Q&A: Tech-To-Tech Social Collaboration — A Firsthand Perspective

Publisher/Editor-In-Chief Sarah Nicastro talks one-on-one with Greg Parker of Trane about the social collaboration tool the company’s field workers are using

Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, has approximately 2,500 field technicians in North America. These technicians leverage field service mobility software and diagnostic tools using a combination of laptops and smartphones in the field. In 2011, Trane launched its first social media site for its technicians called “Tech Connect.” I recently caught up with Greg Parker, service and field development leader at Trane, to discuss Tech Connect specifically and the trend toward tech-to-tech social collaboration tools in general.

According to Parker, Tech Connect is an online forum platform that Trane technicians can use for posting and replying to messages, structured in a way that allows information and posts to be found quickly. Tech Connect is an internal-use-only tool that provides a means for technicians to share technical field experiences, generate new ideas, and offer immediate feedback on systems maintenance and repair. While not every service organization has the resources to develop its own collaboration platform, many of today’s software solutions now offer this type of functionality.