Why Every Field Service Organization Needs to Pay Attention to IoT

If you still send field service technicians to the client’s location for every maintenance check, there’s a major opportunity for you to cut costs, book more clients, and improve customer satisfaction.

IoT enables field service companies to remotely monitor systems, which translates to serving more customers in less time. 

In fact, about 42 percent of FSOs are already using IoT connected devices in their daily operations, and more FSOs plan to adopt it in the next two years. 

Here’s everything managers need to know about the IoT and how it can grow your business.

What is IoT?

IoT has gained popularity in the field service industry over the past few years as it allows FSOs to adopt remote monitoring. For example, rather than sending a field service technician to the field regularly, IoT-enabled sensors can connect to the internet and give field technicians a regular report on the client’s system remotely, no matter the device they are accessing.

How IoT is Impacting Field Services

Here are just a few of the top ways that IoT is impacting field services.

Shifting From Reactive to Proactive Repairs

Traditionally, a client would have to call a field service technician if their system broke. A field technician would then arrive on-site, (hopefully) fix the problem the first time, and get the system running again.

However, IoT allows a proactive approach to field service. Therefore, rather than waiting for the system to break, IoT-enabled devices (like sensors) will remotely alert the field technician before the machine breaks.

This eliminates interruption to the client’s workday as the system itself will essentially never go down, and they will never have to stop and call a field technician.

Enables a More Profitable Business Model

If a client has to reactively call a field service technician every time their equipment breaks, they'll probably hire the first FSO that can get to their site.

This leads to higher churn, which makes client acquisition and predictable revenue a constant battle.

However, if you adopt IoT technology, it's easy to transition to an outcome-based service model as clients will be happy to pay for a long term contract if it eliminates downtime.

This will enable you to have a more predictable revenue stream and reduce client acquisition costs.

Enable Leaner Teams

The Coronavirus pandemic has shaken the field service industry, and most companies are looking for ways to cut costs and still provide quality services. 

Fortunately, IoT has arrived at the perfect time as it can dramatically reduce costs for FSOs. For example, it can reduce the number of trips technicians make to a field which can reduce the number of vehicles an FSO needs, or at the very least, it reduces gas spend. 

In addition, if you’ve been forced to lay off team members, IoT enables each individual team member to be more productive as they can fix a handful of issues from headquarters rather than driving to each location.

Final Thoughts

The field service industry is at the brink of change and IoT is poised to be that change. Even if your current business is steady, clients will become accustomed to a new type of service and it won’t be long before they move on to a partner that does offer IoT.