Trimble debuts cloud, dev tools for mobile field management
Connecting state and local government leaders
In related announcements, Trimble introduced a cloud-based platform for field service management, mobile workforce productivity and scheduling tools and a development environment to improve field business processes.
GPS technology pioneer Trimble Inc. introduced a set of cloud and mobile technologies designed to make field and mobile workers in government and industry more productive.
In a set of related announcements, the company introduced Trimble Horizon, a cloud-based platform for its field service management suite of services; Trimble Work Management, enhancements to its cloud-based system designed to improve mobile workforce productivity with new scheduling tools, mobile apps and performance analytics; and FSM Connect, a development environment, including web services and APIs to be used to improve field services business processes.
Trimble Horizon gives the company’s customers, including government agencies, an “extensible, flexible platform” that enables organizations to drive an agile, dynamic field service operation, the company said.
The cloud platform will support a number of new field service tools Trimble also announced, including a set of enhancements to Trimble Work Management, a cloud-based solution that improves mobile workforce productivity through scheduling tools, mobile apps and performance analytics. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping.
New applications in the Work Management suite include those giving dispatchers the ability to optimize routes for a day, week or even months in advance, as well as the ability to fix customer-agreed upon appointment windows into a schedule to ensure all commitments are met.
The system will give an organization the ability to plan maintenance work around jobs in the same area in order to minimize travel. Trimble is also offering a new mobile app, called FieldMaster Technician, which allows mobile workers to receive tasks and capture job information on the go.
"For any organization that operates a mobile workforce there are multiple businesses challenges to manage,” said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble's Field Service Management Division, in announcing the new features.
“From scheduling and dispatching work and tracking its progress throughout the day to empowering workers in the field for resolving issues – it is all about ensuring that service commitments are met."
In addition to the new Work Management features, Trimble announced the launch of Trimble Field Service Management (FSM) Connect, a development environment composed of web services and APIs that can be used to improve field-services by enabling data to be used and shared across different systems.
FSM Connect allows users to feed integrated data into business analytics and reporting systems to make informed decisions about field work that can also drive productivity. Trimble said FSM Connect also decreases manual data entry by automatically sending data to other applications and increases business efficiency by centralizing and streamlining data views.
"The amount of information a field service organization needs to operate successfully can be daunting, and one of the biggest challenges it faces is the lack of integrated data to provide a consolidated view of their processes. With FSM Connect, we can enable them to solve this challenge," Cameron said.
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