ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘augmented-reality’ CATEGORY

In the Big Discussion we bring together a panel of industry experts and focus on one key topic within the field service sector.
In the first of a new four part series, we turn our attention to Augmented Reality where our panel includes Stephen Jeffs-Watts, Senior Advisor Service Management, IFS, Francesco Benvenuto Product Marketing Manager, SPACE1 by OverIT and John Bishop, President, Librestream...

Why should field service companies deploy an augmented reality solution if they already have a peer-to-peer video tool (such as Facetime or Skype) already available and free to use?

JOHN BISHOP, PRESIDENT, LIBRESTREAM
Choosing a video chat product as a remote expert augmented reality (AR) solution can seem like an easy path to fulfilling an immediate need.

As AR platforms and capabilities like remote expert guidance have matured, enterprises have developed clear requirements for security, IT controls, usability and performance. Requirements that these kinds of tools are not able to meet. For example, how will the solution perform in low bandwidth environments? Can IT control how much bandwidth will be consumed?
How can I quickly engage supply chain experts and customers? How can I be sure my content is safe and meets privacy requirements?

We deployed the first AR remote expert solution in 2006 – long before remote expert guidance was part of AR. Over the past 12+ years, our enterprise customers like Rolls Royce, NOV, Colgate-Palmolive, SGS, and hundreds more have guided the development of our solution to solve these difficult challenges.

FRANCESCO BENVENUTO, PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, SPACE1 BY OVERIT
Augmented Reality does not imply the use of a mere Remote Support solution but of an advanced tool aiming at supporting field technicians in their daily tasks through advanced collaboration and content sharing features.

AR solutions, such as OverIT’s product SPACE1, offer both real-time remote assistance and access to pre-built AR work instructions simultaneously.

In this way, support means collaboration and remote problem solving, but with a groundbreaking concept in mind. When assistance was guided by standard videos, both field technician and remote operator had to rely solely on voice instructions. SPACE1 is one step ahead, allowing experts to make marks that stick where drawn and annotations to be displayed on the users’ point of view while supporting them. Moreover, it enables the sharing of digital twins to be set where the remote expertise is needed, thus broadening traditional field working modalities and creating a brand-new cooperative virtual environment. See it in action here.

By using AR products users can capture images, record live support sessions to retain and share the expert assistance (both verbal and supported by visual annotations) in the future or even generate reports and offer actionable insights into improvement opportunities while providing additional employee training.v
AR solutions, embedded in the service delivery process can greatly enhance and enrich the customer experience.

One of the most compelling use-cases is in service call avoidance; where AR, when implemented in a seamless manner, empowers contact agents with enhanced diagnostics capabilities and tooling – being able to see and remotely guide the customer in triage with directive instructions, document sharing and image mark-up. These capabilities can reduce down-time, avoid the need to send a field technician to site and thus directly improve customer satisfaction. Additionally, compliance obligations can also be met through integrated session recording; which isn’t possible in the peer-to-peer space.

That same capability can then be deployed in the field; giving the technicians and the remote experts guiding them much wider capability with a resulting increase in effectiveness and efficiency. In this way, the technology increases first-time-fix rates, improving cost-to-serve and providing another dimension in improving the customer experience.


The second part of the big discussion will be published next week, when the panel answer questions on the role that AR can play in the challenges that come with an ageing workforce.

Manufacturing and service companies are facing a looming skills crisis—but industrial AR can help...

The world of field service and the world of technology have been intertwined for a long time now. In today's world of IoT, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning it could be put forwards that Data is not the fundamental building block of field service excellence. Field Service News and Cognito iQ have explored this concept in a new series and here in this first instalment David Bochenski, CTO Cognito iQ outlines how field service companies can the data within the organisation and why they should be doing so.

 

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Want to know more? There is a video with Konica Minolta's Head of Direct Service, Ged Crannny outlining how they have revolutionised their business through data analytics available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers on the link below...

