Page 148 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

Autonomy or not Autonomy? that Is the Question � 127

dropped them off at the office the night before. Crew workloads can
now be monitored electronically, and jobs can be moved to technicians
who have finished their work orders early. In fact, the computer now
also schedules the work of each technician, taking into account where
each person starts the day. Other benefits include saving thousands of
dollars in metering fraud. Technicians who spot tampering now can
notify the office immediately, and often investigators are there within
an hour. 4
ClickSoftware Technologies’ software is being used by Cable&
Wireless Worldwide to synchronize its engineers’ schedules, taking
into account the worker’s skills, location, and current workload and
then doling out the work in real time. The software then monitors
where the workers are, allows them to be relocated to deal with urgent
situations that come up, and takes work progress data and other job
details that the worker records in his or her mobile device. Potomac
5
Electric Company eliminated 100,000 pieces of paper a year for just
one group by introducing a mobile data system for its field workers.
Performance also improves through mobile workforce technology in
ways that aren’t always so obvious. Now work crews working in out-
age situations no longer have to work from paper maps, which are
hard to update; the mobile systems now used during severe weather
situations take the pressure off radio communication systems. 6
Mobile workforce management technology is also improving per-
formance in twenty-first century water utilities, Oracle reports. Soft-
7
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ware now can schedule, route, monitor, and clarify work and handle
reporting for utility field workers. A 20 percent increase in produc-
tivity occurs just by having workers start at the worksite instead of
at a central location. Software can analyze jobs to see what parts are
needed and available, and it can send instructions about where crews
can pick up the equipment needed. Tools to improve performance,
such as checklists and decision support systems, instruction manu-
als, diagrams, and blueprints, are easy to access mobilely. Some sys-
tems even let customers schedule their own appointments, coordinate
crew locations with those appointments, and inform customers about
changes in the schedule.