Service Management Software - The Advantages of a Automated Scheduling System

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1 Software in Field Service: Benchmarking report 2014 Sponsored by: FIELD SERVICE NEWS

2 ABOUT THE RESEARCH: Across April and May of this year (2014) Field Service News in partnership with mplsystems undertook a research project to assess the current usage of field service and service management software. The aim of this research was to establish what types of software are currently being used, how effective this software is, where there is room for improvement and finally what technologies the next generation of service software might incorporate. The survey was split into four categories. Three of which were focussed on areas deemed to be the key elements of service management software i.e. scheduling systems, integration and interaction and management reporting. The final section of the survey looked at future developments including which technologies that are currently on the horizon, are expected to appear in service management software within the next few years. This is the third annual survey on this topic that has been undertaken which also allows us to draw conclusions about the trends that are emerging across a more significant time frame. It also gives us the chance to see which elements of service management software have become more commonly used and which are being superseded. The previous surveys were Service Management: Your Voice (2012) and Technology in Service Management 2013 both of which were published by Service Management Online Note: As former Editor of Service Management Online I was involved in both of these projects so was able to ensure continuity across the questions in this year s research. The survey was hosted online and was aimed purely at field service professionals to ensure the results are a true representation of the industry. Respondents came from a wide range of industries including medical, white goods, engineering, oil and gas and telecommunications. There was also a reasonably well-balanced representation of differing company sizes although there was a slight weighting towards the small to medium sized companies with between 51 and 300 engineers. Finally respondents were predominantly UK based although there were respondents from all over the world including Europe, America, Africa and Asia. SECTION ONE: SCHEDULING SYSTEMS The first area of focus we looked at was Scheduling. Whilst Service Management software as a whole is about far more than scheduling there is no doubt that it often dominates conversation. This is largely due to the sizeable improvements in field service efficiency that scheduling software can deliver. In fact companies that were using any sort of scheduling software, be it batch, automated or optimised, were more efficient than those without with 39% of companies using scheduling software having a ratio of more than 16 engineers per dispatcher. However, this ratio itself is still well below what is acheivable with more modern end to end systems. This figure reduces to just 8% when we look at companies who still operate with manual dispatch systems. In fact of those companies operating without scheduling software virtually half of them (49%) are only able to manage a ratio of 5 engineers per dispatcher at best. 39% of companies using scheduling software have a ratio of more than 16 engineers per dispatcher With developments in mobile technology opening up opportunities for field staff to establish new revenue streams (whether directly or indirectly), the greater the ratio of engineers to dispatchers, the more a company s labour resources are placed in positions which could potentially generate further revenue. This is an important factor to consider when a number of different studies have recently indicated that those companies operating at a best in class level, generally run their service division as a profit centre.this sentiment certainly does seem to be taking seed in the industry and is evidenced by a year on year comparison of companies use of scheduling systems. Looking at the total response sets of both this years research and last years Technology in Service Management research, we see a number of positive changes. In total the amount of companies still scheduling their dispatch manually has reduced by 6%, whilst the number of companies using optimised scheduling has increased by 14% and in fact now represents a quarter of all companies. Page 2

3 Both of these changes indicate that there is a continuing trend for companies to move away from manual processes as the benefits of scheduling become more acknowledged, whilst simultaneously the costs have become lower since the introduction of SaaS/Cloud based systems. It is also interesting to note that Batch scheduling (where a days worth of jobs are uploaded for optimisation overnight) has once again reduced year on year falling from 7% to just 4% of companies now using this type of scheduling system. In Technology in Service Management 2013 it was noted that batch scheduling appeared to be in steady decline. With the percentage of companies still using batch systems continuing to reduce, it would seem that this assertion is correct and that batch scheduling systems are now all but obsolete, with the few that remain in use being older, legacy systems that will in no doubt ultimately be updated at some point in the near future. With a continuing pattern of companies moving away from manual based scheduling and an uptake of scheduling software, the question of how well that software is performing takes on even greater importance. It would seem that the opinion of the industry is that scheduling systems on the whole are distinctly average! We asked respondents to rank their current scheduling system giving the options of very poor, poor, average, good and excellent. The majority of respondents (46%) identified their current scheduling system as average, with both extremes (excellent and very poor) being the least common response at 7% each. 14% of respondents identified that they felt their systems were poor, whilst 27% rated their scheduling system as good. Taking a broader view this does indicate that 80% of scheduling systems being used are operating at an acceptable level of average or better, although it would also indicate