When 2020 saw a shift towards the work-from-home culture, the industrial sector had a difficult prospect in its hands – primarily because much of their work is processed manually. The current season is perhaps an indicator of the many challenges already faced by the after-sales service industry, which include the need for frequent travel, lack of First Time Resolutions (FTR), increased operational costs (blame it on frustratingly slow resolutions), inefficient and manual service workflow, lack of automation, knowledge gap among field teams, the need to maintain numerous records and documents, the probability of human error, the need for the expert to be present at the site etc. This article discusses the ways companies tried addressing these deficits and what could be the ideal solution for all things related to field services.
Did you know? Estimates suggest that for every minute of downtime, automotive manufacturers lose $22,000 per minute or $1.3 billion per year. Though the numbers may not be as high for manufactures across all operational areas, it more or less captures the overall scenario.
A Stopgap Solution
Companies are trying to adopt stopgap collaborative tools like Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams to address these issues, not knowing that it is the right solution for the wrong problem.
Videoconferencing and AR-based remote field service solutions are different. The former is very handy in filling a huge void when it comes to corporate collaborations and provides the much-needed screening option for presentations.
What it doesn’t have though is an automated workflow, a ticketing structure to raise issues, a self-support system, the option of maintaining digital records, intelligent recommendations, and features such as annotation that improves overall collaboration and performance. Simply put, it does nothing to increase the value of all systems connected with field services.
ServeVis vs Videoconferencing
ServeVis, a product of TNQ InGage, is a one-stop solution for remote field services powered by Augmented Reality & AI. From automating service workflow to remotely resolving issues through Visual Assistance, ServeVis executes field service faster and more effectively. Let’s now understand the key differences between a field platform such as ServeVis and the video conferencing option:
| S. No | Key Differentiators | What ServeVis Brings | What Videoconferencing Brings |
| 1 | Category of Users | Meant for field teams who go out to the field with machinery, who would get the benefit of an engaging digital interface | Meant for knowledge workers who work at desks |
| 2 | Scope of Connectivity | Connects the physical and real world, where the field service guys live | Connects the Virtual world |
| 3 | Primary Purpose | Identification of issues, quick troubleshooting, and technical support | For business meetings, presentations, & product demos |
| 4 | Contact Support | Connect automatically with the right expert and benefit from instant access to relevant information. | Directly get in touch with your employees, co-workers, customers, and other important contacts. |
| 5 | Digital Innovation | Provides detailed information of all open, ongoing, and closed incidents. Users can look for the track record of customer support and other relevant service details. | Provides a digital space for large business events such as webinars, trade shows, product demos, etc. |
| 6 | On-screen Interactions | Comes with AR annotations, a feature that allows experts and technicians to draw and paint directly in the field of view. This helps provide clear and precise instructions | Employees and employers can have productive interactions through on-screen sharing |
| 7 | Demarcation | Technicians can consult experts of a similar domain, irrespective of their location. This removes all communication barriers in field services | Teams can be segregated into multiple meeting rooms, especially during a major business event |
So, here’s the cut. Every technology is designed for its respective portfolios, and interchanging its usage wouldn’t render the best results.
At a Glance
Here’s a summary of what AR Remote support could bring to your table:
- Connect technicians with the appropriate expert for a given issue, providing them with instant and easy help, without even the need for an internet connection.
- The feature of AR annotations helps experts and technicians to simplify information by drawing and painting during a video call.
- Maintains records of all open, ongoing, and closed transactions, the likes of which include product details, service history, etc. The information so stored can be identified and referred to in seconds.
- Intelligent Recommendations that finds the exact suggestions you are looking for through keyword analysis that reads your question
- Enable AI-driven self-support, helping customers resolve minor issues through remote self-support. This helps reduce technician dispatch rates while the customer instantly resolves issues (which may take days or even weeks with technician dispatch, travel, etc.)
- It ensures business efficiency while easing the process of field tasks such as installation, maintenance, repair, audit, and inspection of equipment and machinery.
Remote AR can serve as a multi-purse tool for all your field service needs, replacing all processes that were done manually in the past. The result? Faster service delivery, reduced downtime, increased customer satisfaction, and greater profits.
Conclusion
We are by no means advocating against using videoconferencing apps. We use it at TNQ InGage, and consider it the most reliable platform for bringing business meetings online; it is a go-to alternative for hosting events or making digital demos of your products.
But if you are in the after-sales service industry, Remote Augmented Reality support is simply the need of the hour; it is designed specifically to address the many gaps faced by field service industries today, making your business productive and profitable.
On this note, we at TNQ InGage are delighted to bring you a next-gen field service platform, ServeVis. It is masterfully designed to streamline field-service enablement and is built for field engineers or technicians to collaborate with experts, exchange visual assistance & information, quickly troubleshoot & repair issues, and maintain digital records.
Cometh the hour, cometh the innovation. If now is not the time for digital adoption, then when?
Try ServeVis for free today. Registrations are open.