What field team device management is
Field teams are people whose work happens outside the office: maintenance crews, inspectors, sales representatives, delivery staff. Their phones and tablets carry the apps and data they need on the job, and they are usually company-owned and fully managed, see company-owned devices.
What makes field devices different is distance. IT cannot walk over to fix them, coverage is uneven, and devices are more likely to be lost. Device management for field teams is about doing everything remotely.
Location and zones
DeepManage records the location of each device and shows current and past positions on a map. You can define zones on the map and trigger actions when a device enters or leaves them. See location and geofencing.
Location data is personal data. Tell employees what is collected and why, and limit access to people who need it. Our guide on MDM and data protection explains the basics. It is general information, not legal advice.
Remote support without travel
When a worker reports a problem, support staff can open a Live Control session to see the screen and guide or fix it. For simpler cases, you can restart the device, sync it, collect logs or clear the data of a misbehaving app from the console. To reach many people at once, send a notification to a group with messaging.
Apps, files and forms
New app versions install silently with app management, so every crew runs the same version. Work orders, manuals and forms can be delivered with content management.
When the signal drops
Field work often happens where coverage is weak. DeepManage is designed with this in mind:
- Policies and restrictions are applied on the device and stay in force without a connection.
- Location points are stored on the device and uploaded in batches once it is back online.
- A policy can require a new sign-in when a device has not synced for a set time, so a device that disappears does not stay open.
Live actions from the console, such as lock, ring or Live Control, need the device to be online at that moment.
Cloud or on-premises
Field fleets in energy and utilities and the public sector often run on-premises to keep location data in-house. Field sales teams frequently use the cloud. Compare both on deployment options.