Salesforce unveils new tools to empower mobile workforce

Salesforce, a global CRM leader, has introduced four new capabilities for Field Service to help businesses equip their mobile workforce for the future.

These features will enable businesses to scale field service resources to handle more complex jobs, customize mobile workflows to improve employee experiences, provide customers with self-service scheduling, and use video to troubleshoot issues in real time.

Customers today expect businesses to deliver world-class service whether they’re working with a call center employee, engaging with a bot, or interacting with an agent in the field. But field service organizations often don’t have the tools, skills, and information to meet these expectations. In fact, 80% of field service professionals say the skills required for their job have changed from just two years ago.

“With customers and employees looking for fast and easy service, the field service industry is ripe for change,” said Paul Whitelam, GM of Field Service Management at Salesforce. “Salesforce is continuing to evolve our field service management platform to meet the needs of customers and field service employees in this all-digital world, and these latest innovations bring more trust, speed, and convenience to every field service interaction.”

Field service is built for change

Salesforce Field Service was built to manage mobile workforces on the world’s #1 CRM. It offers a complete service offering that connects customer data and service experts on one platform. Salesforce Field Service also provides intelligent scheduling, virtual support, and visual assistance to solve problems efficiently and reduce costs. In addition, an integration with Slack enables swarming capabilities and collaboration with the right experts, based on availability and skills.

Additions to Salesforce Field Service include:

• Enhanced Scheduling and Optimization Engine will enable businesses to handle more complex field service jobs that require several steps and technicians. For example, a utility job includes digging a hole for a new electric pole, installing the pole and wires, and adding wiring to nearby structures. Companies will be able to chain these steps together so dispatchers can see complex jobs in their entirety and better manage worker capacity. The enhanced engine will run on Hyperforce, a reimagination of Salesforce’s platform architecture built to securely and reliably deliver the Salesforce Customer 360, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Industries and more, on major public clouds.

• Lightning Web Components for Field Service will allow businesses and partners to easily customize the Salesforce Field Service mobile app with advanced features and workflows to provide a better technician experience. For example, a water delivery company can create a custom app with order information from Service Cloud in one page, automating the documentation process and saving the delivery person time and clicks. An insurance company may require different customizations for natural disaster claims like hurricanes or earthquakes based on the different regions in which they operate. Lightning Web Components also provide new opportunities for partners and system integrators to create industry-specific applications, such as streamlined workflows for home security companies or industrial manufacturers.

• Appointment Assistant Self-Service Scheduling enables customers to schedule, cancel, confirm, or reschedule their own appointments, all without waiting on hold. And as customers make these changes, technician schedules and service resources automatically adjust for the new schedule.

• Visual Remote Assistant Two-Way Video lets both agents and customers collaborate over video in real-time to troubleshoot issues. This can be used as a triage step, automatically triggered based on the characteristics of a support ticket, to avoid unnecessary and expensive truck rolls. For example, an agent can show a customer step by step how to reset their own cable box. Additionally, when on-site, technicians can get real-time training or pull in additional support from co-workers when needed.

Announced recently, DocuSign CLM for Field Service will allow customers to automate how they track, enforce, and update contract terms across departments and while in the field. Bringing in data on warranties and service level agreements (SLAs) from DocuSign directly into Service Cloud will enable smarter and more automated service experiences, and efficient service contract execution.