Leveraging The Benefits Of Mobilization In The Field Services Industry

By Mike Wills, vice president, North America for Psion

As service organizations re-evaluate their operation strategies to adapt to changes in the economy and business landscape, they are increasingly focused on ways to improve the accuracy of data, reduce the frequency of disputes, enhance payment collection and scheduling efficiency, speed up the billing cycle and improve technician productivity in the field. All of these strategies empower and engage front line technicians with the ultimate goal of driving business growth and realizing cost savings.

Leveraging the latest technologies in handheld computing and mobilization is a critical step in supporting this evolution and realizing these goals.

A 2011 Aberdeen Group study reveals that overwhelmingly, respondents in the field services industry feel that mobility is a “very” to “extremely” important technology that will significantly improve efficiencies and reduce costs in their businesses. Specific areas where these improvements will be realized include:

• Improving customer satisfaction
• Driving field worker productivity
• Reducing errors
• Increasing workforce utilization
• Improving service standardization and consistency
• Enhancing service efficiency
• Growing service profitability