customer service through proactive and predictive service, enable field workers through mixed reality and mobilization, and optimize resource management. Simply put, artificial intelligence is enabling businesses to maximize the provision of field service.

While service companies build sensor and solution frameworks to gather data from every aspect of their business, AI and machine learning are the next steps that companies are taking to maximize the potential of the data they have gathered. The ultimate objective is to move from a reactive, break-fix service model to a proactive, predictive one, therefore attaining almost continuous uptime.

Enhance the Buying Experience

Customers of field services require stability and dependability in their operations. When breakdowns happen, they need to reduce downtime and demand visibility into their assets.

In the past, the consumer would have had to actively contact the manufacturer to report malfunctioning equipment. Work using the equipment may be hampered or stopped for days or weeks pending the completion of repairs by a technician, depending on the kind of malfunction. Without wise guidance, the technician can have to make follow-up visits, which would be a needless waste of time and money.

AI makes it possible to monitor and analyze linked equipment for any problems, as well as automation, remote self-healing and predictive forecasting. Should one be found, the system can remotely try to fix issues by means of self-healing mechanisms, such as forcing the device to restart during a quiet period to lessen an overheating failure. By leveraging past device data and predictive analytics, the system may suggest and notify the client of the repair order that a technician visit the site in order to prevent future issues. The client could thereafter make plans around the planned downtime and even monitor the technician’s real-time arrival at the appointment.

During the visit, the technician would be able to go over extra goods and services with the customer that suit their particular usage and operating requirements, utilizing suggestions from the system. In the end, the field service organization is enabled to offer better service delivery capabilities and the customer has more control over their assets.

Raise Technician Output

To be most efficient and avoid expensive return visits, technicians need to have total access to the data and real-time direction they require. The technician could learn how to fix a specific problem on the equipment by using its digital twin, as well as learn about its status and functional state. Even better, the cognitive powers of AI can improve repairs before a technician gets there by handling standard tests and looking for typical or related problems. These skills guarantee the technician is more ready for the task and that both their time and the customer’s are used effectively.

The mobile service app gives the technician better appointment scheduling options and turn-by-turn driving directions to the customer’s location. This software can indicate the top two to three potential issues with the device on the spot. Bots can assist in finding information about a customer, a product, or a work order. With mixed reality solutions like Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, technicians may see performance statistics and pinpoint missing or damaged components by overlaying 3D renderings straight onto the device. Predictive analytics data can be used by AI to generate recommendations. Wearing a headset can help to spot anomalies and keep attention on the right problems without requiring stops and troubleshoots, guaranteeing that work is done right the first time. And should the problem be beyond the technician’s present skill level, they can use Microsoft Teams to get help from a more seasoned specialist.

Manage Resources As Best You Can

For any field service company, efficiently managing resources like inventory and technician time is the key to success and, when done successfully, may provide a significant competitive edge.

Typical field service organizations occasionally send out technicians based on availability rather than customer proximity or device experience. The ability to finish the repair on the first visit may be hampered and overall expenses for the client and the field service company may increase if a technician shows up on site with restricted access to customer information and device history.

Take a manufacturing customer who is having a gadget malfunction, for instance. Using a variety of criteria, such as a technician’s experience with the particular problem, the customer’s preferred technician, or proximity to the location, assignments are optimized when a work order is scheduled in an intelligent system. Using machine learning, this clever technology can match particular parameters and automatically send the service order to the closest, best professional who is available.

If the device has an Internet of Things (IoT)-connected sensor, a real-time alert would start an automated service request. First, the system would try to self-heal the problem; if it failed, a technician would examine the data and remotely execute a fix, frequently without the customer even realizing there was a problem. The last resort, should the gadget not be able to be fixed remotely, would be to send the expert on an onsite visit.

The system would then optimize the technician’s schedule as more requests arrived to design the most effective route to travel, giving the technician more time to complete more calls each day and increasing income.

Real-time inventory control guarantees the technician has access to the instruments required to finish the repair and that the replacement part will be accessible on the appointed day. The system can anticipate lead times for the company more precisely and recommend which parts to replace and where to buy them. Field service managers and technicians can increase first-time fix rates by synchronizing and tracking inventory down to the truck level with real-time visibility.

Conclusion

Through the empowerment of professionals, resource optimization, and enhancement of client experiences, AI helps field service companies move beyond the break-fix paradigm. Contact Tripearltech and empower your business with a special fusion of intelligence, scalability, end-to-end field service capabilities, and the world-class IoT of Microsoft Dynamics 365.