Community Leading With Technology: My Perspective On The Future Of Installation And Repair Michele Pollard GonzalezAugust 13, 2024 Image from Bigstock

As someone who has worked in the field of installation and repair for 10 years, I’m fascinated by what the future holds. My expertise is in telecommunications but many of the concepts apply to installation and repair companies in general.

Everyone is affected by installation and repair services, whether it’s your cable service, home security system, the power lines outside of your house, your HVAC company, or your solar installation company, to name a few. The list is extensive!

So, what does the future hold for the world of installation and repair? Let’s start with customers who don’t want their service (any service!) to go down and if it does go down, they want an immediate fix.

Customer needs will dictate the future of installation and repair. There is a huge opportunity to use technology to repair issues at customer locations, either remotely or in person, before a problem manifests itself. Already automation is being used in telecommunications to predict failures and resolve them proactively. Gone are the days when a technician must search for a network failure on site. The technology exists to point him/her to the exact location of the failure, thereby speeding up the time to repair. Some industries are even using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help technicians troubleshoot in real time on location.

And what about the contact center? The potential for automation is huge in this space whether it assists with troubleshooting failures remotely to avoid sending a technician to the customer’s location, using robotics to complete routine tasks, having bots answer simple, routine questions, or using ML to determine the next best action in solution selling. Humans in the call center now have the capacity to work on complex customer issues, leaving automation to handle simple, routine questions. Finally, there’s the potential to offer a seamless customer journey across multiple channels.

So, it’s reasonable to ask about the role of humans in the future of installation and repair. Research shows that customers still want that human connection. It’s therefore important to ensure that employee connections with customers, when they occur, are engaging and informative. The industry needs to hire employees who have excellent people skills and are willing to engage with customers as they resolve issues. They also need to plan to coach more tenured employees on how to engage with customers. Nothing has changed: hire for attitude and train for skills. Coaching skills are now paramount for leaders as they seek to help employees develop the behaviors that will deliver that outstanding customer experience.

There’s much talk about AI replacing humans. I look at it as AI complementing the work of humans. AI is good at identifying trends from large databases very quickly leading to proactive problem-solving and identifying the next best action, to name a few. It is important to note that AI can tell us what’s wrong but not necessarily how to fix it.

Automation represents the future but it’s not human. It does not have the creativity or empathy of humans, nor does it have the emotional intelligence or the same ability to reason as humans. The bottom line: automation cannot replace human intelligence, at least not yet.

What are your thoughts? More to come.

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There you are: sitting on the beach, covered in sunscreen, reading your favorite book, drinking your favorite drink under the cool shade of an umbrella. Life doesn't get any better than this. Suddenly, a door slams, a phone rings, a printer turns on. You jolt back into consciousness. You're at work, sitting in your cubicle, without even a hint of sunshine streaming in from outside.

When you're working a full-time job, finding time to enjoy the warm, bright summer weather can be a challenge. This is especially true for young professionals, as many of them are used to having summers off (or, at the very least, having a flexible summer schedule). But there's no need to feel trapped behind your cubicle walls. Go out and enjoy summer!

Here are a few tips for making the most of your summer while working full time.

1. Grab Some Foldable Chairs

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Keep a couple of foldable camping chairs at the office so you and a co-worker can catch some rays during lunch—whether it's in the park or the parking lot.

2. Keep A Beach Bag In Your Car​

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Keep a bag full of summer supplies for your favorite summer activities. Having a bag (or, in my case, a backseat) full of towels, sunscreen, and swimwear keeps you prepared for anything. Friends hitting up the pool after work? You're covered. Once the clock strikes five, you can head to your destination of choice immediately.

3. Plan An Office Outing

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Plan an office field trip to the beach, the park, or the pool. Just do something fun so your brain can recharge and refresh!

4. Organize Group Walks

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Get a bunch of co-workers together and go on regular walks around town during lunch. (Or you could suggest a quick jaunt over to the ice cream shop.) This is a great way to get some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.

5. Eat Lunch At The Park

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When you find yourself eating out, hit up places with a deck, porch, or patio of some sort. Obviously, eating out every day isn't really a feasible option for most of us, so look into alternative ideas as well. Pack a lunch and hit the park for your own little picnic.

6. Organize Office Sports

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Whether it's setting up an official office sports team or just hanging out with your colleagues a few times a week, playing sports is a great way to get out and enjoy the weather. Have a field nearby? Try setting up some slow-pitch softball games. Or see if you can get a basketball hoop for the office so you and a few co-workers can shoot some hoops at lunch.

7. Join A Professional Group

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During the summer, professional networking groups often have fun events like harbor cruises, pub crawls, and outdoor mixers. Find a professional group in your area and make networking fun this summer.

8. Have An Office BBQ

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Get your grill on! Talk to your boss about setting up an office BBQ. Ask everyone to contribute their favorite dish, side, or drink. Fire up the grill and relax! Hey, it's summer after all.

9. Wake Up Early

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Yes, yes, I know...waking up early is an incredibly painful and unbearable experience for some of us, but waking up even an hour earlier has its benefits—especially in the summer. Go for a morning run, putter around in the garden, or watch the sunrise with a loved one. Talk about starting the day off right!

10. Strategically Use Your Time Off

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Strategically use your vacation days around holidays. This way, you can make a potentially long weekend longer without having to use too much of your precious vacation time. Half days are also pretty awesome. It's amazing how much you can do with four extra hours! If you want an early weekend but don't want to burn up your vacation days too quickly, try taking a half day on a Friday instead of using a full day off.

11. Bike To Work

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If you're one of the lucky few who live within walking or biking distance of work, take advantage of it! Not only will you get plenty of fresh air, but you'll also save money on gas, which is always a plus!

There are plenty of easy ways to enjoy summer when you work a full-time job. So this summer, try out a few of these ideas and make the most of the sunshine and warm weather—while they're still around!

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