IoT Technology Is Driving Field Service Transformation
The expectations and demands of service customers have increased steadily over the past decade. Clients now expect improved uptime, better first-time fix rates, and faster response times. As a result, field service organizations (FSOs) are leveraging new processes and technologies to take a more proactive and preventative approach to service.
One key technology that has emerged to enable this new approach is the concept of remote equipment or asset monitoring made possible by the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT). There will be billions of connected assets on the network by the end of the decade, which will make it possible for FSOs to monitor customer assets in real time and respond to alert conditions before a failure.
In fact, according to a WBR Insights report from 2018 (Realizing Returns on IoT Investments Across Field Service Environments), 42 percent of field service organizations have already incorporated IoT, and 31 percent have plans to do so in the next two years. Field service companies are already familiar with connected equipment and objects, because companies in many markets have been using machine-to-machine (M2M) technology for years to remotely diagnose and repair equipment.
What has changed is the availability of low-cost sensors and high-bandwidth wireless networks, the advent of cloud computing, and the emergence of robust analytics technology. Combined, these technologies are allowing FSOs to use remote monitoring in ways that weren’t possible before. As more “smart” devices are deployed, these FSOs will be able to more quickly assess and respond to service issues, as well as more accurately predict failures, create usage-based maintenance schedules, reduce truck rolls, improve inventory utilization, and meet greater service level agreement (SLA) commitments with fewer resources.
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