Smart Dispatching - From Manual to Automated
In background conversations with our customers, we understood that smart scheduling of a field agent and precisely matching them to the task they need to complete is a critical component in the service delivery process. Indeed, the WEBLET platform transforms the manual dispatching process into a computerized one. The system can run an algorithm based on business rules defined by the customer.
The algorithm can implement various parameters, such as the technician's knowledge and expertise in specific areas (electrical, for example), preferred working hours, daily task quantity, required inventory for the call vs. vehicle inventory, and more.
Additionally, WEBLET supports real-time optimization: the field agent can optimize distance and time within their tasks according to live WAZE reports. When more complex parameters need to be considered, they can be provided through an interface to optimization software.
How AI Improves Technician Dispatching in Practice
By using artificial intelligence, it's possible to create more efficient daily routes and send technicians to more appointments matched to their skills.
The use of automatic dispatching (powered by AI, based on each field agent's skill set, their location, and previous meetings with the same customer) frees up more time for technicians, appointment coordinators, and the management team. This saves valuable resources for the organization.
According to Salesforce, organizations that integrate AI into field service management significantly improve response times, resource utilization, and overall service quality.
Dramatic Improvement in Productivity and Response Time
WEBLET enables a dramatic improvement in response time, increasing the daily volume of handled requests and enhancing customer satisfaction with the company's services.
Routes for each field agent can be calculated immediately using advanced GPS capabilities and cloud technologies. The inventory list is updated in real-time while the technician is in the field and can be viewed by technicians, dispatchers, and office management staff.
How AI Improves Technician and Field Service Management
Artificial intelligence allows the system to learn from historical data and improve decisions in real time: which technician is the best fit for each call, which parts to bring, and how to plan the most efficient route. The result is fewer delays, fewer return visits, more service calls per day, and a significant improvement in response time.
A technician and field service application should also contain these modern "learning" features for various applications, such as: which technician is the most efficient at repairing TV screens based on all technicians' performance, which customers are likely to order a specific product at this time based on their past purchasing habits, etc.
AI enables the transformation of previously repeated tasks into a dynamic system that adapts automatically based on similar past cases.
Business rules engines, artificial intelligence, and additional innovative technologies enable developing algorithms designed to plan routes for field technicians not only based on their physical location, but also based on their success in performing similar service calls in the past.
Implementing such an algorithm is possible in every sector. In marketing and distribution companies, for example, it will enable leveraging sales, as it's possible to predict which types of products each customer will purchase and match them with the sales representative with the most experience and highest success rate in selling products in their niche.
Peak Efficiency: The Technician Doesn't Need to Return
One of the problematic factors in unsuccessful service calls is the technician's return to the point where they were called in order to bring suitable parts. Using advanced AI technologies that identify a match between tasks the technician has performed in the past, while considering the equipment in their possession for the current call, can significantly reduce the need to return to the service point to perform the repair.
For example: a commercial washing machine technician will carry suitable parts in their vehicle for hotel service calls, while a technician specializing in residential washing machines will carry the appropriate parts for those machines and won't need to return to the customer to bring the required spare parts.
Accurate and efficient service builds trust. When the technician arrives on time, with the right equipment, and completes the job in a single visit — the customer experience improves, and a natural opportunity arises to offer additional services and products, increasing business profitability.
