Automation and AI in Field Services: Do (Almost) Everything Better

Artificial intelligence (AI) is generating a new phase of automation, changing the way businesses operate by optimising people management, processes and decision-making.

AI has the potential to imitate the human brain, learning and solving problems that would normally require human intelligence. These capabilities give AI technology huge potential across many different sectors—including field services. 

Investments in AI technologies are predicted to grow by a staggering 300% annually. In a time of such rapid change—and with everyone from Quickbooks to Xero and Salesforce getting on board—it can be easy to feel left behind, overwhelmed by providers, or uneasy about handing over your business to machines.

Why automation and AI for field services?

As field services move away from the break-fix model towards a proactive and predictive model, cutting-edge technologies such as automation and AI are transforming the industry by ensuring compliance and reducing risk while providing more visibility, efficiency, and profitability.

Intelligent, predictive systems powered by AI can automate those manual, time-consuming tasks like scheduling, payroll and issue resolution. They can optimise resource management, empower field teams through real-time communication and digital documentation, and improve customer service with transparent and predictive service.

That’s how automation and AI give field service businesses the ability to do (almost) everything better.

As Alloc8 CEO, George Khreish looks forward to an exciting future. “This kind of technology is allowing our customers to optimise every aspect of their delivery. AI represents the next step in truly leveraging the value of the data available to us.”

Here’s how to do (almost) everything better with automation and AI:

1. Reduce errors

In field services, there’s little room for error. It can delay projects, skyrocket margins and even risk a worker’s life.

Automation and AI reduce the scope for human error, optimising your workflows to ensure compliance—and help you sleep better at night. By comparing real-time data against historical trends, AI technology can even highlight potential problems before they happen—helping you increase uptime, avoid costly mistakes and revolutionise your customer experiences to win more work—and better work.

This isn’t just future-thinking. At Alloc8 we’re building these AI algorithms into our turnkey solution, “so you get the benefits right out-of-the-box, without having to call in specialists or invest in costly upgrades later on” says George Khreish.

Alloc8’s working on event-driven architecture as a case in point. It will set invoices, pay runs and other tasks as events. You’ll store and identify the order in which these events happen—then undo and replay them. So you’ll intelligently unwind any mistakes while preserving the dataset integrity—like a giant, intelligent, compliant CTRL + Z to undo.

2. Streamline operations

Coordinating the complex operations of your field teams so you’ve got the right people, paid right, for every single job, is the heart of the challenge for any field service business—creating a competitive advantage when done well.

From scheduling and timesheets to invoicing and reporting, automation empowers you to coordinate and execute quickly and effectively—every step of the way. While some software companies are starting to offer their own digital timesheets and scheduling functionality, they’re missing the nuance, complexity, and industry knowledge needed for field service success.

All Alloc8 features are designed to empower field service management, finance teams and field workers to do their job more effectively. We automate the kind of granular information—such as distance to work, fatigue lockouts, qualifications and awards—needed to make a meaningful impact on the running of your business.

AI takes tasks like scheduling go even further. Customisable with your preferred and non-preferred contacts, Alloc8’s AI leverages learned knowledge and trend analysis to make recommendations. So when you’re scheduling that next job, we’ll surface the best match for the task. AI helps you learn from every action and outcome with real-time insights that speed up operations, improve your service and cut operating costs.

3. Customer service excellence

Your customers need stability and reliability in their businesses. They want visibility over their operations and actionable insights to help grow their business in the future.

Alloc8 offers customers easy access to mission-critical data—from job details and site records to worker information and timesheets—all in real-time. No more wasting time playing phone tag with the back office. With real-time information available on-the-fly, your customers have the data and visibility they need to make better decisions.

Add AI to the equation and those decisions become superpowered.

Being able to capture, analyse and extract insights from data is the real key to the modernisation of field service businesses. In the near future, Alloc8’s AI will leverage machine learning to assimilate data from daily operations to make predictions and optimise future decisions and outcomes—for better-informed, more satisfied customers.

4. Future-proof your business

To spreadsheet less and scale more, automation is key. Free from manual processes, emails and paperwork, automation gives you more time to work on your business, rather than in it.

When choosing a provider, it’s important to use a platform built on multi-tenant architecture. It allows exponentially more use from a single hardware or software platform, enabling high levels of scalability. A rarity in the market, Alloc8 is 80% multi-tenant and ready to grow alongside you.

5. Supercharge your field operations with automation and AI

Imagine an AI-driven platform that’s continually learning and looking for ways to optimise processes. Or dynamic workflows that are triggered automatically by real-time data and historical trends.

That’show Alloc8 keeps you ahead of the curve with intelligent automation—far beyond scheduling and accounting. 

Decades of industry expertise and innovation built our next-generation field service software. From payroll to your resource management, we’ve got you covered with AI-powered automation.

The future looks exciting. Ready to transform your operations through automation and AI? Book a demo here