Mobile Internet Access Tops The Desktop

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies

The phrase “mobile Internet” may very well be obsolete. According to data from StatCounter Global Stats, mobile Internet usage is becoming the dominant form of access around the world.

In October, the company found that mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3 percent of worldwide Internet usage, while desktop systems accounted for 48.7 percent. That’s the first time that mobile access platforms have surpassed desktops, according to the company.

Mobile also lapped desktops for Google searches last year.

“This should be a wake up call especially for small businesses, sole traders and professionals to make sure that their websites are mobile friendly. Many older websites are not,” said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “Mobile compatibility is increasingly important not just because of growing traffic but because Google favors mobile friendly websites for its mobile search results.”

The numbers vary considerably region. India, for example, has more than 75 percent of its Internet usage via mobile devices, while desktops still dominate in the UK (55.6 percent) and the U.S. (58 percent).

Mobile access is dominant in China and most other Asian countries, as well as the majority of countries in Africa.

The StatCounter figures mirror predictions from Forrester that mobile has become the baseline for all digital experiences.

Mobility will be a key part of how companys win and retain their customers via mobile apps and through visibility in virtual assistants (like Siri and Google Assistant). Forrester says that consumer interest in these platforms will move beyond early adopters in 2017.

Forrester also expects companies to move beyond mobile apps to further engage customers online, and that they will bring more mobile design in-house.

What does this mean for field service? First, customer expectations are increasing when it comes to mobile functionality and their service providers – they expect their service technicians to have the same tools on their rugged tablets and devices as consumers have on their smartphones. That includes the ability to access their customer information, order parts, and accept payment in the field.

Customers also expect to be able to interact with their field service providers via their own mobile devices. That may mean being able to summon a technician via a mobile app, or monitoring the progress of a repair via an online portal that they can access with their phone or tablet.

In some cases, data from fleet, work order management, and other solutions can be used to improve customer service in new ways. Both DISH Network and rival Comcast offer technician tracking information to their customers. Instead of waiting for hours at home for a technician to arrive, customers can receive an alert on their phone to let them know the technician is close. They even provide the name of the tech and a photo so customer can know the person they are letting into their home is a legitimate company employee.

DISH discusses their own solution in our November cover feature. The company is leveraging data generated by their own field service automation solution to provide this customer-facing service that mimics functionality found in the Uber app.

They did so to address what Nick Rossetti, senior vice president of In-Home Services at DISH, says was a top customer complaint.

“We tried to alleviate that by being on time, and then letting the consumer know exactly who is going to be there, and when they will arrive,” Rossetti says. “We not only put a focus on having our technicians not be late, but also not be early. Everybody has plans, and they commit to do certain things based on when the technician will be there. On-time performance is a big key for us, and it was a customer pain point we wanted to resolve.”

Field service companies pioneered the use of mobile data. Now that the rest of the world has caught up, the field service industry should look for new ways to engage and serve their customers using the same technology that has helped improve operations for their own technicians.