Aug/Sept 2008

Managing your field force in real time is good for customer service as well as for your efficiency, says Marcia MacLeod, who learns about the many benefits offered by mobile CRM

Remember when you had to wait days for the photocopier to be fixed or the boiler to be kicked into life? Mobile technology has put an end to all that. Service companies have no excuse for not proactively providing shorter time windows for their engineers' visits.

But field service engineers aren't the only workers benefiting from mobile technology. Delivery companies, sales staff, local authority workers ranging from parking attendants to social care staff, and even billboard erectors, who can now photograph their billboards to prove the work was carried out, are all using mobile devices to improve the service levels they offer their customers.

'Mobile devices are like Swiss army knives in terms of functionality,' says Steve Reynolds, MD of TBS Enterprise Mobility. 'They have databases, wireless connectivity – everything a PC had three years ago.'

'Mobile technology enables users to get the right people to the right place at the right time,' adds Philip Neame, MD of Integral Mobile Data. 'It delivers customer service at the point of need.'

'When the customer services department receives a call for repair,' says Larry Klimczyk, managing director of Blackbay, 'the service company can see where the customer is and where the engineers are. They choose an engineer with the necessary skills – and check he has the right parts in the van. First-time fix rates are improved and customer satisfaction increased.'

'Workers can be guided via their mobile device,' adds Jeremy Squires, vice-president for CRM and field service at Aspective Enterprise Applications. 'They can be told where to go and what to do. They can be sent job details, and accept or reject a job and record when they arrive at a customer's premises. At the same time, the company obtains information about what the worker has done, how long they spent at a customer's site and so on.'

Scheduling can be done in a number of ways. A list of the day's jobs can be sent to the mobile device in the morning, or even the night before; or the company can implement a more dynamic scheduling model.

'Our Servicenet product has an *on the fly' scheduling option that enables users to send one job to the mobile worker at a time,' explains Ian Clarke, marketing director at AirVersent. 'When that job is finished, another job is allocated. This way, if something happens to delay the worker, he doesn't have to worry about missing the next appointment.'

If the worker cannot or does not accept a job, the office can give it to another worker. In fact, the ability of most systems to re-schedule appointments dynamically helps ensure no customer is ever left waiting for the man who never comes. A worker who is delayed simply sends a message to base, which then uses the mobile application to find the nearest replacement worker with the right skills to take over that job. Alternatively, customer service can tell the customer the mobile worker will be late – or might possibly not come until the next day.

Specific service parameters can be incorporated into scheduling systems, too. 'The key to the way mobile data and CRM are used is service level agreements,' says Terran Churcher, managing director of Codegate. 'A mobile system takes account of SLAs so that it knows Customer A must be attended to within two hours of their call, Customer B within four hours and Customer C within 24 hours. If a customer with a high-level SLA calls, a suitable engineer can be routed to the site immediately.'

Mobile systems not only plan workers' schedules around SLAs, they can also help prove the work was carried out. When the worker arrives at a customer's premises, he or she can record the day and time of arrival; when the job is finished, he can again record the time, and also report what was wrong with the equipment and what action was taken to remedy the fault.

SLAs come into account in other applications, too. Terran Churcher highlights a pest control company whose workers report – via their mobiles – what they saw at the customer's site, whether there was infestation, what action they took and what recommendations they made to their customers to prevent further problems. Pictures – again timed and dated – are taken to back up the report.

In one case, a hotel manager claimed he had done things as recommended and blamed the pest control company for further infestation. However, the mobile worker could prove, via his handheld, what recommendations had been made and not carried out. The manager lost his job and the pest control company's contract was extended.

Digital signatures

Scheduling and other mobile applications are useful for delivery companies, too. With the rate of failed first-time home deliveries currently being experienced, parcel companies welcome the ability to send an email, SMS or phone alert to the consumer to say a parcel is on its way. So far, these are normally only sent where large or valuable items are involved, but capturing electronic signature PODs is becoming more and more common. Digital signatures not only prove that the goods were delivered, but also indicate who signed for them, which in the B2B sector can be extremely useful, since parcels don't always get to the right individual.

AirVersent's 2020 Delivery is just one product that handles multiple-item deliveries. For example, a delivery to a building firm may involve five sacks of cement. If one is damaged, the driver can send an alert to the back end system so that the customer is only invoiced for four and another bag is ordered. Customer service staff can even see if another driver has a spare bag on his vehicle, and dynamically schedule the extra delivery there and then.

Mobile devices are also used to photograph damaged goods or to take a picture of the consumer's door to show that the carrier tried to deliver a parcel.

Scheduling improves productivity, too. 360 Scheduling, whose scheduling engine is incorporated in a number of mobile CRM systems, carried out an optimisation study in the US, looking at 150 field workers' activities for a month. Dynamic scheduling resulted in 13 per cent more meetings being scheduled, and reduced the distance travelled by three miles per activity.

Sales and service staff also benefit from extensive customer and product information. The engineer obtains information about the customer, but, more important, also about the equipment that needs repair. It could include service history, parts used and likely to be required and even diagrams of the equipment. An experienced engineer could see what parts he is likely to need and ensure they are on the van, and if a part is needed and not on board, he could check availability and place an order via the handheld.

And, says Reynolds, companies can use this information to analyse parts use and ensure engineers have 98 per cent of the parts required before they set out.

