Ask anyone responsible for dispatching field service technicians how hard their job is, and you will get one of two polar opposite reactions. They will all confirm that it is a high-pressure environment; caught, as they are, between the needs of the field force, the company management and ever more demanding customers. Those that are new to the role will also tell you it is fiendishly hard, while experienced dispatchers will assure you how straightforward it is.
Field service management (FSM) operations are facing unprecedented pressure from competitors and increasingly demanding customers. At the same time advances in technology are set to have a profound effect on field service, such as the increasing adoption of enterprise mobility, schedule optimization tools and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
Today, most enterprise software runs on servers at a business’ premises. Of course a growing percentage of solutions like customer relationship management (CRM) or even enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are delivered from the cloud. Sometimes they are even sold not through a perpetual license, but as as a subscription service or from the cloud.
For a couple of years Near Field Communications (NFC) has been pushed by Google and others as the next big thing for smartphones. There has been a lot said about the merits of consumer applications for NFC, including digital wallets and replacing some of Bluetooth. But what about applications in business—what role could NFC play there? Here at IFS we’ve been looking into just that.
Perfection is not a word you hear very often in customer service. We encourage everyone in the team to always give 100% – or even more – in order to delight customers and deliver outstanding service experiences. And yet, we never use 100% as an objective to measure our business success.
No… and yes. After-market customer service is a critical component of long-term commercial and business success. And today more than two-thirds of employees work in the service sector. But, yes lots of time is wasted in the inefficient delivery of service. Let me explain.
What Tom Devroy has to say about these three Field Service Management trends… This field service management post is courtesy of our Vice President of Sales, Tom Devroy: In this podcast hear Tom discuss 3 main trends that are affecting field service management operations. Three trends driving the industry include: Mobility Scheduling Optimization Software-as-a-Service Mobility…
This reverse logistics post reflects on our recent visit to the Reverse Logistics Association trade show in Las Vegas. Thank you to those of you who visited us at Reverse Logistics Association’s 10th Annual Conference and Expo. Our goal at the show was to meet today’s key service management leaders… and that is what…
This reverse logistics podcast is courtesy of Senior Vice President, Larry Laux: Reverse logistics gets its name in relation to forward logistics. As a business sells products, they can have the products moved from a warehouse directly to the consumer or to distributors. Reverse logistics, as the name implies, is exactly the opposite. Part of…
This field service management post is on behalf of Regional Sales Reps, Michael Cox: Michael recently attended the Commercial Food Equipment Service Association (CFESA) and North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers Association (NAFEM) trade shows in Orlando, FL. Here are his thoughts on how field service management software fits in with these shows… What…
