by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 31, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Most people know Jay Leno as NBC’s late night emcee, but in the machine world Leno has another claim-to-fame: he collects cars — boasting an extensive conglomeration of almost 200 vehicles. In order to maintain his vast collection of cars — some of which are...
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 29, 2013 | Mobile & Tech
Field service techs spend a lot of time on the road, which means driver safety is an especially big issue for their employers. So what if techs, instead of manually texting from behind the wheel, could text through voice-activated services like Apple’s Siri or...
by Deanna Gillen | Oct 28, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
This year we’re looking to answer the question that has certainly crossed your minds: where does your company stand on some of the biggest issues facing the field service industry today? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that finding an industry standard on the big...
by Rosemary Coates | Oct 28, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
RMA numbers are essential to the returns process. Returns and reverse logistics are challenging. Customers consider returns low value and low priority. But the financial impact to your business of getting products and parts back quickly and efficiently can be huge....
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 25, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Last week on the SmartVan’s Field Service Poll, we asked what you considered to be the most important metric for measuring your team’s performance in the field. The results are in and, while the top performance metric chosen was service revenue (36.8 percent of...
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 25, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
As tablets have become the latest go-to device in the field, lower cost and rugged options are more available. From the advancements in functionality to the incremental growth in field service applications available on tablets, the burden for field managers now lies...
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 24, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Alternative fuel vehicles are going to become more widely available in 2014, with offerings from the likes of big-name motor companies Ford, Nissan and General Motors. While Nissan plans to roll out an electric version of its NV200 after the new year, Ford and GM are...
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 22, 2013 | Mobile & Tech
Field service technology is especially hard to get right: devices loaded with bar code scanning and other complex software can cause nightmarish reliability problems for IT. So what if companies could install a customizable operating system on devices that allows them...
by Rosemary Coates | Oct 21, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Have a recovery plan ready to assist customers when disaster strikes. Disasters are going to happen, and you need to be prepared. In addition to natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and hurricanes (referred to as force majeure), we also...
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 18, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Whether it’s collecting customer feedback or tracking first-time fix rates, field service managers rely on a variety of metrics to measure the quality of their team’s work in the field. Take our weekly poll and tell us how you currently measure performance....
by Megan Van Vlack | Oct 17, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
There are have been many major advancements in welding since the days of blacksmiths forging metals with heat and hammer. Take, for example, the wire-feeder welder: a smaller, more portable machine perfect for in-house projects, welding on the go, or a basic mechanic...
by Deanna Gillen | Oct 17, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
It’s the third day of the Field Service Europe conference here in Amsterdam and our attendees have already gotten some best of breed tips that they will certainly take back to their offices to improve their field service teams. One of the biggest buzzwords we’ve seen...
