The last three nights have been “Must See TV” for any sports fan (a bit tough for me as a Dodgers fan). If you haven’t noticed, the World Series is going on right now, and the series has been riveting. There have been close games, blow outs, great defensive plays, pitcher’s duels, and the always intriguing random Marlins fan sitting in the expensive seats right in the middle of our TV screens (NOTE: The Marlins are not in the World Series this year).
But despite ALL of this excitement, you will see posts all over the web discounting this World Series as ratings once again show that we as a society prefer to watch football on TV, even if there is only 11 real minutes of action in NFL games compared to the 14 minutes in baseball. The outdated narrative that baseball is a slow, no excitement sport which you only watch if you are in the stadium with your kids, a few hot dogs, and cracker jacks is no longer true. The next generation of viewing has begun for baseball, and shows that our pre-conceived notions and narratives often tell a story that no longer exists. Mobile devices are revolutionizing the way we consume baseball games and critical to the sport’s chances of thriving with the next generation of fans.
In a similar way, mobility is having a large impact on field service. Much like for the MLB, field service sees mobility as a strategic part of its future. As seen in Aberdeen’s recent research, Service Mobility: The Right Technology for the Tech (August 2014), eight out of ten companies sampled stated that mobility is a strategic initiative for the service organization in the next 12 months. This should come as no surprise, as service organizations continue to see the changing of their workforce as a result of aging and attrition. The next generation of field workers, much like the next generation of baseball fans, needs and expects to use a mobile device.
The Pew Internet Project found that nearly 60% of American adults have a smartphone, and 42% own a tablet computer. Device proliferation and overall mobile adoption levels continue to explode as we all become more accustomed to having and using mobile devices. But the Best-in-Class are not only good at adopting the next great thing, they ensure that mobile technology equips technicians with the intelligence necessary to improve resolution and performance. These top performers use mobility to integrate data captured in the field with the back office, provide techs with work-related information in real-time, track assets in the field, and better manage service performance. The days of paper processes are coming to end, and the Best-in-Class are leading the way for future field service innovation.
There may only be two more World Series games left this year, but the mobile evolution will not end with the conclusion of the baseball season. Have you begun your field service mobile evolution? If not, learn from MLB or your peers, and start seeing the value of putting the right information in the hands of your technicians.