that there is plenty of room for improvement as well. If we look at optimised scheduling systems (i.e those that are able to continuously update the work schedule based on reactive changes to the job load unlike automated whereby there are some elements of optimisation but human interaction is required) then these figures look more positive. Almost half of respondents using optimised scheduling software (42%) ranked their current scheduling system as better than average (either good or excellent), whilst only 9% of the companies ranked their system as poor Importantly, no respondents stated that their optimised scheduling system was very poor. However, with 39% of companies only ranking their scheduling Fig 1. Types of scheduling software being used in 2014 system as average, again this would suggest that there are still areas that such systems can be improved. These areas become more apparent when we look at the answers to the next question, which was What are the biggest issues with your current scheduling system? One of the common areas that respondents identified was that despite optimised scheduling being designed to be fully dynamic and automated, all too often manual interaction is required. Examples of such responses include: Need to deal with too many exceptions manually In order for Optimised scheduling to work effectively, the automated scheduler requires perfect data to drive behaviour. Ensuring the quality of scheduling data is the biggest issue, which we face Too many outside conditions that can cause failure It is certainly true that to get the most of out of a traditional fully optimised scheduling engine a large amount of resource needs to be assigned to setting the parameters and inputting the correct data to allow such a complex system to achieve its goals. However, with today s latest systems the levels of optimisation in many automated scheduling systems has reached a highly sophisticated level whilst offering companies the benefit of being able to have a human making the final decisions on those reactive jobs that can often disrupt a fully optimised scheduling engine. It is questionable whether smaller companies, who may not be able to commit this level of resource to setting up and maintaining optimised scheduling software, would see any advantage in optimsed over automated scheduling. When we look at how larger companies companies (those with 501 or more engineers) view optimised scheduling systems, the percentage of those ranking their systems as good or Page 3

4 excellent increases to 50%, which would indicate that these powerful systems are best suited to enterprise level companies with strong IT infrastructure to support the implementation. However for smaller to mid sized companies it is important to assess whether a traditional optimised scheduling is a worthwhile investment given the increasing levels of optimisation included in automated scheduling. This is highlighted when we continue to drill down into the data and see that small to mid sized companies (i.e. those with field service engineers) are on the whole satisfied with their automated scheduling systems with 55% of the companies in this size bracket rate automated scheduling systems as either good or excellent. When it comes to scheduling it seems that the most sophisticated (and often most expensive) solution may not necessarily be the best for all companies. It is worth exploring what type of scheduling engine is right for your own specific company s needs. SECTION TWO: INTEGRATION & INTERACTION There has been much talk of late around end to end service management solutions, whereby all systems across the customer lifecycle such as CRM, Service Management Software, and Asset Management Software are fully integrated with each another, offering full transparency across multiple divisions of a company. This in turn creates greater opportunities for improving customer satisfaction levels, improving efficiency and establishing new revenue streams within a business. Specialist field service software has been available for some thirty years now, and as the industry has evolved a number of differing elements of service management software has developed such as scheduling, routing, and asset management software etc. However, as the software solutions become more sophisticated, there are now a number of software providers that can offer many such elements in one overall solution. Of course this approach facilitates integration far better than the piecemeal approach of working with numerous providers for each element. According to the report Technology in Service Management % of companies were working with multiple vendors for their Service Management solution. This is the result of the aforementioned piecemeal approach of the previous generation of service management software and according to the responses of this year s research little has changed as yet. In fact the statistics from 2014 mirror those of the previous year eerily closely. Whilst there is just the slightest increase of 2% in companies working with just one software provider, there is very little difference in the number of software companies being used by field service companies across their full customer lifecycle. 55% of the companies in the small to mid sized range rate their automated scheduling systems as either good or excellent, with the remaining 44% ranking their system as average In fact as per 2013 a fifth of companies are still working with five or more software providers. It would seem that the concept of end-to-end service management is yet to take a firm foothold in the industry, however this is possibly due to the relative infancy of the approach. So is the lack of integration an issue for the industry? We asked our respondents Would you say you have an integrated endto-end service management technology solution? The majority of respondents (62%) actually indicated that integration wasn t a problem in their organisation with 29% stating they have a system that covers the entire customer lifecycle and a further 33% stating that whilst they a number of different systems across different divisions of their business their overall system worked well across the whole customer lifecycle. However, well over a third of companies (38%) are still facing issues with integration stating We have a number of different systems across different divisions and it makes communications between departments tricky This represents a sizeable section of the industry that has the potential to improve the overall efficiency and productivity of their field service operations. It is an interesting side note that company size has no Page 4

