Making AI Work for Small and Medium-Sized Service Organizations

At the recent Service Council Symposium in Chicago, Praxedo and All West Communications teamed up for a presentation on a topic at the forefront of the field service industry: “Making AI Work for the Small- and Medium-Sized Service Organizations.” It wasn’t just a talk about technology; it was a candid, retrospective look at one company’s journey from manual, chaotic processes to a streamlined, AI-powered operation.

Here’s an overview of the key insights shared by Michael Thomas, who oversees operations at All West Communications, a telecom provider delivering high-speed fiber internet in Utah and Wyoming.

The Problem: Before AI Entered the Picture

Before embracing advanced technology, All West faced common but significant challenges. Their operations were largely manual, with dispatchers relying on spreadsheets and phone calls to manage a high volume of daily service calls and installations. This led to a number of key pain points:

• Inefficient Scheduling: Routes were not optimized, leading to excessive technician travel time and wasted hours.
• Inconsistent Service: Without a centralized system, it was difficult to match the right technician with the right skills to the right job, which could hurt first-time fix rates.
• Impact on Customers: The lack of efficiency led to frequent missed appointments, late arrivals, and a poor overall customer experience.

Michael shared that they knew they were “leaving money on the table” due to these inefficiencies and that their service wasn’t as consistent as it needed to be. This prompted them to seek a new solution that could bring order to the chaos and allow them to scale effectively.

The Decision: Why AI Was the Right Fit

All West’s initial goals were clear: boost operational efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and reduce costs. They first adopted a field service management (FSM) platform, Praxedo, to digitize their operations. But as the company grew, they realized they needed to go a step further to truly unlock their potential.

That’s where AI came in. All West chose to implement Praxedo’s Automated Scheduler (PAS), an AI-based solution, for a number of reasons:

• Unmatched Optimization: They recognized that AI could achieve a level of scheduling sophistication that human planners simply couldn’t match.
• Operational Efficiency: The goal was to maximize jobs per day and eliminate unnecessary travel.
• Scalability: For a small-to-medium-sized business (SMB), AI offered a way to operate with the efficiency of a much larger enterprise without the massive overhead, acting as an “army of super-efficient dispatchers working 24/7.”

They prioritized a solution with seamless integration, strong usability for their team, and transparency so they could understand the AI’s logic.

The Journey: From Implementation to Adoption

The initial Praxedo rollout took several months, involving a significant shift from manual to digital processes. The team was actively involved from the start, providing crucial feedback.

The subsequent AI implementation was different—it was more of a fine-tuning process since the core platform was already in place. Michael shared that they’ve been focused on configuring the AI ​​​​to understand their specific business rules and priorities. The biggest challenge, as with any new technology, has been change management. All West tackled this by:

• Over-communicating: They focused on demonstrating the “what’s in it for them”—how the AI ​​​​would lead to less frustration and more efficient days for technicians and dispatchers.
• Training and Support: They made sure there was an open channel for feedback and support.
• Internal Champions: They highlighted that the AI ​​was a tool to assist, not replace, their team, and they used tech-savvy early adopters to champion the new system.

AI in Action: Tangible Results and Impact

The most compelling part of the story was the quantifiable impact the technology has had. For a typical technician, the AI-powered system transforms their day from a series of scattered jobs into an intelligently optimized sequence that minimizes drive time and maximizes productive work.

The AI ​​dynamically builds and optimizes schedules, and it’s smart enough to adapt to real-world variables like traffic jams or last-minute reschedules. If a technician calls in sick, the AI ​​can quickly reassign their entire workload, minimizing disruption.

As a result, All West has seen a clear improvement in key metrics:

• Increased Jobs Per Day: More efficient routing and reduced travel time mean technicians can complete more work.
• Improved On-Time Arrivals: This directly translates to higher customer satisfaction scores.
• Reduced Costs: All West is projecting a substantial reduction in overtime hours and a decrease in cost per job.

Beyond the numbers, the benefits are clear. Technicians report less stress, and dispatchers feel more empowered to focus on high-value tasks rather than manual scheduling. Customers receive more professional and reliable service, leading to a much better experience.

Lessons Learned and the Future of AI

Looking back, Michael advises other SMBs to “over-communicate and start the change management process even earlier.” His key piece of advice is to “start with a clear problem you want to solve” and partner with a vendor who understands the needs of SMBs.

All West is already looking ahead to the next wave of AI capabilities. They are particularly excited about AI-powered photo analysis , which could allow technicians to get instant quality control feedback or even suggest repair solutions from a photo. They also see AI’s potential in other areas, such as predictive maintenance and inventory management , to continue enhancing their service delivery.

The story of All West Communications is a powerful testament to how AI isn’t just for large corporations. For small and medium-sized service organizations, it’s a transformative tool that can unlock new levels of efficiency, improve the customer experience, and empower teams to do their best work.

Full presentation available here

About

Praxedo has been a trusted provider of field service management (FSM) solutions for the world’s leading service providers since 2005. Our success is attributed to our unwavering focus on delivering the best FSM tools in the market. Unlike other providers, we don’t aim to supply all enterprise applications. Instead, we prioritize our expertise in FSM and offer an AI-powered, cloud-based solution that streamlines deployment from start to finish.

Today, more than 1,500 companies including large enterprises and SMBs, and 65,000 users across the globe rely on Praxedo daily to optimize their field service operations. Our solution enables them to increase productivity, optimize resources, and facilitate seamless data exchanges between field personnel such as technicians and engineers, and their dispatchers.

For more information about how our solution can help your organization,  request a demo