The #1 Hurdle for AI in Field Services (and why you're 90% there)

AI is transforming field service operations, but there's one objection that stops nearly every conversation: "We'd love to adopt AI, but the setup time and cost are too risky."

Here's what most field service companies don't realise: you've already done 90% of the work. That OneDrive folder stuffed with SOPs? Those manufacturer instruction PDFs gathering dust? Your BigChange account with years of job history? That's not clutter - it's gold. And connecting it to AI is far simpler than you think.

You've already built your AI knowledge base (you just don't know it yet)

Every field service company has the same treasure trove sitting there, waiting.

Standard operating procedures you wrote years ago, updated sporadically, that new engineers never quite find in time.

HR policies and training documents that answer the same questions you get asked every month.

Manufacturer instruction manuals - those FMG docs, installation guides, and warranty procedures that your senior engineers have memorised but nobody else can find.

Training videos with transcripts that contain exactly the knowledge your team needs, buried in a Loom account somewhere.

This is your company's institutional knowledge. The stuff that lives in your operations director's head and nowhere else. The reason you can't take a holiday without your phone blowing up.

And here's the thing: connecting all of this to an AI that can actually use it? One click.

One-click sync: OneDrive, Google Drive, SharePoint

With Centrus, you sync your existing cloud storage; OneDrive, Google Drive, SharePoint - and the AI immediately knows everything in those folders. No manual uploading. No copy-pasting. No reformatting documents.

Tag them by department. Set access controls so engineers see what engineers need, office staff see what they need, and leadership sees everything. The AI respects your existing permissions.

Suddenly, your team can ask "What's our policy on reactive callouts after 6pm?" or "What's the installation procedure for a Vaillant ecoTEC plus?" and get an instant, accurate answer. No phone call to the office. No bothering the ops director. No hunting through folders.

That's not months of setup. That's an afternoon.

The real game-changer: connecting your job management system

Most field service companies run everything through one platform - BigChange, Joblogic, ServiceTitan, Jobber, FieldEdge. It's your single source of truth. Every job, every engineer, every invoice, every quote, every purchase order.

Centrus connects directly to that system. One login, and the AI knows:

• Every active job and its full history
• Every engineer's schedule and availability
• Every client's site access codes and preferences
• Every quote, invoice, and purchase order
• Every part used and supplier preference

This isn't theoretical. This is live data, updated in real-time.

Your engineer's in the van and needs to know the access code for a site they've never visited? They ask via WhatsApp. The AI pulls it from BigChange instantly.

Office staff need to check if a job was completed last Tuesday? They ask. Done.

But here's where it gets properly useful.

Write access: the AI that actually does things

Most AI tools just answer questions. Centrus can take action.

Give it write access to your job management system and your engineers can voice note from site: "Create a purchase order for £67 at Screwfix for Job 12345." Done. PO created in BigChange. No phone call. No waiting.

"Raise an invoice for the callout we just finished." Done.

"Update the job notes: boiler needs replacing, customer wants quote by Friday." Done.

Your engineers aren't navigating dashboards from their vans. They're not calling the office five times a day. They're just talking to an AI that knows your systems and can actually do things in them.

That's not a chatbot. That's an operations assistant.

Why setup fears are holding you back from what you've already built

The fear of AI setup usually sounds like this:

• "We'll need to hire consultants to configure it."
• "Our data isn't organised enough."
• "It'll take months before anyone can use it."
• "We'll need to train the whole team."

But you've already organised your data, it's in your job management system and your cloud storage. You've already documented your processes, they're in those SOPs and training materials. You've already trained your team on the tools they use daily - WhatsApp and your job management platform.

Centrus doesn't ask you to change how you work. It connects to the systems you already use and makes the knowledge you already have accessible to everyone instantly.

Integration typically takes 1-2 weeks. We've done full BigChange integrations in 10 days. Your engineers don't download an app, they use WhatsApp, which they're already on. Your office staff get a web app that pulls from the same systems they already know.

The setup time objection assumes you're starting from scratch. You're not. You're connecting dots that already exist.

## The real cost of waiting Every day you delay, your operations director answers the same questions they answered yesterday. Your engineers call the office for information that exists in a document somewhere. Your quotes take three days instead of three hours because someone's waiting on pricing approval.

That's not a technology problem. That's an accessibility problem. And it's costing you money, time, and growth.

The field service companies moving fastest right now aren't the ones with the biggest IT budgets. They're the ones who realised their knowledge base already exists, it just needs connecting.

Make the invisible visible

Your company knowledge isn't missing. It's trapped in folders, in systems, in people's heads. Centrus makes it accessible to everyone who needs it, when they need it, in the format they prefer, whether that's a WhatsApp message from site or a detailed answer in the office.

One click syncs your documents. One login connects your job management system. One week gets you live.

The setup time and cost that's holding you back? You've already invested it. You just haven't activated it yet.

Ready to connect what you've already built?

Book a free consultation to see how quickly your existing systems can become your competitive advantage.