5 major impact on how well a company s systems are integrated. There was no more than a 2% swing in the results for any given company size category this would indicate that integration remains an issue for roughly a third of the industry as a whole, irrespective of company size. Given that the integration of systems is not fully ubiquitous across the industry, it is important to see how companies ensure that their service management software supports their business processes. The most common means of ensuring this is through customisation by software providers, with 34% of companies taking this path. With competition amongst software providers high within what is a relatively niche sector, it is such additional layers of customisation that can make a difference when implementing a new service management software system. Yet conversely almost a quarter of companies (23%) admit to having to fit the way they work around their software. This represents a real issue, if a company has to change their processes to accommodate their software then there may be a danger of efficiency bleed, in which case the surely the software isn t fit for purpose? This serves to further highlight the importance of ensuring that you choose software provider wisely. Perhaps the cheaper off the shelf solution doesn t always offer the best value in the long term? The other two remaining options available to companies to fit their service management software into their wider business processes were either in-house development or the use of a third party system integrator, which 28% and 15% of companies opted for respectively. It is interesting to note that it is mostly medium to large companies (301 to 500 engineers) that used third party system integrators with 40% of these companies taking this route. The largest organisations however, relied on their software providers to customise the software with 57% of these companies able to demand this level of service from their software provider. It is perhaps of little surprise that those companies in the smallest bracket (under 50 engineers) also had the highest propensity to work around their software with 42% of companies in this bracket having to do so. This would indicate that there is a serious lack of balance in the levels of service that service management software providers on the whole offer to Fig 2. How companies fit their software into their workflow the smallest and largest companies in the industry. Of course there is a precedent for this with many sophisticated service management systems previously only having been within reach of those companies with the deepest pockets, however with the advent of cloud computing and the Software as a Service model we would expect this advantage to slowly be eradicated. Whilst this shift may be gradually happening, currently we are yet to see it in effect and still the service management software industry remains weighted in favour of larger organisations. It was mentioned earlier in this report that technology can be the key to establishing additional revenue streams. The integration between the mobile workforce and other departments is fundamental to this ability. We asked respondents if they have the technology in place to facilitate this. Specifically we asked whether companies had the ability to allow their field service engineers to provide qualified leads, directly sell parts, upsell contracts, and cross sell and upsell products or service. The most common of these abilities was providing qualified leads which 41% of companies were able to achieve. When we look back to the Service Management Solutions: Your Voice Survey 2012 we see a very slight increase in the percentage of companies being able to achieving this with 39% being able to order parts and stocks in However, the difference today is that there is far more sophistication in the field sales process when it comes to more direct selling. We now see up to a fifth of companies being able to establish meaningful revenue streams from their mobile workforce. 22% of companies are now able to cross sell and upsell 20% are able to Directly sell parts and 17% of companies were Page 5

6 able to Upsell contracts. Given the trusted advisor status that field service technicians find themselves in, these companies, who are able to capitalise on this important relationship, are in a much more powerful position than their competitors. However, whilst a fifth of companies have implemented technology to enhance their field based revenue streams, still the majority of companies have none of the above options. In fact 41% of companies still have no ability to generate sales from the field at all. Whilst the economic environment is certainly healthier than it has been for some time, if these companies do not seek to rectify this they risk becoming laggards and are in danger of being left behind as their competitors flourish and grow. 41% of companies still have no ability to generate sales from the field at all Of course technology is not only important when enhancing interaction within an organisation, it also plays a major part in improving the customer experience. The customer s ability to arrange service calls and interact with a company is an important element of how a service organisation is viewed by its customers.. However there appears to be only minor advancements in this area currently with the call centres being the primary means of communication closely followed by . We asked How can customers request or amend service appointments? and 80% of companies offer call centre facilities whilst 63% of companies also offered as a means of arranging customer appointments. One area that we may have anticipated seeing growth in is online self-service, however with only 29% of companies offering this as a means of arranging and amending appointments this has largely failed to materialise as anticipated. Fig 3. Options companies offer for managing appointments This is perhaps surprising given that we are used to interacting with such systems regularly as