The past year has presented service providers with major challenges. To maintain maintenance and repair services for their customers during a global pandemic while protecting their employees, they needed innovative solutions. In addition, manufacturing companies have long recognized that they must take advantage of the opportunities offered by servitization, the expansion of the portfolio to include services or a combination of product and service, in order to remain competitive in the long term. Maintaining business continuity is of central importance for companies that rely on servitization.

Software solutions are therefore needed to communicate remotely with customers and users and to increase the efficiency of remote diagnostics and maintenance.
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Merged reality technology in remote support

IFS Remote Assistance is based on augmented (AR) and merged reality (MR) technology and combines two real-time video streams to create an interactive environment on a standard tablet or smartphone. This allows technicians on site or even the customer themselves to share the real-life context of the situation with the support experts. They in turn interact with the local staff in real time and can provide guidance on solutions. The visual aspect of the technology makes it possible to identify the problem more quickly and find a solution more efficiently than with purely telephone-based support, for example. The service experts can touch what the customer or technician sees in front of them in the merged reality solution, freeze or share images. They can use hand gestures or even insert real objects such as special tools into the MR environment.

Another advantage of the solution is that the customer or technician does not need an installed system or app. A mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet with a web browser is all that is needed to use IFS Remote Assistance. Special devices for augmented and virtual reality such as smart glasses can be a useful tool for special requirements in production or at remote locations with suboptimal network coverage, but also require additional investment and employee training.

Intuitive usability and seamless knowledge transfer

Intuitive operability is a key aspect, as demonstrated by a Munters project. The company manufactures, sells and maintains special appliances for industrial areas where temperature and humidity control is business-critical. The pilot project was completed in six days, with staff training taking less than two hours. Within two weeks, the company was able to roll out the solution to more than 200 users worldwide and ensure seamless collaboration between service experts, field staff and the customer on site.

In addition to direct service provision, companies can use IFS Remote Assistance to document and transfer valuable technical expertise, for example to train staff. It is increasingly important for companies to ensure that employees' mission-critical knowledge is documented and that know-how is retained within the organization. The software makes it possible to record every session and enrich it with documents such as instructions. If an accumulation of certain issues is identified, training can be initiated accordingly and common problems resolved.

Another application example is Panasonic Appliances Air-Conditioning Europe. The provider of heating and cooling solutions was looking for a remote assistance solution in order to establish a service-oriented, subscription-based business model and thus implement the further development of its corporate strategy in the long term. IFS Remote Assistance now effectively supports Panasonic's sales, support and technical service staff with the ability to communicate directly in real time. Repair times, which previously generally amounted to seven days, have been significantly shortened as a result. In addition, the reduction or even elimination of on-site visits reduces travel costs and environmental impact.

AR tools as an opportunity for the future

There are many possible applications for a remote assistance solution with MR technology. It ensures that maintenance and repair services can be maintained in exceptional situations that require travel restrictions, for example; in the long term, remote services offer companies an opportunity to optimize their operating processes. Maintenance and repair processes can be made more efficient, the troubleshooting rate on the first customer visit can be increased and ultimately the number of dispatched technicians can be reduced.

Thomas Knorr is CTO and Head of Presales Northern and Central Europe at IFS.

© IFS

Technologies such as remote assistance solutions will fundamentally change the way service providers interact with their customers. For companies, they offer an opportunity to differentiate their service offering and create new revenue streams. The current Covid-19 pandemic has revealed a 'new normal': While remote support and augmented reality tools were initially primarily a means for many companies to safeguard operations, they are now key to exploring new ways of working together in the future and driving digital transformation.