Uber-izing Field Service

How many times have you had to miss a half-day of work because the cable company, or another service provider, would only commit to making a service call between 8:00 am and noon or 1:00 pm and 5:00?

Coresystems Software is providing a game-changing alternative. They're already in Gartner's "magic quadrant" for field service management.

I just wrapped up a call with Manuel Grenacher, CEO of Coresystems, who is working to connect all aspects of the field service value chain through technology thereby making customers' lives simpler and easier.

Coresystems is enabling companies to crowdsource service professionals to deliver service in real time. Telcos and energy companies are using his services since they don't have the staff needed to help customers install the smart home IoT devices. 

Companies that use this model onboard and certify the technicians before they send them to visit a customer. And companies can actually use shared resources to deliver in real-time by using self-employed sub-contractors or fully employed professionals who want to generate additional revenue outside of their typical workday like many Uber and Lyft drivers.

The technology helps large companies without enough service technicians on staff to address customer needs — have their problem corrected, at their convenience, in a single visit. This is in direct response to customer demands for what they want when they want it.

Coresystems has another company, Mila, that helps large companies build and onboard technicians.

Swisscom already has 4,000 crowdsourced technical professionals supplementing their 1,500 person workforce. They're able to meet customer needs 24/7/365. Swisscom is able to improve customer satisfaction by offering a new customer experience with no fixed costs. Customers can receive a service call from a Swisscom technician for $200 to $300 or from a Swisscom "friend" for $80. Ratings average 4.8 out of 5 from a demanding Swiss clientele.

Coresystems is just penetrating the U.S. market and is working with an HVAC provider in Phoenix to provide a field service team of 200 crowdsourced technicians.

To be successful, companies will need to document work instructions, checklists, quality standards, enable technicians to check-in and check-out, perform safety checks, and enable technicians to log in remotely for help with issues beyond their scope of expertise. Of course, these are best practices for any business.

It's also a great way to streamline field service operations to provide a better customer experience.