Our top picks for Field Service Management Technologies in 2024

There have been plenty of on-the-fly solutions in a mid-pandemic field service environment. From hybrid operations to revamped safety protocols, things seem to be in flux.

There has been a permanent alteration in field service, one of the most dynamic business functions. The pandemic has emphasised the importance of customer service by understanding customers across every service and digital touchpoint to maximise loyalty and consumer value. Despite COVID's existence, field service management innovations may help increase customer loyalty as expectations increase.

Our 2024 list of top field service trends identifies new and future developments.

The field service workforce is developing.

There's a staffing crisis in field service, as well as a shift to a more digitally connected world. There is also a growing deficiency of experience and expertise as retirees and those who leave the profession retire or leave. Service organisations are turning to gig economies and third-party service providers to supplement their internal workforce.

There is a new challenge and opportunity for service leaders to capture knowledge and integrate it into the digital tools new or contract field service engineers rely on to be successful. Senior engineers are able to shift into less demanding remote support roles as a result of on-demand support for digitally-savvy new team members.

Meeting customer expectations in novel situations is difficult.

Customers are progressing to virtual meetings and contactless delivery of products in the same way as our collective transition throughout 2020. Field service solutions have been enhanced to ensure that service visits meet local safety standards and customer preferences, while companies must seamlessly combine virtual and physical experiences.

Businesses are struggling to stay afloat as customers increasingly focus on the end result rather than the product itself. Field service teams are now being incentivized to generate revenue by monetizing service activities such as contract renewals or equipment or consumable cross-selling.

Every customer interaction must be important.

The industry is hoping for more touchpoints to increase customer engagement in 2021 than ever before.

Customers are receiving more immediate and hands- off ways to address issues thanks to self-service portals, knowledge base articles and media, AI-guided digital assistants, and remote service events from field service leaders. Because of this variety of customer touchpoints, service team members can focus on the most critical customer issues.

Integrated assets and equipment into services.

The rise of connected devices and infrastructure is reducing the demand for on-site repair or maintenance services.

Using IoT monitoring, you can remotely diagnose and self-heal issues. When integrated with your field service management solution, it can automatically trigger work orders and schedule service activities for serious problems. Field service engineers can utilise this information to repair issues more rapidly and accurately when they arrive.

It's important to keep things running smoothly while undergoing transformation.

With all this change occurring, the crucial task is to continue forward without slowing down. Using technology alone is not sufficient to drive and sustain change; change management is equally as important as new technology rollouts. Culture must be created so that it remains the same from the bottom up.

The connection between IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the greatest achievements. AI can now trigger services without the need for a human to do so, which allows service providers to utilise leading-edge technology to navigate changes as conditions continue to vary. Using AI learning tools for routing and scheduling allows for problems to be overcome where manual errors occur without automation, as conditions change.

Informed, seamless interactions are possible if companies remove the friction from digital and physical touchpoints in the transactional economy, where hands-on has become less common. As the pandemic continues to flourish, it is likely to change. Smart field service organisations can positively respond to the change by making every engagement count, no matter how short.

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