Field Service Optimization

The Impact of Location on Field Service Demand from customers for improved service performance, in the form of faster service resolution and improved asset uptime is forcing service organizations to leverage location intelligence to appropriately allocate their field resources. Location data can be used to optimize the execution of service delivery while assisting firms in planning the allocation of their resources required for field service. Firms that have leveraged location intelligence have seen sizeable improvements to service response times, workforce utilization, and service profitability.
Delivering High Quality Service and Profitable, Sustained Growth: Achieving the Impossible Dream? Success in service is defined by delivering consistently, reliably and with high quality. Many midsized businesses* deliver the high quality but at a relatively high cost and therefore struggle to expand because of constrained margins and limited funds to invest in technology or processes designed to resolve these problems. Most businesses today desire controlled sustained growth, and finding specifically designed low-cost solutions that can be implemented quickly to fit the needs of midsized businesses and support them on a sustained growth path has been a requirement for these companies. Download this white paper now to read more!
Issues Affecting the Electricity Transmission and Distribution System in North America From a workforce perspective, few industries are as complex as electric utilities. Everyday tasks range from simple meter reading to long-term infrastructure work, unexpected emergencies are inevitable, and customers range from homeowners to municipalities with contracted minimum service guarantees. This white paper entitled examines how this century-old system is experiencing a period of transition unlike any that has been seen before. Improving the reliability of the system, while meeting the requirements for growth, all in an environment of enormous structural and technical change, is a great challenge for the future. Download this white paper now to read more!
Advanced Scheduling Methodologies in Australia White PaperIn Australia, large field service organisations are at a crossroads when it comes to providing customers with required levels of service. While many of them have implemented scheduling solutions, they have found that some core concerns are still not being addressed. Specifically, most of the service management systems in use today are far too manual in nature, and rely on individuals to undertake most scheduling decisions – often with inadequate information. This, in turn, leads to a second overriding issue: the inability of these systems to assist the organisation in efficiently managing resource levels and meeting service level agreements. Download this white paper now to read more!
Smart Metering: A Technology Whose Time Has Come?This white paper takes as its cue two significant developments in the evolution of smart metering. One is the announcement of a series of government-supported smart- metering trials, which will begin across Britain in early 2007. The other is the successful completion of the rollout by energy company Enel of smart electricity meters across the whole of Italy. Download this white paper now to read more!
When the Boat Rocks: Sailing into Service ProfitabilityPicture yourself on a boat on a river...
It's a warm, sunny Sunday. You’ve dedicated this weekend to a well-deserved rest in your riverside home, and at this late morning hour you’re catching up on your reading on your boat’s deck. However, this weekend was not destined to be completely trouble-free: a shrill sound startles you. You quickly realize that this is an alert from the boat’s bilge alarm, warning you that water level has begun rising in the bilge – the compartment at the bottom of the hull. Download this white paper now to read more!
Location. Location. Location. Does it Matter in Field Service?Field service forms an integral link in the overall service chain. Fully 66% of firms state that field service is either “very” or “extremely” important to their operational and financial performance with only 13% stating a similar level of satisfaction with their field service. As such, service organizations are scanning the horizon for technology solutions to assist them in increasing the efficiency of their field service organizations.
Burning the Mid-Shift Oil White PaperThe cost of fuel has grown by 50 percent over the past two years, with no reprieve in sight. For a typical service organization, this could result in additional annual costs of $1,300 per vehicle: from around $2,700 in 2004 to $4,000 today. This has made service managers acutely aware of the need to control the service fleet’s fuel costs, and many ideas on how to reduce fuel consumption, as well as get fuel at lower costs, have emerged. Download this white paper now to read more!
The Water Industry in Britain and Europe: Issues for 2006 and Beyond White Paper Europe’s water industry is grappling with six major issues in 2006 that present often-conflicting interests and that may need new and different approaches to running a water business in order to meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations. This white paper explores these six key issues, covering the following: The Environment; Resources; Customers; Investment and Finance; Asset Management; and Structure.
Street-Level Routing: Where the Rubber Meets the Road White Paper This white paper illustrates how street-level routing (SLR) creates much better routes and schedules than any other method. Along the way, the paper will explore the impact of badly estimated travel times on operational efficiencies, customer satisfaction and productivity; examine some alternatives to SLR; explain why many vendors do not offer SLR; and present some quantitative, real-life evidence for the importance of SLR.
The Three Pillars of Energy Policy White Paper Successful energy policy is about trade-offs between different and divergent agendas that must somehow be reconciled. Energy policy, whether in the U.K., in Europe or globally, fundamentally rests on three pillars—the customers, requiring safe, affordable and available energy; the environment; and, in the case of investor-funded utilities, the investor. Each pillar is, to some extent, protected by a regulator and underpinned by a foundation, namely energy policy itself.
How to Change Like a Champ Change is generally not an easy thing for people to deal with, and often times it is met with significant resistance. This resistance, if unaddressed, can be enough to sink a project. But change does not necessarily have to be a time of turbulence and upheaval. If managed correctly, the change process can even be welcomed as a means for improving a situation. This white paper takes a look at some of the root causes of resistance and gives action steps to make your organization's next big change run smoothly.
The Service Optimization Challenge Which is a more important service goal, increasing customer loyalty or reducing operational costs? Of course the answer is both, but usually achieving one of these goals requires sacrificing the other. This is the inherent challenge of service optimization. Read on to find out about ClickSoftware's unique approach to facing this challenge head on.
Achieving the Correct Staffing Levels with Continually Fluctuating Demands Managing a high performing service operation in today's complex environment requires a complete rethink of the way the operation is managed. Accepting current capacity without a real understanding of the fluctuating demand will lead to inconsistent performance. This white paper looks at the applications and processes available to achieve a balanced demand capacity curve, which will deliver consistent high quality service, satisfied customers and good margins.
Managing the Telco Field Force in the 21st Century With all the changes and new demands on your field service operation, is it any wonder you have a hard time keeping up? One thing's for sure: if your field service operation is not efficient or can't keep up with the times, your company costs can go through the roof. Find out how companies like yours are effectively managing their field workforces with service optimization technology.
Measuring the Impact of Field Service Optimization There is always much talk about the benefits of service optimization, but service executives have yet to see an objective study that systematically measures how companies using optimization measure up to industry standards. Well, now they can. A new study, recently published by Downton Consulting, compares productivity and efficiency in companies using optimization to industry averages established by a similar study of member companies of the Association for Services Management International.
Optimizing Field Service to Achieve Profitability Goals Based on a series of interviews with field service organizations, Aberdeen Group analyst Mark Vigoroso provides practical advice for enabling service optimization to work more effectively toward your profitability goals.