21st century field service

Power & Energy talks to Bastian Fischer about the effects smart grids will have on the technicians and staff who ensure its efficiency and productivity.

We hear a lot about how the smart grid will affect customers. But how it will affect our industry's employees? Will their jobs change?

Bastian Fischer. Twenty-first century utility jobs will be significantly different from those of the 20th century. Field service technicians are a good example. Smart grids means fewer 'false alarm' service calls because utilities will know if a customer's meter is working before sending a repair crew. On the other hand, when they receive an assignment, it may be more challenging. Technicians will be responsible for more sophisticated, complex equipment. And there will be more of it - more sensors, more distributed computing devices. But the tasks technicians handle will likely be much more demanding.

How are software vendors supporting these more complex tasks?

BF. We've significantly increased our support for technicians facing new tasks. In the past, we gave technicians paper repair manuals, or maybe we put the manual onto a laptop. Either way, technicians had to page through a lot of irrelevant information to find what they needed. Frequently, they had to consult crew chiefs or supervisors every step of the way.

Today, mobile workforce applications identify from the outset the resources technicians will likely need. They give technicians access through familiar tools like wizards, drop-down menus, searches and drag-and-drop. Most importantly, task-specific checklists take technicians step-by-step through a job, from start to finish. The applications answer questions. They give technicians alternatives. They monitor adherence to safety precautions. All this support frees technicians to work more independently. Their work flows naturally, without interruptions caused by waiting for a supervisor to approve work done and authorise the next task. Today's mobile workforce applications also cut training time; checklists can alter the amount of backup they provide depending on the technician's experience level. And new technicians have the confidence to take on new responsibilities.

What about dispatchers?

BF. Twenty-first century dispatchers are increasingly free from routine. That's because today's mobile workforce applications handle all routine scheduling - and better than individual dispatchers could.

New mobile workforce applications use computational grids to take hundreds of data points about the certifications, locations and recent work histories of tens of thousands of technicians located anywhere in a utility's service territory. Computational grids act on this huge volume of data by dividing it across multiple servers. They then optimise and re-optimise schedules in real time, as emergencies arise and appointments change. And they act on the entire workforce at once. We no longer have to limit technicians to work of a particular type or work within a particular sub-territory.

Inevitably, though, situations will arise that the application cannot handle. That's where dispatchers come in. The applications present all the factors - the 'context' of the situation - to the dispatcher. They may even prioritise alternatives. They show dispatchers how the various choices may affect the organisation's key performance indicators. With this entire context close at hand, dispatchers can focus their experience on making the best 'context-oriented' choice.

How do dispatchers then communicate their decisions to the field?

BF. Today's mobile workforce application takes advantage of a major marketplace change: unified communications or 'ubiquitous mobility'. It unites the entire communications process. Dispatchers communicate with field technicians via a single interface. Voice, written materials - even SMS messages - flow freely throughout the entire organisation. Technicians that can't get through on one network can get the same information on a different one - or on a different device. Data arrives in multiple forms, but technicians receive it no matter what device they're using or what network the device connects to. And there's another benefit: utilities can supplement laptops with lower-cost devices like tablets, PDAs and cell phones that receive SMS messages.

So what's the bottom line?

BF. More support for technicians and dispatchers lower cost utilities' costs to meet safety and reliability goals.

Biography

Bastian Fischer is a recognised industry leader with an extensive experience in the utility industry, in IT technology, customer management and smart grid and smart home area. A regular speaker on the theme of utility industry innovation, he is an active contributor to a variety of customer thought leadership initiatives and industry press articles on international level. Before joining Oracle, Fischer held several leadership roles focusing on the utility industry transformation in USA, APAC and Europe.