Uninterrupted Collaboration Services

By Jeffrey Babe, Senior Director, Polycom

Jeffrey Babe, Senior Director, Polycom

The Journey so Far

We have more than 25 years of experience in communications and collaboration with technological knowledge and expertise. Field service metrics are interlinked with performance measurements, and enterprises cannot function efficiently without detailed field service analytics. IT vendors need in-house IT resources to keep themselves updated on recent innovations that are in demand. Hence the development of IT strategies is crucial for Unified Communications (UC) projects to gather valuable feedback from users. We, at Polycom, assist vendors by providing focused time and expertise, to ensure that our customer’s projects are delivered on time. Our strength lies in our ability to improve how we collaborate, communicate and perform. Our professional delivery services include— unified communications (UC) software consultants and project management solution design, implementation and embedding field engineers, resident engineers, business apps divas’ and service integration of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) Projects.

Current Trends Surrounding Field Services

I would say one of the major marketing trends shaping the field service space is the need for fluid delivery of the models. Field service organizations are improving skill sets and services to meet the shipping requirements of new technologies and services over the last decade. In recent times, there have been many platforms and network systems that have moved to the cloud and as-a-service models. Also, with the internet of things (IoT), devices are being remotely monitored and managed by cloud service networks or third-party products via remote monitoring and management systems. Enterprises rely on the smart hand’s approach, which requires them to have an adapted skill based on—in time training, automation and augmented reality to learn on the job quickly. The metric keeps track of the system’s operational movements’ team pertaining to mobile assets, thereby accurately predicting the time required to complete the task. The application of these tools and monitoring of these metrics can make up for the operational inefficiencies faced by enterprises to generate an immediate positive impact on revenue.

The metric keeps track of the system’s operational movements’ team pertaining to mobile assets, thereby accurately predicting the on-site time job

Besides these tools, enterprises can also rely on an omnichannel view to find the customer’s preferred method of contact. Quantifiable metric identification can be established through social media. With this, managers can proactively respond to and report on social activity to improve customer experiences. We help mitigate risk and ensure a quick return on investments while streamlining new technologies in the client’s system.

Crucial Elements in Automation Technology

Opportunities loom large in the automation technology landscape. I think organizations should develop field service automation or, both, back-end platforms and customer-facing service delivery simultaneously. There is software that assists firms to streamline field service automation and optimize the delivery process—starting from scheduling to generate work orders and then dispatching the final product. Such tasks become relatively easier when they are governed by task-based skillsets or training videos for reference; hence the efficiency gains and cost savings on the back-end system can be transformational. The customer-facing service delivery can also benefit from automation by building a custom automation tool using scripting and application program interfaces (APIs) of the products and devices that it supports.

Overcoming the Major Pitfalls in Field Service Metrics

I think schedule management and adherence has always been the apple of discord in the field service space. You can still overcome these challenges with a schedule management platform to drive efficiency and schedule plans accordingly. Minor problems like schedule overrun and traffic delays can be redirected and projected on a well-planned resource schedule. A mobile field service automation tool can reduce that chaos by improving the real-time updates of location with the skillset-based assignments. This will increase visible integration and enhance the customer experience by reducing the risk of typos or missed work order assignments by lowering the overhead resource management team for finding the right technician. Apart from this, accessing and focusing on the first-time fix rate is also an uphill task for enterprises in the field service space. These performing measures help us align the goals, resources, and expectations of our customers with technicians quickly. In an actionable takeaway, we hire additional technicians if we are unable to meet customer demands with our measured performance.

Your Views on Fluid Field Service Models and AI

Wireless specialization and cross training have helped us develop fluid field service models for faster on-site support. Opportunities are expanding for cloud source services, and there are a few vendors that develop cloud-based solutions. Alongside, I am still working on developing autonomous self-driving vehicles. It will bring about a drastic change in field service management by reducing truck rolls and cutting costs incurred by firms otherwise, thus uplifting customer service levels. A self-driving field service plan with AI enabled functionalities will provide just-in-time video training, voice-enabled recorded dispatch, and GPS optimized route to the customer location and reduce truck rolls to assist technicians in the long-run.