The field service industry today looks nothing like it did a few decades ago. Back then, a global enterprise required the use of a lot of tools, resources and funding in order to stretch business into the far reaches of the globe. But today, businesses are achieving a global presence with less than ever before and it’s all thanks to technology. How do enterprise solutions make global operations more feasible? In a lot of ways! Here’s the breakdown:
As you can imagine, the rise of global enterprise really began to pick up speed with the creation and subsequent mastery of the Internet. Before our beloved cyberspace, information traveled slow and global operations required global positioning of staff. Today, however, business can be conducted remotely from literally any place in the world as long as the right tools are implemented.
Mobile Workforce Management Software
At the root of any global enterprise is a centralized hub that acts as host to all customer and business information. In the field service industry, this hub takes form in what is referred to as mobile workforce management software. Mobile workforce management software automates office administrative tasks and provides greater visibility into daily happenings to aid in better decision-making. Some of the key benefits to enterprise solutions like mobile workforce management software include:
- Technician skill-set management to determine placement of job orders with the most befitting technician.
- Detailed information reporting about labor usage.
- Input retrieval from remote technicians regarding: hours, progress, inventory and more.
- Full visibility into the job lifecycle from a request’s origin to ticket closing.
Service Dispatch Software
Global enterprises know that mobile workforce management software performs best when integrated with service dispatch software. This enterprise solution is all about properly and efficiently managing assets. Benefits of service dispatch software include:
- Improved work order management through remote job assigning based on criteria like: availability, proximity, urgency and skill level.
- Superior customer data access for technicians, including: client history, equipment requirements and additional notes that will help the technician to complete their assignment.
- Route planning through GPS technology that takes into account the technician’s location, traffic conditions and other factors.
- Reporting tools that track technician productivity trends.
- Supreme time tracking capability and more visibility into the progress of every single job order.
The Cloud
How do global enterprises share the same information throughout all branches, nationally and internationally without major time delays? By making it accessible through a cloud-based server instead of an in-house server. Cloud platforms are the metaphoric bridges that connect mobile workforce management with field technicians and similarly, field service branches with other branches no matter where they geographically exist. As long as individuals have an Internet connection and administrator-deemed access, they’re connected to everything they need to complete their jobs from anywhere in the world. Benefits of enterprise solutions like cloud computing include:
- Superior remote support
- Increased productivity levels
- Enhanced automation of scheduling tasks
- Visibility into daily operations
But the real advantage to cloud computing is the fact that it offers better support for field service companies who aren’t yet in the global arena but looking to grow in that direction.
Enterprise Mobility
What would all this accessible information be without the means to reach it? For this reason, global enterprises have adopted some form of mobile device policy. Be it company issued mobile devices or a BYOD policy, employees require smartphones and tablets to properly work in today’s global economy. These devices not only connect employees to mobile workforce management software, but one another as well – which helps to drive the flow of business at an unprecedented rate.
Social Collaboration
A new trend in field service is what technicians are referring to as social collaboration. With social media networking, technicians can share their challenges through posts, pictures and videos to gain the expertise of colleagues who might have encountered the same challenge before or can at the very least offer a different perspective. The beauty of social collaboration is that it knows no boundaries. A technician from Moscow can communicate with a technician in Texas just as simply as they would a local colleague, making this a valuable tool for technicians working for a global enterprise.
In the most simplistic sense, all of these enterprise solutions are working toward one common goal, superior communication. With the implementation of mobile workforce management software paired with service dispatch software and hosted on a cloud-based platform, the potential for growth is limitless. Equip employees with mobile devices and the gateway to limitless information and global reach is more attainable than ever before.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
Jessica Aceto is the Sales and Marketing Coordinator for Euclides Technologies. She oversees all content creation forEuclides Technologies and enjoys fusing her creativity with educational content for field service workforce management solutions. You can follow more posts by Jessica and the rest of the Euclides Technologies team at www.euclidestech.com/blog.
