5 Wearable Apps to Equip Technicians in the Field

App developers meet the demand for increased wearable functionality as smart watches, glasses, and other wearable devices take off.

Bracelets that monitor your heart rate, contacts with night vision capabilities, watches that give you e-mail notifications, glasses that direct you to your destination- what do all of these things have in common? As you might have already guessed, the common factor among all of these devices is that they are a part of one of the most exciting trends to reach the digital age: wearable technology.

As wearable technology continues to become more popular, wearable app developers are rushing to fill the void. According to a recent prediction from research firm, Gartner, “50% of all app interactions will come from wearable devices by 2017 partly because of the way wearables work.”

So what does this mean for your field service organization?

With the applications available on devices such as Google Glass and smartwatches, field technicians are able to approach their jobs in new ways. Apps for these wearable devices allow field techs access to important information completely hands free and right before their eyes. These applications also help technicians diagnose and fix problems faster and easier without having to bring more technicians to remote job sites.

Wearable Apps for the Field

• Mini Gallery:The Mini Gallery for Samsung’s Galaxy Gear allows your technicians to gain wrist-access to all their photos taken on the worksite from their smartphones. With one tap, your techs can access all of their photo folders, which are connected through the cloud to their smartphones.
  
  For example, say your tech is inspecting a piece of previously damaged equipment. With the Mini Gallery, he/she can quickly reference photos taken of the damaged parts and ensure that they are now changed and functioning correctly.
• Smartwatch GPS Tools: This application provides your field technicians with fully loaded GPS tracking on their Sony Smartwatch. With this app, techs can access Google Maps, pinpoint the exact location of other technicians, and track measurements such as altitude, speed, and bearing. The app has three modes (widget, board, and map), and each are completely customizable.
• INRIX: The INRIX traffic application for Google Glass offers the latest traffic updates when techs are en route to a job site. The app notifies them of any traffic congestion or accidents that would disrupt their route. If there are any delays they are given an option to reroute them to their destination.
  
  The app lets techs snap pictures of traffic congestion and share it with other technicians traveling in the same direction. It can also send ETAs to the operators of their work site, other technicians, and customers. With all the time techs save by using INRIX, they are able to use the extra time to work longer and increase efficiency.
• Flashlight for Smartwatch: This application for your Android Smartwatch is the brightest full screen light available while also taking up a small portion of memory on your device. A flashlight app like this could be beneficial for field techs forced to work in small dark crevasses so they could get a better view of what they are working on without tying up their hands.
• Futura Weather:The Futura Weather app for the Pebble Smartwatch can display location-based information about the weather conditions in your field techs’ areas. This weather app is especially useful for field techs working on outdoor job sites. It can also be used to predict travel conditions so field techs can be prepared for poor driving conditions caused by inclement weather like rain, snow, fog, etc.

What to Expect in the Future

As technology continues to advance, the sky is the limit to what the future technology advancements have in store. Capabilities that were once considered impossible or futuristic are now possible, and what better example than wearable technology.

So what is the next step for wearable trends in field service?

This might sounds a bit like something out of a Star Wars movie, but holograms in field service could mean revolutionary advances in training and efficiency on the job as well as preparing for and getting to the work site. With the combination of a smartwatch and Leap Motion technology, a 3-D holographic image can appear right before your eyes.

For example, let’s say your field tech wants to navigate the best route to his job site. With a quick tap to Google Maps on his smartwatch, a 3-D holographic image would appear with the best suggested route for him to take. He could then scroll through his options and click the best one.

Technicians could also use this technology to reference the correct parts a machine might need or produce 3-D instructions for how to change that part.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is also a major driver in the future of wearable technology. The idea behind the Internet of Things is that all devices that are capable of internet connection should be connected. Wearables would allow field service organizations to connect all devices and equipment while remaining completely hands free. For example, techs could tap their smartwatches to gain instant insight into a customer’s service history without having to reach for their smartphones.

Your Next Move

While these high-tech solutions make take some time to get used to, companies that are able to adapt to these cutting edge devices will be able to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

And let’s be real, wouldn’t it be cool to project someone via hologram onto your jobsite to walk you through a problem? We think so.

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