Tech Tip #37: Managing multiple inspections in Power BI

If you’re working with multiple questionnaire templates in Power BI this tip’s for you. Here’s what you need to know:

Do you need a single table for all inspections?

Each template has unique lookups and relationships, making it difficult to consolidate them into a single table. While it might be tempting to keep everything in one massive table, this approach could lead to performance issues and unnecessary complexity. Instead, it’s best to create a dedicated table for each template.

Best practice approach

• Dedicated tables for each inspection: Since each template has a different structure, it’s best to create a specific table for each one rather than merging all inspections into a single massive table.
• Utilizing the right tables: Ensure you’re referencing the correct Dataverse tables. If you’re starting from scratch bear in mind that the newer resco_questionnaireanswers table stores responses, replacing resco_questionnaire that was primarily used before.
• Fixing JSON connection issues: If issues arise during JSON parsing, double-check your relationships and ensure GUIDs are correctly extracted. The Split Column command in Power BI can help separate GUIDs from lookup strings.

Key takeaways

• Each questionnaire template should have its own dedicated table for clarity and accuracy.
• Consider using resco_questionnaireanswers instead of resco_questionnaire for up-to-date data handling.
• Utilize Power BI’s Split Column feature to extract GUIDs and improve data relationships.

For further insights, check out the Resco Wiki’s deep dive on questionnaire visualization in Power BI.

Tech Tip #36: Preventing “Entity Not Loaded” errors with the ContainsData operator

Are you facing issues with rules in your system that trigger “Entity Not Loaded” errors? These errors often occur when a variable hasn’t been properly initialized before being used in your rules. A simple and effective way to avoid this issue is by using the ContainsData operator to check if a variable has been populated before proceeding with your rule’s logic.

How to Implement the ContainsData Check:

1. Identify the Variable: Determine which variable(s) in your rule might be causing the issue due to uninitialized data.
2. Use the ContainsData Operator: Before your rule tries to access or use a variable, include a check to see if the variable contains data. The basic logic structure is:
   • If: VariableName Contains Data
   • Then: Proceed with the rule actions.
3. Prevent Errors: By adding this conditional check, you prevent the rule from running into a scenario where it tries to use an empty or unassigned variable, thus avoiding the “Entity Not Loaded” error.
4. Test Thoroughly: After implementing these checks, test your rule across different scenarios to ensure that it behaves as expected and that no errors are triggered.

Pro Tip: It’s a good practice to apply this check to any rule where variable data might not be guaranteed to be present at runtime. This will help maintain the stability of your rules and ensure they execute without interruptions.

By integrating the ContainsData operator into your rule logic, you can safeguard your processes against common data-related errors, keeping your workflows smooth and reliable.

For more tips about using user-defined variables in the Rules editor, don’t forget to check this section in our Wiki!

Tech tip #35: Troubleshooting incorrect images in child repeater reports

If you’re having trouble displaying correct images when using a child repeater in your reports, don’t fret! Here’s how you can resolve issues where the same or an incorrect photo appears across multiple rows:

Steps by step:

• Add an annotation filter: Make sure you’ve applied a filter to the IMG:annotation field to accurately link images to their respective records. Without the filter, unrelated photos may appear in all rows.

• Use “Does Not Contain” operator: Instead of using “Does Not Equal” for filtering out subjects, use “Does Not Contain”. The latter ensures partial string matches are excluded, which is especially helpful when specific keywords are used in filenames.
• Switch to the filename field: If the unwanted images are appearing due to subject names being used for filtering, switch to the filename field instead.
• Replace OR with AND: If you’ve applied multiple filtering conditions using an OR statement, replace it with AND. This ensures only those images that match all criteria are shown.

Following these guidelines will help ensure that only the desired images are included in your child repeater report.

Tech tip #34: Stay updated with Resco Wiki changes using RSS/Atom feeds!

Keeping up with changes on the Resco Wiki is your best bet for staying informed of all our latest updates. However, whether it’s release notes, new features, or upcoming releases, it’s easy to get bogged down in any comprehensive list of recent changes.

Thankfully, tools like RSS and Atom feeds can make this whole process a lot easier – guaranteeing you receive only relevant information, delivered straight to your preferred feed reader.

Default wiki tools for change tracking:

• Recent changes

Located on the left menu, this tool displays all recent changes across every page in the wiki. It’s comprehensive but may be a little overwhelming if you’re only interested in specific topics.

• View history

Available at the top of each wiki page, this feature shows the edit history of that particular page, giving a detailed timeline of changes.

Simplify tracking with RSS and Atom feeds:

Following the recent changes or page histories manually can get exceedingly tedious. That’s where RSS and Atom feeds come to the rescue! 

• RSS feed example: The Resco Wiki has an RSS feed for every page. Here’s a sample RSS feed for tracking changes to the Release Notes page:

Release Notes RSS Feed

https://docs.resco.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Release_notes&action=history&feed=rss

If we wanted to instead follow the page on deprecations, we might adjust this link to read:

Deprecations RSS Feed

https://docs.resco.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Deprecations&action=history&feed=rss

• Atom feeds: On each history page, look for the “Atom” button (see screenshot). Clicking it will provide a personalized feed that you can follow in any Atom-compatible reader.

Additional tips and tools:

• More details are available on the Wikipedia Syndication page, which covers RSS/Atom feeds and watchlists. Be aware that when it comes to watchlists, these are only available for logged-in users and so are inaccessible to the general public.
• Readers: To optimize your tracking, consider popular feed readers like Feedly or Inoreader. These tools can help you organize feeds from various sources, including the Resco Wiki.

Pages worth following:

Make sure you follow pages like the general release notes, upcoming releases, deprecations and other key topics. This way, you’ll never miss an important update.

Tech tip #33: Disabling the CLEAR action in note attachments

When managing document actions within your application, it may sometimes be necessary to disable certain functionalities like the CLEAR action.

If you’ve tried disabling the delete rights in the configuration but the CLEAR action remains available, the solution involves adjusting the DocActions through the Note’s Form On Can Execute rule. Here’s how you can easily get this done.

Step-by-step guide:

• Edit the note form: Edit the app project in Woodford. Scroll down to the Annotation/Note entity and edit its form.
• Access the On Can Execute rule: Modify the ‘On Can Execute’ rule for the Note’s Form. This rule determines whether specific actions are permissible.
• Modify the rule: If the CLEAR action is still visible after removing delete rights, explicitly disable it by setting the On Can Execute rule to return false for the CLEAR action.

• Test the configuration: After applying these changes, test the document timeline to ensure that the CLEAR action no longer appears.

This configuration helps maintain control over document management by ensuring that users can only perform actions that are explicitly allowed.

For more detailed instructions on configuring document actions, check out our in-depth guide on the Command Editor in our Wiki!

Tech tip #32: Effortlessly display Power BI reports in Resco mobile app without hassles

Trying to integrate Power BI reports into your Resco mobile app but hitting a licensing roadblock?

By using the “Embed to website or portal” option, you can include public Power BI reports in your Mobile CRM or other Resco apps through simple iframe integration.

This method is great for sharing insights without the need for viewers to have a Power BI Pro or Premium license.

What’s the deal?

• Public or shared reports: This approach is designed for embedding publicly available Power BI reports or those shared within a controlled environment, such as an internal company portal.
• No Pro or Premium license required: Viewers can access and view the reports with just the Free license, which is available to any Microsoft account that has logged in to Power BI at least once.
• Simple and effective: While this method offers less in the way of customization, it’s incredibly straightforward and effective for deploying non-sensitive information across your organization.

The two-step process:

• In your Power BI report, go to File ->  Embed report -> Website or Portal and copy the link.
• In the application, add an iframe to a location from which you’d like to open the report. Insert the copied link and you are done. 

Key considerations:

• Security: Since this embedding option does not require viewer authentication, it’s best utilized for non-sensitive information. If you’re dealing with confidential data, ensure additional security measures are in place outside of Power BI to protect your information.
• Ease of deployment: If your goal is quick and easy deployment without compromising on sharing vital insights, this embedding method is the right choice for your organization.
• Administrator privileges required: The process of embedding reports into a website or portal, and subsequently into an iframe, must be performed by an administrator with a Power BI Pro or Premium license. This ensures that the reports being shared comply with Power BI’s licensing policies, even as they are made accessible to viewers without individual licenses.

For more information on Power BI in your Resco mobile applications and making the most out of your business intelligence tools, check out our documentation on the wiki.

Tech tip #31: Optimizing sync filters to reduce record cleanup delays

Encountering the dreaded “Many deletes in record cleanup” warning during synchronization can be a sign of inefficiency in your sync process. This will usually happen as a result of sync filters that aren’t properly configured, leading to the unnecessary download of records that are then deleted during the cleanup process. Here’s how you can tackle this issue and streamline your synchronization:

Review and Simplify Sync Filters: Start off by examining the sync filters for the entities that are causing delays. Simplifying these filters can prevent the system from downloading unnecessary records in the first place.

Ensure Consistency in Linked Entity Filters: When employing linked sync filters, such as connecting an account entity filter with a contact entity filter, it’s crucial to maintain consistent conditions across both filters to prevent discrepancies and unnecessary cleanup efforts.

Example: Imagine you manage a server with 1,000 accounts, 100 of which start with the letter ‘A’. Each of these ‘A’ accounts is linked to 10 specific contacts. You set your account sync filter to only include accounts starting with ‘A’. However, if your contact sync filter is configured to “get all” contacts without considering their linked account, you’ll end up with a mismatch.

This setup results in the system initially fetching all contacts, not just those tied to ‘A’ starting accounts. Consequently, a cleanup operation is needed to remove non-relevant contacts that don’t match the sync filters criteria, leading to unnecessary data handling.

To avoid this, ensure that the contact sync filter mirrors the account filter, for example, by setting it to only include contacts linked to accounts starting with ‘A’. This approach ensures data consistency from the outset, minimizing the need for cleanup and streamlining the sync process.

Monitor and Test Changes: Before rolling out changes to all users, test the updated sync filters and setup parameters with a small group. Monitor the synchronization performance closely to ensure that the changes are having the desired effect without causing additional strain on your server.

Use Diagnostic Tools: Utilize diagnostic logs and tools like the SyncStat Analyzer to gain insights into the sync process and identify areas for improvement. These tools can provide valuable information on how records are being handled during the sync process.

By taking these steps, you can significantly reduce the number of records being unnecessarily downloaded and deleted, leading to faster and more efficient synchronization. Remember, optimization is an ongoing process, so continue to monitor your system’s performance and change things up as needed.

For more detailed instructions and insights, don’t forget to consult our wiki and consider watching our online training sessions on synchronization optimization.

Tech tip #30: Navigating option set customizations in Resco Mobile CRM

In the world of mobile CRM, tailoring the user experience to fit specific business needs is essential. One common scenario involves customizing option sets – dropdown menus that present a predefined list of choices. These are used across various entities within the application, such as accounts, contacts, or custom entities designed to suit your business processes.  

On the backend, a large variety of statuses exist, and you most likely want to restrict mobile users to the use of only a specific subset. However, a lesser-known aspect of working with option sets in Resco Mobile CRM can lead to unexpected data changes if not handled with care. 

The Challenge: 

Imagine that an account’s relationship status needs to be categorized differently based on the project context within the same CRM system. You synchronize your mobile CRM app to reflect a specific relationship status for an account, say “Customer” in one context and “Consultant” in another. Upon switching contexts, you find that the account’s relationship status automatically adjusts to a new value without any manual input, potentially leading to confusion or data integrity issues. 

