AI In Field Service: Then And Now

By Paul Whitelam, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing ClickSoftware

The field service industry has come a long way over the last ten years, thanks to the rapid expansion and advancement of field service management (FSM) technology. It’s likely that the average consumer has never heard of FSM and isn’t aware of the underlying technology that helps companies meet their experience standards. While it takes various layers of technology to complete a full suite of FSM tools, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a significant role and has a great impact on the result.

In many ways FSM is the poster child for AI. On an average day, a field service company may have 5000 problems to solve - whether routine maintenance or emergencies - and just 500 resources to handle them, all spread throughout a vast geographic area. How does any organization optimize their resources to address the highest volume of problems while minimizing costs and keeping customers happy? This type of multi-dimensional problem is addressed with the help of artificial intelligence.

AI technology is already making an impact on the field service industry, but there is still so much more potential to explore. Let’s take a look at how AI is transforming field service today, and what we can expect in the not-so-distant future.