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Help Lightning, the leading provider of remote visual assistance software, announced today the acquisition of Fieldbit, an augmented reality-enabled platform known for its innovative knowledge sharing, remote collaboration and workflow automation capabilities supporting both expert led and self-help solutioning. 

Help Lightning is a leading innovator in the application of augmented reality for use cases that deliver positive outcomes in industries such as complex medical equipment and telecommunications. According to Gartner®, “by 2026, 75% of capital-equipment-intensive industries will use AR as a key component for cost reduction/avoidance among frontline workers”. With significant category growth expected over the next 3 years, the acquisition of Fieldbit will provide the broadest and deepest value creation for its growing list of global enterprise customers.

THE ACQUISITION SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCES HELP LIGHTNING'S INDUSTRY-LEADING REMOTE ASSISTANCE SOLUTION WITH NEW, EXPANSIVE CAPABILITIES TO DEEPEN CUSTOMER VALUE

“Today’s announcement represents another exciting milestone for Help Lightning and more good news for our more than 200 customers who benefit every day from our AR-enabled solution,” said Gary York, CEO of Help Lightning. “The acquisition of Fieldbit is an important step in fulfilling our vision to provide instant access to expertise, delivering dramatic improvements in first time fix rates, resolution times, and customer satisfaction.” 

With Fieldbit, Help Lightning customers will benefit from access to additional capabilities to enable real-time, expert-led problem solving while also supporting a variety of self-help scenarios. The combined solution will include an industry-leading set of capabilities such as:

• Remote video collaboration and technical support
• 3D annotation
• The industry’s only Merged Reality feature
• Knowledge capture and share
• Work instructions including operational & safety procedures
• Augmenting real time data from IIoT platforms

“Like few other technology vendors we partner with, Help Lightning has been both an innovator and a partner in support of our company’s success,” said Tim Spencer, Senior Vice President and General Manager Service Operations at BUNN. “We were excited to hear about Help Lightning’s acquisition of Fieldbit and anticipate an exponential growth in value internally and externally from our use of the newly combined solution.”

With this acquisition, Help Lightning improves support for the ever-expanding needs of enterprise customers who depend on its services, including leading brands like Ricoh, Bunn and Becton Dickinson. Fieldbit brings depth and breadth in comparison to other solutions on the market, allowing the combined power of these two industry leaders to successfully meet the needs of today’s global enterprises. Fieldbit has a strong roster of successful customers including large enterprises such as BP, Emerson, and Veolia. 

“From the beginning, our vision at Fieldbit has been to be at the forefront of technology so we can provide the most advanced AR solutions for our customers,” said Evyatar Meiron, CEO of Fieldbit. “With our strong footprint in the energy, utilities and manufacturing industries, and together with Help Lightning’s ability to create and expand customer value, we are now able to bring unparalleled expertise and powerful capabilities to create positive outcomes for our customers.”

For more information about how Help Lightning enables business experts to virtually work side-by-side with anyone needing help, anywhere in the world, visit helplightning.com.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about Help Lightning on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/helplightning
• Read more about Remote Assistance on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/remote-assistance
• Find out more about Help Lightning @ helplightning.com
• Learn more about Fieldbit @ www.fieldbit.net
• Connect with Help Lightning on LinkedIn@ www.linkedin.com/company/helplightning/
• Follow Help Lightning on Twitter @ twitter.com/helplightning

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News welcomes Gary York, CEO and Evans Manolis, Senior Consultant Help Lightning as the group discuss the practical considerations of implementing Augmented Reality in Field Service.

The discussion looks at whether Augmented Reality (AR) is set to become a key part of the field service toolkit, how the shift to remote services will change the role of the field service engineer, the importance of effortless when it comes to new technology, how AR can improve multiple facets of field service operations and how it can be implemented effectively within just a matter of months.

In this excerpt from that conversation, the group discuss how the pandemic drove many field service companies to embrace the technology in a way they never would have thought possible in normal conditions.

 

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Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium.  If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below. 

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more. 

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In this final feature from our series of excerpts from an exclusive Field Service News white paper published in partnership with Help Lightning, that is exploring the practical questions surrounding Augmented Reality we see how Revolution Retail Systems achieved an incredible adoption rate in record time when rolling out AR... 

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So how have Revolution Retail Systems (Revolution) adopted Augmented Reality into their existing service workflow?

“We phone-fix 70% of our calls that come in through level one and then we move to level two before dispatch,” explained Barker.

“If a customer comes through to level one and that call is then progressed to level two, we send them a Help Lightning link to work with the customer to ensure they’re opening the appropriate access points, for example. It also allows us to see if we can identify any broken cables or anything like that. We can see if anything has happened to change the structure of the device, so we know exactly what is going on before dispatching an engineer. We can capture pictures, know what module requires attention, and attach that information to the case. Only then would will we dispatch a technician to replace the module."

