Touchless Service Guide

“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity” - Albert Einstein

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, few companies were prepared for the impact. Only 12% of 1,500 respondents surveyed by Gartner in March 2020 believed their business was highly prepared for the new realities of COVID-19. During the height of the pandemic, shelter in place orders, travel bans, and facility-wide lockdowns made the provision of field service extremely difficult. According to a study published by TSIA in April 2020, nearly three quarters (78%) of Field Service Organizations (FSOs) had either eliminated or restricted onsite field service dispatches in response to Covid-19 restrictions. Almost half (47%) of the companies surveyed renegotiated their Service Level Agreements(SLAs) with customers.

One of the ways that FSOs have been able to overcome the challenges of Covid-19 is through the provision of Remote Support, also known as Touchless Service. This represents a viable way for FSOs to renegotiate SLAs and to effectively resolve customers’ service issues where restrictions exist. Although remote support has been around for some time, it was not always the preferred solution. Covid-19 has made the provision of remote support a necessity.