The project is a debt factoring contract from one of the major distribution companies in Oman, managing over 200,000 customer accounts for both Electricity and Water. The utility sells its Electricity and Water bill creation and collection responsibilities to our client for an upfront amount each month. Our client then has to carry out whatever work is necessary to collect the amounts from the end customer, maintaining certain contractual constraints. 

Client Overview

Our client has been a regular contractor for the utility since the 1980s. There was an established way of doing things. There were huge inefficiencies, very high levels of manual labor, and poor customer satisfaction levels.  This not only wasted resources but also left a significant margin for error.

The client attempted to modernize its operations by developing custom software. However, there was a huge gap between the actual field realities, the understanding of the software developers, and the specifications provided. As a result, the software quickly becomes useless.

Furthermore, making the necessary adjustments to the software proved to be a long and expensive process. The requested variations took too long to implement, and the associated costs were simply too high.

The company recognized the need for an all-in-one solution to address its field service management challenges while supporting its unique business model and processes.

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The Challenges

Prior to the implementation of Fieldmaster, the operations team was spending countless hours on phone calls with fieldworkers assigning them tasks, instructing them every step of the way. Spending hundreds of extra back-end man hours every week to create proof of work and reports for their principals. The team would cross its fingers hoping the fieldworkers would do their work sincerely and diligently with maximum effort.

1. There was no real way to supervise and control the field staff

For an organisation that puts the quality of their services at the center of everything it does, this was a big issue. Furthermore, the fieldwork costs were shooting up and assumed profit gaps were narrowing down to an alarming level. The lack of efficiency was not limited to just the field team supervisors but was also prevalent at the admin levels.

2. Getting payments released from their principals on time

The company encountered difficulties releasing payments due to contested fieldwork data and lost information from their database. The absence of reliable data resulted in delayed payments. An even greater challenge was that in several occasions the data captured from the field was lost from their database, leaving them with no proof of work.

3. Inefficient Data Management and Proof of Work Repository

The company struggled with disorganized data management, making it challenging to retrieve crucial information and proof of work when needed.

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The Solution

Fieldmaster.ai provided tailored solutions to address the company's specific needs and challenges. The implementation of various modules and features resulted in significant improvements in their operations:

1. Automating project parameters and workflows ensured error-free data procurement from the field, enhancing supervision and control of field staff.
2. The meter reading project was optimized with automatic allocation of accounts, validations, and prompt completion reminders.
3. Fieldmaster.ai's console offered an efficient platform for task assignment, real-time data monitoring, and instant reports.
4. Customized modules were created for disconnections, reconnections, account protection, master data management, and more, streamlining processes and all but eliminating manual labor.
5. A full-fledged mini application was built on our platform to manage instalment plans with customers. Various levels of automated reminders and escalations were coded in.

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Flowchart of Operations

Here are the major components:

• Fieldmaster maintains a complete history of activities for DC (Disconnection), RC (Reconnection), SV (Site Visits) and MR (Meter Reading). This data helps in taking automated decisions.
• From the history of accounts and the outstanding amounts, Fieldmaster picks up the top outstanding accounts and new maps (you could think of them as project categories) are created every month on the 1st.
• The first map is ND (Notice Delivery) - where the end customers receive payment notices both on SMS and physically. Fieldmaster automates the sending of SMSs and also handles the complete workflow for the field activities for notice delivery. This includes the task creation, assignment to various team members based on their assigned zones, monitoring the completion of the tasks, creating reports and much more.
• Another map created is for Site Visits (SV1) - to recheck on accounts that have been disconnected in the past but payment is still pending. Have those been reconnected illegally?
• For the accounts that have been sent notices (ND) and still haven't paid after 10 days, these are now transferred to a DC map category (Disconnection). As before, Fieldmaster's automated fieldwork system manages the complete process.
• Fieldmaster also monitors the payment channels in real-time. If payment has been received, the accounts are sent for reconnection (RC). This is an SLA bound activity where the reconnection has to be done within 2 hours of payment. Our SLA assurance capabilities handle this easily and eliminated any kind of penalties for our client from the distribution company.
• After 10 days of non payment after Disconnections (DC), the accounts are automatically transferred to the SV1 category.
• After SV1 (first Site Visit) is completed if there is still no payment after 30 days, the accounts are sent for another Site Visit (SV2).
• The next step is Pole Disconnection (PoleDC) where the account is disconnected from the main feeder pillar or the pole. This requires specialized tools, equipment and personnel with the right certifications. As always Fieldmaster's task management automates the assignment of these tasks to the right teams. This step happens if there's no payment after SV2 or if any misuse or illegal connection is found after SV1.
• After this if payment is done, the account goes for reconnection.
• If there is still no payment after 10 days of PoleDC, the account is sent to the legal department as a special report, for further actions.

