The Future Of Field Service

The field service market is growing rapidly, with some estimates projecting it to more than double in size by 2022. At the same time, customer expectations around the speed and quality of service are increasing.

In order to keep pace, field service organizations are investing in new tools and systems. Most companies are somewhere on the path to digitization, but they need to do more. Simply wrapping a layer of technology around traditional pen-and-paper processes is no longer enough – they should be looking to drive efficiency through intelligent automation.

The Field Service Market Today

When we talk about automation today, the conversation often starts with scheduling and dispatching. Most field service organizations use some form of smart scheduling to help them match the right technician to each task, based on proximity, skill set, workload, and more.

Companies also use automation to drive efficiency in the field, whether it’s triggering the next step of an installation once a technician completes a task or automatically uploading site photos to a closeout package. Of course, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage all these moving parts as an organization grows. More boots on the ground means more sites to service and schedules to juggle. Any delay due to inclement weather or faulty equipment can disrupt even the tightest of schedules, forcing companies to adjust quickly.

The only way to do this at scale is through smarter automation.To date, field service automation has been limited to a few specific tasks. The next step is getting to a point where software and connected devices can do a wide spectrum of jobs better, faster, and cheaper than people – and be able to make real-time decisions based on historical data.