Under the Hood: 

This automatic adjustment is the result of the “Set Combo Items” function being triggered on form load, a feature designed to filter and potentially reset option set values based on predefined rules. While its primary intent is to streamline form customizations and ensure data consistency, it might inadvertently overwrite existing data if not configured carefully. 

Solution and Best Practices: 

• Understand Usage: It’s crucial to know that while the function is intended for filtering option set items, it can also reset values to a default or first alphabetical choice if the existing value doesn’t match the newly filtered set. 
• Implement Strategically: When leveraging the “Set Combo Items” rule, especially in forms associated with existing records, it’s essential to consider the impact on data already entered. If preserving existing data is crucial, developers must implement logic checks to prevent unintentional overwrites. 
• Test Thoroughly: Before deploying any changes involving option set customizations, conduct extensive testing across various scenarios and user roles. This ensures that the application behaves as expected and that data integrity is maintained across different project contexts. 
• Encourage Feedback:  get users to report any unexpected behaviors related to option set customizations. This feedback will prove invaluable in identifying and rectifying potential oversights in rule configurations. 

Conclusion: 

Option set customizations in Resco Mobile CRM offer powerful flexibility for tailoring application behavior to specific business needs. However, understanding and cautiously implementing features like the “Set Combo Items” function are critical to maintaining data integrity and ensuring a seamless user experience. 

If you’d like to learn more, don’t forget to check out our wiki! 

Tech tip #29: Reviving closed opportunities with ease

In the traditional sales process, we typically deal with standard entities like opportunities, leads, or orders, though the specifics will vary from one customer to another. It’s worth noting that Resco Mobile CRM, by default, doesn’t permit the reactivation of closed opportunities. If this functionality is critical for your operations, you’ll be pleased to learn that the solution is a lot simpler you’d think!

Solution:

• Identify the Issue: Users report the absence of the “Live” button on the form for closed opportunities, despite the command being active.
  
• Implement OnCanExecute Rule: The trick to solving this issue lies in configuring an OnCanExecute rule specifically for the “ChangeStatus” command. This adjustment allows the “Live” button to display correctly for closed opportunities, enabling them to be reactivated.

Takeaways:

• The Right Command: It’s crucial to use the correct command. A lot of the time you might find that it’s the “ChangeStatus” command, not “ChangeState”, that should be used to modify the status of closed opportunities.

• The Right Rule: On Can Execute rules control whether a command is displayed or hidden.

Additional insights:

• If you’d prefer to reactivate opportunities en masse, no worries! Just add the same command as a multi-select action.
• View Limitations: Although it’s not possible to hide buttons in views based on conditions (e.g., hiding the “Live” button for open opportunities), configuring OnCanExecute rules ensures commands are available under specific conditions, such as the opportunity being won.

By understanding and applying these tips, users can efficiently manage and reactivate closed opportunities, ensuring no sales potential is left untapped. Always remember to review command configurations and rules for optimal application performance!

Check out our Wiki for more detailed guides and tips on customizing your application’s behavior with OnCanExecute rules and other functionalities.

Tech tip #28: Create a gallery view for documents and images

Discover how to create a practical and appealing gallery view in just a few simple steps!

Here’s how:

• Set Up Columns: Start by configuring the columns in your view (Properties menu, under View). This foundational step allows you to organize and structure your content effectively.
  

• Customize Style: Create a new style based on the “ImageCellStyle”.
• Implement an “ImageQuery” within this new style. This is going to be crucial for fetching and displaying images in the gallery.

• Add an Image Cell: Once your style is ready, add an Image Cell to your view.
• Apply your newly created style to this cell. This will ensure that images are displayed according to your specifications.
• By following this procedure, you can create a gallery view that makes gaining an overview easy… and looks good doing it!

Tech tip #27: Streamlining Data Access with the “Not Older Than X Days” Operator

Have you ever found yourself sifting through a sea of outdated tasks, work orders, or bookings on your mobile app? Say goodbye to inefficiency with our latest feature: the “Not Older Than X Days” operator. This new addition to your toolkit allows you to easily filter and display only the most recent and relevant data, based on the date of record creation or change. This means you can now see tasks or work orders that are, for instance, no older than 10 days – ensuring that the information you access is always fresh and pertinent. 

How to Use This Feature: 

• Select a Record: Choose any record, like a Task, that contains a specific time-related field (like the start date). 
• Set Up the Sync Filter: Navigate to the sync filter and add a condition using the new operator. 
• Input Time Frame: Simply type in the number of days (e.g., 10 days) to filter records that are not older than the specified duration. 

Benefits: 

• Ease of Setup: Configuring this operator is extremely straightforward 
• Sync Optimization: Improve the efficiency of your app’s synchronization, ensuring faster and more relevant data retrieval. 
• Enhanced Productivity: By focusing on recent data, users can work more efficiently, enhancing their daily productivity. 

For more details and in-depth guidance, don’t forget to keep an eye on the wiki. This feature will be available and fully documented in the Winter 2024 release. 

Tech tip #26: Streamlining report creation from questionnaires

In the wake of our recent update, have you noticed a change in the process of generating reports from questionnaires? You’re not alone! To adapt, remember that while the automatic reports in the Questionnaire Designer are handy, they might not cover all of your needs. For those instances, turn to the Report Designer to craft custom reports with ease:

• Use the Designer for New Reports: The button for generating a report directly from the questionnaire has been retired. From now on you can initiate report creation in the Designer.
• Select the Right Entity: When creating a new report, set the Entity field to “resco_questionnaire”. This step is crucial as it enables the option to generate a report from a template.
• Choose from Templates: Select “From Template” and click on “Select Questionnaire Template”. Pick the questionnaire you want to use as a source for your report.
• Reusability and Efficiency: Once created, your report, based on the questionnaire template, will be saved in the Report Designer for future use. This new method not only simplifies the process but can also boost efficiency in handling reports.

Learn more on Resco Wiki.

Tech tip #25: Enhance your global reach with questionnaire localization

By localizing your questionnaires, you’ll bridge communication gaps and deliver a user-friendly experience to all field service technicians, regardless of language barriers. This enables you to provide tailored content in multiple languages, ensuring clarity and accuracy across diverse user bases.

Implementing Localization:

• In the Questionnaire Designer, click ‘Localization’ to handle multiple language versions.
• Add a new language by clicking ‘Add’, select your desired language, and confirm with ‘OK’. This will show all strings available for translation.
• Translate necessary strings for questionnaires, questions, and groups, including names, descriptions, labels, and options.
• Set the questionnaire to default to the app’s language or enable ‘Language Selection’ for user-specific language choice.
• Save your changes and test the localized questionnaire within the app to ensure all translations appear correctly.

Learn more on Resco Wiki.

Tech tip #24: Optimize client engagement with ‘Select Form’ rule

Use the ‘Select Form’ rule to distinguish between existing customers and potential customers, presenting a tailored form for each group. This smart customization helps to deliver focused user interfaces for data entry and retrieval.

By dynamically adjusting the form view you ensure a streamlined and relevant experience for users, enhancing their ability to maintain existing relationships and develop new ones.

Learn how to set it up on Resco Wiki.

Tech tip #23: Improving advanced sync setups

It’s time to optimize your synchronization for maximum efficiency. Here are two tips we think might save you time and effort in the future.Advanced sync setup modifications:Update your settings to adjust DownloadPageSize. Doing so can dramatically reduce your latency. Keep in mind, this will use more memory.

Pro Tip: Different entities can have different page sizes. For smaller records, you can afford to set a higher page size without worrying about memory.

Tweak NumDownloadThreads. More threads can help you speed up downloads.Remember, “small records” refer to those with minimal data—not just the number of columns or size of text columns. Also, attachments like activitymimeattachment.body and annotation.documentbody are not counted, as they usually contain larger data and are downloaded separately.

Check out the deep dive on Resco Wiki.

Tech tip #22: Rename [Clear] option in option set questions

You now have the ability to rename the default null option, labeled as [Clear], in your option set questions. This feature allows for more personalized and intuitive questionnaires.

To take advantage of this feature, please ensure the following:

• Update both the Questionnaire Designer and the mobile app to version 16.1 or later.
• Open your questionnaire template and select the top-level element. Set the Feature Version to “2”.
• Once these steps are completed, the label for the “not answered” option within the option set becomes editable, allowing for a tailored user experience.

Remember, customization can make your questionnaires more user-friendly and context-specific!

Explore more new features from the Fall 2023 Release on Resco Wiki.

Do you need further technical assistance?

You can reach out to our support team via our Partner support page, Resco Support Portal or search our Wiki.

Príspevok Managing multiple inspections in Power BI | Tech Tips archive zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Date: May 19–21, 2025  
Location: City of Valencia, Spain  
Conference venue: Valencia Conference Centre (May 20-21) 
Pre-conference day venue: Hotel Melia (May 19)

Recommended accommodation: Hotel Melia 

We’re very excited for the business apps community to come together and talk about the advancements and best practices in our industry.

We have chosen the vibrant seaside city of Valencia, Spain as the location for Resco Next. The city offers sunny beaches, breathtaking modern architecture, a historic city center worth exploring, and palm trees!

The conference will take place in the Valencia Conference Centre.

The schedule

Resco Next 2025 spans three days, running from Monday to Wednesday.

• Pre-conference day (May 19): Held at Hotel Melia, this day offers deep dives into technical and business topics, as well as consultations with Resco experts. The consultations require advance booking.
• Main conference days (May 20–21): Held at the Valencia Conference Centre, these two days feature sessions led by industry professionals, success stories from partners and customers, Microsoft MVPs, and Resco experts.

We have also found a charming venue for our evening reception, but we will keep that under wraps for now .

The venue

The two main conference days will take place in the Valencia Conference Centre, designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, who is closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture. Foster is also the designer of the Gherkin building in London.

The Valencia Conference Centre has won the World’s Best Convention Centre Award twice, so we’re excited to welcome you there.

How to get tickets to Resco Next? 

The tickets to Resco Next are free of charge — you won’t need to pay for your ticket or catering during the event. It is required to register prior to attending the conference.

The number of available spots is going to be limited, so we encourage you to register early when registrations open in January 2025. 

We will email you to inform you that registrations have been opened. The link to the registration form will also be posted on our website and social media channels.

Put a placeholder in your calendar

We hope to see you at Resco Next in May! You can add a Resco Next 2025 placeholder to your calendar. You can always email us at events@resco.net in case you have any questions. 

What is it like at Resco Next 2025?  

Watch the video from last year’s Resco Next in Vienna or the previous one from Marbella on our YouTube channel. We’ve also compiled the sessions from Vienna into a playlist on YouTube.

See you in Valencia!

Príspevok Save the date: Resco Next 2025 zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Every business around the globe aspires to deliver value to its customers. At the most basic level, this means meeting customer expectations. Does our product work? Is it reliable? Does it fulfill its purpose? 

But beyond these basics, the best businesses measure and deliver what their customers want across a wider range of needs. They ask themselves questions like: do our products help our customers achieve their larger objectives? Do our customers feel great when they use them? 

Recognizing what matters to the people we serve 

When I started at Resco, my understanding of value was as simple as could be. I owe a large part of my personal development to obtaining a broader, more meaningful understanding of value. 

