Mobile workers rely on their tools in challenging and often critical conditions. To help them take advantage of new technology, such as offline AI, Bluetooth Beacons, and mobile innovations, we’re launching resco.Labs.
As a trusted mobility provider, Resco’s priority is to help our partners and clients keep pace with the evolving business climate.
Our research and development is a key part of this mission. But not every idea can fit into a neat box of quarterly releases.
That’s why we’re rolling out resco.Labs. It is our space for innovation.
Our goal is clear. We want to imagine the future of mobile work and create new innovations with a real business and personal impact for the field.
We spoke with Andrew Lorraine, Resco’s CEO, Eduard Kesely, Head of Product, and Michal Magnusek, Digital Product Manager about:
- Why resco.Labs started experimenting with Bluetooth beacons
- Resco’s vision for AI-powered mobile work scenarios
- How can the Resco community take advantage of resco.Labs creations
A list of ideas
“Resco has always been agile and innovative. But recently we’ve traded agility for incremental product improvements. These include our Mobile CRM and our suite of products for the Microsoft platform,” explains Andrew Lorraine, Resco CEO.
The result? A standard, less adventurous way of innovating.
“Now we want to get back to our roots. The resco.Labs project embraces spontaneity and community. It does things a little bit differently,” Andrew explains.
And we have plenty of ideas. resco.Labs has a list of 30 different mobile work innovations. We also keep a standing call for new ideas from the entire Resco community.
As Andrew told us, there are a few distinct themes:
- Automation to make things better, faster, and smarter.
- Knowledge to capture and distribute know-how in better ways.
- Support for Resco apps on specialized hardware devices.
- Using mobile devices to the fullest.
“New capabilities are popping up. We want to enable our partners and customers to make use of them in meaningful ways,” Andrew adds.
Dual priorities: exploration and hands-on creation
We want to make resco.Labs inclusive. That’s why we will source new ideas for innovations in two ways. Internally, and from our global network of partners and mobile work enthusiasts. Everyone will have a chance to take part and champion their own ideas.
But, of course, working on dozens of ideas at once is impossible.
“There are no limits, but we need to stay focused and find the shortest path to deliver tangible creation. That’s priority #1 at the moment,” says Eduard Kesely, Resco’s Head of Product.
This is how the process will work according to Michal Magnusek, Digital Product Manager:
“We want to be agile and bootstrap the solutions. Then, we will present them to customers and partners to get instant feedback. It differs from our usual approach, where we define the scope, develop for up to two years, and then come to market.”
For this reason, resco.Labs zoomed in on three ideas to work on. And two of them are already underway.
1. Beacons will guide the way
The first piece of technology resco.Labs is playing around with is Resco Beacons.
These low-energy Bluetooth tags transmit signal to mobile devices. They are nifty, affordable, and easy to install. In fact, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck, as the Beacons can boost productivity in the field in several ways.
Resco Beacons can help you solve a bunch of common mobile work problems:
- Finding your way to the asset
- Speeding up the work by pre-filling in data in the mobile form
- Proving your field worker was there and actually did the work
- Doing 1, 2, and 3 offline and for less money
Resco Beacons can send details about the location and properties of any asset. They will help your workers navigate and speed up an inspection process when integrated with a mobile app.
“Some of our partners are already involved. If you can imagine Beacons working in your context, please get in touch,” adds Andrew Lorraine.
2. AI to help inform and eliminate repetitive tasks
The second idea that we’re developing involves the booming topic of artificial intelligence. To be more specific, it focuses on knowledge and natural language processing tools.
“We’re experimenting with using AI to automate field workers’ answers when they collect data. It would also be useful if it can provide them with instant insights. In such cases, AI will step in for them as their personal assistant,” explains Eduard Kesely.
We have already integrated ChatGPT into Resco. Read how it helps to automate complex reporting. And this is only the start.
3. More ideas to come
We will select the third idea from a list submitted and voted on by Resco’s employees. Then, we will develop all three concepts and use them as examples of how resco.Labs operates.
There will also be an open call to the internal community to fill two more spots for new ideas.
If you’d like to submit any concepts or innovations to resco.Labs, we would love to hear your suggestions. Please submit your ideas at our Product feedback site or contact your account manager.
There is a lot of innovation coming your way soon. Stay tuned.
Join the resco.Labs community and test the results for yourself at resco.NEXT
Are you interested in flexing your creative muscles and getting your hands on some of the first resco.Labs creations?
To see our first results, join us at resco.NEXT. It’s our annual conference for professionals in technology, digital transformation, and enterprise mobility.
This year’s edition will take place in Marbella, Spain, on October 24-25. Book your tickets now.
