With a fully omni channel experience that allows administrators
to control everything from creating new workflow to designing
new screens for mobile and web , Airtel Work gives the opera-
tor real-time visibility of its operations, while enabling manag-
ers to stay connected with their sta in the field and optimise
the use of resources. It can be configured to automatically
assign field service agents to tasks based on their proximity
to customers and their skill-sets using various algorithms and
rules, without any manual intervention.
This has resulted is cutting down the time required for main-
tenance and repair tasks from days to hours, according to
Airtel. It also means that cost leakages get plugged but more
importantly a much faster resolution mechanism has led to a
significant improvement in customer experience.
For example, Airtel is using Airtel Work to ensure that all the
active equipment necessary for the installation or repair of a
mobile network site is delivered from the warehouse to the site
or vice-versa. Integrated with Airtel’s enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system, Airtel Work can be used to place
Making Field Operations Nimbler and More Ecient with
Digital Technologies
TRANSFORMATIVE IoT
BEYOND CONNECTIVITY
Internet of thIngs Case study
GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
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Airtel’s workforce mAnAgement ApplicAtion hAs helped its field stAff Boost
prodUctiVitY which hAs led to improVed cUstomer eXperience
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), which ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally, has been able
to boost the performance of its field sta through the “Airtel Work” app - its workforce management
application. Developed in-house by Airtel’s X-Labs engineering team as part of the company’s digital
transformation journey, Airtel Work app enables Airtel’s field sta and contractors to do their daily jobs
much faster and more eciently by leveraging real-time information.
GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
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GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
“a move order” to authorise the movement of inventory from a
warehouse. The engineers can then use the app to manage the
end-to-end delivery process and generate a Challan Delivery
document, which is a legal requirement in India.
Moreover, all of Airtel’s supply vehicles now use the Airtel Work
app to support the delivery of materials. The app captures the
latitude and longtitude of the driver’s mobile device to show
their live location, and enables them to log status information,
such as a breakdown, arrival onsite, and the completion of a
delivery. The app’s geo-fencing capabilities can also ensure a
field service engineer is working in the correct location and can
be used to support address verification, site deployment, and
material delivery processes.
To help Airtel manage its human resources, all field sta are
required to log their attendance in Airtel Work by taking a
“selfie” photograph on their phone’s camera (a personal head-
shot). During the logging of this photograph, the system is able
to capture other relevant information, along with the user’s
location.
SCALING AIRTEL WORK ACROSS
AIRTEL’S OPERATIONS
Airtel has integrated Airtel Work with its lead management
system, its order entry system, its order manager system
and its customer relationship management system, as well
as its ERP software. As a result, Airtel Work can enable Airtel
executives to see all prospective business customers (and their
profile information) within a radius of 5km on a map. This data
can be filtered down using various criteria.
Designed to manage any resources being used beyond the
company’s premises, the Airtel Work application is now
employed across many of Airtel’s lines of business, such as DTH
(direct-to-home), Telemedia (Landline & Broadband), Network,
Mobility, Enterprise Business, Consumer Business and Supply
Chain Management. Airtel says Airtel Work’s scalable archi-
tecture means field service engineers across the group can
now use a single app to complete a wide range of processes
and tasks, such as attendance & rostering, lead management,
acquisition, service request, installation, collections and
material tracking.
Prior to the implementation of Airtel Work, many field sta
were eectively working oine, and using SMS messages to
update Airtel’s managers and administrators. As a result, the
operator (and its customers) had no visibility of the status
of a particular task until the field service engineer
reported back.
Before the adoption of the Airtel Work app, once the engineer
had closed the task, a back oce team would call the customer
to confirm the task had successfully been completed by the
engineer. This process was required to ensure customer
satisfaction. With Airtel Work, Airtel has introduced a “Happy
Code”, which is automatically sent to the customer asking
whether they are satisfied with the quality of the engineer’s
work. The result is shared with the engineer prior to the closure
of the job.
GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
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Since it started using Airtel Work in August 2015,
Airtel has managed to bring down the
number of customer calls to its call center
by 50%
, a clear indicator of imprived customer
satisfaction. The app has also removed the need for
Airtel to employ dispatchers (back-oce support
executives), whose job it was to assign tickets to
engineers on the basis of available capacity. Airtel
estimates that the Airtel Work platform has saved
it US$181 million a year in stang costs. It plans to
make Airtel Work available to its enterprise customers
before the end of 2020.
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators
worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly
400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, includ-
ing handset and device makers, software companies,
equipment providers and internet companies, as well as
organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also
produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in
Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile
360 Series of regional conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate
website at www.gsma.com.
Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
About the GSMA Beyond Connectivity campaign
Delivering seamless IoT connectivity has been a crucial
element in helping operators to launch new services such as
low power wide area (LPWA) networks, using NB-IoT and
LTE-M technologies and create added value and sustainable
growth. Now leading IoT operators are building on this and
their reputation as trusted industry partners by delivering
value added services beyond connectivity.
These end-to-end solutions include services across big
data, machine learning, analytics, edge computing and
distributed ledger technologies. They are delivering
substantial benefits to customers such as increased produc-
tivity, reduced costs and automated business processes as
well as driving innovative new products and services, new
lines of business and new business models.
Services beyond connectivity are transforming businesses
and industries.
www.gsma.com/BeyondConnectivity
About Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”) is a leading global telecom-
munications company with operations in 18 countries across
Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the
company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers
globally in terms of subscribers.
In India, the company’s product oerings include 2G, 3G
and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line
services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise
services including national & international long distance
services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it oers
2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce.
Bharti Airtel had over 418 million customers across its
operations at the end of December 2019.
To know more please visit www.airtel.com
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GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
GSMA Internet of Things Case Study - Tracking assets to deliver cost savings and customer experience improvements