I used to think value meant discovering the right price for Mobile CRM licenses. When I started my career on the Resco sales team, I thought that if we met the basic functional requirements of our customers, the only remaining priority had to be securing a win-win price for Resco subscriptions. In most of my pursuits, I followed the same pattern of confirming our offline support for Dynamics 365 and listing off product features before going right to the price negotiations. Sure, I closed some deals, but I missed a big opportunity to understand the broader needs of our customers and what they truly value. 

More than “table stakes” 

Thankfully my perspective evolved as my role shifted towards serving our tremendous partners. I quickly learned that meeting basic requirements and having competitive pricing were “table stakes” value—a given part of doing business together. And that we had to aspire for more. 

Jonathan Taub was one of my mentors who helped me understand the bigger picture around value. He’s the president of FIELDBOSS, one of the top Resco partners and the recipient of our 2023 Global Partner of the Year Award. 

Thanks to Jonathan, my thinking about value expanded as we worked on growing the Fieldboss-Resco partnership. Throughout our frequent talks, I was able to improve my understanding of functional value—the kind of business impacts we can achieve for our customers through a Resco app—along with opening my eyes to operational and relationship value—improving the bottom line of our partner’s business and making it fulfilling to work together at the human level.  

It’s been awesome to see Johnathan and the entire FIELDBOSS team succeed with Resco and Microsoft in the elevator and HVAC space.  

In my current role as Resco CEO, I’ve come to embrace an even bigger perspective on value creation and delivery. My focus has expanded to topics like stability, community, exchanging know-how, aesthetics, UX, innovation, industry reputation, and social responsibility, helping me develop a nuanced understanding of what matters most to our customers and steering our organization towards achieving it. 

Supporting higher productivity with better technology 

At Resco Next 2024, we’ll be focusing on the value we aspire to create by helping our customers become more productive. In an era of rapid change, enabling productivity is the ultimate service we can provide – allowing our customers to become more efficient through simpler enterprise app development and better frontline worker experiences. 

Value has always been deeply ingrained in Resco’s DNA. But we also recognize that customer needs evolve over time, and so does what they value. This evolution is reflected in the things that we do moving forward, like continuous improvements to our sync, an overhauled onboarding experience, and sharing more valuable insights about the future of enterprise applications.  

Resco Next 2024 offers the best chance to participate in this valuable exchange with us – make sure to reserve your spot soon!  

As we continue this journey, it’s not just about meeting expectations; it’s about exceeding them by recognizing and valuing what truly matters to those we serve. 

Written by:  

Andrew Lorraine

Andrew leads Resco’s mission to help make CRM and low-code / no-code users instantly more productive. As CEO, he focuses on building teams and partnerships that can deliver technology solutions for our era’s key frontline workforce challenges.

Príspevok How focusing on value led us to productivity  zobrazený najskôr Resco.

G2, a platform based on user reviews, has given our solutions a big thumbs up this Spring 2024. But what exactly does that mean?

Understanding G2 Badges:

G2 awards badges based on user reviews and satisfaction. A “Leader” badge means we’re a top choice in a specific category, while “High Performer” shows we’re a strong contender.

Our winning categories

For spring 2024, we were recognized in three key areas:

• Field Sales Leader for our field sales app that empowers salespeople to work on the go.
• Field Service Management for our solution that streamlines scheduling, dispatching, and field operations.
• CRM (Europe & EMEA) for our mobile-first CRM platform that keeps customer relationships strong.

Now for the best part – what did people love so much about the Resco solutions to earn these badges?

Here’s why users are fans.

Offline functionality 

Resco lets mobile workers access data and complete tasks even without an internet connection.

Several reviewers praise this capability as it solves their field sales, data collection, or customer visits reporting challenges. One of the users highlights, “Synchronization with the backend and usage is very fast, even when there are millions of records synchronized to the offline client.”

Mobile support

Resco mobility products are built for frontline use, so users working out of the office can ditch their laptop and get things done from a phone or tablet. This mobility was the core benefit for several reviewers. Matthias, Process Engineer Sales & Service from the Machinery sector highlights:

“We have over 500 service engineers in more than 50 countries, which do our service tasks on ocean going vessels in nearly every harbor around the world. Resco allows us to bring them an easy-to-use mobile solution, where they can track the engineer hours, the changed parts, the measurements and recommendation.“

Seamless integrations

“There is a tight integration with Microsoft Power Platform which gives the ability to develop sophisticated mobile offline applications,” explains a reviewer one of the reasons they decided for Resco.

Solutions integrate natively with popular platforms like Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, giving organizations and software integrators a unified business system to work with.

No-code / low-code development

Users can easily customize Resco to fit their specific needs, even without coding. A reviewer appreciated this feature: “The form designer is very powerful. I can design an offline form that can do anything the customer is asking for. The tools for report design and managing users are very well designed. The API works perfectly, and I can configure the backend database to any need we have.”

Want to see what others are saying? Check out the user reviews on G2.

Príspevok Resco recognized as a Leader and High Performer by G2: Which features did users like the most? zobrazený najskôr Resco.

At Resco, we understand the power of partnership. That is why we have created a wide range of co-marketing opportunities for our valued partners. This article will introduce you to the growth opportunities you will have access to as a Resco partner.  

Here’s what some of our partners have experienced through our co-marketing efforts: 

“The lead-generation campaign allowed us to reach out to a wide range of companies and individuals that we wouldn’t have the time to reach out to otherwise. It has allowed us to build a pipeline of potential business that can be followed up in line with potential new customers’ timeline requirements, often many months from initial inquiry.”

said Millie Beere, Product Manager at HG Technology

Look out for more partners’ testimonials further in the article. Let us give you a short overview of the benefits of co-marketing.  

What is co-marketing? 

Co-marketing is a strategic alliance between Resco and our partners, where we work together to achieve common marketing goals, such as elevating your brand, reaching new audiences, and boosting your bottom line. 

What are the benefits of co-marketing? 

• Generating new leads: Co-marketing with Resco gives you access to new leads and potential customers. Our tailored campaigns are designed to connect you with high-quality prospects. 
• Saving marketing costs: With co-marketing, you share the costs with us. This means you can achieve more with your marketing budget while accessing Resco’s industry knowledge. 
• Leveraging our marketing know-how: Leverage Resco’s years of experience and benefit from our insights and proven tactics. 
• Reaching a wider audience & having more visibility: Co-marketing activities give you exposure beyond your current reach and expand your market presence. 
• Customized marketing collateral: Receive marketing collateral customized to your needs, including translation services. We tailor our support to align with your specific goals and target markets. 

Every co-marketing activity we offer is customizable to your unique requirements, ensuring that it aligns perfectly with your objectives. It is open to all partners who meet Resco’s internal eligibility criteria. 

Your role in co-marketing 

To make the most of co-marketing opportunities, we invite our partners to take a pro-active approach and commit to the following: 

• Share marketing costs 
• Nurture leads generated from co-marketing activities 
• Provide progress reports to Resco

By doing so, you not only maximize the benefits but also contribute to the success of our joint endeavours. 

Detailed list of co-marketing opportunities we offer

Digital marketing: LinkedIn leads generation 

• Benefit: Get high-quality LinkedIn leads by running a three-month long campaign 
• Expected Outcomes: Approximately 600 new connections, 50 high-quality leads, and two business opportunities 
• Campaign Value: €5,500 (campaign costs are split between a partner and Resco)  

Customer success story video 

• Benefit: Resco handles the project management duties of video production and promotion  
• Expectations: Partners arrange on-site customer interviews and participate in the video 
• Example: Watch the video about Stony Valley

Partner spotlight 

• Benefit: Provides visibility through Resco’s own media channels, improves off-page SEO, validates brand positioning as knowledgeable experts.
• Opportunities: Case studies, interviews, in-depth technical blog articles, promotion videos, press releases, white papers, and accompanying social media posts. Creative ideas for more types of content are always welcome.  

Event marketing: external conferences and trade shows 

• Benefit: Resco co-finances and promotes third party events for new customers 
• Expectations: Partners find suitable events, prepare materials, and nurture leads 

Resco Engage: local event collaboration 

• Benefit: Partner-hosted events for potential new customers, with Resco’s support 
• Expectations: Partners suggest venues, define target groups, and invite contacts 

Marketing development funds (MDF) 

• Benefit: Budget for partner-led marketing activities 
• Expectations: Partners create marketing plans, promote Resco, and share results 

Other Opportunities 

• These may vary based on partner needs and can be discussed individually

Reach out to us

These are the co-marketing activities that have proven effective for our partners. We are more than happy to discuss new ideas.

Our team consists of graphic designers, copywriters, videographers, social media specialists, campaign specialists, and events specialists. We often collaborate with dedicated agencies for SEO, content, and auditing to strengthen our impact.  

Jonathan Taub, President of Rimrock Corporation, attests to our commitment:

“The Resco team dedicates significant time and effort to activities such as collaborative webinars and targeted marketing campaigns. They’re also incredibly helpful in tackling challenging sales scenarios.” 

To get information on how we can work together reach out to your Resco Businness Development Manager or partners@resco.net.

Príspevok Unlocking growth through co-marketing: your gateway to new business  zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Be honest, how many times these past few months have you asked yourself that very question? Ever since ChatGPT‘s public release in late November of 2022, there has been a lot of doom and gloom in the media and public discourse alike.  

Employment anxiety is at an all-time high, and perhaps for good reason. In the past year, we’ve seen ChatGPT place in the 10% of the bar (the US legal examination), write functional code, and generate full-fledged articles and essays – and those are just the examples that come to mind first.  

Today, we seek to explore the reality of the situation, assess which jobs are at the most risk of being replaced by ChatGPT, and ultimately, either vindicate or alleviate your worries. 

What is ChatGPT? 

First, let’s define what we’re talking about. ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool and generative AI solution developed by OpenAI of DALL-E fame.

GPT-3, or Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 3 is a language model, which allows it to hold conversations, answer questions, and generate copywriting and coding outputs.  

GPT-4, an even larger and more sophisticated language model was released in March 2023 for premium ChatGPT subscribers. It delivers even higher-quality results.

GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”) is a step towards much more natural human-computer interaction. It was announced in May 2024 and can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time.

How is ChatGPT affecting the job market? 

As mentioned, since ChatGPT’s release, the technology has sent ripples throughout job markets worldwide. While companies reacted to the prospect of faster content creation, higher efficiency, and essentially free labor with excitement, their employees didn’t share the same sentiment.  

Concerns over being replaced became omnipresent in the workforce, but despite that, most companies pushed on to explore what generative AI (GAI) could do for them. Some of the most note-worthy headlines to come from this include: 

• Google would potentially hire ChatGPT as an entry-level coder¹ 
• ChatGPT could upend jobs on Wall Street² 

• OpenAI consider replacing software engineers with ChatGPT³ 
• Lawyer used ChatGPT in court – and cited fake cases⁴ 

But what is ChatGPT actually doing? A recent Goldman Sachs report suggested that AI could affect 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, mainly by automating mid-career, mid-ability white-collar occupations.  

However, as we’ll soon discuss, ChatGPT and similar AI tools primarily impact repetitive, simple, and lower-priority tasks. Consequently, they threaten entry-level employees the most – at least for now. 

At the same time, these solutions present some exciting opportunities for experts in their fields. The automation they provide lends itself well to time-saving and efficiency increases for both the company and the individual, meaning employees and freelancers alike can focus on high-value activities that require human touch.  

