Peer-to-Peer Mobile Computing and Field Services Automation, Part 1

There are a lot of times when the supervisor or owner/operator of a SMB (small to medium sized business) is not at his or her desk staring at the computer screen. They are often in the field working with customers and their service teams. The problem with this is that it prevents visibility to other projects that may benefit from the supervisor's real time advice and oversight. Let's now talk about some possible solutions to this issue.

In many field service automation or work order management software applications, the design and architecture of the software is in a client server model. Information and electronic service tickets are wirelessly dispatched to mobile handheld computers and Smart phones, and the service technician completes the electronic service ticket and the information is synchronized back to the server in the office. The problem with this design again is that the supervisor who is most interested in viewing this real-time work order information is not in the office looking at the application on the server.

One possible solution would be to create a special managers view or summary of all operational data. A summary of all inbound and outbound work orders, business process or rule exceptions, identify issues or customer relationship problems and then synchronize this subset of information out to the supervisor's mobile handheld computer or Smart phone. This would provide a management summary in a dashboard view of all operations.

A second option would be to provide a complete duplication of all information to the supervisor. You would duplicate and synchronize all inbound and outbound work orders to the supervisor's mobile device. There would be no summary, rather all information would be synchronized out from the server to the supervisor's mobile handheld.

A third option would be to have the mobile device of all the service technicians synchronize in a peer-to-peer model directly with the supervisor's mobile device and the office server. This would require the supervisor's mobile handheld computer or netbook to have full server synchronization capabilities that would enable all of his or her mobile service technicians to constantly synchronize with it. This would be data intensive and may cause synchronization performance issues, but would enable the supervisor to see all operations in real-time.

A fourth option is to have a real-time online connection between the supervisor's mobile device and the office server. This would only work when there was wireless connectivity available, but could provide efficient and real-time visibility into all the operations of the company.

In Part 2 of Peer-to-Peer Mobile Computing and Field Services Automation, we will discuss some ideas for using location based services (LBS) and P2P computing with Field Service Technicians.

If you would like to discuss these options in more detail please contact me.

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Author Kevin Benedict
Independent Mobile Strategy, Sales and Marketing Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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Mobile Workflows and ERPs

As mobile applications become more complex and sophisticated and used by large enterprises there will be an increasing emphasis and requirement for automated mobile workflows and supported ERP business processes. I wrote about mobile application support for ERPs in this article, but today I want to focus on the automated workflow on the mobile handheld computer, Tablet PC or laptop that is used in the field. ERP business processes and automated workflows have been supported within the four walls of the enterprise for decades, but they often don't extend outside the four walls to the remote jobsite and/or mobile sales and service processes. That is a big problem that needs to be addressed by mobile application vendors.

Let's begin by recognizing that it is often the service technician that is face-to-face with your customers. They are the face and personality of the service company. The actions they take, the words they say, the professionalism they display and the quality of work they perform all impact the customer's perception of your company and their willingness to continue to do business with and refer your business to others. Since the activities that happen in these remote and mobile jobsite environments can have such a big impact on your business, wouldn't it be important that you ensure the best quality work and presentation of your company? This is where automated workflows on your mobile devices comes into effect.

Let me now outline a process that you may want to consider when designing a mobile application for use in the field.

1. Outline the tasks and actions you want each service technician to perform at the customers location. Examples - Greet customer by name, give business card, thank them for their business, ask about animals or children that my be in the work area, interview the customer about the problem, understand the customer's schedule, understand how the customer will pay, is there a warranty or service plan, provide estimate, complete work, get customer's signature, etc.
2. Once all of the "best practices" tasks are identified for a generic service call, complete the same process for the other kinds of service calls you may have. For example: a warranty process has 11 tasks, an annual maintenance call has 16 tasks, an emergency system repair for HVAC equipment has 19 tasks.

Once you have identified and documented these tasks, your mobile application developers can design and develop these workflows to become part of your mobile application. Once in production, these mobile applications can direct and guide each service technician through the specific best practices that the company wants completed in a standardized manner in the field. As a result, quality and professionalism can be standardized into the company's customer interactions.

What does this process look like on a mobile handheld computer?

1. The workflow processes should be a layer in the mobile application that is tied to a specific set of screens that go with the workflow. If the mobile application has multiple workflows, then the first step is for the service technician, or the service ticket itself, to identify which automated workflow is most appropriate for the needed service. This then launches the appropriate process/workflow on the mobile device.
2. If the automated workflow consists of 17 steps/tasks, then this workflow will dictate that mobile form fields including check boxes, radio buttons and data fields are completed in the right order and with valid data entries.
3. If the service technician skips a step an alert sound or pop-up message should guide the service technician to finish the process and continue it in the appropriate manner.
4. Automated scorecards can also be created to monitor the performance of service technicians to the standards and detail any exceptions to the process so they can be analyzed for process improvements over time.
5. Brief customer surveys can also be provided for the mobile handheld computer to tie the customer's opinion of the service provided with the exact service order and service technician. It is great to reward the service technician for work well done.

The mobile workflow process is specific to the role of the user and service performed. A recent report I read said up to 40% of workers are mobile. That represents a lot of remote jobsites and customer interactions. If companies want to ensure a high level of professionalism and quality customer interactions, then means of standardizing those processes need to be employed. As more and more of these mobile workers are equipped with Smart Phones and mobile handheld computers, these processes become easier to deploy.

For a related article read - http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2009/10/mobile-application-integration-platform.html

If you would like to discuss this topic in more detail please contact me. I am available for SAP and Mobile Solution related consulting and permanent hire opportunities. My Linkedin profile can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict.

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Author Kevin Benedict
Mobile Computing, SAP, EDI and B2B Evangelist, Marketing and Business Development Consultant
http://b2b-bpo.blogspot.com/
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/
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