Digital Field Services

Water, electricity, gas, oil and even telecoms networks... These critical resources require uninterrupted service.. In this context, the work of field technicians is essential. The challenge for companies in the energy and utilities sector is to act as soon and as quickly as possible, to avoid any interruption of service.

At the same time, consumers are becoming more and more demanding, as shown by a recent Gartner Institute study. According to the study, by 2020, improving customer satisfaction will be a priority for nearly 70% of field services players, compared to 50% today1.

In addition to this challenge, there is another more technical one: equipment is becoming more and more "intelligent" with technologies that are constantly evolving. Mastering all of this equipment and its various standards is becoming a problem for field technicians who must perform increasingly complex tasks.

Finally, players in the energy sector face a major difficulty: recruiting and retaining increasingly scarce talent. According to a study by the Mines ParisTech engineering school, in 2012, 30% of young technicians and engineers were interested in working for energy companies. Four years later, that figure was down to 14%2. This record drop comes in addition to the risk of considerable loss of know-how due to the retirement of an entire generation of technicians, taking their skills with them.

In short, whether it is improving customer relations, strengthening the expertise of technicians or attracting talent, a profound transformation of the field services business is necessary. And that is without mentioning the efficiency, safety and responsiveness issues that remain top priorities for the energy industry. Or, in other words, how to optimize the management of field operations in order to position the best player at the right time and with the right equipment?

Integrating software solutions helps to meet these new challenges. Platforms from all-rounders (Microsoft, Salesforce) and pure-players (ServiceMax) now optimize field operations (route management, follow-up of work orders, outage prediction using artificial intelligence, etc.). However, the digitization of field services isn’t limited to the mere provision of these tools.

While many technologies improve the management of maintenance operations, they still need to be  brought together in order to optimize their use by field agents. The ideal way to do this is to look at technicians’ needs through conceptualization workshops with a "design thinking" approach, without, however, forgetting the end customers’ expectations. The tools at their disposal, such as mobile applications, must be designed to facilitate interactions with consumers (chat, automatic emails to notify a visit, etc.).

Other challenges to take up include: access to information in non-connected areas and the security of sensitive data (GDPR, technician geolocation, status of network equipment…). Once again, solutions exist: data encryption and user authentication; and offline operation for mobile applications. With, potentially, secure synchronization of the tool on the company's premises, leaving nothing to travel over external networks.

Mixed reality proven in the field

How can we free the hands of technicians, usually busy with a tablet or smartphone, in the field? Inetum Research experts have worked with a start-up, SL Process, on a mixed reality helmet: LYNX. Thanks to the helmet, technicians have their hands free. They can concentrate on their tasks and are helped by contextual information that they see directly in their headset. They can also be assisted remotely by an expert who sees the installation that the technician has in front of them, in real time. However, some technical challenges remain to be overcome, such as the weight of the headset, its battery life, and the ergonomics of the interfaces. Inetum Research's experts are making great progress in these areas.

#Expert Voice

The augmented, multi-skilled, connected technician

"Smart grids, modernization of energy distribution networks... the stakes for the sector are huge. Digitizing field services is totally in line with these challenges. It puts the technician at the center of the transformation of energy companies, and of a new relationship with customers."
—
François Boncenne, Director of the Energy, Utilities and Chemicals Sector, Inetum Informatique