Furthermore, AI is also opening up new employment opportunities. With the hype train going strong, the demand for experts in the field is high and will likely only increase in the long term –which is a fact even universities are picking up on.  

Assuming the trend continues, we can foresee prompt engineers becoming highly sought-after, along with AI developers, analysts, and consultants. Or, at the very least, prompt engineering as a skill will become a big benefit for any potential job seeker.  

Writer’s Note: “I’d like to suggest anyone interested in the AI space (and their place in the job market of the future) check out LearnPrompting’s courses. They’re free and have helped me significantly in getting acquainted with the technology.” 

Which fields are most likely to be impacted by AI? 

First, let us be the first to admit that predicting the long-term implications of AI are near-impossible to predict. On the one hand, AI over the years has gone through several cycles of so-called booms and winters – eras during which hype runs high and development runs at a break-neck pace, and ones where it all but stops.

This means our current situation may be nothing more than a fad in a timeline where this is the norm. On the other hand, some experts have posited that Moore’s Law (which originally referred to the doubling of transistors on microchips roughly every two years) could also apply to the potential rapid sophistication of AI due to the quickly growing number of “neurons”.  

This, in turn, could mean that we’re much closer to AI solutions that could replace even high-level professionals in their fields than we think. Experts have identified 6 fields that are most likely to be impacted by ChatGPT’s current versions. So, let’s have a look at those, shall we?  

1. Software development 

“Will AI replace programmers?” is a headline that’s been making rounds for a while now – and not without reason. Software development has long been considered one of the most stable, profitable, and desirable jobs out there, so when a tool appears that can automate certain aspects of coding, it’s sure to cause an uproar.  

But the word “certain” is key. ChatGPT can indeed generate code and complete specific tasks, like handling repetitive tasks and generating basic code snippets, but it’s still far from being a replacement for seasoned software engineers. 

The issue is that ChatGPT lacks the creativity, problem-solving abilities, and deep understanding of systems that only humans can bring to the table. However, professional programmers seem to be more than open to letting AI fill in the gaps, while they focus on more complex tasks. 

As Abhishek Gupta, the founder and principal researcher at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, said in his TechTarget interview: Developers will no longer have to write boilerplate code, Gupta said. Instead, they can focus on areas such as complex application architecture or cybersecurity.  

Verdict: ChatGPT isn’t replacing software developers anytime soon. Rather, it’ll become a great coding buddy for all those who allow it.  

2. Analytics (data, market research) 

Like in software development, ChatGPT raised eyebrows (and blood pressures) in the analytics communities as well. After all, what does AI do better than crunch numbers? Streamlining data processing, generating basic insights, and transforming them into reports is the tool’s forté.  

But as will soon become a trend across these sections, there’s a catch. Data-driven insights and decisions are two very different things, and while AI can help a lot with the first, it can’t do much when it comes to the second. 

Making data-driven decisions requires a complex understanding of not only the current market at large, but also your company’s position within it, along with all the goals, needs, desires, and use cases that go with it.  

ChatGPT can help streamline data processing and generate basic insights, but it cannot replace the human intuition required to identify trends, anomalies, and actionable recommendations in complex datasets. 

Verdict: Analysts shouldn’t view ChatGPT as direct competition, but rather as a tool to expedite routine tasks. 

3. Finance 

The finance industry is one, where ChatGPT could have a substantial impact. Following up from the previous entry, the first jobs on the potential cutting block are financial analysts and personal financial advisors. These will likely experience the same, or very similar effects as we described above. 

However, some surprising roles that might be affected significantly are those of traders and investment bankers – as we mentioned in our AI headline highlights. AI can automate routine financial tasks, including data entry, transaction monitoring, and basic financial analysis. 

Incidentally, that is the exact type of task university graduates are hired to do for the first 2-3 years of their professional careers, according to Pengcheng Shi of the Rochester University of Technology. 

However, as reported by SCMP, ChatGPT might not be coming for Wall Street yet. Due to the tool’s frequent mistakes in basic mathematics, banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup have limited its use for the foreseeable future.  

Verdict: ChatGPT might cause a significant upset in the finance industry, especially in its entry-level jobs. To maximize their chances of a long and (relatively) worry-free career, professionals should focus on developing their analytical and strategic skills that complement AI tools, rather than compete with them. 

4. Marketing 

When it comes to marketing and AI, all everyone seems to talk about is content creation. Which we’ll do too, but we’d be remiss not to mention the impact the technology has on SEO and link-building experts.  

As previously discussed in the section dedicated to analysts, artificial intelligence is excellent at working with large datasets. Tools targeting SEO research and link-building prospecting might take over a fair share of the experts’ workload.  

AI might be able to analyze competitors’ sites, evaluate your company’s SEO, and even find publications that cover similar topics to you. However, as has been the case so far, it still won’t be able to make decisions by itself.  

Verdict: Although smart solutions are likely to streamline a lot of the research marketing requires, they’re unlikely to replace marketers and their decision-making anytime soon.  

5. Content creation 

Whenever someone brings up GPTs replacing humans, copywriters tend to be the first in line, along with graphic designers and other creatives close behind. And not without reason – tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E can deliver impressive content in a very short amount of time. 

Writer’s Warning: Personal opinions incoming. 

As a consequence, many (primarily freelance) copywriters and designers have found themselves out of a job. But the thing is… I don’t think creative professionals should worry about being replaced despite that fact.  

Generative AI has primarily impacted high-volume, low-quality “creatives”, whose content should have never seen the light of day. However, it cannot replace the unique voices, visions, and personal touches that experts bring to the table. 

Content creation is about storytelling, connection, and conveying emotions – areas where both automation and many of the content creators replaced fell short. So, even if ChatGPT takes over coming up with initial ideas and drafting, the final crafting and editing will lie firmly in human hands.  

Verdict: Seasoned content creators should welcome AI tools as a means to streamline their creative process. Meanwhile, those who struggle to compete should focus their efforts on honing their craft and finding ways to deliver content only a human could. 

6. Education 

Cheating in schools is nothing new, but ever since students started using ChatGPT to write their papers for them, academics can’t help but wonder – will AI replace teachers?  

Well, no, it won’t. Teachers bring empathy, mentorship, and the ability to tailor education to individual student needs. They foster critical thinking, creativity, and social development, aspects beyond the capabilities of AI. 

However, automation will, without a doubt, change education as we know it. Right now, it’s assisting with creating educational materials and automating grading. However, as the technology advances, it might make written homework completely obsolete (as long as people remember to delete unwanted responses). 

Verdict: Teachers and educators shouldn’t worry about being replaced and rather use AI as a tool to support and enhance their teaching methods. However, what long-term impact the technology will have on the entire schooling system is hard to say. 

Final word 

In conclusion, while ChatGPT and AI technologies like it are making waves across various industries, professionals should not fear outright replacement. These tools are best viewed as powerful assistants, capable of automating repetitive tasks and enhancing productivity.  

Those who adapt, embrace AI as a tool, and focus on developing uniquely human skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, are likely to thrive alongside these technological advances.

The future of work is likely to be a collaborative one, where humans and AI work hand-in-hand to achieve greater efficiency and innovation.

Príspevok Will ChatGPT replace me?  zobrazený najskôr Resco.

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.

Andrew Lorraine, CEO

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.

Eduard Kesely, 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.”

Michal Magnusek, Digital Product Manager

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:

1. Finding your way to the asset
2. Speeding up the work by pre-filling in data in the mobile form
3. Proving your field worker was there and actually did the work
4. Doing 1, 2, and 3 offline and for less money

Resco Beacon attached to an asset

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.

Príspevok Bring game-changing technology to your field workers with resco.Labs zobrazený najskôr Resco.

As a Microsoft Field Service and Resco Application Solution Architect at Hitachi Solutions, Osumi works alongside 3,500+ professionals across the globe to innovate and build sustainable business modernization solutions. Their aim is to support and accelerate digital transformation initiatives of their customers.

Osumi is a hands-on professional, who talks with customers, promotes and implements the most suitable solutions. With Resco certifications and a great team under his leadership he has brought big deals to Resco this past year and our collaboration has been very intense.

All of us at Resco recognize and appreciate Osumi’s outstanding contributions. And today, we’d like to introduce him and his work to you.

Osumi, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us how did you get to know Resco?

I have been working with Resco for 5 years. At first, I knew Field One, which was the default mobile app of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Field Service using Resco technology.

I appreciate Resco’s strong offline capability and usability from end-user point of views. To me, it stands out that the Resco app is very stable.

How do you see enterprise mobility trends in your field of work? What innovations do you see coming in the world of digital transformation?

Every field worker will get their work done at first visit by using remote assist and AI analysis. The ideal environment for these tools is online. But in the real world, our customers sometimes have low or no connection.

Resco app’s strong point is that it works offline. We will need to come up with an innovation to fill the gap between online and offline in order to make the remote assist and AI analysis tools work offline.

You attended the resco.NEXT conference in Lisbon. Hitachi Solutions even won the Breakthrough Partner of the Year award. What were your biggest takeaways, and what did you like the most?

We got the most valuable takeaways from in-person consulting time. We could consult the problems our customer had with Resco experts. Personally, I liked Woodford tasting at the evening reception the most

You became a Resco MVP by being a leader inside your organization – promoting Resco solutions and working on projects. What would you recommend to other Resco professionals looking to become MVPs?

Just work closely with Resco expert team and customers. They are knowledgeable about the real field work.

Thank you for the interview, Osumi. Is there anything else you’d like to share with the community?

The world and technology keep growing. Let’s overtake it with Resco, make the most of it, and incorporate it in our solution.

Become the next Resco MVP

Resco MVPs are recognized as experts in the community. This helps them with career building and increases business opportunities for the organization they represent.

On top of that, Resco MVPs enjoy a range of direct benefits from Resco, such as exposure in our marketing channels, free entrance to resco.NEXT, priority access to market development funds and co-marketing possibilities, and more.

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.”

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Meet Resco’s new MVP: Osumi Yuichiro from Hitachi Solutions zobrazený najskôr Resco.

All of us at Resco recognize and appreciate Ope’s outstanding contributions. And today, we’d like to introduce him and his work to you.

Ope, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Thank you. It is an honor to have been considered and to receive this recognition.

I am the founder of Necessidad, leading a small but highly effective team. Necessidad is a Resco & Salesforce partner. My journey into people systems (such as CRM, HR Management software, etc.) began many years ago at university, where I studied Computer Science and Business Administration and, subsequently, an MSc in Business Systems Analysis & Design.

I started my career building HR management systems in London, U.K. After seven years, I decided to switch to CRM (Salesforce). I have now been implementing Salesforce for over a decade. I came across Resco in 2019 and was pleasantly impressed with its functionalities and offline capability.

Outside of work, I play basketball, and I have a keen passion and appreciation for jazz music – I also play the tenor saxophone and a bit of piano.

In what areas do you consider yourself to be an expert? Besides basketball and music?

We (Necessidad), myself included, are experts at implementing Resco and Salesforce, particularly within the non-profit sector, although our client base consists of both non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Our approach places our customers and prospects at the center – we recognize and value their journey. We see ourselves as the collaborative guides to help usher them towards achieving their goals by understanding their needs, making them feel understood, and offering the best pragmatic Salesforce/Resco services to meet those needs.