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"Being told these days by a provider that someone may arrive between 8 am and 6 pm and "by the way can you make sure someone will be around to let them in" is not even close to an acceptable level of service..."

"Field service companies were putting mobile devices into the hands of their engineers and receiving real-time data live from the field long before Steve Jobs, and Apple had put the Internet in everyone's hands.."

Want to know more? There is a video with Konica Minolta's Head of Direct Service, Ged Crannny outlining how they have revolutionised their business through data analytics available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers on the link below...

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Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content...

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Company adds session recording to its industry leading AR knowledge platform and announces continued enterprise customer growth with Becton Dickinson and Lockheed Martin. 

Scope AR, the pioneer of enterprise-class augmented reality (AR) solutions, today launched at Augmented World Expo 2019 (AWE) an upgraded version of its highly-touted WorkLink platform. With the addition of session recording, WorkLink becomes the industry’s only AR knowledge platform to offer real-time remote support, access to AR work instructions and the ability to record sessions simultaneously in one application. With this, workers can now easily capture, retain and share knowledge like never before. Scope AR also announced new enterprise customer, medical device manufacturer Becton Dickinson, as well as expanded use of its integrated AR platform with Lockheed Martin.

“This is an exciting time for the AR industry. Adoption is growing and expectations among users are shifting towards more comprehensive, enterprise-ready solutions,” explained Scott Montgomerie, CEO of Scope AR. “With the latest WorkLink platform, we’ve added even more ways for workers to collaborate and quickly get the knowledge they need to successfully do their jobs. With the addition of session recording, businesses can now better capture and retain knowledge for future use and training purposes, while taking compliance, quality assurance and accuracy to the next level.”

The updated WorkLink platform can be customized with varying sets of functionality depending on customers’ needs. It can also be deployed across all major platforms and select industry wearables so organizations can use their device of choice. The platform is built to help make anyone an instant expert with seamless access to a variety of features including:

Session Recording to capture important knowledge delivered during live support video calls for retention, future sharing and new insight into additional training needs and how processes can be improved. Either the technician or remote expert can record a live session so real-time knowledge becomes a reusable asset that can be accessed by others in the future.

Beyond its latest product innovations, Scope AR has also experienced continued customer acquisition and growth on the heels of its $9.7 million Series A funding round in March 2019. Becton Dickinson, an American medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagants, is the newest addition to the company’s already impressive client roster. Becton Dickinson will use WorkLink at the company’s Automation Center for Enablement to deliver AR instructions across the organization.

Additionally, Lockheed Martin is now expanding its use of Scope AR’s technology after its highly successful implementation of WorkLink to improve workforce training and spacecraft manufacturing procedures. They are now deploying Scope AR into all four of their business units across a broad variety of use cases.

Lockheed Martin’s Emerging Technologies Lead Shelley Peterson added, “Creating AR work instructions with WorkLink has enabled our Space team to reach unprecedented levels of efficiency and accuracy, as well as reduced manufacturing training and activity ramp-up time by 85%. Scope AR's platform has proven to be so valuable that we have expanded our AR adoption into even more manufacturing applications within the Space division, as well as leveraging the technology in other areas of the business."

Trimble announce the launch of Trimble PULSE® Remote Expert, an augmented reality (AR) tool that improves the productivity of field service technicians by connecting them with support experts via video, audio and spatial annotations in real-time.


The AR tool provides remotely-located users with a shared, live view using the camera on a smart phone. Both users can add digital annotations, such as text or drawings, directly to the live view by accessing a simple menu displayed on the smartphone screen.

Digital annotations can be especially helpful when trying to communicate complex information remotely, or if either user is working in a loud environment. Trimble PULSE Remote Expert enables businesses across a range of industries, including construction, agriculture, telecommunications and utilities, to rapidly connect remote experts with technicians in the field.

It is a simple and powerful application for technicians who require real-time assistance when facing complex or unfamiliar situations, and ultimately helps to improve first-time fix rates, technician productivity and the overall customer service experience. 

