Avoid The Top 5 Failure Points Of Field Communication

By Sarah Nicastro, publisher/editor in chief, Field Technologies
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In today’s technology age, you’d think communicating with your field workers would be easy, right? It should be, and it can be – but there are some common mistakes companies make in their communications strategies (or lack thereof) that lead to less-than-desirable results. Here, we explore some common mobile communication failure points with Stacey Epstein, CEO of Zinc – a communication platform built specifically for the deskless workforce.

Field Technologies: The first common failure point when it comes to communication that I want to touch on is using methods to communicate that are inefficient or ineffective. For instance, email is a method of communication – but if your techs have to email information back and forth all day, it can become very time consuming and serve as a major distraction. What are some of the most ineffective forms of communication for field workers, and how does Zinc streamline communication in a way that is beneficial?

Epstein: Email is one of the go-to methods in business, but for deskless workers it is simply ineffective. Even for heavy email users, the average response time for an email is 90 minutes, which isn’t going to cut it when you are out on the field and have to solve a problem in the moment. Email works for people who sit in front of computers or can check it frequently to stay in-the-know, but field techs are too busy to constantly check for updates. In fact, most never check it at all!

In contrast, the average response time for a text is 90 seconds, and over 97% of adults use texting to communicate, including your field workers. This intuitive type of communication - texting, voice, video calling, and important broadcasts - is what Zinc allows users to do. Right from their mobile device, deskless workers can connect with their team in the way that is natural for them and quickly get answers to questions that come up in the field.