consumers and the consumerisation of technology has played a large part in the modern development of field service technology. There is a small number of companies (5%) that are now offering the ability to schedule and amend appointments via dedicated mobile apps as with self service web portals this is another area that we should anticipate growing for the same reasons as identified as above the boundaries between consumer and business software are blurring, therefore companies should aim to emulate the consumer experience within their business communication tools, in order to deliver a level of service that their customers have become accustomed to outside of their working lives. SECTION THREE: MANAGEMENT REPORTING It may be a cliché but the maxim You can t manage what you don t measure rings true in all industries and with technology now offering more measurement and analytics tools, with greater levels of sophistication than ever before management reporting is an important element of service management software. In fact 78% of respondents stated that as a manger the ability to get clear and comprehensive management reports from their service management software was an important tool. Further to that, 63% of these went on to define management reporting as Critical I couldn t do my job without it When we also factor in that a further 19% of respondents stated that management-reporting tools were Helpful it is clear that such tools are utilised by all but a very small minority (less than 5%) of field service managers. However, whilst management reporting is clearly a vital element of service management software, it appears that there remains plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the functionality of such tools. In response to the question Is the reporting functionality you get from your current system up to the task almost two thirds of respondents stated that they found their current system merely Acceptable So whilst the functionality of these tools is workable, they are still far from perfect. In fact whilst there are a reasonable amount of companies (21%) who identified their reporting functionality as Excellent there is a similar amount of companies (20%) who state that the management reporting of their current system Doesn t meet their needs at all Page 6

7 To refer back to our earlier point around establishing the level of customisation a software provider can offer, it is therefore advisable when assessing any prospective field service software, to take time to look at the capabilities of the management reporting tools. Taking the time to identify your own reporting needs both now and in the future, and comparing this with the options available to you could potentially save both time and money for your organisation in the longer term. Of course within field service perhaps one of the most important aspects of reporting is real time visibility into the actions of your mobile workforce. In this area there is an interesting division between companies. It seems that a large percentage of the companies in the industry (42%) are able to provide real time location and status of their field technicians to not only their dispatchers but also their help desk and customer service teams. This is an improvement of 24% compared to 2012 figures. Such a dramatic rise is likely due to the fact that such a level of visibility is a powerful tool both in terms of managing efficiency as well as delivering excellent customer service and therefore a key area for investment. Despite this fact, a surprisingly large number of companies (30%) still have no visibility at all into the activities of their mobile workforce. Whilst this figure has decreased by 9% since 2012 it remains a significant proportion of the industry. Such a large number is somewhat worrying in that without any visibility there is little hope of these companies being able to improve the efficiency of their field service operations at all. It also means that the levels of customer service are potentially impacted as well. What is particularly interesting is that the number of companies that have mobile workforce visibility available only to their dispatch teams has also dropped significantly from 43% in 2012 to 26% in Given the increase in companies with visibility across a wider spectrum and the fact that those without any visibility at all remains high, it could be inferred that those companies that had already invested within the technology have continued to invest further, further widening the gap between those with and those without such technology. One area where we have seen very little development is providing real time data to the customers. Whilst there has been a minimal increase in the amount of companies offering this level of service, at just 2% they remain in a very small minority. Such a small uptake across two years potentially suggests that there is in fact no need for such an offering when simpler options such as automatic updates via SMS or are capable of keeping the customer satisfied. SECTION FOUR: LOOKING FORWARD In the final section of the survey we asked respondents to identify what they thought were the most important technologies likely to appear in service management software, where they believe their organisation should focus their investment and finally what the barriers were to implementing new technologies. Perhaps the most revealing result of the entire survey was in this final section, specifically surrounding the biggest concern when implementing a new technology In the Technology in Service Management Report 2013 The biggest concern for companies was Cost of implementation which was a concern for 33% of companies. Whilst this has diminished very slightly in 2014 with 30% of companies now identifying it as their biggest concern, what is more revealing is that it is now only the second most common concern with Legacy issues with former systems becoming the industries greatest concern in The amount of companies that now cite this as their biggest concern when implementing a new technology has increased from just 22% in 2013 to 38% today. This represents a potentially significant shift in the industry. In the last few years we have seen rapid developments in service management software, with key trends, such as the requirement for system wide integration as discussed earlier in this report, starting to emerge. Could the increase in companies facing issues with their legacy systems be indicative of the number of companies now looking to move beyond their current systems to more modern, next generation solutions? Also whilst only a small amount, the fact that we have seen concerns about costs decline is also significant. The impact that the Software as a Service model has had on costs offers many companies the ability to invest in service management software, when in the not too distant past such an investment may have been beyond their reach. Page 7

