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Innovation Apparent At Field Service USA 2018
It was a lovely week in Palm Springs last week at Field Service USA (especially since I left four inches of snow in Erie, PA). The consensus at the event was that there was an energy about it quite unlike previous years, and I think that the energy stemmed from a field service audience that has become truly ready to embrace innovation. We talk about the shift from cost center to profit center and the view of the field service function as...  Continue Reading..
Big Data
Technology And Big Data: Reinventing The Customer-Supplier Relationship
The marketplace for equipment manufacturers is rapidly moving from a pure product focus to a customer outcome-based focus. With this change, every manufacturer will be faced with the hard truth that their customers are changing the way they purchase. New customer expectations, new models, and new capabilities will put tremendous pressure on today’s field services organization to adapt, be relevant, and continue to deliver a key revenue...  Continue Reading..
The Building Blocks Of Predictive Service
Today’s field service organizations are on a mission to migrate from the traditional break/fix service model to a predictive service model — it’s simply what customers expect and where the industry is headed. As Jack Rijnenberg, director of global customer service at Markem-Imaje put it when I interviewed him recently, “There’s a clear movement in the service industry toward predictive service, and that’s the...  Continue Reading..
Field Service Puzzle
Digital Transformation: Balancing Speed And Execution
As companies adopt various digital technologies along with new strategies in an effort to make operations more efficient and to provide better service to their customers, determining the appropriate balance between speed and thorough execution is sure to be a challenge. Field service organizations especially are under a lot of pressure to optimize productivity, to deliver a superior customer experience, and to become a profit center. Under the...  Continue Reading..
Field Service AI
What Our AI Perceptions Today Say About Our Plans For The Future
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the buzzword du jour over the last few years, unseating IoT as the technology darling making its way into ad copy across field service technology providers. We’ve reached a point where most firms are aware of how AI can support their business conceptually, but only a fraction have put AI-powered solutions into practice today. Given that fact, now seems like the ideal time to take a look at how AI is...  Continue Reading..
Customer Experience Field Service
Measuring The Customer Experience
Measuring the customer experience based on the services your company provides requires that several types of survey instruments be used. It is very important to your overall business health and growth potential.  Continue Reading..
Samsung Adds A Rugged Tablet Option To Consider In Your Mobile Device Decision
Last week, Samsung announced U.S. availability of its Galaxy Tab Active2 rugged tablet. Samsung says in its press release that the device “is designed for mobile workers who conduct business outdoors or beyond office walls, including in the field, industrial locations, and harsh weather.” Based on a survey we conducted last fall, 36 percent of our respondents’ companies are using a combination of tablets along with a handheld...  Continue Reading..
Making The Move To Agile Software Development
The topic of shifting to an agile software development methodology has come up in a few of my conversations with field service leaders recently. I’m no software developer, so I first had to learn exactly what an agile approach was and how it differed from some more traditional development methodologies, such as waterfall. Using a traditional approach, such as waterfall, the project is put into sequential, predefined phases and worked to...  Continue Reading..
How Location Intelligence Drives Efficient Field Operations
Fully utilizing location data improves various field service functions.  Continue Reading..
The Impact Of Service Delivery On Customer Experience
To truly impact customer experience, view your service delivery from the customer vantage point.  Continue Reading..

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