I’d like to say that we are experts at understanding and serving our customers and their needs, as attested by the CEO of LewishamLocal. It is a non-profit organization we engaged with to rapidly deploy a Covid response hub system during the peak of the Covid pandemic, which stated in its review that: “Necessidad worked hard to understand our requirements without rushing into a solution.”

Do you have a standout Resco project that you’ve worked on?

Yes, our flagship Resco project was the School Feeding Program application we implemented for Mary’s Meals. You can see a video of the details on the Resco YouTube channel.

We worked with a fantastic team at Mary’s Meals, and we are proud to have been able to help them achieve significant strides toward their goal, with a reach of about 1.7 million children. Before our engagement, Mary’s Meals had disparate means of capturing data from spreadsheets to pen & paper.

Thanks to our help, they now have a harmonized process, significantly improved digital means of capturing data offline and syncing back to Salesforce, transparency due to the better reporting capabilities to make critical decisions, and the ability to scale effectively and efficiently to other countries.

You work mainly with Salesforce customers. How do you see Resco’s unique place in this ecosystem?

I believe Resco is in a unique space within the Salesforce ecosystem. Not many applications offer the full offline capability Resco offers Salesforce users. Resco can attain strategic advantages within the Salesforce ecosystem and become a significant partner with Salesforce, especially in the Salesforce.org space.

You became a Resco MVP by being a leader inside your organization, promoting Resco solutions and working on multiple projects hands-on, and presenting at our conference. What would you recommend to other Resco professionals looking to become MVPs?

I have been told that I can be obsessed with solving problems in general. This trait is particularly apparent when implementing Resco projects, and I believe it is a key – but not the singular – factor.

The others are my willingness to learn and be corrected, continuous improvement, diligence, perseverance, and treating others with respect.

You attended resco.NEXT in Lisbon. Necessidad Consulting was even one of the finalists in the Resco Business Impact Award. What were your biggest takeaways, and what did you like the most?

resco.NEXT in Lisbon will be one of the defining memories of 2022. The indelible impression I was left with is that there is a strong bond within the Resco family itself. I was also inspired by the network of partners and the context of each of their different implementations.

Thank you for the interview, Ope. Is there anything else you’d like to share with the community?

You are welcome. It has been a pleasure. I will be happy to connect on LinkedIn with your audience or anyone who would like to know more about myself and what we do.

Become the next Resco MVP

Resco MVPs are recognized as experts in the community. This helps them with career building and increases business opportunities for the organization they represent.

On top of that, Resco MVPs enjoy a range of direct benefits from Resco, such as exposure in our marketing channels, free entrance to resco.NEXT, priority access to market development funds and co-marketing possibilities, and more.

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.”

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Meet Resco’s new MVP: Ope Okupe from Necessidad Consulting zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Jonathan, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I was born and raised in up-town Toronto. My father is a Chartered Accountant and ran a succesful accounting practice.

It taught me how to service a client and I ended up graduating from Wilfrid Laurer University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and followed that up with my Chartered Accounting designation in 1988.

I worked for KPMG in the Assurance Group and started Rimrock Corporation in 1994 as a Great Plains Software VAR.

I located my office near to my mid-town house and started off with one office in a low-rise office building.

From there on it was steady growth of adding clients and staff until we had a Dynamics GP accounting practice of about 200 clients.

In 2015 we created FIELDBOSS to meet the needs of a generator service client we had who needed a solution for maintenance scheduling and billing.

The initial solution for that client did not include mobile. It was a one-off consulting engagement but the lead consultant who did the work had heard about Resco and how much more advanced it was than anything else for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.

He felt by adding Resco to the solution, we had the beginnings of a Microsoft Dynamics field service product.

And that’s when you discovered Resco?

At the time, Resco was the only option for mobility on the Dynamics CRM platform.

It has some compelling features including the ability to work offline, on any device, and native integration with Dynamics CRM.

For us, this was a significant value proposition for our target industries.

In what areas do you consider yourself to be an expert?

I don’t consider myself an expert in anything. I am laser focused on convincing elevator and HVAC contractors to run their business on FIELDBOSS, and even with that, I still have a long way to go to becoming an expert.

What’s your approach when it comes to customers?

Because I am the President of my company, the dynamic I have with customers is different than say what it would be with a sales person from our organization.

People engage with me differently because I have the power to make a decision or commit the organization to a deliverable.

My approach is always to be transparent and direct. Showing a little vulnerability opens people up too.

If I am willing to talk about how difficult staff issues can be, or where we are struggling in engineering, it sends a message that it is safe for them to disclose more about what is going on with their organization and what we might be walking into.

Do you have a standout Resco project that you’ve worked on?

I was very happy with the inspections work we did at our HVAC sites.

In fact, the inspections solution was so successful that the clients have been loading so many questions and pictures that we have hit limitations that need to be addressed with the JSON and printing solution we are working on together.

I expect that the next generation solution that our respective teams come up with will be the foundation for new standout projects.

How do you balance working with Microsoft and Resco?

It is not a question of balance because the nature of the relationship is so different.

It is difficult to get close to the Microsoft resources because it is such a big company, with people moving around all the time.

With Resco we have a dedicated account manager, who acts like a concierge to a degree which saves us a lot of time.

We end up being better able to access the resources we need and we get great follow up commitments which is more difficult to get out of Microsoft.

You became a Resco MVP by being a leader inside your organization – promoting Resco solutions and working on multiple projects hands-on. What would you recommend to other Resco professionals looking to become MVPs?

You need to have hands-on experience with the software. I run Resco on my phone, and it connects to our sample data. I show it off all the time. I also talk to our technical staff to understand what goes on “under the hood”.

We regularly promote Resco via webinars so having to put on a seminar forces you to be current with your messaging.

I also make an effort to understand other companies uses or other Resco professional’s careers for additional insights about the ecosystem.

Going forward, I think I am going to spend more time getting to understand specific people’s role at Resco, specifically in the marketing, engineering and support departments.

You attended resco.NEXT in Lisbon. What were your biggest takeaways?

Resco’s explanation of their strategy to work even closer with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dataverse was strategic and a risk mitigator for my company and customers.

I think the Steps+ capabilities will help with the aging workforce issues in our markets.

We started conversations with the engineering team around developing a solution to centrally print inspection reports from the JSON format.

Thank you for the interview, Jonathan. Is there anything else you’d like to share with the community?

I am flattered and honored to be a Resco MVP.

I will do my best to add value to the community and would really appreciate it if people would connect with me on LinkedIn as I intend to use that platform as my vehicle to communicate with.

I also like to keep my airline status so I am hoping there are lots of mandatory in person meetings in very nice destinations.

Become the next Resco MVP

Resco MVPs are recognized as experts in the community. This helps them with career building and increases business opportunities for the organization they represent.

On top of that, Resco MVPs enjoy a range of direct benefits from Resco, such as exposure in our marketing channels, free entrance to resco.NEXT, priority access to market development funds and co-marketing possibilities, and more.

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.”

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Meet Resco’s new MVP: Jonathan Taub from FIELDBOSS zobrazený najskôr Resco.

All of us at Resco recognize and appreciate Steffen’s outstanding contributions. And today, we’d like to introduce him and his work to you.

Steffen, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Thanks for the recognition of my work during the last few years. I’m the team leader of a Dynamics 365 Implementation and development team at TSO-DATA in Germany.

I started to work at TSO 11 years ago during my business informatics study program and have never left. I work with Resco technology since 2015.

My role now is mainly about consultancy and project management tasks in Dynamics 365 projects in the DACH region.

I have a small family, like to play tennis and spend time with family and friends.

What’s your approach when it comes to customers?

I would say that I’m pretty experienced when it comes to understanding customers and transferring their requirements into business software solutions.

I try to see every customer as an individual and to match their business with past experiences and solutions in our toolbox. And Resco is an important part of our toolset.

There are several big business challenges companies are dealing with nowadays. What are the most pressing ones that you are hearing about from your customers?

Digital transformation is the basic topic behind all projects we are working on.

That means not only rebuilding the existing processes but rethinking them with a new perspective with new technologies that the Microsoft Cloud and Resco have to offer.

What trends are you seeing in enterprise mobility? Where do you see the industry being in 5 years?

I think integrating the whole supply chain into business processes is a key aspect. For example, a mobile app for vendors or end customers that communicates with the core business software components.

The major problem is that the media often breaks, and humans’ manual work becomes necessary.

That also reflects the digital transformation approach from the previous question. The usage of mobile devices is increasing.

So, we as an implementation partner need reliable technology to build these apps on.

In what areas do you consider yourself to be an expert?

When it comes to Resco solutions, I would say that I have a pretty good overview of the full solution stack.

But in particular, we have had great success implementing custom offline HTML solutions to deliver a fast user experience, especially in combination with the powerful offline capabilities.

I’m not a developer, but I have designed a few successful solutions for scenarios with no other available solution. But you are nothing without your team, so this award is also thanks to the guys in the background.

What are some of the problems that Resco solves really well?

I think Resco is pretty good when it comes to addressing the correct business needs having answers where, in our case, Microsoft still has gaps in their offerings.

I’m talking about real offline, security or solutions for all mobile operating systems.

Do you have a standout Resco project that you’ve worked on?

We finished a project at the beginning of 2022, with a scenario of Dynamics 365 Sales, Microsoft Business Central, and Resco Mobile CRM.

We used Resco Mobile CRM to implement a custom offline sales order creation solution. What sounds pretty straightforward is sometimes more complex than you would expect.

In this case, we had an average of 200 lines per order and the salespersons created a lot of them daily. So, speed and logical validations were key.

This means using the solution completely without a mouse or touch, only via keyboard, was a must.

On top of it, we created a barcode scanner to capture order lines and a Resco Mobile Report to print out barcodes for the products at the point of sale.

That was a challenging scenario, but it worked out thanks to Resco technology.

You became a Resco MVP by being a leader inside your organization – promoting Resco solutions and working on multiple projects hands-on. What would you recommend to other Resco professionals looking to become MVPs?

Always have an open mind and fill up your personal toolbox with technologies, tools, ideas, etc. One of my favorite sayings is, “if you only have a hammer, everything is a nail”. So, everything inside your toolbox will help you to find solutions for future challenges.

You’ll be attending resco.NEXT in Lisbon and will also participate in one of the expert panels. What are you looking forward to the most?

Two things. One is the Resco roadmap and the second is to getting in touch with our people again and seeing each other in person. I think we have all missed that in the last 2 years.

You can connect with Steffen on LinkedIn and learn more about TSO-DATA.

Become the next Resco MVP

Resco MVPs are recognized as experts in the community. This helps them with career building and increases business opportunities for the organization they represent.

On top of that, Resco MVPs enjoy a range of direct benefits from Resco, such as:

• exposure in our marketing channels
• free entrance to resco.NEXT
• priority access to market development funds and co-marketing possibilities

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.”

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Meet Resco’s new MVP: Steffen Hackmann from TSO-DATA zobrazený najskôr Resco.

All of us at Resco recognize and appreciate Nicole’s outstanding contributions. And today, we’d like to introduce her and her work to you as well.

Read the interview with her and learn:

• How Nicole approaches problem-solving with a process similar to ‘5 whys’
• What she recommends to ask customers requesting new features or modifications
• What she sees as the most pressing customers business challenges
• Two main problems that Resco solves the best
• Tips for professionals who would like to become Resco MVPs

Nicole, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I started my career as a Mechanical Engineer working on the development of on and off-road vehicles. After many different roles, I decided to make a change and got my master’s degree in Software Engineering.