In addition to the above, here are a few additional modules that also help in increasing the bill collections and saving operational costs:

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Instalment Plans module

Fieldmaster's user-friendly interfaces are used at customer contact centers where personnel who are authorized to create payment plans can set the monthly payment amounts and any advance payment if applicable. It can be tailored to provide access to change the payment amounts from month-to-month. Fieldmaster also provides functional interfaces for call center personnel to capture customer touchpoints and create payment plans. This is a pre-emptive approach by first generating filtered accounts that are more likely to require payment plans, then contacting them for the agreements. We've seen that this approach helps increase collections while also maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. The call center approach can also be implemented as a final reminder step before initiating field work.

Read more about our Instalment Plans module here.

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ND Notice Printing module

Allows admin users to easily print out the notices for physical delivery. Since Fieldmaster already knows the accounts that are ready for notice deliveries and assigns the teams, the notices are printed out in the correct order for handing over to the field teams.

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Custom Assignment Rules

Allows admins to create assignment rules based on the geocode (area code) of the accounts, the TypeCode of the account (residential, commercial etc), outstanding amounts of the accounts and the category of operations. These are set once or as often as needed, and Fieldmaster's automation system handles the task assignments perfectly.

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Auto Protection

Every day, each account in each project category is checked for payments against its outstanding. If the payment has been received, those accounts are said to be 'Protected' and are removed from the task lists and from the users' mobile devices. This happens automatically and prevents unnecessary field visits.

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Outstanding Check at Point of Disconnection

A payment could have been made at any time since the last Auto-Protection check, so we set up the Field Taskflow to mandatorily check the live outstanding amount of the customer just before disconnection activities are done.

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Even more operations...

The above are some of the main modules that make life easy for our client. In addition to these, we deployed more modules to handle:

• Manual addition of tasks in any category with custom logic
• Set always protected accounts: special accounts that should never get assigned for disconnection.
• Special Protection: Certain customers can be given special protection for outstanding amounts in exigent circumstances, and the system follows up automatically for the payment on the given due date.

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Implementation

Fieldmaster.ai was seamlessly integrated into the company's operations, covering workforce management and contract handling.

1. Automation and intelligence capabilities were leveraged to optimize processes, ensure accurate data capture, and improve assignment allocations.
2. The software facilitated data cleansing by cleaning historically spurious data, provided real-time insights through dashboards, and enabled agile adaptation to market conditions.

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Results

The implementation of Fieldmaster.ai yielded significant results and impacted the company's operations positively:

1. Tripling of Collections: Fieldmaster.ai's targeted approach and automation led to a threefold increase in collections, enhancing the company's financial performance.
2. 90% Reduction in Back-Office Labor: Automating processes across multiple task categories resulted in a 90% reduction in back-office labor, freeing up resources for value-added tasks.
3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Automation of touchpoints and improved communication through automated messages increased customer satisfaction for both the utility principal and the end customers.
4. Elimination of Penalties: Compliance with legal and contractual requirements, such as timely reconnections, prevented penalties for non-conformity.
5. Agile Adaptation to Market Conditions: Fieldmaster.ai's intelligence capabilities allowed the company to quickly adapt to market conditions, identify inefficiencies, and streamline processes, making the company more agile and responsive.

Conclusion

The implementation of Fieldmaster.ai had a transformative impact on the company's operations, resulting in increased collections, reduced labor costs, enhanced customer satisfaction, and improved compliance.

The tailored modules and features provided a comprehensive solution to their challenges, offering automation, intelligent task assignment, and sophisticated field service management tools.

Fieldmaster.ai's customization, adaptability, and ongoing upgrades ensure that it aligns with the evolving needs of businesses. The company's success story demonstrates the transformative potential of Fieldmaster.ai in enhancing productivity, increasing revenue, and elevating customer satisfaction while reducing back-office labor and eliminating penalties.

We invite you (businesses in the field services space) to consider what Fieldmaster.ai could do for you. Harness the power of automation, intelligence, and optimized workforce management to achieve exceptional results.

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Additional Information

Fieldmaster.ai distinguishes itself by offering free customization throughout the contract period, recognizing that each business is unique and requires a tailored solution. This commitment to customization ensures that the system evolves with your business, supporting continuous optimization of field operations.