Customer care and profit are the heartbeat of all service organisations. As competition in the marketplace continues to increase, so those within it seek to stay one step ahead of the rest. With the use of new technology and constant software innovations, the service industry is experiencing predictable success. Central to this success, of course, is the implementation of Service Management Software (SMS). Professional businesses strive to lead the field in which they operate and an SMS system can have a major impact on making this happen. The potential benefits to implementing such a system are significant.

Matter of difference
Many of the systems on the market are similar in nature, but differ in levels of design and functionality. The leading systems available tend to offer a modular system that includes Call Management, Contract Management, Invoicing, Stock Control and Engineer Scheduling.

Installing a new system can be a critical project. Whether companies have had deficiencies with the old-fashioned manual approach or are seeking to upgrade an existing system, it is essential to increase the volume of work without increasing costs.

Ultimately, effective management ensures that service is of the highest quality. As a result there are visible increases in performance, reliability and profitability. Adopting the best practice for service can reduce production costs and increase efficiency, enabling companies to meet customer requirements and maintain high standards.

Allnet, an IT services company, has recently installed Pinnacle Computer Systems’ Service Director solution. Gavin Harris, service operations manager of Allnet, comments: ‘Allnet chose Pinnacle to provide a service management system because of their proven experience in end-to-end field solutions. Service Director allowed Allnet to communicate in a fast, efficient and cost-effective manner to our field engineers, across ten locations, thereby guaranteeing customer satisfaction.’

Meanwhile, the continually improving customer service levels being achieved through the implementation in Eastern Europe of Tesseract’s Service Centre service management system are not only enabling BT Industries to grow its market lead in the supply of material handling solutions, but they are also allowing the company to streamline and standardise its customer service operations on a worldwide basis.

Going global
According to IS/IT manager of BT International, Marcus Svanberg, the use of Service Centre is a key part of BT Industries’ strategy to introduce best practice customer service routines globally in both its aftermarket service and rental divisions, following the success of the Tesseract software in the company’s eastern European operations.

‘Service Centre is playing the key role in enabling us to stay ahead of the competition,’ he comments, ‘and by using some of our European service operations as the role model, we are gradually introducing similar best practice strategies across all our service operations’.

With approximately 1,500 field engineers in BT Industries’ West European Business Area - covering the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Spain and Sweden - the lessons learned and the benefits being gained here are being used as the standard for service throughout the company’s International Business Area embracing the rest of the world, except North America.

‘In Europe, for example, all call and job details are transmitted to field engineers’ handheld devices,’ adds Svanberg, ‘and when each call is closed by them electronically, our stock databases are automatically updated and invoicing is triggered. Such functionality has not only streamlined our field service operations, but it also presents our company to each customer in the most professional way.’

Driving demand
Of course, there are many factors driving the demand for SMS solutions in various types of businesses. Aberdeen Group highlighted several of these in a recent report released to Service Management. Among the sectors SMS embraced were the following:

- Telecommunications - Broadband Deployment: intelligent FSM solutions can help streamline installation processes that can force multiple ‘truck rolls’ and drive up deployment costs for service providers

- Energy and Utilities - Internal Operations: field service solutions can complement maintenance and asset management tools by providing the support needed to keep the production infrastructure up and running - an important hallmark for facilities that require near-100% uptime

- High Technology - Customer Service: at some point in the lifecycle of most hardware markets and successful companies within those markets, there is a need for operational efficiency in service delivery. Organisations cannot indiscriminately apply resources (people or parts) to meet service demands. Effective FSM solutions can assist in meeting the requirements

- Utilities - Expanding Field Service Responsibilities: one utility commented that it viewed technicians as its primary interface with the customer. Increasingly, it can be seen that technicians now need a complete view of the customer as a means to maximise the benefits to the service organisation - whether that includes account data, billing information, and other records, to fulfil this broader service mandate.

Strategic direction
Certainly, the overall goal of SMS software is to provide service organisations with strategic direction and guidance that will provide better service - ie real-time service - to their customers.

