If you think the Internet of Things (IoT) is not impacting Field Service organizations, think again! In fact, of all the organizations within a business, Field Services may very well be the most impacted by IoT! In today's blog, we'll explain why and how…

Not all that long ago, the term "connected devices" referred to our laptops, tablets, and smartphones. But today, the term includes billions of other devices, including smartwatches, Fitbits, and even refrigerators! Indeed, many types of objects can now process, store, and/or transmit data. The connected world provides the opportunity to generate information that can be monitored, analyzed, and acted upon, and there's simply no denying the positive impact it can have in Field Service - for businesses and customers alike.

With IoT, the opportunities are endless for Dynamics 365 and Field Service to work together. Such opportunities range from devices that help emergency services in search-and-rescue operations to energy companies using predictive technology and smart alerts to help identify problems as early as possible, thus enabling prevention. Machine-to-machine communication has been used in the field service industry for years, but, IoT has now expanded these capabilities beyond just the one-to-one level of communication. We can now send "smart alerts" to a whole network!

Another example is when an alert is triggered when a sensor exceeds its temperature threshold. From the information collected into Dynamics 365, the sensor is able to decide the next steps – whether it can be fixed remotely or requires manual intervention. If intervention is needed, the device will use Dynamics 365 to allocate the most suitable worker for the job. The 'smart' alert would be able to advise what tools are needed for the job, the skills required, the estimated time required to fix, and how urgent the request actually is. When necessary, it can even automatically advise all users of the temporary outage and provide an expected resolution time.

With IoT and Dynamics 365, machines and equipment can send status updates, also providing location information, and other condition-based, servicing data. This will enable customers and businesses to locate machinery and figure out how to get to it with the best resolutions; correct replacement parts, and the right technicians to resolve issues… hopefully before failures ever occur. This is a clear win-win in the Field Service industry!

To learn more about advances in the services industry, tune in to this CRM Minute: Top Trends in Providing an Omni-channel Service Experience.

Happy CRM'ing