8 the functionality of Google Glass having to be revised from the initial early hyperbole, it may be that we have a wait to see wearable devices that can truly benefit the field service industry. Fig 4. Which technology will impact field service in the next 3 years? In fact in 2013, 22% of companies indicated they were considering moving to a Cloud based system. Earlier this year in another research project conducted by Field Service News we saw that number increase to 38% of companies with a further 48% of companies stating they could possibly do so in the near future. However, the same report also highlighted that currently only 23% of companies have made the shift to a Cloud based environment for their service management software. This would indicate that there is indeed a trend for companies to be migrating their service management software to Cloud based systems and it is an on-going process. If this is indeed the case then it would also explain why cost has become less of a concern whilst integration with existing legacy systems becomes a greater worry. Of course Cloud computing is just one of a number of different technologies that are currently emerging which have the potential to fundamentally change the way the field service operates. Other technologies that have either recently emerged or are on the cusp of doing so include Big Data, 3D printing, Connected Vehicles, Wearable Devices and the Internet of Things. We asked our respondents to identify which of these products they felt would be important assets to the field service industry in the next three years. Given that we are already seeing field service solutions that utilise Big Data, Connected Vehicles and Internet of Things perhaps it is little surprise that these three technologies had the largest share of the vote with each being cited as potentially important to the industry by circa 45% of companies. Over a third of companies (38%) also feel that wearable devices will also have an impact on the industry although with It is interesting that perhaps the most proven of these technologies, i.e. 3D printing (there are a number of organisations now using 3D printed parts including the British Royal Air Force) was the least anticipated to have an impact on field service with only 19% of companies feeling that this technology will be an asset. One reason for this could be the diversity of industries that field service encompasses. Whilst in many instances the challenges of field service organisations are the same across varying industry verticals, 3D printing will have a far greater impact on the manufacturing industries than on retail for example and this may explain why fewer respondents can see the benefit to them. When we looked at the more immediate needs of the industry we saw some familiar patterns. Despite the questions we raised earlier in this report about the suitability of optimised scheduling for all companies, such systems appear to remain in demand amongst field service organisations. Optimised Scheduling was ranked as the number one priority by 29% of companies Our final question in the survey was In terms of investment, which of the following areas of technology do you think it the most critical for your company to remain competitive? and we gave respondents 8 choices asking them to rank them in order of priority. The options were Route optimisation, optimised scheduling, integrated CRM, contact centre/help desk, mobile hardware, mobile software, logistics/spare parts management, and reporting/analytics tools. Optimised Scheduling was ranked as the number one priority by 29% of companies, this was followed by Integrated CRM and contact centre/help desk software, which were the number one priority for 27% and 17% of companies respectively. With nearly three quarters (73%) of companies identifying one of these three areas as their key focus for investment it Page 8

9 seems that these are clearly the biggest needs for the industry at large. It is also interesting to note that whilst relatively few companies (7%) identified logistics/spare parts management systems as there number one priority, many companies identified it as either their second (27% of companies) or third (23% of companies) priority. This would indicate that whilst most companies do not see logistics/spare parts systems as the most burning issue, they do acknowledge that it is an area that they should invest in should funds become available. The one technology that has perhaps now had its day is route optimisation. This scored as the lowest priority for 56% of companies. There are many reasons route optimisation is now no longer a significant area for investment, whether this is because it is included in many service management software packages or that the technology has been around long enough to reach to near market saturation - the fact is that most companies will now have some sort of route/navigation software already even if it is simply Google Maps and a BYOD policy. CONCLUSION: When we look at the findings of this research as a whole there are a number of conclusions that can be drawn. When it comes to scheduling solutions there is still a large section of the industry not utilising any scheduling software, which ultimately leads to poorer levels of efficiency in the management of the mobile workforce. This is of course in turn leads to fewer members of the overall workforce being in customer facing roles that could potentially generate revenue. Based on the improvements in dispatcher to engineer ratios that scheduling software is proven to deliver, for those companies still operating on a manual basis, investing in some form of scheduling is no longer a nice to have but a necessity if they are to remain competitive. However, the question of what