Field Mobile Solutions: Driving The Next Wave Of Customer Engagement

One of the most significant benefits of mobile computing solutions is in their ability to provide organizations with real-time visibility into field-based activities and processes. Leveraging these capabilities to deliver a more personalized service experience is separating leaders from laggards. In today's increasingly service-driven economy – and one where brand loyalty is as fragile as it has ever been – innovative organizations are strategically equipping their frontline workers with mobile solutions to not only streamline performance but also – and perhaps more importantly – to drive customer interactions. In fact, according to VDC's most current research, customer engagement and enablement has increased to the second most important field mobile investment driver over the past year. Customers are demanding higher levels of service efficiency and competency. Leading service organizations are responding and leveraging mobile solutions as a critical competitive differentiator.

The number of mobile workers supporting field mobility applications in North America – from maintenance and repair to delivery and sales – is expected to exceed 6.4 million workers by 2018. While the overall workforce continues to stall, this represents one of the fastest growing segments.

While capital improvement projects have been delayed to conserve cash, operations have had to focus more on maintaining and supporting aging assets. The need to extend the lifecycles of these solutions has in turn created demand for improved and streamlined maintenance and asset management solutions. This has translated into an increase in service dispatch volumes making the need for efficiency improvements even more acute – especially considering that most service executives are being tasked to support these new service requirements without net new resources.