Salesmen value the customer history they get through their handhelds, too. They can also access product and price information, so they can show the customer new products, check price changes or special offers and so on.

Compliance checking

Health and safety or similar compliance information can also be relayed to base. Jim Somers, vice-president of marketing for Antenna Software, suggests the example of medical applications, where the system can ensure the right drugs are delivered to the right doctor

Having the right information is vital where local authorities and emergency services are concerned. APD's system is used extensively by police and local councils. Newcastle City Council, for example, equips its workers with handhelds to check on and report damage to street furniture, deal with fly tipping, handle bulk waste collection and so on. A pest control application is being written, too.

But salesmen, engineers and even delivery drivers are being asked to do much more, as Blackbay's Larry Klimczyk explains. 'Mobile workers are the eyes and ears of the company and can potentially generate new business,' he says. 'They can gather a wealth of information on their mobile which can be used for sales leads: what competitor's equipment a customer has, for example, or whether the customer has old equipment which may be due for replacement.

'And a delivery driver collecting valuable goods can be prompted to offer insurance, sell the policy and print out the relevant documents.'

The ability to increase sales is certainly a bonus, but it doesn't take up-selling or cross-selling to do it: just by having the ability to use mobile technology to improve customer service levels, a company will increase customer satisfaction. And happy customers are the key to successful sales.

CASE STUDY: Mobile solution brings smarter franking system maintenance

Pitney Bowes employs 276 engineers to service franking machines and other mailing equipment. Until 2004 it used a central service system, mobile phones and pen and paper to manage the operation. Calls came in centrally and staff used their judgement to choose an engineer, phoned him or her and provided details of the job. Engineers filled in a manual report, signed by the customer.

Antenna Software's mobile solution revolutionised the way Pitney Bowes engineers work. Service calls are now automatically allocated to the right engineer on the basis of the engineer's location and skill set, and the necessary information is sent to the engineer's handheld.

'Our system records the skills of every engineer and where they are located,' explains Ray Lawes, vice-president EMEA for service operations. 'If an engineer is ill or on holiday, he is taken off the system. If an engineer doesn't accept a call within 60 minutes, it bounces back to base so that management can find out why and/or re-allocate the job. This is especially important when we're dealing with customers who have two- or four-hour response times, although the average is six hours.

'Engineers then file service reports over the system, recording the details of the problem, what spare parts were used and so on. The customer can sign the report digitally if needed.'

Pitney Bowes obtains a wealth of information from the system, too: average response times, average repair times, first-time fix rates, recall rates and similar details. Any weaknesses can be picked up and struggling staff re-trained.

'The mobile system speeds up the whole process, takes out human intervention, reducing the number of people in the call centre, and increases productivity of the engineers by at least eight per cent,' Lawes adds.

CASE STUDY: Real-time parcel tracking keeps DPD and customers informed

DPD Ireland consists of 37 parcel delivery depots in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Although it has used handheld computers for seven or eight years, the previous system was limited.

'Two years ago, demands for information increased and technology had moved on, and we started looking for a better system,' says IT manager Colin Kennedy. 'The demand for real-time information on the time when parcels were collected, delivered and so on – and the desire to reduce paperwork and costs – led us to Blackbay.'

The new system, installed in 2007, has already brought numerous benefits. 'GPRS enables every device and every transaction to be instantly accessible from the depot and headquarters. We can also make information available to customers at the same speed, as it goes direct from the handhelds to our Web site. And we've been able to introduce electronic signature capture, too, which indicates exactly who signed for each parcel.'

Phase II, being rolled out now, adds 2D barcodes, which will provide more data, such as timed delivery and service instructions. 'Every morning we pre-advise every depot and handheld what they are expected to do that day. We know where a parcel should be, and if it's not there, we know there's a problem.'

GPS is being introduced, too – not to route vans, since postcodes are not used for delivery in Ireland – but in order to pinpoint where deliveries are made so that information can be stored for future use. 'Ireland is a small community and parcels can be addressed to *Joe Bloggs, Cork'. But someone in the depot will know who that person is and be able to guide the driver. This local knowledge is important and we have to capture it.'

CASE STUDY: Mobile management streamlines car auction deliveries

United Fleet Distribution, owned by British Car Auctions, collects around 400 cars a day which are at the end of their lease, delivering them to a dealer or to BCA. Before the advent of mobile technology, the 250 drivers, who are mostly self-employed, had to fill out a four-part paper set, with copies for the collection point, delivery point, driver and office.

In addition, a separate vehicle movement order had to be completed, to provide details of where the vehicle was going from and to, and show if it needed any work done on it, as well as recording the driver's expenses.

Managing director Michael Hutchings started looking at mobile solutions five years ago, but until he saw TBS, he wasn't satisfied that they could deliver what was promised. The system went live last March.

'Now,' says Hutchings, 'driver reports are produced in a standard format, making them quicker and easier to fill out. The driver also takes photographs of the front registration and the mileometer, as well as any significant damage. The time and date of the collection and delivery are recorded, along with the digital signature of the people receiving the car, so we can prove when it was delivered. Mobile printers allow the driver to give the person a copy of the vehicle report before he or she signs it.

'It used to take a week to provide this information to the customer; now it is on the Web in seconds.

'Next I want to automate drivers' pay. We have all the necessary information on the system to do so. And we want to text or email the client to advise them a driver is on his way.'