Field Service Service Business

IoT and Data Security: 5 Things You Need to Know to Reduce Financial Risk for Your Field Service Organization

Technology is advancing every day and people are attracted to smart trends. People love the convenience and reliability smart innovations bring to the table. IoT is a state of the art technology which allows you to have a remote access point. IoT is being to develop elegant user experiences like smart houses. In a smart house, everything is automated and fine-tuned to your tastes and preference. With so much data connected together arise concerns for data security.

1. Clearly define Personal Data

Personal data is any information about any living person. Such as credit card number, Social Security Number, driving license details, phone numbers, bank account numbers, and birthday, etc. Personal data even includes a person’s Wi-Fi router ID and password, IP address and GPS coordinates.

2. Identify the touch points for Personal Data

The next step is to identify which service applications and operations interact with personal data. While determining this, it is very important to include the workflows of third-party coordinators and your industry partners.

Field Service organizations have to interact with a lot of personal data of their customers. This includes sales information like billing details, emails, credit card numbers, and warranty claim records.

Some of the third party or your organizational constituents who will interact with personal data include inventory management software, contractors, engaging employees, and the scheduling database. 

3. Implementation of monitoring and control mechanisms

Every company needs to show evidence compliance according to the General Data Protection Regulation act. Many field service organizations have privacy policies. But these policies on their own aren’t capable of establishing evidence for compliance. Field service organizations need to use compliance standards for identifying data security flaws. These flaws should then be addressed by initiating Key Performance Indicators which could be used for process structuring.

4. Spread awareness among customers and employees

Ensuring data security will get more difficult as more aspects of our lives become dependent on machine learning and global networks. With so many possible vulnerabilities it should be the prime focus of every stakeholder to educate themselves and others. Your employees must clearly understand the importance of customer data and possible consequences if there is mishandling on their part.

You must make sure that your industry partners and third-party contractors are well aware of possible vulnerabilities and risks. They must show transparency by agreeing to set up a compliance initiative of their own which would aim towards defined Key Performance Indicators.

You must ensure that your customers are well aware of their rights regarding their digital privacy. A field service organization is responsible for ensuring that its customers are aware of the alternatives and choose wisely between them.

5. Get FSM Software

Ensuring great data security and standard compliance can be a demanding task for field service organizations with limited technological capabilities and funds. For making this task easier you should consider investing in a Field Service Management (FSM) software. The software is powered by artificial intelligence and promises improved connectivity and data security. Choosing this option would save you from investing a lot into IT infrastructure. Using an FSM software will improve the workflow of your service management and it will enhance your customer service. 

ServiceWorks is the best FSM software available in the market with all the features you will need including Automated Scheduling, Smart Rout Optimization, Job Estimation, Job Checklist, Expense tracking and more. Sign up for FREE TRIAL here.

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