Field Service Outsourcing Made Simple With AR & Computer Vision AI

By Andrew Mort, TechSee

Field service outsourcing offers plenty of benefits, but it also presents major challenges. And during a crisis such as COVID-19, there is often a sudden and urgent need to accelerate the outsourcing process without compromising on standards. This article describes how companies using visual technology are able thrive during emergency scenarios.

Outsourcing is nothing new for field service organizations. For years, third parties have been used to increase service coverage, meet temporary spikes in demand or handle simple tasks more cheaply than with full-time employees. The increasing demand for rapid, high-quality service coupled with the knowledge gap resulting from an aging and shrinking pool of experienced technicians has further entrenched the practice of outsourcing in the field service industry. Gartner, for example, has estimated that over 40% of field service work is now performed by outsourced technicians.

Field service outsourcing in the era of COVID-19

The practice of field service outsourcing has accelerated due to the current pandemic. The United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that COVID-19 could eliminate up to 195 million jobs worldwide – an unemployment rate commensurate with that of the Great Depression – with the service sector being hit especially hard. Many field service organizations are finding themselves with a skeleton staff. However, they must still meet their SLA commitments, increasingly leading them to choose field service outsourcing during this time of crisis.