One of the biggest keys to delivering top-notch customer service is having a seamless service lifecycle. Internal departments need to be able to communicate with each other, and relay that information back to the customer in a timely, friendly manner.  Continue reading

Kevin Benedict, a mobility blogger for Sys-Con Media, posted an interesting, short video about what he calls “field service velocity.” Basically, it’s an abstract term for how well an organization can coordinate the various competing factors needed to complete a  Continue reading

A couple weeks back, we ran a pair of stories that started from discussions and presentations at the Service Council Executive Symposium in Chicago — one about empowering employees on the lower rungs of an organization, and another about the  Continue reading

It’s one of life’s distinct annoyances: Pulling out your phone – or music player, tablet or laptop – and being greeted with an unexpectedly silent, black screen. Dead battery. The red panic light counting down the minutes to a dead  Continue reading

A centuries-old method of transportation is getting a modern day makeover. On Monday, Amtrak announced that it had started using iPhones to scan passengers’ tickets, shelving the familiar hole-puncher. The company has been training conductors on how to use the  Continue reading

Tim Spencer asked for a quick show of hands around the table during a recent discussion: “What’s the key to giving a tech a tactile learning experience, even though he’s out in Timbuktu someplace?”
No one offered up a solution.  Continue reading

Are we entering the era of the customer-run business? Well, no, not literally. But it was clear from a good number of discussions and talks at the Service Council Executive Symposium, which concluded Wednesday, that businesses are just now starting  Continue reading

Stu Reed has a lot to keep track of. As the president of Sears Holding Corporation’s Home Services division, he runs an organization that has more than 170 million customer contacts every year, employing tens of thousands of field service  Continue reading

Just a quick reminder to our readers that the SmartVan is in Chicago this week, at the Service Council Annual Symposium. We’re going to be covering the most interesting and useful tidbits coming out of the show, so be sure  Continue reading

We know a lot of our readers are big LinkedIn users, and for good reason. There are several incredibly useful groups dedicated to field service on the networking site, and it’s a fantastic virtual repository of best practices and interesting  Continue reading

When electronics giant Honeywell announced on Monday that it was suing start-up Nest, a Silicon Valley darling that makes next-generation thermostats, they also thrust so-called “smart thermostats” in to the collective mainstream. Take a look at the coverage.
The lawsuit  Continue reading

As the recession plods on with very few signs of recovery, construction industry groups have actively started pressing President Obama and Congress to pass bills that will stimulate job growth in the construction industry. The letter, sent jointly from 45  Continue reading

As the country enters its fourth year of recession, there have been maddeningly few signs of sustained recovery, especially in employment numbers (and the 29 million Americans who are without a job can attest to that). While the construction industry —  Continue reading

The California Air Resources Board has included the Ford Transit Connect Electric to a program that offers fleet owners thousands of dollars in incentives to help them transition their fleets to low-emission vehicles. The program, called the California Hybrid Bus  Continue reading