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The 2023 SERVICE 1 Summer Release
The focus of Field Service is on the customer’s site. For the Summer Release, we have once again taken a close look and optimized functions that make a real difference in day-to-day field service.
However, field service is also increasingly characterized by tasks that have to be completed by service technicians in addition to on-site assignments. That’s why we have automated and simplified some activities that are always the same or similar.
This not only reduces frustration among the technicians, they also have more capacity for other tasks. This release also makes work a little more convenient for employees in the back office.
With Summer Release 2023, updates for customer products will be easier and the display on end devices will be clearer. We have also taken a close look at the field service operations themselves, as well as their preparation and follow-up, and made them even better.
Join us in welcoming the new smart features of SERVICE 1!
Highlights of the Summer Release
or this release, we have again optimized some of SERVICE 1’s features to make field service even more convenient and efficient. Some improvements are smaller, others bigger – but all of them make a significant difference in the day-to-day work of employees in service organizations.
Thanks to automated software and hardware updates, it will be much easier in the future for service organizations to keep customer products up to date in a timely manner and virtually incidentally. This ensures smooth processes and creates capacities for other activities.
With the introduction of SERVICE 1 Mobile some time ago, we already optimized the use of numerous functions via cell phone and tablet. From now on, SERVICE 1 Mobile can also be used on larger screens of desktop computers and laptops. An optimized user experience and useful features such as the split view function and a quick action bar make documentation easier and significantly increase overall efficiency.
In addition, the creation and customization of individual lists has been improved. The user-friendly drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create lists for different scenarios. Technicians are supported with clear structures and step-by-step instructions for each application.

All relevant systems always up-to-date
Today, companies increasingly have rented software and hardware in addition to their own. Regardless of ownership, regular updates are important for all systems, and they are also mandatory for leased systems. Service organizations that perform these updates for their customers must keep track of the type and number of devices and, of course, the due date of the update at all times.
These can be product recalls initiated by quality management as well as product upgrades that provide new features and services. Especially in larger companies, hundreds of the customer’s products may be affected. For service organizations, this means an enormous administrative effort that has to be managed in addition to the usual maintenance and repairs.
From now on, these upgrades can be automated with SERVICE 1, making them much easier to handle than before. To do this, the update is first stored in SERVICE 1 – including status, due date and a list of materials that the service technician may need. All information can be conveniently uploaded to SERVICE 1 via an interface. The corresponding orders can be created as a related batch. The status of the update can be viewed transparently at any time via the dashboard. And for potential problem cases, automated processes can be configured in advance to successfully complete the update.
With SERVICE 1, service organizations will be able to manage updates of customer devices easily and conveniently in the future. This reduces the administrative effort enormously and allows service technicians to concentrate on other activities.

Use SERVICE 1 on the desktop too
Today, service technicians are all-round service providers. When on site, they have to respond to all requirements in a customer-oriented, fast and competent manner. An essential part of the tasks is the complete documentation of the assignment. This is crucial for all subsequent processes, including material bookings. Until now, service technicians have been able to call up the information stored on the customer via the mobile service app on their tablet or smartphone. This is practical in principle, but not always clear due to the size of the screen.
With Summer Release 2023, we are introducing desktop support, which will significantly simplify documentation. This means that all relevant information from the Mobile Service App can also be displayed on larger screens. The user experience (UX) has been optimized so that operation is optimal on all end devices. Care was taken to ensure that all elements can be scaled with high responsiveness. The split-view function also enables the display of multiple independent areas that can interact with each other. And the previous floating action button has been replaced with a quick action bar that makes much better use of the wider screen.
The new desktop support gives technicians clear access to all the information they need to get on site. This allows him to navigate through all processes in a more targeted manner in less time, which improves the user experience and, not least, significantly increases overall efficiency.

Custom checklists made easy
Checklists are an indispensable tool for standardizing processes and products in service organizations while providing technicians with structured information. Well designed, they are an excellent orientation aid when used on site.
However, the larger the company, the more complex checklist management becomes. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the lists previously had to be laboriously programmed by hand. On the other hand, companies often have hundreds of different products and services in their portfolio. Keeping track of existing lists at all times, creating more for new products and defining the context in which they are to be used is a real challenge.
The new checklist framework from SERVICE 1 now simplifies the creation of checklists with clever functions. Using the drag & drop editor, existing lists can be quickly and easily modified or new ones created. Predefined modules such as checkboxes and free text entries can be easily arranged individually. It is also possible to save previous versions and thus track the history. All lists can be filtered by context or job type. In this way, a technician is only ever shown the lists that are relevant to the job type in question. These contain all the necessary data and, if required, guide the user step by step through the process. Newly created lists can be made available to the technician within a few minutes and support him in carrying out his job. This means that even technicians with little experience can offer their customers a high-quality repair and maintenance service. And experienced service technicians benefit from the new convenient handling.

Create contracts simply and quickly
Selling service contracts is an important mainstay for many B2B companies. However, the design of service contracts is a complex matter. Many issues depend on each other and can only be assessed in their entirety. And the more contract options and terms a service organization has in its portfolio, the more complex it becomes to keep track of all options at all times. For contact center agents, it is therefore sometimes difficult to offer a customer the contract that is best for them.
With Summer Release 2023, we have significantly simplified contract design in SERVICE 1. The handy wizard intelligently guides through the entire process with a well-designed UX. The contact center agent can simply pick out the appropriate devices and then select and assign different contract terms. The terms suggested by the feature are automatically adjusted to the underlying device. The contract price can be viewed transparently throughout the process.
SERVICE 1 thus makes contract creation a fast and compact process that can be used to create service contracts in the shortest possible time.

Optimized Skill Matrix for precise order placement
The complexity of technical products is constantly increasing and with it the demands on service technicians. Customers need service technicians with very specific qualifications for certain orders. When planning capacity, dispatchers in the back office have to bring together precisely these (service technician) skills and (customer) requirements. If this does not succeed, another on-site assignment may become necessary. In the worst case, this can even lead to legal or safety issues.
With the Summer Release of SERVICE 1, we have optimized the Skill Matrix so that technicians and customer requirements match right from the start. With just a few configuration parameters, even complex scenarios can now be described quickly and intuitively. This reduces the administration effort enormously and makes resource planning much more efficient.

Templates for convenient and quick debriefing
A not inconsiderable proportion of all on-site assignments involve the same or a similar problem, such as the replacement of a specific component. Nevertheless, up to now, every call-out had to be documented from scratch. This is because the careful follow-up of service calls is crucial for follow-up orders, including material bookings. Documentation is therefore enormously time-consuming and takes up a large proportion of service technicians’ working time. On the one hand, this leads to dissatisfaction among technicians and, on the other, is highly inefficient for the entire service organization.
From now on, service technicians can define their own post-processing lists in addition to the templates stored in the backend. To do this, he simply selects a template in which the standard work is already stored. Here, he only has to enter the individually performed work. For quick identification of the purpose or content, the name and description can be freely selected and changed again. Material confirmations can also be entered here. All templates can be easily applied to an order – this significantly reduces the documentation effort.