Field Force Automation Overhaul

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies magazine

Field service is an increasingly important competitive differentiator — and revenue stream — in almost every industry. It's become tough to set your company apart from the competition just by selling high-quality products. To stand out from the crowd, companies must also deliver fast, efficient service. To do that, you must arm your field technicians with the tools they need to be optimally effective on the job.

Mobile computing technology helps field techs work more efficiently by automating manual data entry, eliminating paperwork, and providing remote access to customer data. But simply porting existing business systems to a mobile computer is not enough to realize any business benefit. If the mobile solution is difficult to use or connections to the back office are difficult to manage, the mobility system can be more of hindrance than a help. Printer manufacturer Markem-Imaje struggled with an early field service system, until it upgraded to a truly real-time solution with offline capabilities that has increased technician productivity while improving revenue collection.