The shift to real-time service - utilising real-time data to continuously and seamlessly refocus resources anywhere, anytime - is critical to all organisations implementing, or looking to implement, SMS solutions. For your business to grow and thrive, you need real-time service. Overall, building this into a service management strategy should bring an organisation the following benefits:

- reduced operating costs and improved cashflow

- increased service operating efficiency

- improved productivity of field service personnel

- improved customer service and loyalty

- better inventory management

- improved tracking and visibility.

Location, location…

It all starts with real-time knowledge of where your people are at any given time. A solution should provide ubiquitous GPS coverage nationwide, making real-time tracking of your field service resources a reality. An advanced GPS tracking system allows you to determine the location of each vehicle, find out where it is headed, and which call it is responding to.

Integrated mapping and despatch take the guesswork out of responding to customer emergencies. Detailed street-level maps display active service calls and real-time locations of your field resources, integrated with calendar and workload data. Equipped with this knowledge, your despatchers can make intelligent decisions to ensure a quick response by a qualified and appropriately equipped service person.

Mobile workers can send and receive messages, report on work progress, or ask for help - no matter where they are. They can even pull down work orders, repair instructions and equipment schematics right from their notebook PC or handheld PDA.
Smart parts management is not only crucial for quick repair, it greatly impacts your inventory and shipping costs. The solution should enable real-time updates of warehouse and vehicle stock, so you know exactly where every part is and where it is needed. You can also track RMAs and shipping information directly from the field, for real-time management of the entire logistics cycle.

Keeping your customers informed is the most important thing you can do to avoid disappointment and missed expectations. Web-based customer access enables customers to submit service requests and track their status for closed-loop customer communication and increased satisfaction.

Critically, FSM/SMS technology has become cheaper and more reliable. Product life cycles are shorter, making it more affordable to replace, rather then support, older technology. And self-healing systems, remote diagnostics and internet support now make it possible in many instances for the general consumer to repair a PC without the assistance of a field engineer.

Yet although the computer segment has experienced a number of trends which challenge the need for traditional field service, there have also been a number of counter trends which will ensure field service continues to survive and prosper in the computer segment and the broader market in general.

Improved service
New technologies have become available within the last five to ten years which enable field service organisations to improve field service productivity, efficiency and quality. Tools such as optimised scheduling systems, field communications and field-based diagnostic systems enable field service operatives to maximise the co-ordination of resources (eg parts, labour) required to support the entire field service delivery process, resulting in more satisfied customers, increased revenue, reduced cost and higher profits.

Since the mid 1980s, every major technology sector ranging from information technology, to telecommunications, to plant automation and building controls, has experienced a trend of equipment becoming increasingly more integrated, with microprocessors, hardware and network operating system software, and network connectivity equipment. This has led to new requirements for fast, reliable and high quality field service in many segments, similar to the situation that existed in the computer industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

Trade-offs
High-tech service and support organisations now accept the fact that there are trade-offs in cost and customer satisfaction in attempting to resolve all service requests through remote support tactics. Although remote support can be very effective in lowering operating costs, and eliminating the need for field service despatch, there is a point in every service call where it becomes more effective to despatch a field engineer, rather than resolve via remote means. As a rule of thumb, the greater the complexity of the service problem, the higher the cost of remote support will be. As such, the greater is the need for field service despatch.

Vendors of advanced technology, such as field communications, remote diagnostics and optimised scheduling, are proving that there is a continuing role to be played in helping organisations align their business goals with their IT infrastructure. Not only can the technology produce efficiency and productivity gains, it can also be utilised to achieve maximum levels of customer satisfaction and service profitability. Meanwhile, the growth in the provision of professional services and logistics support has led to a ‘trickle down’ growth opportunity for field service providers.

All of these factors must be considered by any service organisation looking to implement state-of-the-art technology that will carry their businesses forward with real confidence that the future health of their business is more assured.