Using mobile working to boost field service workers' productivity

Field service workers are taking advantage of new platforms, software and applications designed to make them more productive, discovers Kate O’Flaherty

Mobile working is nothing new but its reach is widening. According to analyst Strategy Analytics the number of mobile workers will rise to 1.75 billion by 2020, accounting for 42 per cent of the global workforce. This growth is being fuelled by more efficient communication networks, devices and software.

“Solutions, devices and networks have moved on and confidence in mobile working has sky-rocketed,” says Ken Eastwood, director of mobile working consultancy Digital Nomads. This is in contrast to 15 years ago, he says, when: “We were trying to use mobility networks that didn’t work and devices with a two-hour battery life.”

All industries have been affected by IT’s increasing consumerisation, not least field engineers. Their devices have become more capable; fuelled by apps and software packages that aim to improve response times and efficiency. For example, field service organisations can now use predictive analytics to move personnel from job to job more easily.