Revolution are currently using Help Lightning as a standalone application within the Help Lightning server in terms of workflow. However, it is available as an integrated CRM app, the implementation of which is currently on the roadmap for Revolution. However, even in its standalone format, the tool’s adoption within the contact centres’ workflow has been hassle-free.

Similarly, from the customers’ side, the tool’s use is simple, which is critical for any new technology we expect our customers to adopt. In Revolution’s workflow, a link is simply sent to the customer via email, which can either open in a dedicated app or even in a standard browser.

Indeed, for Barker’s team, the adoption process was a smooth one, which is both testament to the ease of use of the solution and Barker’s own change management skills.

 

"Firstly we kept talking to the teams about it, explaining the ‘whys’ behind it. It is essential to have those daily conversations with the folks who are using it and those who are not...."

 

“The solution is very intuitive,” Barker explains, “so it wasn’t a complicated training session. In our learning management system, we built a computer-based learning module, rolled it out to the floor, and just let the team see it.  We trained everybody on it, and we then gave it a week or so to see what we were getting in terms of adoption.

“Initially, we weren’t seeing the interaction that we wanted, which can be expected with any new technology rollout, so we looked at how we could improve the adoption rate. We did this in several ways. Firstly we kept talking to the teams about it, explaining the ‘whys’ behind it. It is essential to have those daily conversations with the folks who are using it and those who are not.

“We then ran some incentive schemes. For example, we’d run a contest for a month based around utilizing the AR. We offered prizes and rewards for the team if they could prevent a dispatch. These incentives were designed to make the benefits of using the tool tangible for our team. We wanted to prove to them that they could do it and use it in their day to day workflow.

“Then once we’d shown them that they could leverage the tool, we then said, ‘OK, now you have to use it. Now it’s part of the process.”

Introducing the solution in a gentler way that reinforced the benefits allowed Revolution to formalize the process to the point where it is now a fundamental part of the triage process.

“Now it is part of our agents QA forms and their requirements are that they’re using the AR on a daily basis. We now pull the stats around AR usage and communicate those numbers regularly. Our agents are held to a metric and it is part of their employee scorecard,” Barker explains.

This two-tiered approach has achieved an impressive adoption rate, with the process taking just three months to go from roll out to becoming a cornerstone of their workflow.

Having done so, the value for Revolution in leveraging the power of AR has been not so much in developing dedicated new revenue streams but reinforcing their position as an industry leader, helping to both secure new business and strengthen existing relationships.

“We’ve leveraged our use of Help Lightning almost as a marketing tool,” explains Barker.

“When we have executive meetings with Walmart or Target and in fact, any of our significant customers, our CEO has done demos of Help Lightning with their executive team so that they see what the store’s interactions with our help desk are like. It’s a compelling demonstration, placing us on the cutting edge of technology and being able to demonstrate we are an industry leader and show that we’re investing in the latest tools to help our customers.

“That’s the value proposition for us. We didn’t change our billing model at all for our customers. When we integrated Help Lightning, we didn’t increase their cost. Because while we’re absorbing the cost of Help Lightning we’re also seeing the savings associated with it.”

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Clay Barker, Director of Service and Support, Revolution Retail Systems about their use of Augmented Reality within their field service operations.

During the discussion, Barker outlines how the tool has driven multiple benefits across their field service operation including improving customer satisfaction and increasing first-time fix rates as well as outlining how they achieved an effective roll-out which achieved excellent adoption rates in just three months of implementation.

Here, Barker reflects on the initial thoughts having seen the Help Lightning Augmented Reality tool and the potential he could see for its application within their field service operations.

 

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Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium.  If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below. 

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more. 

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In this fourth feature from our series of excerpts from an exclusive Field Service News white paper published in partnership with Help Lightning, that is exploring the practical questions surrounding Augmented Reality we look at how its introduction improves multiple facets of field service operations...

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Revolution Retail Systems have been using the Help Lightning Augmented Reality tool for almost two years, having had the opportunity to observe it being used and instantly seeing an array of opportunities.

As Clay Barker, Director of Service and Support, recalled on the Field Service News Digital Symposium, “we could see how we could use the tool in a number of ways, to improve customer and technician interactions as well as the ability of our internal staff and level two support to troubleshoot and diagnose, to make sure we send the right part, one time – the opportunity we saw was endless.”

When we look at the metrics that are often sat at the top of the list in terms of critical KPIs for field service organisations, we can instantly see how AR can be aligned in improving such metrics.

As is the case for many field service organisations, for Barker and Revolution Retail Systems, one of the most important of these metrics is the first-time-fix.

“The idea that we can’t get resolution on our first attempt is a challenge and if we can eliminate a dispatch, it’s an even larger benefit to the customer, because we’ve reduced the amount of downtime required to for resolution by using the AR effectively,” Barker explains. 

“I saw the opportunity that it was going to give my employees in communication with the customer. That is because what we’re asking the customer to do more often than not is look at the asset. We’re guiding them through this very technical, mechanical device, asking them to open access points, we’re asking them to turn knobs, we’re asking them to do lots of different things.

