3 ways to optimise your fieldwork employees with remote inspections

These past 2 years, businesses in basically every industry have – to one degree or another – made the switch from in-person to remote customer contact. Fieldwork is no different with many businesses opting for some form of remote inspections. Their choice was often motivated by the pandemic and their need to keep workers safe. For a line of work where being on-site is vital it meant businesses needed to be flexible and technology effective.

Two years after the start of the pandemic we see that fieldwork such as installations, inspections, audits, maintenance and service requests cannot all be handled remotely. What we have learnt is that Saas solutions can vastly optimise your fieldwork employees via remote inspections. We would like to share three ways how our customer’s have optimised their fieldwork employee’s time for on-site visits.

1. Improved preparation via better claim or service description

Before any claim or service request for any fieldwork is required, businesses collect information about the scope of the claim or service. This is often done via telephone, email or other channel. One channel which has proven to be successful is via remote inspections. An in-office service/claim employee shares via SMS/Whatsapp a link to a video inspection call and easily connects with the customer to see, record and document the claim or service. Quick and easy collection of the scope of the claim or service, providing the fieldwork employee with an accurate description.

Better Materials

The value of pre-visit remote inspections allows businesses to collect better materials. Materials such as video recordings, pictures and in the case of Video In Person, geo-localisation means fieldwork employees are better prepared for their on-site visit.

Better planning & scheduling of fieldwork employees

As businesses gain better descriptions of the scope of work for an on-site visit, they can better manage their fieldwork employee teams. Understandably businesses want to maximise the benefit of their fieldworkers. Through better descriptions of the scope of work using remote inspections Fieldwork Managers can better assign their fieldwork employees. Simple service requests can be handled by relatively newer and inexperienced fieldwork employees. Larger and more complex service requests can be performed by those with more experience and expertise. This value is particularly of importance when considering the shortage in qualified employees for such jobs.

2. On-site ad-hoc calling with remote experts

Another way technology has helped fieldwork employees is via ad-hoc communication with remote experts or experts in office. Whatever your line of business may be, your fieldwork employees can benefit from a colleague’s expertise on a specific claim or service.

To take an example from one of our customers whose line of business is on-site repairs to damage claims. They dispatch a fieldwork employee to a damaged business where a window pane has blown out after a storm. Already there is documentation from the insurance company on the claim with pictures of the damaged window. Nonetheless when they arrive on-site it appears the damage is more complex as the window includes a sensory security feature. In order to install a new window pane the fieldwork technician video calls with their colleague who specialises in this feature. Through ad-hoc video communication the fieldwork technician is able to properly carry out the service request, including the re-installation of the sensory security features.

3. Minimising self-help claim or service requests

Self-help claim or service requests is when a claim or service could have simply been handled by the customer themselves. Although this is not applicable to all fieldwork activities, it is most relevant to fieldwork service employees. Fieldwork service employees often go on-site to perform maintenance or service to a product that is not operating as it should. A good example is a telecommunications fieldwork service technician responding to an internet modem not working. Due to the nature of these services often they can be resolved by the customer themselves with the help of remote inspections.

Remote inspections with an expert who can guide a customer to resolve simple service issues is a huge time saver, for both business and customer. Considering the shortage in qualified fieldwork service employees, being able to handle a service request remotely with a customer is a big win! It means businesses can better utilise their fieldwork employee force to claims and service requests where on-site visits are really needed.

How would you implement a remote inspections solution in your business?

To help you understand how remote inspections can be used by your business we have created a FREE eBook. The ebook details clearly how to validate your need for such a solution, how to implement and even how to scale such solutions.

Video is the driving factor in Customer to Business Engagements

Video calling is one of the fastest-growing channels for Customer Engagement. Globally, consumers are now using video calls to communicate with businesses 67% more than 2 years ago (Vonage 2021).

What this means is that remote inspections using video is not an ‘if’ question, but a when question for claim and fieldwork service businesses. When are you utilising remote inspections with video, for maximum business impact?

The main value here is clear, it only took one visit instead a secondary visit with a specialised employee in window security to complete the job. In an environment where customers demand quick and effective service, this is a clear win.

Free Consultation

We like to help organisations identify their needs and support their goals. A 30-minute consultation session helps you to understand if Video In Person’s Digital Site Survey will work for you. Our experts have supported numerous companies in your industry to implement successful and cost-reducing video setups. Get in touch!

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