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The biggest technology event in the world is taking place today as the Consumer Electronics Show gets underway. 4,500 companies will be unveiling their newest innovations in Las Vegas, some will be weird and wonderful, robots, intelligent bathrooms and some will be functional, designed to improve our lives both at home and in work.

Developing technology that improves productivity and work life balance can only be a good thing, particularly as mobile working continues to grow in popularity. Technology, such as mobile workforce management, enables those who work away from the office by enabling instant access to information and removing time consuming paperwork, all through an intuitive application.

In this blog, we take a look at our three big predictions for mobile working in 2019 and some of the technology that will make it all possible.

 

  1. Productivity Tools

The first major prediction we have is that productivity tools and applications will continue to grow in popularity. There is an app for nearly every aspect of our lives, consumers can access their homes, pay bills, track sleep and make lists for everything.

But applications are becoming increasingly specialised, for those using the applications for work, they usually address one particular area of work, resulting in a mobile worker having to use many applications throughout their working day, not very efficient. The future will see improved integrations to help tackle this increase in productivity tools but also see the emergence of mobile working applications that can effectively combine these, like mobile workforce management solutions which combine these capabilities in one application accessible on any mobile device.

Mobile working and productivity with mobile device

  1. Machine Learning and AI

At the moment, both these may seem like buzzwords that we often hear but aren’t really sure how they affect us.  The future will see these technologies impact on mobile workforce management by enabling staff to be connected at all times, machine learning will monitor staff as they work, gathering data and using it to produce more efficient schedules and react to delays or issues in the field.

Machine learning and mobile working

AI will be able to resolve situations, for example, a mobile worker is delayed, the AI powered application will recognise this and send an alert to the office and the service user to notify them.

In our homes, AI will be able to monitor lighting and adjust TV picture settings, no more manual set ups. Digital assistants will continue to dominate and connect more devices, creating a seamless experience.

  1. 5G

The next level in high speed mobile networks is rumoured to be on its way, with all these new technologies and increased connectivity, there needs to be a network infrastructure to match. So, what does the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks have in store for us? To put it into context, it will mean you’ll be able to download a full HD movie in less than 10 seconds; but more importantly, it will also enable more things to be connected.

It will have lower latency (lag), an improvement for those mobile workers who need access to information or to complete forms on their devices, devices will sync so quickly that it will be undetectable. For those who work out in the field, this improvement can only be a good thing as it will support the mobile devices they use to record information and improve connectivity to the office, reducing lone worker risk and unlocking greater efficiencies.

5G will create greater capacity to cope with higher demand applications, which will improve mobile working capabilities, security and the ability to sync to the Cloud or back office systems.

5G empowering mobile working technology

 

These are the three of the big influences we predict will impact on mobile working, they represent an opportunity to develop the capabilities mobile workforce management has and continue to provide transformative benefits to field staff and organisations. Learn how mobile workforce management delivers increased capacity, reduces cost and provides greater consistency and compliance.

Totalmobile

Totalmobile is a Field Service Management (FSM) provider passionate about making work and the lives of mobile workers better. An established market leader with 375 staff across the UK and Ireland, Totalmobile supports over 1,000 organisations and 500,000 workers to transform the delivery of field services and experience an exceptional return on investment.