"Many organizations are looking for new and improved ways of connecting their field workers," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management Division. "An ageing workforce and skill shortages are adding complexity to the service workflow and organizations are looking for innovative ways to address the challenges."

In a world of connected field service, new exciting oppportunities are being created by new technology such as Augmented Reality. Michael Murphy, VP International Operations, Librestream Technologies explains...

The Field Service industry is in the midst of digital change – investments are being made in different digital transformation technologies to help expand their service offerings to customers.

According to Forrester1, 32% of enterprises are focusing on digital transformation, and in two years, that number will increase to 49%. Augmented Reality (AR) is one key technology that organizations are deploying as part of these digital transformation initiatives.

It is difficult to define AR as capabilities rangefrom deployable now to future applications. The future capability can be considered ‘extreme AR’ - think of 3D digital models of assets that you can pull apart and manipulate. However, most organizations don’t have the content or infrastructure available for this form of AR even though this is the type of AR many refer to first.

In reality, the more deployed form of AR includes applications such as remote assistance and digital work instructions.
Within field service we are seeing this ‘deployable now’ AR gain significant traction. In working with industrial customers, we have identified three main drivers behind this growth: aging/ loss of experts, change in customer demands and service offerings, and ecosystem readiness.

These three drivers are propelling service organizations to adopt AR tools that can leverage expertise across a broad product set and customer base. Early adopters within industry have already proven results with performance improvements in first-time-fix rates, asset uptime, and overall issue resolution time. Embracing AR capabilities can be difficult if you don’t know where or how to start, and there are critical factors that can make the deployment a success or failure.

Here are the three main stages of successfully deploying AR technologies:

Get Started
The first and most crucial step is articulating the problem or need - Are you experiencing a loss of expertise within your organization? Are customers demanding stronger SLA commitments? If there is more demand on your service organization, AR technology can help meet these demands.

Once the need and goals are identified, the next challenge is choosing the AR technology and vendor that best fits your needs. Ask if they have other customers like you. Can they provide you with best practice suggestions? Starting with applications like digital work instructions and remote expertise will expedite results as they are proven already. In addition to wearables, these solutions can be used on smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, that your workers likely already have in their pockets.

Work with your team to figure out the potential use cases for this technology and document them. Creating a library of use cases will help a lot in the deployment stage.

The last important part of the ‘get started’ stage is getting the right people involved from the start. That means IT, project champions, and the executive buy-in. Having all these groups on board will help make the deployment a success.

Make It A Success
AR technology is usually a learning curve for new users. Making this technology deployment a success is key when users adopt the new tools. You will see the most benefit from AR when deployed in scale – if one user has the technology it’s hard to see it success.

Think of the network effect. If only two users have the technology, there is only one connection that can be made, but with 100 users enabled, there are 4,950 potential connections. The next most important step to success is in creating an achievable adoption plan.

Work with your team and your AR vendor to properly introduce and train on the technology. And communicate your use cases and successes to help with the adoption.

If users understand how and why the technology is being used, the chance of them actually using the technology grows.

Think About the Future
The future of AR within service is virtually limitless, and enterprise businesses are testing a range of wearables as part of various AR applications. While wearables add hands-free capabilities, they add cost to the initial deployments. Many enterprises are deploying test groups with wearables while enabling workers to use the applications on their mobile devices to expand the value.

Capturing field intelligence data and providing expanded analytics are also major topics within AR. Applications such as remote expert and digital work instructions capture valuable information from the field including IoT data. Solutions are also moving toward working with IoT sensors to grab valuable data in real-time or to record in step-bystep workflow.

Using the data you’ve collected from the AR applications, you can add to your predictive maintenance and service analytics. The field intelligence data you capture also must be available within your existing systems such as your ERP or knowledge management system.

To achieve this integration, connectors and APIs are a ‘big thing’ in AR - and ad-hoc or silo systems are no longer acceptable. Enterprises expect a completely integrated solution. Practical AR solutions are proven to improve performance, especially in the field service industry.

