This content has been archived, and while it was correct at time of publication, it may no longer be accurate or reflect the current situation at Microsoft.
Too often, the technicians who took care of Microsoft’s sprawling field sites felt chained to their desks.
Each time they fixed a leaky faucet, delivered a set of office chairs, or mounted a new Surface Hub in a conference room, they had to return to the main office to find out what job was next. Even more old school, they had to take notes on the go, and at the end of the day, write up a report on everything they did (crossing their fingers that they were able to keep it all straight).
The facilities technicians doing this work say the inefficiency—all the trips back to the office, the manual work, logging their work—was very frustrating.
Their solution?
A Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app that would equip field technicians with everything they needed no matter where they went onsite.
“The app’s mobile ecosystem provides all the information our technicians need to complete their day’s work,” says Garima Gaurav, a senior program manager in Microsoft Digital. “It also gives us a powerful, two-way system that allows us to update work orders offline or online—in real time.”
This user-friendly app experience has untethered the company’s field technicians from their main office. “Now they can let us know what they’re seeing in the field without needing to come back—this is especially helpful now that we’re in a socially distanced world,” Gaurav says.
Going mobile has resulted in greater productivity, higher morale, and a massive reduction in wasted time and resources for field technicians, their managers, and the buildings and systems they support, Gaurav says. Technicians can now use their mobile devices to quickly and efficiently execute work tasks from start to finish.
[Learn how Microsoft transformed facilities management with Dynamics 365. Find out how Microsoft built an empowering digital workplace experience for its employees. Read about how Microsoft deploys and manages Microsoft 365 to unleash creativity and collaboration.]
Meet technicians where they work
Technicians were being held back by a lack of access in the field, so it was time for a change.
With so much of a technician’s work taking place in the field and on the go, it made sense to equip them with a mobile version of the information, access, and two-way correspondence they relied on via desktop.
However, Microsoft Digital needed this solution to be accessible online and offline to account for connectivity concerns. “We wanted to make sure technicians felt comfortable adapting to the new app from day one,” Gaurav says.
With this in mind, Microsoft Digital configured the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service Mobile app with “on-the-go” features such as:
- Information access: Technicians use the app to review assigned work orders and the day’s upcoming bookings, browse customer asset data and inventory information, and anything else they need to do their work without the runaround. As things change or develop throughout the day, technicians are more reachable and can change directions.
- Dynamic updates: The app allows technicians to update their work orders throughout the day. This allows them to track their own progress more efficiently and correspond more consistently with management and the main office. Technicians can add customer comments, internal notes, and close out orders in real time. If their network connection is spotty, they can easily switch to offline mode. When they’re back online, updates entered while in offline mode are sent automatically.
- Work order management: Other work order actions, such as reclassifying or putting a work order on hold, are also possible without trekking back to the office. This gives the entire team visibility into the most recent work order status. Supervisors can see job statuses in real time, which allows them to better balance their team’s work or reprioritize a technician when emergencies arise.
End-to-end facilities management, pocket edition
Tickets can be created in one of two ways: either the Customer Service team manually creates a work order, or a device sensor creates the order automatically when it detects a failure. For example, an air conditioning unit that’s part of a larger HVAC system might trigger the creation of a work order when it malfunctions.
When the ticket is created and assigned a priority, the Customer Service team schedules the work and the mobile app notifies the assigned technician. When they arrive, they can instantly pull up the device’s maintenance history to put the malfunction in context.
The technician can also search for the part needed to complete the repair. If it’s in stock, they can pick it up at the warehouse.
If the part isn’t in stock, there’s no longer a wasted trip to the warehouse. Instead, the technician can submit a purchase request to Procurement & Sourcing from the app. When the part comes in, the technician is notified, at which point they can complete the repair. Technicians are also notified when a device is scheduled for periodic maintenance, such as when a filter or belt is nearing its expiration date.
A new approach to work requires careful implementation
This isn’t a one-off solution to a small problem.
“It’s a massive paradigm shift for technicians to change their source and access to information, going from desktop to this new, mobile experience,” says Michelle Schaefer, a Microsoft Digital principal program manager. “We knew we needed to get technicians’ buy-in at every step of configuration.”
To launch the app with everything technicians would need and use, Schaefer says that a strong proof of concept was essential.
To get them to embrace this new way of life at work, the team needed to show technicians that the new app would bring real benefits to the situations they faced in the field. To that end, field technicians were brought in to consult on the app. Rather than build features whose benefits were purely conceptual, the team devoted their initial efforts to features with proven value, thanks to technician input. Without a robust proof of concept, making the switch might have been a harder sell.
“We really tried to understand the technicians’ needs and how they would use the app every day at work,” Schaefer says. “We mapped end-to-end process flows, configured to mimic their daily working process. Then we held working sessions with 20 power users to run through the app, step by step.”
Microsoft Dynamics 365 afforded the team a low code configuration, which simplified the process. Engineers could get an initial prototype up and running quickly, allowing extra time for user testing, modifications, and quality assurance.
The app needed to provide everything that technicians use on their desktop in a way that made sense on their phones.
“Think of this as a more tailored version of the Dynamics 365 desktop experience,” says Thomas Po, a Microsoft Digital software engineer. He worked on ensuring the desktop version of Microsoft Dynamics 365 would be accessible, but condensed, on mobile. “With confined real estate, and varied access throughout the day, we chose to prioritize the elements from the desktop that technicians would actually use.”
Adoption of the solution came in waves.
After early adopters and beta testers got excited about how mobility would transform their workday, those slower to change became intrigued. Now, the app is widely used and largely appreciated by the team.
Transforming the workday
The mobile app allows field technicians to do dramatically less driving between locations. Erik Orum Hansen, the Microsoft Digital senior software engineering manager responsible for the program, estimates that the app is giving Microsoft back 100,000 person hours per year.
“This makes things easier on the technician and, importantly, results in greater productivity for the team and faster results for those ordering the work,” he says.
It’s also helping the company get closer to its goal of being carbon-negative by 2030.
Randy Walker, a technician who uses the app every day to do his work, appreciates how much time it saves him.
“I used to have to keep a big journal of work order numbers,” Walker says. “I would spend two to three hours inputting that info. Now I can pull up my team’s work orders on the mobile app and perform quality assessment onsite and upload it into the work order in real time. I can complete them on the fly and get done faster.”
The app is useful up the chain of command, too.
“From a manager’s standpoint, I can pull up my team’s workload and prioritize emergencies, get ahead of the curve, and prevent big plumbing problems before flooding or major issues take place,” Walker says.
“The team is still learning how the app can make the company’s facilities work more efficiently,” Gaurav says.
On a per-site basis, the efficiency and productivity gains are significant. When multiplied across Microsoft sites worldwide—34 million square feet across more than 580 properties in 112 regions—the results are transformative.
“The benefits of going mobile will continue to deliver returns to Microsoft,” Gaurav says, “It’s a solution with lasting impact to productivity, efficiency, and engagement at work, especially as work continues to move with us. We’re looking forward to exploring what else we can bring to the mobile experience for even greater impact.”
Learn how Microsoft transformed facilities management with Dynamics 365.
Find out how Microsoft built an empowering digital workplace experience for its employees.
Read about how Microsoft deploys and manages Microsoft 365 to unleash creativity and collaboration.
Kayla Naab contributed to this story.
