FIELD OPERATIONS USE CASE – Field Service
Make The First Repair Call The Right Call
When your field technicians need to make a repair, the last thing you want them to do is need to make a second trip. Zebra gives your technicians access to technical specifications, inventory information and direct customer communication on the go, improving repair rates and reducing repeat calls.
When it comes to delivering superior customer service, having the right route person or technician at the right place at the right time, with the right equipment is fundamental. Mobile devices alone have impacted service providers by providing a tool to better enable their service position as brand ambassador to the end customer. And as the IoT continues to expand, it’s becoming a critical component, especially in regards to field mobility. With connected devices and IoT technologies, field personnel can gain actionable insights that enable them to better interact and communicate. For example, with these technologies, they can be more proactive by responding to traffic and weather conditions. This not only increases their safety but allows them to prepare for delays or take alternate routes.
With connected devices and the increased adoption of Mobile-to-Mobile (M2M) connectivity, field service personnel can quickly gain accurate and relevant insight into service inquiries and respond to them within an appropriate timeframe. For example, today in vending service, the sales person has a scheduled route to visit each machine. In large facilities, such as plants or hospitals, there could be 30 machines requiring service in one day, and the technician may have no idea how much product is needed to load onto their cart before making the rounds.
With an IoT-enabled vending machine, technicians can know what supplies need to be loaded before they start their route, instead of having to bring up to 40 percent back up due to lack of insight into what is sold. If a cash changer/dispenser is jammed and sales transactions are not possible, the service person can respond proactively instead of waiting days until the next scheduled stop. Additional data such as temperature fluctuations, lights out, an unplugged machine, etc., could also be communicated ahead of time. This insight helps service technicians become more proactive, rather than simply reacting to the situations. With the ability to securely monitor customer equipment and environments in real time through M2M, in the future field service technicians will be able to take action before problems arise.
Advances in mobile technology and the IoT are dramatically improving manufacturing and field mobility. Utilizing the Enterprise Asset Intelligence delivered through these solutions is what enables manufacturers to pinpoint inefficiencies in real time and improve throughput — helping them build progressive plans to move toward innovation.
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