In early 2020, much of the world took drastic actions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While these actions were often implemented swiftly, they will likely not go away with such haste. As various industries try to find their way forward, the short term and long term impacts of Covid-19 are becoming more and more apparent. The field service industry is no exception. What is the future of field service? What will normal look like now?
There are many reasons why a company or end-user customer will opt to have field service as part of their after sales service support.
1. Customer's Ease: For some, having a technician come to site for diagnosis and/or repair is more convenient.
2. Security: By having field technicians come to site, the customers data never leaves their own security.
3. Time: Onsite repairs are most often much quicker than normal mail-in or carry-in repairs.
However, field service should not be viewed as an optional service that just comes with some perks. Not all customers choose to opt into onsite support. For some, their solutions demands it as a necessity. For example, restaurants with a digital menu that cannot be easily packed up and shipped to a depot center, movie theaters with large displays, companies who cannot allow sensitive information to leave their facility and many more. These reasons are why for many regions across the world, field service was deemed to be an essential service.
Like many industries, field service has been economically impacted by Covid-19. The same way that farmers were impacted by not having restaurants buy their food, field service companies were not going to site as many companies were shut down or had less workers, meaning less hardware to support. As we prepare for our new version of normal, there are still many unknowns. What we do know is, there is bound to be new and more flexible service offerings as we have already seen in many other industries. Offerings such as remote support, no contact tech visits, processes that give clients more self-sufficiency to limit the number of technician visits where possible, and more.
So, what is the future of field service? What will normal look like now? Of course, it would be false to think anyone has the full answer to these important questions. The answer can be different in any given country and for any scenario. Furthermore, we hear a lot about how to move forward, but the truth for so many is we are still moving through. What we do know is, industries and companies that can adjust their offerings on a global scale, during a global crisis will find themselves ahead of the curve and ready to support the next global economy.
What do you think is the future of field service?