Field services involve many offline and remote tasks. This has resulted in it being a laggard industry to adopt the latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things, etc.
As the above technologies mature, many field service operations can automate manual tasks and remotely monitor job progress. In this article, we feature emerging technologies that your field service management software should have provisions for to future-proof your operations.
How does field service management software streamline operations?
The primary aim of adopting field service management software is to reduce manual tasks so that your teams can focus on improving service delivery. Here are 5 ways in which it helps you achieve this aim:
- Single dashboard: a powerful field service management app will include multiple integrations and features to manage data, handle customer service, manage scheduling, and much more. It provides you with a single dashboard to get a bird’s eye view of the business.
- Automated payments: from sharing quotes to raising an accurate invoice, and sending digital payment links – a field service management app takes care of the complete job payment cycle.
- Resource allocation: it is possible to assign jobs to the right field service technician who is available and located nearby the job site. The algorithms analyze technician data, job details, and customer preferences to schedule and dispatch effectively.
- Mobile accessibility: Zuper, a field service management software, provides a mobile app that helps in real-time communication, work order management, and training.
- Customer management: it is possible to design targeted campaigns as per the customer data available. Field service management software can also help you draw insights to make go-to-market decisions, which services to double down marketing for, find peak demand, and handle customer care.
How emerging technologies will impact the current field service management playbook?
Generative AI has already improved productivity across industries, and field services aren’t far behind. There is more happening – and here are key emerging technological trends you should follow:
Internet of Things for remote tracking
IoT along with GPS is a great combination to remotely monitor your equipment, workers, and other assets. It helps collect information like location, equipment health, or other performance metrics that require a physical presence in real-time.
For example, you can enable IoT sensors in your material storage units – so that you can track theft.
AI-powered Drones for surveying and inspections
Drones that use artificial intelligence algorithms to share sharper insights help you take action in real-time. You can use drone devices to survey large land areas of the job site. Drones make it possible to inspect locations that are dangerous for humans to enter or are hard to access.
Autonomous vehicles
With each passing year, autonomous vehicles keep getting better at doing their job of driving without human control. This is very much beneficial for field services as teams can remotely supervise construction tasks. It can also do last-mile delivery with better efficiency – and drivers can be assigned more important tasks of attending to the urgent jobs at hand.
Wearable devices or biometrics
Wearables have many use cases – for example, wearable devices like temperature monitors help field service technicians in making quick inspections. It is also possible to provide immersive training to them using virtual reality goggles. Biometrics technology helps in the accurate tracking of attendance and timesheets.
It is also possible to track field service technicians’ health and ensure their safety.
Blockchain technology for data security and contracts
Some field services like those in the construction industry tend to have large capital investments. While some projects may also have a need to protect sensitive data. For such use cases, implementing smart contracts or managing data using blockchain helps.
A decentralized ledger helps in transparent information sharing and storage – for example, your client is assured of your accounting for a large-scale project.
Experience the future of field service management with Zuper
Zuper enables its field service businesses with Generative AI technology via its latest offering – ZIVA, or Zuper Intelligent Virtual Assistant. ZIVA becomes a co-pilot for your team by helping in managing tasks via simple commands.
Zuper also provides powerful features like geo-fencing and AI-powered field service scheduling. You can experience how these technologies can streamline your field service operations – book a demo.
