Salesforce's IoT Insights platform is now available as part of its Field Service Lightning, allowing businesses to gain a better understanding of the IoT devices operating with their systems.
The addition of IoT Insights means workers out in the field are able to identify and diagnose problems with equipment remotely using the Field Service mobile app, allowing them to quickly isolate a problem and deploy the right engineer to fix any issues.
The new integration will now mean that engineers can access far more detailed information on the devices being used by the company on the edge of their network. Specifically, workers can now identify when a device is going to fail and how to fix the issue ahead of time, so that they arrive at a site equipped with the tools they need.
Because all this data is kept within Salesforce, businesses can stay on top of all the admin associated with field workers and operations. The tool features automated work order processes that are triggered by signals coming from the IoT devices, essentially cutting down the amount of admin work required to support repairs.
For example, as soon as a device starts malfunctioning, the system can autonomously identify what's wrong and deploy an engineer, rather than the case having to go through a call centre.
"IoT-enabled products give organizations an opportunity to take a proactive approach to customer service, and the potential is limitless, " Paolo Bergamo, SVP and GM, Salesforce Field Service Lightning said.
"Examples include smart homes that notify service teams when an oven or air conditioning unit is about to fail, so they can fix the issue before the machine breaks; or industrial-scale machines that automatically send performance signals to field technicians in advance of routine maintenance. The promise is a world with zero down-time where everything just works."
Gartner predicts that there may be as many as 20 billion connected devices across the globe by 2020.
In May the company announced it was extending its data centre footprint in the UK with the opening of its second facility, one that runs entirely on renewable energy.