I am currently a software developer with Key2Act working on our MobileTech solution,which is a field service application built from the Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit.

Is there anything from your mechanical engineering background that you use in your current role?

Quite a lot of things, actually. It has been surprising to learn just how similar the product development cycle is to the software development cycle – with the main difference just being the output (in my experience either a vehicle or a mobile application).

My mechanical engineering background has also laid the groundwork for how I approach problem-solving.

When working on software bugs, I use processes similar to 5 Whys – to keep asking why something is happening until the main root of the issue is identified.

Or when working on how to implement a new feature, I try to break things down into smaller increments, start with changes at a simple level, prove them out, and then slowly and methodically increase the complexity.

What’s your approach when it comes to customers?

When a customer has a request for a modification or feature add, typically, I like to take a step back and ask them at a high level, what they are trying to accomplish.

I’ve found that they may request a very specific code change, but after reviewing what the ultimate goal is from this modification, there may be a better way to approach the situation.

When reviewing what they are looking for overall, I’ve found it is most helpful to start by having the customer walk through how they currently use the application.

This not only helps to understand why they want the change but also provides insight as to how we can improve going forward.

What are the most pressing business challenges that you are hearing from your customers?

Probably the most common challenge I hear from customers is trying to streamline their processes.

With so many things going digital nowadays, customers want to easily enter data from a mobile device and be able to access and actually utilize that data in other applications – whether that be reporting, referencing historical data, or creating step-by-step instructions to simplify and establish procedures.

Also, I think customers want to be proactive rather than reactive, especially when it comes to items like equipment issues.

So, the focus is on anything that can be done to aid in this way, whether it is process automation, digital form integration, or smart building analytics like in Key2Act’s Building Optimization Broker (BOB).

What are some of the problems that Resco solves really well?

Two main problems that Resco solves really well are offline data capabilities and facilitating modifications.

Offline data capability is crucial for technicians out in the field who need to be able to continue their work no matter what their device connection currently is.

This is something that I have frequently heard from customers.

The flexibility and ease of modifications that Resco allows is a huge benefit.

When I get a customer modification request, more often than not I can confidently let them know we can make that modification work.

This is great not only for my company and customers, but also to get ideas going – modifications can be fairly easily implemented so what can be done to improve things in the future.

Do you have a standout Resco project that you’ve worked on?

Incorporating Resco Inspections+ with MobileTech is probably one of the biggest projects I’ve worked on, not just from a code perspective but also from a new feature add.

Frequently we heard the need from our customers to incorporate digital forms, and it was very satisfying to provide them with a solution that continues to grow and evolve.

What are some tips you would give to Resco professionals who would like to become MVPs?

My route to becoming an MVP was through being a Resco leader inside my organization.

I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of worker and originally didn’t even consider going for this award. But once I looked through what it takes, I realized I had already met a good majority of the criteria.

So, for those of you like me that are typically in the background or more on the technical side, I would suggest reaching out to Resco and reviewing what gaps remain and going for it!

Thank you, Nicole. One last question: will you be attending resco.NEXT in Lisbon?

Absolutely! I found the last couple resco.NEXT conferences very beneficial and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to network in person, learn how other people are utilizing the software, review the new features, and continue to gain insight and give feedback on the future road map.

You can connect with Nicole on LinkedIn and learn more about Key2Act.

Become the next Resco MVP

Resco MVPs are recognized as experts in the community. This helps them with career building and increases business opportunities for the organization they represent.

On top of that, Resco MVPs enjoy a range of direct benefits from Resco, such as exposure in our marketing channels, free entrance to resco.NEXT, priority access to market development funds and co-marketing possibilities, and more.

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.”

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Resco MVP Nicole Zabel: When customers request a modification, try to learn what they really need first zobrazený najskôr Resco.

And as the last year, we have three categories to celebrate:

• Partner of the Year
• Breakthrough Partner of the Year
• Business Impact of the Year

The first two don’t require any input from you and will be evaluated based on available partner KPIs.

But the Business Impact of the Year award holds an opportunity for every partner to tell your success story, celebrate the achievements of your employees, and show what’s possible with mobile technology.

Regardless of where you’re based, your size, or how long you’ve been working with Resco.

So read on to find out more about how to apply and the benefits & prizes.

Business Impact Award – what is it?

This award recognizes the results of a strong partnership between a partner and client they’ve helped transform the business.

We are seeking inspiring and successful stories of how partners made a real impact and delivered meaningful and sustainable changes to customers with Resco technology. Just like last year’s winner FIELDBOSS.

We are looking for stories supporting the mission of empowering organizations with innovative mobile solutions, especially their deskless workers, to achieve more.

How will be the submissions assessed?

The winner and finalists should have demonstrated creative problem-solving and leadership, so that the whole customer project is successful – not just the technical implementation.

We will assess the submissions with the following criteria:

• Measurable: e.g., time saved, increase in clients revenue, number of customers visited, presentations made, decreased sync time, etc.
• Qualitative: proven by a customer testimonial or quote, e.g., improved collaboration among teams, increased data quality, increased worker satisfaction, etc.
• Project size: number of active Resco users in the client’s organization
• Unique IP: we consider it a plus if a partner used a custom solution that they built on Resco technology

Why to apply

The awards bring greater visibility and highlight the expertise of top software integrators from the Resco partner ecosystem.

Becoming an award winner or finalist helps partners to:

• Establish their company as a leader in enterprise mobility
• Create new & stronger business opportunities
• Increase market recognition
• Generate positive press coverage

The winner and finalists will be featured in follow-up press releases, blogs and other marketing activities, and will receive a marketing kit (award logos, press template, designation badge, photos & video, etc.), so they can promote their accomplishment.

On top of that, the winner will receive two complimentary passes for the resco.NEXT 2023 conference, 4,000 EUR in market development funds, and other valuable rewards.

The winner and finalists will be publicly announced on October 6, 2022, during the Resco Partner Awards ceremony at resco.NEXT 2022 conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

We’re looking forward to receiving your entries! You can apply until September 9.

Submit your winning customer project

In case of questions, drop us an email at partners@resco.net

Príspevok Resco Partner Awards 2022 are underway: Send your winning customer project zobrazený najskôr Resco.

What to consider before buying?

Certain features make smartwatches convenient and productive tool. But at the same time, one or two drawbacks can screw up the whole experience. So, here are the features you should pay attention to when choosing your smartwatch:

• Operating system (OS) and app support – Vendors and third-party developers create many productivity apps enhancing the possibilities of smartwatches, but not all devices support all apps.Apple with watchOS, followed by Google with Wear OS, have the largest app selection in their stores and provide many options on how to use the smart features of smartwatches. Huawei’s Harmony OS doesn’t have such extensive app support, but it’s still one of the best smartwatch operating systems.Other OSes like Garmin’s and Fitbit’s systems provide a narrower focus on fitness features, which may be constraining in an office, but it might be a good alternative to sports enthusiasts;
• Battery life – The absolute minimum is a full working day of operation, so you can use your watch during the day and charge it when you sleep. Charging can become quite time-consuming, so the more the battery lasts, the better;
• LTE connectivity – At work, it’s often vital to stay connected and some smartwatches can connect even to cellular networks. With mobile network reception, you can receive notifications, messages, and also calls just with the device on your wrist, no phone needed. But keep in mind that when using smartwatches solely for work purposes, online connection can be a distraction for workers;
• Design and overall build quality – Watches suitable for official meetings look elegant, devices used in the fieldwork are more rugged. Therefore, choose accordingly and adjust to your work position and needs. Don’t forget to consider water resistance, to avoid inconveniences due to rain or splashing water;
• Size and display – Sizes of smartwatches and their displays have significant effects on the overall user experience. Generally, the size of a smartwatch ranks from 38 mm, appropriate for smaller hands, to 46 mm, mostly suited to men. Displays of smartwatches in the business range are generally high quality and offer sufficient resolution;
• Sensors and activity tracking features – Smartwatches can track the number of steps, GPS position, heart rate, or even the quality of sleep, helping you optimize your workflow and energy management.
• Connectivity and storage – Bluetooth is a necessity for connecting to your phone, wireless headphones, or Bluetooth beacons. NFC functionality will provide you with contactless payments, and Wi-Fi is a bonus for connecting to the Internet. Dedicated storage can also offer space for offline music playback;
• Price – One more significant point to consider. The most affordable smartwatches in our ranking start at about $150. The most expensive can rise up to a few hundred dollars. Ultimately though, we recommend to consider all of the aspects above, and make a choice based on what’s most important for your use case;

Best smartwatches of 2022 for business use:

1. Apple Watch Series 7

Specifications:

Display: 1.9″ (484 x 396p) Retina OLED Size & weight: 41mm (42.3 g)/45mm (51.5 g) Water rating: IP6X, 50m water resistant Battery life: 18 hours Operating system: watchOS Compatibility: iOS Cellular version: Yes

Pros: Best app support on the market, elegant design, various sizes, advanced heart-rate monitoring and health-tracking capabilities, best overall performance

Cons: Working just with iPhones, one-day battery

Price: Starts at $399 (no LTE, 41mm)/$499 (LTE support, 41mm)

Why: Apple sets the bar for smartwatches every year, and the new Apple Watch Series 7 is the best device on the market you can buy right now. The highest processing power and fine-tuned OS with unrivaled support of third-party apps are the foundation of the success in the office.

Followed by elegant design, LTE support, water resistance, and many possibilities for personalization with an extensive range of braces. Advanced heart-rate monitor with electrocardiogram and SpO2 monitor can even save lives.

Battery life is still a little problematic, so you will probably need to charge it every day. However, if you are an iPhone owner, these are the smartwatches you should consider in the first place. Elegant look, powerful apps & features, and overall performance make them a perfect match for use on any occasion and especially at work.

2. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

Specifications:

Display: 1.4″ (450 x 450p) Super AMOLED Size & weight: 40mm (25.9 g)/44mm (30.3 g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 36 hours Operating system: Wear OS Compatibility: Android Cellular version: Yes

Pros: The best productivity option for non-iPhone users, elegant design, better app support with Wear OS

Cons: ECG limited to Samsung phone users, missing rotating bezel from previous models

Price: Starts at $249 (no LTE, 40mm)/$299 (LTE supported, 40mm)

Why: Galaxy Watches are one of the most successful devices on the market and offers many useful features.With Wear OS now on board, the watch gets much better app support and customization option than previously with Samsung’s own Tizen OS.

Other strengths include an OLED display, optional LTE, water resistance, or NFC for contactless payments. Battery life delivers between 1,5 – 2 days of usage for one charge, which is one of the weaker points.

If you fancy a more formal design for the office, you can check the Classic model of Galaxy Watch 4.

3. Apple Watch SE

Specifications:

Display: 1.78″ (448 x 368p) Retina OLED Size & weight: 40mm (30.49 g)/44mm ( 36.20 g) Water rating: IP6X, 50m water resistant Battery life: 18 hours Operating system: watchOS Compatibility: iOS Cellular version: Yes

Pros: The best value for money smartwatch in the Apple ecosystem, best app support on the market, elegant design

Cons: No ECG support and always-on display, onl one-day battery life

Price: Starts at $279 (no LTE) / $329 (LTE support)

Why: While the Series 7 presents the top-tier device, Apple also keeps other options for customers. The Apple Watch 3 and SE are now the most affordable smartwatches in its ecosystem, providing very good value for money.

