Salesforce has introduced new AI-powered field service capabilities designed to streamline operations for dispatchers, technicians, and field service leaders. Leveraging the Salesforce platform and Data Cloud, these innovations aim to expedite time-consuming processes and enhance customer satisfaction by making field service operations more proactive and efficient.
Why it matters: Field service teams currently spend only 32% of their time interacting with customers, with the remaining 68% consumed by administrative tasks like manually entering case notes. With 78% of field service workers in AI-enabled organizations reporting that AI helps save time, Salesforce’s new tools address these inefficiencies head-on.
Key AI-driven innovations for Field Service:
- Agentforce for Dispatchers: This tool empowers dispatchers to manage urgent appointments — such as those affected by delays, cancellations, or absences — through a conversational interface. It presents a Gantt chart for easy risk identification and appointment adjustments, boosting productivity and decision-making.
- Field Service Operations Home: This AI-powered home page offers real-time insights by integrating data with Data Cloud and using Einstein to spot patterns and trends. It helps dispatchers and supervisors quickly identify and act on critical information.
- Multi-Modal Field Tech Support: Technicians can now use AI text and image recognition to resolve issues more efficiently. By photographing problems with the Field Service Mobile app, technicians receive instant, AI-generated troubleshooting steps, even offline, thanks to the on-device large language model (LLM).
- Data Capture: This feature simplifies field data collection with dynamic forms in the Field Service Mobile App, whether online or offline. Forms adapt to ensure only relevant details are captured, speeding up data entry.
- Asset Service Prediction: This tool proactively addresses potential asset issues by analyzing historical service data from Data Cloud. It predicts asset failures, helping technicians prevent downtime and reduce costly truck-rolls.
- Salesforce Mobile SDK for VisionOS: This update allows developers to build apps for VisionOS on Apple Vision Pro, integrating Salesforce data with spatial computing.
Availability:
- Agentforce Assistant for Dispatchers and Field Service Operations Home will be generally available in October 2024.
- Data Capture will enter beta testing in October 2024.
- Multi-Modal Field Tech Support will begin a pilot phase in December 2024.
- Asset Service Prediction will be available in beta starting October 2024.
Paul Whitelam, GM & SVP of Salesforce Field Service, notes, “The future of field service lies in the seamless integration of AI, data, and human expertise. Our new capabilities set new standards for efficiency and service delivery.”
Rudi Khoury, Chief Digital Officer at Fisher & Paykel, adds, “With Salesforce Field Service, we’re not just embracing AI and data-driven insights — we’re advancing into the future of field service, achieving unprecedented efficiency and exceptional service.”