ServiceMax from GE Digital, a provider of field service software, announced a new release of Predix ServiceMax Field Service Management (FSM), a next-generation field service offering that brings new ways of working to all professionals in service delivery. ServiceMax FSM 18.3 gives service technicians greater autonomy, empowers dispatchers with more robust decision-making tools, and helps companies better plan and execute complex service projects.
“By delivering innovative field service solutions, our customers are able to achieve higher service efficiency and a better experience for their customers—while remaining competitive in an increasingly crowded market,” said Scott Berg, CEO, ServiceMax from GE Digital. “Responding to evolving customer needs and executing on our long-standing commitment to service innovation and thought leadership, we are excited to introduce our next-generation field service solution.”
Traditionally, technicians receive guidance from a central dispatch in a linear and prescriptive manner. As the face to customers, field service engineers need the flexibility to make decisions that best serve customer needs. Giving technicians and contractors the ability to make autonomous decisions on a mobile device without depending on the central dispatch supports more confident and effective execution of work, ultimately helping them be more responsive to customer needs.
ServiceMax FSM 18.3 is the company’s fourth generation mobile application and the culmination of its history and experience in empowering and enabling service technicians. Today’s service operations rely increasingly on combinations of third-party and on-staff service teams, requiring a higher grade of usability, easy adoption, and a variety of mobile devices. This release represents a consumer-style field service mobile app running on the device of their choice.
Additionally, service organizations have evolved the role of service dispatchers. Most do not plan to replace their dispatchers with automated scheduling algorithms but they do want to free them from the mundane task of day-to-day scheduling to focus on complex, strategic decision making. To support this, ServiceMax FSM 18.3 gives dispatchers tools to be more effective with software, serving up recommendations at every step.
ServiceMax FSM 18.3 introduces a slew of Assisted Dispatch and Scheduling features via the new Service Board, which empowers dispatchers to get all the information they need, zoom-in on relevant data, and make business decisions with confidence. It’s capabilities include enhanced map layers with intuitive toggling, intelligent resource recommendations, contextual search, tracking technician locations, personalized job/resource views, real-time job notifications, drive-time estimates, ranked appointment booking, and recurring events.
Not all types of service jobs are the same; they range from short duration and low complexity, such as cable TV installations in the consumer world, to much more complex and sophisticated service calls, as in the manufacturing and energy space. Major projects—overhauls, equipment decommissioning, installations, and upgrades—can be highly complex. Additionally, industries such as power and utilities, aviation, and oil and gas must follow strict regulatory requirements. As service organizations look to expand their service offerings, they must be able to effectively manage service jobs that span multiple days, require multiple technicians, and even work done in multiple shifts. ServiceMax FSM 18.3 offers a way of solving these challenges.
This FSM solution helps service organizations scale this complex work, giving companies the ability to define standard or complex shift plans. This includes jobs with multiple technician skill sets, management of multiple resources, and situations when technicians must work on a job for days rather than hours. Additionally, FSM 18.3 can incorporate data from predictive maintenance software, such as GE Digital’s Predix Asset Performance Management, giving companies greater understanding of an equipment condition for highly complex assets.
“It is no longer working to just focus on ‘what’s wrong’ when delivering service in the field. Smart service organizations are working to focus on what ‘right’ looks like for the customer, delivering reliable uptime rather than just fast response and resolution times,” says Vele Galovski, VP of Field Services Research for the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA). “To accomplish that, you need to really empower your employees with the right tools that help them get their jobs done. ServiceMax’s new capabilities capitalize on this trend, and it is great to see ServiceMax, now as part of GE, continue to focus on features that matter for our field service members.”
The new capabilities introduced in Predix ServiceMax FSM 18.3 are currently available in beta. During this beta period, ServiceMax is working closely with select customers to refine use cases and the product experience, after which the features will become generally available in the first quarter of 2019.