Smart, connected devices open up revenue opportunity for field service companies.
The development of relatively low-cost and reliable remote monitoring systems based on machine to machine (M2M) communications technology has presented an enormous opportunity to field service organizations.
The development of relatively low-cost and reliable remote monitoring systems based on machine to machine (M2M) communications technology has presented an enormous opportunity to field service organizations.
By tying equipment directly to the network, service companies can lower cost and improve overall customer service by receiving automatic status updates from remote assets.
"The process improvements vary based on the business," says Scott Constien, vice president of technology at Enfora. "It can be as simple as monitoring a vending machine and reporting inventory levels... or, it could be remotely monitoring the data to manage maintenance and predictive failures in an attempt to minimize service downtime for customers."
This type of automation helps with:
• Remote troubleshooting capabilities.
• Avoiding of making unnecessary maintenance visits.
• Improving escalations.
• Lowering the cost of software upgrades by performing them via the cloud.
TSO Mobile's GPS tracking, security, and logistics services are one example of the many M2M applications that are popping up in different markets all the time.
Lower M2M Costs = Faster Return On Investment (ROI)
A key driver of this expansion has been the drop in price of the technology due to the mainstream adoption. "The investment cost has gone down, which means that in asset tracking applications, you can now profitably track a $2,000 or $3,000 asset, which was not the case in the past," says Darren Koenig , vice president of marketing and products at Numerex.
SOURCE: Field Technologies Online (fieldtechnologiesonline.com).
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