We prefer the later, as it has a fresher and classier design, perfect for formal occasions. The stellar app support and large screen make the watch a great device for smart features. But battery life should be better. It’s still a pity to charge your secondary device every day.

If the always-on display and ECG/SpO2 monitor don’t break a deal for you compared to Series 7, Apple Watch SE will definitely be a good choice.

4. Fitbit Sense

Specifications:

Display: 1.58″ (448 x 368p) AMOLED Size & weight: 40mm (49.5 g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 3-6 days Operating system: Fitbit OS Cellular version: No

Pros: Most advanced Fitbit smartwatch, health tracking features, elegant design

Cons: Less intuitive OS than watchOS or Tizen, no LTE, some features unavailable without Fitbit Premium subscription

Price: Starts at $329 (no LTE)

Why: Fitbit is well-known for making fitness bands, but company also entered the smartwatch arena few years ago. The most advanced smartwatch up-to-date is a good-looking and well-performing device with just some limitations. It’s now more suited for overall performance than just focused on activity tracking, but it still lacks LTE connectivity.

With approximately a week-long battery life and renowned fitness and sleep tracking features, it can be a nice-to-have device, especially in scenarios where physical performance plays a key role.

5. Fitbit Versa 3

Specifications:

Display: 1.58″ (336 x 336p) AMOLED Size & weight: 40mm (38.5g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 3-6 days Operating system: Fitbit OS Cellular version: No

Pros: Elegant design, cheaper than Fitbit Sense, now with GPS on-board, polished tracking features

Cons: less intuitive OS than watchOS, no LTE, some features unavailable without Fitbit Premium subscription

Price: Starts at $229 (no LTE)

Why: With relatively affordable price, Fitbit Versa 3 is a good-looking activity tracking smartwatch perfectly suited for the use in office or on the go.

The lack of SpO2 sensor or advanced heart monitoring makes it less equipped than the Fitbit Verse, but more affordable price may be worth the compromise. With stellar battery life, you can get through the work week easily (but turn off always-on display for that case).

6. Garmin Venu 2 Plus

Specifications:

Display: 1.3” (416 x 416p) AMOLED Size & weight: 43mm (51g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 7-10 days Operating system: Garmin OS Cellular version: No

Pros: Long battery life, works with iPhone and Android, calls support (with connected phone)

Cons: Limited third-party app support

Price: Starts at $449.99 (no LTE)

Why: While Garmin specializes at smartwatches suited to fitness or hiking enthusiasts, company’s Venu series have quite a lot to offer even for office employees or frontline workers.

The extended smart features like message replies or call answering support work great in any workflow. And proprietary Garmin OS can connect with both Android and iOS.

But even Venu 2 Plus still lacks LTE support and are quite expensive. So can a good combination of smart features and precise health-tracking capabilities make a deal for you?

7. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Specifications: Display: 1.28” (416 x 416p) AMOLED Size & weight: 42mm (51g)/44mm () Water rating: IP6X, 30m water resistant Battery life: 1 day Operating system: Tizen OS Compatibility: Android, iOS Cellular version: No

Pros: Works with iOS and Android, elegant design, rotating digital bezel for fast navigation

Cons: Few third-party apps

Price: Starts at $199 (no LTE)/$379 (LTE support)

Why: Galaxy Watch Active 2 comes in two sizes with a 40 or 44mm option. Both use 20mm interchangeable straps, offering countless possibilities to find your look. However, they look elegant and stylish right from the box. Galaxy Watch Active 2 also offers an LTE model so you can use them for making calls and connecting to cellular data. Battery life is roughly two days.

The rotating digital bezel is a unique solution, which makes navigation in the Tizen operating system fast and fluid, although third-party apps support is not so extensive as in watchOS or Wear OS. However, the watch enables to use internal storage for offline Spotify music playback.

8. Fossil Gen 6

Specifications: Display: 1.28” (416 x 416p) AMOLED Size & weight: 42mm (51g)/44mm () Water rating: IP6X, 30m water resistant Battery life: 1 day Operating system: Wear OS Compatibility: Android, iOS Cellular version: No

Pros: Great design for men and women, best experience with Google’s Wear OS

Cons: no LTE support, only one-day battery life

Price: Starts at $299 (no LTE)

Why: Fossil brings an updated processor with more RAM and improved WearOS to their take on a smartwatch. They offer one of the best experience with Google’s operating system so far, supporting various third-party apps and that’s why we ranked them 8^th. With a 44mm casing, the device can look slightly bulkier on smaller hands, but the design is exquisite for more formal occasions.

Battery life provides one to two days of operation. Fossil Gen 6 also offers NFC for Google Pay contactless payments, GPS, and heart-rate monitor. Water resistance at 3 ATM means they are not suitable for swimming or bathing. Generally though, all of the features combined make Fossil Gen 6 into a capable all-around smartwatch.

9. Huawei Watch 3 Pro

Specifications:

Display: 1.43” (466 x 466p) AMOLED Size & weight: 48mm (63g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 5-8 days Operating system: Harmony OS Compatibility: Android, iOS Cellular version: Yes

Pros: iOS and Android support, long battery life, first smartwatch to feature temperature sensor

Cons: Limited app support, bulky form factor

Price: Starts at $375

Why: Huawei’s Harmony OS gain popularity after trade regulations restricted cooperation with Google. And Watch 3 are company’s first smartwatches to spot this new operational system.

The switch from Lite OS has brought better availability of 3rd party apps or eSIM support that significantly broadened capabilities offered to users.

Huawei Watch 3 Pro also inherited a great battery life or fitness tracking features. All this makes a great smartwatches that may only lack in missing NFC payments or limited iOS functionality.

10. TicWatch Pro 3 GPS

Specifications:

Display: 1.4” (454 x 454p) AMOLED Size & weight: 47mm (42g) Water rating: IP68, 50m water resistant Battery life: 3 days Operating system: Wear OS Compatibility: Android, iOS Cellular version: Yes

Pros: Affordable price, app support, Wear OS accompanied with faster Snapdragon 4100 chipset

Cons: No LTE support, a little bulky design

Price: Starts at $249 (no LTE)

Why: Ticwatch 3 Pro doesn’t excel in any of smart features or health-tracking capabilities, but it is good in a lot of tasks. Great price, 3-days battery life, and fast new smartwatch chipset from Qualcomm are Ticwatch’s best features.

Even the SpO2 sensor is packed within Ticwatch’s sub $250 price.

But what to consider before buying? Make sure you don’t mind a little bulky form factor or missing ECG monitor. Otherwise, Ticwatch Pro 3 GPS ticks most of the boxes.

Bonus pick: NIVY Watch

NIVY Watch

is a brand-new type of smartwatches developed for professional use. While not intended for a consumer market, the smartwatch opens new possibilities for industry workers and companies.

A professional smartwatch with pleasant materials, good ergonomics and simple operation focused on business scenarios with more specific needs, e.g constuction or warehouse workers. That’s why they come with a full set of additional functionality and equipment, like simplified UI or multi-charging station.

Choose the best smartwatch for your business

As we mentioned, we see smartwatches as the next big thing in business. Expanding capabilities and features make wearables more and more valuable in the work environment, helping companies and employers optimize productivity and performance.

There is a number of options available on the market varying in functions or app support. Choose what suits your needs the best. If you want to learn more about smartwatches in enterprise, read the free e-book Mass Use of Smartwatches Across Businesses & Industries.

Príspevok Best smartwatches of 2022 for business use zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Matthijn, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I’ve been working with CRM and ERP systems since 1996 and started focusing more on CRM in 2003 when Microsoft came with the first CRM.

I’m currently working as a consultant and a project manager at MicroPartner, where I’m also responsible for the partners we’re working with, like Resco and Microsoft.

I have an IT education which I later supplemented with a finance degree.

I’m a huge fan of all things vintage – I have a vintage boat and a vintage car. Things from the old days when quality was very much appreciated, unlike today where everything is throwaway.

What is your specialization in business?

Counseling, helping customers on their journey.

We still see many companies who’ve taken the first steps into the cloud. A lot of companies are already in the cloud and using tools such as Office 365. Also, a lot of companies are running legacy ERP or CRM systems that are locally maintained and installed, and I think it’s my specialty to help them by moving into the cloud, which will make things easier, more transparent, and integrated.

We really like working in tandem with customers, so they know why this is happening, why this is beneficial for them, and the whole sales cycle is always transparent.

If a customer comes to us and says we would like to have some help with an area in which we are not experts in, we will point them to a company that is. We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin over too big an area, we prefer to stay very focused and specialized in ERP and CRM.

How do you work with your customers?

We’re a little bit old-fashioned. We don’t do hit and runs, we don’t try to make a quick sale and then move on to the next project. We want to be part of the whole journey for a customer, and that’s why some of them have been with us for over 10 years, which is quite unique in this line of business. We have a saying here in Denmark: “you have to pick the feathers of the chicken without the chicken screaming,” and that’s what we try to do with our customers.

How and when did your Resco journey start?

In the mid-2000s, we were working with CRM solutions and needed a stable mobile CRM app that also works offline because many salespeople and service people needed this feature.

And because Resco offered it and had a closely and uniquely integrated solution with Microsoft CRM, it was the logical choice.

In my opinion, if a solution needs a four-day training course to learn, then it’s already disqualified. And that’s also one of the reasons we started working with Resco – the tools are easy to learn and use.

According to your experience, what are the most important attributes, features or functionalities a customer looks for when it comes to field service solutions and mobility?

Offline – when you do installations or you have maintenance work in the most distant places, like offshore, underground, you name it, you don’t want to go through a hassle. First, you have to connect to a network, then log in, etc. But sometimes, you just want to open your tablet, have the full functionality and as soon as you are ready for it, you can synchronize all your data into the server.

Seamless integration – with several people working offline on the same case who all go online simultaneously to synchronize, it’s essential to be able to configure which rule wins. Things have to work, because if they don’t, clients lose money every day; therefore, integration simply must work. I believe one of the most important things about mobility is not having to worry about integration and stability.

Data safety – and of course, security is also important: a great thing about Resco is that the data is encrypted even offline.

Very friendly user interface – technicians might be skilled professionals in electronics, high-pressure systems, hydraulics, etc., but that does not necessarily mean that they’re highly skilled in IT. So, the solution must be simple and user-friendly.

Configurability – Resco is 100% configurable, meaning we can take a complex scenario, easily build it and present it in a simple manner.

Optimized for touch screens – even though you can run Resco on a computer or laptop, it’s very smart to use it on your phone or tablet. Mobile devices have become the norm, they are now almost an extension of our hands, so we use them naturally. I once gave my six-year-old daughter access to the Resco app, and she was easily using it, but I doubt she would be able to do the same on a PC.

What is the potential you see in Business Central?

In Business Central, we have service management and manufacturing, which are two pretty nice modules because they are the foundation for the Resco field service solution. In BC, everything is centered around finance – meaning everything is either generating financial transactions or stock transactions. This service management module in BC is pretty good because you can handle everything from a quote through an order or a service item to a contract, and schedule maintenance or repairs. But the one big thing which was lacking was the planning and execution part of field service tasks, and that’s where Resco fits in perfectly.

The potential for Business Central is huge. It has a very long track record – it all started in the late ´80s. Since then, many companies (especially mid-sized) have started using it, and they have different versions of it.

