Technological advancements have revolutionized the way businesses train, communicate, and provide support. Assisted Reality – including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is now reshaping the way companies deliver procedural guidance and navigate the troubleshooting process.
From headsets to head-mounted displays, assisted reality offers users a fully immersive experience, allowing support teams to provide guidance and collaborate with customers and colleagues from anywhere across the globe.
Implementing assisted reality for real-time support has proven to yield a plethora of benefits. For example, GE healthcare experienced a 46% increase in worker productivity while GE Boeing reduced production time by 25% and essentially eliminated error rates altogether.
From decreasing, machine downtime and human error to reducing costs and improving first-time fix rates, utilizing AR for real-time support can benefit customers, employees, and service technicians in the field.
Leveraging AR for Support & Maintenance Needs
Years ago, machinery was less complex – meaning systems were easier to learn, demand was lighter and breakdowns weren’t so disruptive to business operations. Today, however, new and emerging technology has led to a much more intricate and challenging working environment.
AR-powered solutions offer a cost-effective and streamlined approach to providing remote support to on-site technicians who are using unfamiliar equipment or performing repairs. Tech teams can provide on-the-spot guidance covering anything from operator assembly instructions to troubleshooting assistance. They can even supply users with real-time access to vital data like analytics or control actions.
Speaking to the benefits of AR/VR for real-time support, Coca-Cola’s VP of Supply Chain, Helen Davis, shares: “We no longer need to fly in people from Germany – where our main equipment suppliers are based – to troubleshoot our machines. Now they can virtually see what we are seeing, instantaneously, and help diagnose and solve issues without stepping foot in a plant. This allows us to operate ‘virtually’, unencumbered by time or distance.”
Through AR and VR technology, companies can ensure specialized expertise is readily available anytime, anywhere. Field service technicians can collaborate with tech support to address and diagnose issues quicker, conserve valuable time and reduce costs associated with downtime. With two-way video and audio capabilities, AR/VR technology can effectively increase efficiency by removing the need to travel from site to site from the equation.
Using AR/VR to Train Customer Support Agents
For businesses juggling a multitude of products in their repository of offerings, assisted reality offers a way for workers to interact and even deconstruct 3D projections of various products for training purposes. By doing so, companies circumvent unwanted wear and tear or breaking while simultaneously conserving dollars otherwise spent on purchasing products and equipment solely for onboarding and training.
Not only does this provide a more hands-on and personalized approach, but it gives workers the opportunity to take a deeper dive into how products operate and interface with one another. Utilizing AR/VR for training purposes will ultimately allow support personnel to strengthen the customer experience – boosting client retention, referrals and revenue.
From improving processes and accelerating knowledge transfer to reducing costs and providing faster solutions, AR/VR for real-time support is an effective solution for a myriad of industries and applications. Today’s savvy business leaders know that technology is the key to laying the foundation for both short and long-term success.
At Concannon XR, we have extensive experience providing organizations with everything from designing and implementing successful programs to hardware selection and deployment. To learn more about how assisted reality can benefit your organization, contact our team of AR/VR consultants today.
