How new technology is changing the delivery of
Home Services
There is no doubt the in-today’s world, technology is ever changing which impacts how customers and business interact with each other. The evolution of IoT, drones and wearable tech is changing how businesses deliver their services particularly in the Home Services industry. These new technologies have the potential to allow this industry to improve the customer experience with proactive monitoring, enhanced trouble shooting capabilities and incident resolution. Now let’s look how the introduction of these technologies impacts Home Services.
A typical service call:
With Home Service organization, there are typically two type of service calls. There is the provisioning or service call which involves a company delivering and installing a new product. In this scenario, it usually involves a sales resource selling the product and an installation service in which the technician executes the delivery of the product to the home and then installs the product. It could be window and doors, roofing, a new deck, an appliance or a home entertainment system. The second type of service call is repair or service assurance call which is initiated by the customer calling into a call center with an agent engaging in some basic troubleshooting which results in an appointment for a technician visit to resolve the issue. The technician visits the home and in the ideal situation resolves or repairs the issue. Repairs can range from a leak in your roof, malfunctioning appliances or your HVAC system.
With the latest developments in technology:
“Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2017, up 31 percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. Total spending on endpoints and services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017.”
Consumer Applications to Represent 63 Percent of Total IoT Applications in 2017
“2018 onwards, cross-industry devices, such as those targeted at smart buildings (including LED lighting, HVAC and physical security systems) will take the lead as connectivity is driven into higher-volume, lower cost devices.” Gardner Inc.
Tomorrow’s service call could look like:
With the introduction of IoT, smart or intelligent devices which includes but not limited to; thermostats, home entertainment systems, lighting, home security and appliances have the capability to notify the Home Service companies that have service contract with that customer when an incident that requires a service call is need. The Home Service company through their Field Service Management application that is connected to the smart devices notifications, then has the ability to contact the customer and arrange a service call before the customer is impacted by that specific smart device. When the Home Service technician show up for the scheduled appointment he or she is already aware the issue and has the diagnostic data attach to the service order via the Field Service Managements mobile client. Depending on the type of device being serviced, drones or wearable tech may further assist the technician in diagnosing the issue and resolving it more quickly which I will explain in more detail in my upcoming articles. By leveraging these technologies, it allows Home Service companies to know the issue, pro-actively address the customer’s need for service and increase the effectiveness of the Technician ability to resolve the issue on the first visit. The result is the delivery of better service and a customer experience.
The Challenges ahead
The latest annual digital transformation report conducted by IDC Canada, SAP Canada indicates the most Canadian companies from Enterprise to Small businesses are aware of the need for initiating Digital Transformation efforts but have yet to act. Some of the major reasons are cost of infrastructure and effort of internal resource required for a successful implementation. There is no doubt that impact and need to begin and execute these initiatives will be a key factor in maintaining a competitive edge over their competitors.
The question becomes more of how to implement these new technologies then when.
References:
Gartner Says 8.4 Billion Connected "Things" Will Be in Use in 2017, Up 31 Percent From 2016
A typical service call:
With Home Service organization, there are typically two type of service calls. There is the provisioning or service call which involves a company delivering and installing a new product. In this scenario, it usually involves a sales resource selling the product and an installation service in which the technician executes the delivery of the product to the home and then installs the product. It could be window and doors, roofing, a new deck, an appliance or a home entertainment system. The second type of service call is repair or service assurance call which is initiated by the customer calling into a call center with an agent engaging in some basic troubleshooting which results in an appointment for a technician visit to resolve the issue. The technician visits the home and in the ideal situation resolves or repairs the issue. Repairs can range from a leak in your roof, malfunctioning appliances or your HVAC system.
With the latest developments in technology:
“Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2017, up 31 percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. Total spending on endpoints and services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017.”
Consumer Applications to Represent 63 Percent of Total IoT Applications in 2017
“2018 onwards, cross-industry devices, such as those targeted at smart buildings (including LED lighting, HVAC and physical security systems) will take the lead as connectivity is driven into higher-volume, lower cost devices.” Gardner Inc.
Tomorrow’s service call could look like:
With the introduction of IoT, smart or intelligent devices which includes but not limited to; thermostats, home entertainment systems, lighting, home security and appliances have the capability to notify the Home Service companies that have service contract with that customer when an incident that requires a service call is need. The Home Service company through their Field Service Management application that is connected to the smart devices notifications, then has the ability to contact the customer and arrange a service call before the customer is impacted by that specific smart device. When the Home Service technician show up for the scheduled appointment he or she is already aware the issue and has the diagnostic data attach to the service order via the Field Service Managements mobile client. Depending on the type of device being serviced, drones or wearable tech may further assist the technician in diagnosing the issue and resolving it more quickly which I will explain in more detail in my upcoming articles. By leveraging these technologies, it allows Home Service companies to know the issue, pro-actively address the customer’s need for service and increase the effectiveness of the Technician ability to resolve the issue on the first visit. The result is the delivery of better service and a customer experience.
The Challenges ahead
The latest annual digital transformation report conducted by IDC Canada, SAP Canada indicates the most Canadian companies from Enterprise to Small businesses are aware of the need for initiating Digital Transformation efforts but have yet to act. Some of the major reasons are cost of infrastructure and effort of internal resource required for a successful implementation. There is no doubt that impact and need to begin and execute these initiatives will be a key factor in maintaining a competitive edge over their competitors.
The question becomes more of how to implement these new technologies then when.
References:
Gartner Says 8.4 Billion Connected "Things" Will Be in Use in 2017, Up 31 Percent From 2016