With AR the main drivers of the ageing workforce, ecosystem readiness, and the change in service offerings and customer demands,
service organizations are realizing the need for innovation and digital change.

As the industrycontinues to embrace the digital space, AR will become the norm within field service.

A panel debate on the best digital tools for achieving top-end service, strayed from shortlisting technologies and focused more on the end-user impact. Field Service News’ Deputy Editor Mark Glover attended the session – part of Field Service Europe 2018 – and saw discussion range from strategy to data, but always swinging back to the customer.
Among the many highlights from Field Service Europe, held in Amsterdam before Christmas, was a debate attempting to shortlist digital tools that can contribute to a world-class service process.

Panellists included Miguel Angel Hernanz, VP Head of Global Service Delivery Transformation at Phillips Healthcare; Karen Mehal, VP Field Service Lightning at Salesforce and David Nedohin, President at Scope Augmented Reality.

Chairing the debate, Field Service News’ Editor-in-Chief Kris Oldland began by defining world-class service and more specifically what it means to customers used to high-end service delivery from the likes of Uber and Amazon. “Service is no longer how we compete with our direct competitors,” he told delegates. “We’re now constantly at competition with the best service experiences customers have ever had. We’re now moving into a world where customer satisfaction is perhaps no longer the right phrase anymore.    
"It has to be about customer experience and understanding what the experience is to the customer and working back from there. Only then can we really start thinking about what world class service is,” he posed.  

Oldland put it to the panel that technology and digitisation in service should be perceived as “one continuous eco-system that compliments and feeds off one-another" rather than separate tools. Hernanz, who recently oversaw a large B2B and B2C contact center service transformation at Phillips Healthcare, was keen to set the focus on strategy and away from the tools. “The different tools are enablers," he said. You should first of all take a look at your strategy and secondly re-define your processes end-to-end, then use the different solutions or tools that are available in the market to make it happen.”    

He continued: “The problem with digitisation and the variety of tools in the market is that you get overloaded with information; you find opportunities all over the place and you want it all and you want it now and that is a big mistake.    “You should start doing a proof of concept. You try it, you learn, you correct and you scale up; if it is scalable. Or you dismiss it and you try something else” he urged.    

Servicecloud’s Karen Mehal agreed: “If you don’t understand what your objective is, how do you know you’re getting there? she asked, going on to question the use of the term digitisation. “We digitised field service technicians with laptops 20 years ago, did we not? We gave them a laptop. That was digitisation."   

It's a good point. The industry can be guilty of getting swept up in buzzwords without fully understanding what they mean, and more importantly how they can impact on customer service. “What’s the objective?” Mehal continued, “Is it around your customer? Is digitisation serving your customer? If it isn’t, it really should be. Or are you just taking your ERP and digitising it?    

If the customer service is the end goal, then digital tools should be used to empower that process. Putting this theory to David Nedohin, the co-founder and president of an Augmented Reality company, Oldland asked how such a new and innovative technology such as Augmented Reality can cut through the excitement and intrigue to become a genuine ROI. “It’s about identifying what the problems are but to also make sure there are measurements to it,” Nehan explained. “For example, if you are currently sending out your field service team to help support your customer on a certain percentage of problems, what is that costing you right now? And if you could implement a technology that could help reduce a certain percentage of those, then what is the actual cost savings?    

“If they don’t have those numbers, we work with them to find out what those numbers are so there’s a business case that can be presented to management,” he says, before adding: “It’s a strategy they need to put together to understand exactly why they’re solving that problem. You have to start with the problem, you have to start with the use-case.”     

Concurring, Oldland suggested that technology should underpin a wider business plan of evolution. “Digitisation is not a one-off process,” he said. “In a sense, we’re talking about a continuous improvement journey, it’s just that the tools behind that evolve too.”    

“I see a lot of people get lost in that,” offered Mehan, who by her own admission is customer-facing, “They get lost in the shiny object, such as Augmented Reality. But if your strategy is around customer support, better customer service, wouldn’t it be better to use digitisation to look at someone’s asset now and fix it now, rather than scheduling someone to go out there and fix it?    

