Posted by The Telecom Industry is facing an increase in complexity with an increase in day-to-day subscribers, a variety of new products, and customized solutions. To thrive in this, telecom players need a one-stop-solution in handling maintenance, service operations, job status updates, and time logs to track organizational efficiency. Efficient field service operations ensure telecom service providers with greater equipment availability, service efficiency, and customer experience.
Let us look at some of the vital areas where it is necessary to give more importance when we talk about the Telecom Industry:
A considerable amount is invested in telecom capital equipment, and when it fails a considerable amount of money will go into its repair. Only if a proper maintenance activity is carried out, we can expect a seamless workflow and functioning without interruptions.
Rather than waiting till the equipment to fail and then search for corrective measures, it is important to have a strategy. This includes ensuring routine inspection, servicing, and keeping the facility in good condition. It is intended to build a system that will find and prevent potential failures. Though a lot of knowledge and effort goes into the design, manufacturing, and testing of equipment, there is always a possibility for underperformance or failure. Sensor systems and indicators can avoid it through alerts and warnings to the maintenance teams.
FSM Features that telecom needs to be equipped with
1) Automated ticketing & scheduling system:
Telecoms need a field service management suite that can manage customer appointments and trouble ticketing effortlessly. It also demands a customer self-service portal, and spontaneous job assignment to the available field agent automatically. Simultaneously it should also administer inventory, fleet, shift scheduling, and other associated variables.
2) Communication is the key:
Field Service Management suite for a telecom provider must allow field workers to communicate seamlessly with their workplace, other technicians, managers, and even customers. This is where Mobile apps of the FSM suite come to play. It ensures technicians with maximum mobility and real-time updates to enlarge customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3) Proactive approach:
“Automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates
Telecom capital equipment is prone to unexpected failure. This is due to environmental and working conditions. To monitor the health of equipment that is in a critical state FSM software integrated with IoT enabled sensors and indicators are necessary. These come with a facility that gives an alert on possible threats to the equipment’s optimum performance.
4) Technician activity tracking
Improved transparency and automation should be offered by field management software to assist the field service manager in providing accurate and timely information to the field team. It also keeps track of the output of each technician and makes proactive interventions to redress pain-points.
5) Inventory, parts and tools management
Inventory management should grab a new phase from spreadsheets and counts taking place at the wee hours of the morning. An exemplary FSM suite should co-opt barcodes and scanners, and the internet of things (IoT) connected devices to keep track of the assets. It also has to ensure if the right part reaches the right place at the right time.
6) Remote expertise
Remote monitoring and management systems attenuate issues by enabling managers and experienced technicians to view the persisting problem from a single screen and help in reducing the time involved in servicing. FSM suite must ensure proper flow of information during this knowledge transaction through remote expertise.
The above outlined are the essential features a telecom service provider ought to have in a workforce management solution.
Telecom service providers face many challenges while ensuring the world is connected. The primary objective here is to make sure the users have a seamless experience all the time. The key to achieving this balance of customer satisfaction & the ease of the workforce is a tailor-made service management solution that is explicitly built, keeping in mind the unique demands of the Telecom Industry.