type of scheduling remains unclear... Whilst batch scheduling is clearly a platform in decline the question of whether to opt for an optimised or automated solution needs to be considered closely. As we have seen from the research optimised scheduling, whilst being the most technically advanced option may not be suited for all types of businesses. The amount of resource required for inputting the amount of data needed to allow a fully optimised scheduling engine to run effectively is simply not available to all companies. This must be taken into account when deciding if an optimised scheduling solution is right for your organisation - as too should the simple question of whether a fully optimised scheduling system is even required for businesses of a certain size? Just a fifth of companies are able to exploit their field engineers trusted adviser status by giving them the tools to sell directly Also whilst the right scheduling system is capable of improving efficiency and reducing costs, it is investment in mobility software (and hardware) that can help a service organisation establish new revenue streams. Yet the companies that are currently maximising the revenue potential of their field engineers remain in the minority. Just a fifth of companies are able to exploit their field engineers trusted adviser status by giving them the tools to sell directly. This represents a major opportunity for companies with the means to invest in such systems to capitalise on their competitor s hesitancy and gain a commercial advantage. Yet despite this opportunity currently few companies place investing in mobile hardware and software near the top of their priorities, with both categories sitting midway on the priority lists of the majority of organisations. Perhaps the biggest trend this research has unveiled is that cost has become less of a concern for companies looking to implement new technologies, with issues with legacy systems now being the most common concern. This could well be a direct result of the influence of the Cloud. The SaaS business model has now meant that service management software is an affordable option for smaller companies, however, integration has been a early documented issue with some Cloud based solutions. Our research earlier this year on SaaS and Field Service would also seem to Page 9

10 support this hypothesis. To sum up, it appears that many elements are coming together to offer vast improvements to the software available in the field service industry. Also many elements that not so long ago were new, premium solutions such as navigation software have now become standard. Meanwhile we also see exciting technologies such as the Internet of Things and Big Data starting to encroach into service management software. The future indeed seems bright indeed, but in the here and now there are still things that can be improved upon. Whether it be scheduling software or management reporting tools the results of this research indicate that on the whole there is room for improvement in the software being used today. However, the research also identifies examples of excellence in the service management software as well. Integration is becoming more and more important, and end-to-end service management has become a reality. Careful consideration is essential when selecting a software provider and an understanding of your own strategic aims is as important as understanding the options available to you. However, it seems that investing in a service management solution in 2014 is both more affordable and beneficial than ever before. Kris Oldland - Editor, Field Service News ABOUT FIELD SERVICE NEWS: Field Service News is Europe s leading business journal dedicated to the Field Service Industry. Delivering a mix of news, insight and industry analysis via our web site fieldservicenews.com the Field Service News logo is associated with the highest levels of journalism, and market leading intelligence within the field service industry. With a range a guest commentators that includes some of the highest profile and brightest minds in the industry Field Service News is an essential must-have resource for field service professionals. This White Paper was written by Kris Oldland, Editor, Field Service News and was based on exclusive research undertaken by Field Service News in partnership with mplsystems. ABOUT mplsystems: mplsystems understands that the key objective for any facilities management or engineering maintenance organisation is to offer clients excellent and responsive service, whilst managing cost and efficiency of field workers. However, to achieve these goals entails managing and coordinating diverse departments with competing priorities and disparate systems. In response to these major challenges, mplsystems have designed a solution that brings together all departments and provides simple intuitive tools which allow organisations to truly optimise the end to end service process with a true realtime overview of maintenance and support activities across their entire operation. The solution encompasses a unified service desk portal, automatic and dynamic scheduling as well as mobile communications for field personnel through dedicated apps for all leading smart phones. As well as giving visibility of field workers, optimising schedules and allocating reactive jobs in real time, a customised field worker mobile apps provide the capability to send Job details, part requests and updates out to field workers in real time. In addition apps can incorporate sales and marketing functions to enable field workers to cross and upsell activities. An analysis and reporting package is provided to give organisations visibility of historic and real-time performance. Directly linking service desk and field operations, organisations of any size can effectively automate key processes and because this service is now available on a cloud-enabled pay-per-usage basis, it can prove particularly cost effective for all workforce sizes, from just 15 to over 500 mobile staff. A wide range of organisations, including Balfour Beatty Workplace, SSS UK, Metric Group, Aramark, Robert Woodhead and Gamestec, have already achieved outstanding business benefits by implementing mplsystems end to end field service management solutions Media ltd Field Service News is a 1927 Media Ltd Publication Page 10