“Our world is no longer traditional. We’re not in a traditional world, we’re not in a traditional software world, we’re not in a traditional field service world. We should not be bound by EAPs or by software. We should by bound by what serves out the customer,” she argued. “My questions are: are you doing that with your digitisation. Are you really taking care of the customer when you’re doing your strategy?” She said.   

Philips’ Hernanz admitted working in large organisations ,where many different stakeholders have many ideas can be difficult. However, all these opinions come second to that of the most important stakeholder: the customer. “You need to put the customer at the centre and listen to them,” he said. “This is very important. You must find out what they need and then start building solutions which are suitable for today, but also for the future because the whole process is also an evolution.”   

 

"We're not in a traditional software world, we're not in a traditional field service world..." (Mehal)

 

 

One digital tool that has made a significant impression on this process is data and, in particular, big data. Filtering the most useful information remains the challenge, given the reams of information that smart assets churn out. “There’s no point in having data if it’s not providing the right insight,” Oldland said to the panel, all of whom agreed and acknowledged all the customer cares about is fixing what needs fixing.   

Referencing a client who made industrial cooking equipment for fast food restaurants including Burger King and Macdonald’s, Mehner told the audience that when their client's equipment – such as a bun toaster – produced a fault the restaurant would call out a contract worker ill-equipped to isolate and solve the issue. “This piece of equipment,” Nedohin explained, “now has 20 or 30 tickets associated with it because the technician doesn’t know how to diagnose the problem, let alone fix it. The message is clear: we need to find a better way of fixing the assets.”    

The restaurant now uses remote support tools to directly contact the manufacturer, who can identify the model, the fault, diagnose the problem and send the right technician with the correct parts and asset knowledge   “There is data with this such as preventative maintenance,” Nedohin said. “But the customer doesn’t care, all they care about is getting the equipment working. That data is important to somebody and that somebody is in the manufacturer's office.   “The person at the end just needs to know what to do,” he concluded, summing up a key take away from the debate.   

Enlightened delegates left the session without a list of digital tools but an idea of what to do before you choose them. Data collection, Augmented reality can all complement a process, but without a strategy that also encompasses your customer’s needs, those tools may as well be blunt.  

Börje Ekholm says telecommunication company will complete roll-out this year and network upgrade will compliment new technology such as Augmented Reality and autonomous vehicles.

 

Speaking at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona this month, Börje Ekholm Ericsson's CEO and President, said the firm expect to switch on the 5G network over the next 12 months and the robust network will facilitate ventures including Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and autonomous vehicles.

Ericsson had previously announced 5G deals with 14 service providers across Europe, US, Asia and Australia including US Cellular and Telstrar. Memorandums of understandings have been signed with 42 other service providers and Ekholm told journalists to expect further announcements.

Citing research from the Ericsson Consumer Lab, he said that smartphone users will soon see the impact of the new coverage. "Consumers and enterprises are waiting for 5G," he explained. "One-third of smartphone globally will change either immediately or within six months to a service provider that switches on 5G."

Over half of the US Government workforce feel comfortable with technology such as artificial intelligence but want to see accompanying training and guidance readily available.

The survey by Government Business Council, canvassed nearly 500 US Federal employees across more than 30 civil and defence agencies sought opinion on smart technologies such as Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. 

Over half (51%) understood that artificial intelligence will evolve "slightly or considerably" in the next three years and will have an impact on their role in the future, however only 26% said their respected agencies had communicated the impact of AI to them either "adequately, well or very well."

The survey also revealed that workers felt confident in adapting to this change but were concerned that there was a lack of training around the technology, with 61% expressing worry at the absence of technical support.

“AI is one of the most engaging topics we are seeing unfold in the federal government right now,” said Daniel Thomas, Research Manager at GBC and the study's author. “These findings show that there is a significant appetite for continued education around the opportunities that intelligent technologies like AI present to the federal employee." 

You can read the full report here.