Business Central is so great because it has had about 20 years to mature – just like Resco! So, both solutions have gone through some major developments throughout the years and are fully mature now.

One of the reasons you have been nominated for the Resco MVP award is a project where Resco was integrated with Business Central. What stands out about this project, and why was Resco the right choice for the customer?First of all, I’m very honored to become a Resco MVP, but I have to say that this wouldn’t have been possible without my team.What stands out about this project is that we started with a different field service solution, but then we became aware that Resco was working on a connector and integration between Resco and Business Central. That, of course, caught our attention. It soon turned out that the customer was using the service management in Business Central very efficiently, so there was no need to duplicate all this into another field system.The customer was doing a pretty good job in Business Central with their contracts and service orders, and the only missing thing was a strong planning and execution part. The reason we didn’t go with Microsoft was that it was overkill for the customer, who only needed a simple functioning field server solution. Microsoft just tends to build things very big.

From my experience, implementing Resco is three times faster. In the end, Resco was the better, cheaper, faster, and more flexible solution for them.

How do you see the landscape of business apps in 2022 playing out?Continuous growth. I believe that we will see even more companies going into the cloud.How do you balance working with Resco and Microsoft solutions?First of all, we always look at the customer’s needs, and we don’t listen to the propaganda of either Microsoft or Resco. We place our customers first and then we decide what’s the best solution.Resco has some features which Microsoft doesn’t, and it’s just a more flexible solution. If a customer needs more flexibility and offline capabilities, we go with Resco.What is your cooperation experience with Resco? Can you share some highlights?We have built a close relationship with Resco in the last three-four years. We now have regular meetings; we are working together on sales opportunities and co-marketing activities.And because there’s no software without issues or bugs, how openly and quickly a company gives support and helps solve problems is key. And this is something Resco has been doing since the beginning. We have an open dialogue; we don’t try to hide anything but try to work on a solution.Anything you’d like to say to the Resco community?I highly encourage everyone to enroll in the Resco Academy. One of our developers took the new training, and even though he has been working with Resco for many years, he learned a lot. And I went through all the business courses.Another thing I’d like to emphasize is that if you’re a customer looking to integrate Business Central and Resco, make sure you have a partner involved who knows Business Central well, because it’s a very technical platform. So, make sure you have a capable partner or the experience and knowledge to do it yourself.

You can connect with Matthijn on LinkedIn and learn more about MicroPartner here.

Become the next Resco MVP

If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.” Or you can reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.

We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!

Príspevok Meet Resco’s new MVP: Matthijn Hoogenboom from MicroPartner zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Windmills have come a long way from their humble beginnings in the 16th century to blowing away their competition as most used and produced form of renewable energy as of today. And they have been only able to achieve this thanks to the work of the many wind farms of the world.

However, there are some issues standing in the way of these farms’ continued prosperity. What are they, and how can they be fixed? Well, to find out, you’ll have to keep on reading.

Predicting and preventing malfunctions

A wind farm owner’s goal should always be to keep the energy steadily pouring in to satisfy their customers while preventing unnecessary money loss. However, there is a lot that goes into that. Namely, operations and maintenance depend on several factors – wind farm size, the size and age of individual wind turbines themselves, etc.

However, most important is to monitor operation closely and focus on preventive/scheduled maintenance rather than reactive/unscheduled maintenance, as unexpected turbine failure results in a loss of produced energy and a loss of profit.

Thankfully, there are many resources and tools farm owners and maintenance specialists can use to stay on top of what needs to be done. First and foremost, turbines come fitted with sensors attached to various parts of the apparatus, which feed the responsible person relevant information regarding power output, vibrations, rotation speed, etc.

Furthermore, various institutes, like the agricultural commission of Schleswig Holstein in Germany, have monitored the frequency and type of malfunctions sustained on their wind farms and put out analytical resources regarding their findings, such as the one below.

Equipping the right people with the right tools

Operating a wind farm is not something you can do by yourself. Indeed, it requires a fairly sizable team of capable individuals to keep the whole thing up and running. However, there are things you can do to help your team in dealing with their responsibilities.

Starting with maintenance supervisors, these employees handle the administrative side, such as planning, scheduling, reporting, etc. To best aid them in their efforts, you should consider incorporating a CMS into your operation, which can track the current performance of your wind farm, its past malfunctions and even offer predictive information such as the graph displayed above.

Then, there are the wind turbine technicians, also known as “windtechs”, who risk their lives daily working in the vertigo-inducing altitudes of wind turbines.

According to research, being a windetch is one of the seven most dangerous jobs you can have in the power industry. So, it’s no surprise these workers are under considerable pressure while out on the job.

Luckily, you can offer these heroic individuals the tools to help them breathe easy in the breeze.

Namely, a digital checklist can equip them with a comprehensive run-down with all the check-ups they need to perform, allowing them to focus on their safety and the moment-to-moment precision of the job.

Furthermore, the interactive checklist can be incorporated into the aforementioned CMS and thus promote effective communication between supervisor and specialist, without any added hassle.

Its inclusion can also dramatically improve your ability to foresee malfunctions you could not otherwise, and carry out preventive maintenance on your gear.

But hey, as they say, it is better to see once than to hear it a thousand times. So, head over to Resco and give the Windturbine Maintenance Checklist a try for yourself!

Windturbine Maintenance Manual

Download a free Windturbine Maintenance Manual that is ready for a visual inspection of both the interior and exterior of a turbine generator, damage report, and engine assesment.

Download template

It’s easy to incorporate into your inspections and can be tweaked and customized to suit your company’s and employees’ needs perfectly!

And should you be in the market for any other solutions regarding inspections, reporting and maintenance, look no further than our Resco Digital Template Library!

Príspevok The turbulent business of wind turbine maintenance zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Our Resco Academy aims to help you with both! To better understand our partners’ training experience, we talked to two members of the NORRIQ team, located in Belgium. Meet Veerle and Omayma and find out more about their experience with Resco onboarding, recommendations, and other tips & tricks they’ve learned along the way.

Veerle Verbruggen is a Senior Technical Consultant MS Dynamics 365 CE. She has more than ten years of experience with implementing Resco technology, mainly with MS Dynamics365 as a backend. Khammassi is a young developer who has only recently joined the NORRIQ Team. However, she has already completed both levels of Resco certification – Essentials and Advanced, and our new JSBridge introductory course as part of her onboarding. Apart from that, Omayma has contributed to the Resco community by publishing her first Resco-dedicated blog.

Q: Where did you hear about Resco Academy?

Omayma: For NORRIQ, Resco is a primary partner in the mobile and service ecosystems. We have quite a history together, but Resco plays an essential role in our future solution portfolio as well. That’s why Resco Academy was recommended to me by the manager as a part of my onboarding.

Q: What was your approach when starting the training? Have you followed our Learning Paths, or did you enroll in specific courses?

Omayma: I followed the available Learning Paths, starting with Resco Essentials. After that, I moved to Resco Advanced, and then to your newest course – Introduction to Resco JSBridge.

Q: Is JSBridge a standard part of NORRIQ solutions?

Omayma: We always start with a standard set of solutions. If customers require something more extensive, we use Resco JSBridge to program, customize and personalize on top of it.

Q: Which course was the most helpful for you?

Omayma: The Business Logic. How to manage rules is very important for every project implementation.
Veerle: Logs and Troubleshooting was a very interesting course from which I have learned a lot. Some of the cases presented were far more complex than the ones we usually experience.

Q: What are your top picks from individual courses that are part of the Advanced certification?

Veerle:
Report Designer: Exercises
Business Logic: AfterSave, ButtonClick
Synchronization and Synchronization Dashboard: How to enable the Change List
Logs and Troubleshooting: Quiz. You can learn a lot from the answers.

Q: What is the most valuable information you have learned?

Omayma:  The most valuable thing that I learned is how to create questionnaires. We use it a lot for our customers’ representatives, field service technicians, and inspectors.
Veerle: Information about the Change List.

(NOTE: The change list is an optional part of Resco mobile apps. It displays records changed, created, or deleted in the local database on the device, waiting for synchronization. More information is available in the Academy course Synchronization and Synchronization Dashboard).

Q: What did you like the most about Resco Academy?

Omayma: Examples and exercises. They teach you a lot while making the learning experience more fun and practical. I went through all exercises in the Essentials certification and the ones available in the Business Logic course. I would appreciate even more complicated examples for those who want to go further in detail.
Veerle: It’s good to catch up with all the new features that you might have missed over the year, or as it was for me, to refresh your memory. The final tests at the end of each course are also very helpful — especially the explanations to the questions you got wrong.

Q: What is your recommendation for people who’ve just started exploring Resco’s technology?

Omayma: Get to really know it! Resco is a must for organizations interested in optimizing and automating their mobile and field service business processes, whether as a solution or as a partner.

NORRIQ’s team consists of professionals who are actively learning and upskilling. Their feedback also helps us to improve our learning and training materials. Would you like to share your experience? Contact us at academy@resco.net.

And if you have more questions about onboarding or training, also let us know at academy@resco.net. Resco Academy is available 24/7 for everyone, covering not only Resco basics as well as advanced topics.

Príspevok Partner interview: NORRIQ’s approach to onboarding and upskilling in Resco technology zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Among the main app improvements  enabled by JSBridge are:

Allowing fast access to various data. No matter if the information is available in the offline storage of your device or directly on the CRM server, it has never been easier to access data on your own terms.

Example of simple statistics accessible right from the home menu in the app.

Gaining more control over the user interface. Adjust images and colors, add various iframes for appealing looks, and simplify navigation. You can use Google Maps iframe, allowing app users to pinpoint their location. Search with an autocomplete feature or display the LinkedIn account of a relevant contact right in the application. There are no limitations!

UI changes using JSBridge: Yes, this is a Resco app that was used at one of our events.

Creating complex business logic that works even offline. There are thousands of options. Here are two of the most common use cases.

Sales: Disable discount on specific products.

Field service: Determine what kind of service the machine needs based on the values entered in the service form. Once the user enters the data, the app should suggest the type of required service to the user.

Complex Validation with JSBridge: Discount availability based on company rules eliminates human errors.

The good news is that from now on, you can start building your JSBridge know-how at Resco Academy! Only basic technical skills are required — no need for years of coding experience.

Who is our first JSBridge course for?

Our new course Introduction to Resco JSBridge is designed for:

• Managers who want to learn more about the options offered by JSBridge and Offline HTML
• Woodford administrators without coding skills who want to gain more in-depth knowledge about iframes and HTML content in the app
• Developers who want to start from the very beginning and learn the basics of Resco JSBridge
• JavaScript experts without exposure to Resco who want to know about available resources, best practices, and limitations of Resco JSBridge.

What will you learn?

As mentioned above, we want to give you a solid base that you can build on. In this course, you will:

• Get recommendations for source code editors and tools to use for versioning and debugging
• Learn what you should be aware of when starting with your first code, together with some productivity tricks
• Gain an understanding of iframes and how to use them to improve your app’s efficiency
• Create your first script.

There are more courses dedicated to advanced customization on the way. So waste no time and learn how to create and use the first script in your Resco app.

What’s in it for you? Apart from telling us which areas we should focus on in upcoming courses, you will get to see Resco Inspections+ used for yet another use case – an anonymous survey with no login required.

Príspevok Improve your app by creating your first JSBridge script with Resco Academy zobrazený najskôr Resco.