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Three Keys to Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Field ServiceBy: Adam Jaggers, CTOThe world of field service is quickly evolving. While the demand for field service work is skyrocketing, most providers are finding it difficult to meet the ever-growing demands of the market. It appears there are a couple key factors holding back growth: a limited availability of talent to provide services needed, and major constraints on the supply chain. As field service providers look to scale their businesses, they are turning to technology like Artificial Intelligence to help them face the issues at hand and get the most out of their available resources. After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to do more with less? But there’s a question that remains to be answered: Will technology be able to deliver on its advertised promises? There are endless technologies on the market that claim to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). If you’re currently evaluating technologies to improve your business, here are three key considerations to keep in mind when making those important decisions: 1. Identify Your Problems First. Technology Comes Second. When you start your search for technology to accelerate your business, it’s extremely important to initially define your pain points. For example, is your upsell rate too low? Are you experiencing too many second truck rolls? Many companies start their search technology-first with the idea “we should be using Augmented reality”. When searching for technology, you will definitely find it! The problem comes when attempting to apply that technology to your business. It’s important to understand your problems first so you can identify a technology solution that is built to remedy those issues. If you choose a solution that promises the technology features you desire, but doesn’t properly address pain points, you’ll be left with more problems than when you started. There is a very large gap between a raw technology and a fully formed business solution. It’s important to find a technology that has already traversed that gap. 2. Don’t Make Your Technician's Job Harder. The key to success in any field service business is adoption. Even more so when you are looking to adopt a technology that relies on the data collected in the field. It can be tempting to turn your technicians into walking data entry clerks, with 100-step checklists that gather every datapoint in every single circumstance. Please, don't do this. If your entire workforce doesn’t immediately resign and go work for your competitor, you would almost certainly end up with completely useless data being entered. We’ve all heard the adage, “Garbage in, garbage out.” When looking for technologies that leverage data, make sure it offers an intuitive and easy-to-use experience for your technicians. Technologies that seriously consider user experience will be the cornerstone of successful data capture in the field. 3. Find Short-Term Wins. Long-term strategy is important. As a matter of fact, it’s critical to the continued success of any technology adoption. However, oftentimes Machine Learning (ML)/AI projects promise wins that will only come to fruition once months, or even years, of data is collected and analyzed. This can be detrimental to your technology project. Machine Learning technology is often expensive or difficult to implement (which can be its own red flag) but if your company isn’t getting any value in the short-to-medium term, it’s very easy for a ML/AI project to lose support and die before you can deliver the promised long-term value. When road mapping your strategy, make sure to provide small wins to stakeholders as soon as possible. When asking a group of people to change their processes, focus and if possible, do your best to provide value back to those users as soon as day one. These small wins can keep your project alive and momentum strong. Detours are also encouraged along the way to your ultimate objective, so long as they supply valuable returns. There is no “one size fits all” approach to adopting machine learning and artificial intelligence. There isn’t one single technology or provider that will solve all of your problems. The key takeaway is to make sure you stay laser focused on using technology to provide tangible business value to your company. Most importantly, remember—the best technology in the world that no one adopts is actually the worst technology in the world. | Adam Jaggers, CTO XOi Technologies Adam Jaggers, CTO at XOi Technologies, has more than 10 years of experience building enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions. As an Army veteran, Adam is a proven leader who shares in XOi's mission of solving the skilled trades gap, matching his technical prowess with his drive for finding real-world solutions. Adam has led teams all over the globe to build and patent some of the most sophisticated production systems within the world's leading banks and healthcare providers, leveraging artificial intelligence to do so. At XOi, Adam is again able to apply his leadership and expertise to one of the most critical missions in the field service marketplace today. |
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By: GineersNow
The HVAC sector will always be in demand. The main issue at hand is how much demand this sector can anticipate year after year? The industry’s ability to innovate will play a large role in this. Consumers have access to more information than ever before as the globe continues to expand and grow. There is a wealth of information at their fingertips on best practices, installation methods, and mobility.
Here are a few of the trends that dominate the industry today.