These services, such as global positioning system (GPS), geographical information system (GIS) and automatic vehicle location (AVL), are helping service companies achieve a 6% reduction in mean time to repair, which directly maps to a 17% jump in revenues.  This is according to research group Aberdeen in a new study, Location, Location, Location: Does It Matter in Field Service?

‘Much to our surprise, the majority of LBS-enabled service organisations is using location intelligence for more than just worker compliance checks,’ said Sumair Dutta, research analyst at the Aberdeen Group and co-author of the report. ‘They are using it to improve scheduling and routing decisions.’

Other benefits found from using LBS-enabled field service include a 4% reduction in fuel costs and a 20% increase in first-call resolution rate.   The technology also helped bring about a 16% increase in customer retention. 

Dutta said that if service organisations are considering using the technology the following they should ‘ensure that service workers are adequately trained and educated on the enhanced value of location-based and related field service solutions’.   He added they should also ‘incorporate other aspects of the service chain -- like spares management -- into LBS initiatives and leverage it for more than just “bread-crumbing” field technicians.’