 

"As soon as I saw the tool, I listed off ten or fifteen ways in which that we could use the solution. It was so clear to me that that we could add value with this software..."

 

“We were trying to do that all via audio without a visual of what they could see and without being able to share visuals at our end that coudl guide them. 

“When I saw that we could take a pin and point to an access point and say slide this over to the left and show them exactly what we wanted them to do. The idea of how easy that made what we were trying to do from a communication standpoint, it was a no brainer for me.”

The team at Revolution Retail Systems did attempt some trials with video using apps like FaceTime, but while an improvement on audio-only calls, the functionality remained lacking the levels of interaction that sets AR apart as the obvious vehicle for remote service.

“At the end of the day, you can’t reach into it, you can’t point, you can’t take a screenshot, you can’t capture a picture off of it,” Barker explains.

“There are just so many other layers to how we use Help Lightning that has improved our business, outside of just customer experience. For example, the ability to capture pictures which allows more accurate invoicing. If the customer’s damaged the unit somehow, we can capture an image of it when we’re using Help Lightning; we can use that for support on our invoicing - there are hundreds of thousands of dollars that are spent on out of scope charges. Using the AR tools in this way provides us with the ability to invoice with more confidence with clear documentation and evidence.

“As soon as I saw the tool, I listed off ten or fifteen ways in which that we could use the solution. It was so clear to me that that we could add value with this software. There were savings, layered in savings over and over again on it – the ROI on it just was too easy!”

 

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In this third feature from a series of excerpts from an exclusive Field Service News white paper published in partnership with Help Lightning, that is exploring the practical questions surrounding Augmented Reality we explore the importance of effortlessness in any new technology we introduced into the complex machine of field service operations - especially one that can change our industry as dramatically as Augmented Reality... 

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Any new technology’s true strength when introduced into a complex workflow such as field service is that it needs to just work. It needs to be seamless and effortless for both the customer and the technician or engineer.

In this sense, AR is no different. It has to fit comfortably within the workflow. It has to integrate with other applications crucial within the field service management technology stack to be easily adopted. In a world of APIs and increasingly open architecture, this, on the surface, would seem a relatively simple request. Yet, in a world of data security and mobile device management, introducing a sophisticated new technology is not always as easy as it might seem at first glance.

So has AR reached this tipping point from exciting potential to effortless implementation?

York believes it has, although as he explains, AR is not actually a single technology but instead a set of technologies that can be used to solve problems of a variety of sorts.

“The visual assistance and the merged reality that we offer really is one of the most natural but the simplest of the augmented reality technologies,” York explains.

“It doesn’t require a lot of upfront capital cost, and it can be rolled out very rapidly. It can be rolled out standalone, and we have many customers who’ve got a lot of value in doing so with benefits across costs, revenue and customer satisfaction. These benefits are often not only incredible but also very achievable.

 

"We believe it’s incredibly important to use the devices that are already available and allow somebody to interact without even having to download an app..."

 

“However, even when these technologies are used as a standalone, it is important to remove any friction associated with using new tools and to make doing so a seamless experience for the customer but also for the call centre and the field techs.

“That’s really been a big focus for us. We look at every point in which there is potential friction in the process, and we say can we take that friction out?

“A good example here would be the inclusion of smart glasses within the technology stack. Smart glasses are fantastic. We support smart glasses. We have several customers experimenting with smart glasses, and we also have users who are using smart glasses in production today to roll out equipment.

“We have one customer that sells large, complex equipment to an international customer base, and during the pandemic, their equipment was in high demand, but they couldn’t go and set it up and train the customer. They started sending a pair of smart glasses with the equipment, so when local technicians or the customers themselves would put the smart glasses on, they would call back home using Help Lightning, and they’d be guided through an installation process as well as the training process.

“They were able to get their customers up and running with the technology even though they never had a physical interaction – so in the last twelve months, such solutions have proven to be really valuable.

“However, most people don’t have smart glasses, but all of us have a smartphone in our pocket. We believe it’s incredibly important to use the devices that are already available and allow somebody to interact without even having to download an app. A user can literally join a Help Lightning call by simply clicking a link in an email. 

“We’ve looked at every point in which there potentially could be friction; from the customer to the call centre all the way to the domain experts and the field techs. You can remove friction at each of those points through integrations. These are essential steps that allow the technology to work seamlessly and make it easier to improve those efficiencies by reducing the complexity often associated with using new technology.

“We have we have a lot of tools that allow us to integrate with Field Service Management solutions, Customer Relationship Management solutions and with Call Centre platforms. We even have integration with mobile apps. For example, we have a customer who has a mobile app that they use for service and in their mobile app, they have a call Help Lightning button built in. If the user clicks that button, it calls a group of technicians who are able to help with that product, at that location with that particular asset ID, at that exact time. Those kinds of integrations can be incredibly powerful for the customer.”

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News welcomes Gary York, CEO and Evans Manolis, Senior Consultant Help Lightning as the group discuss the practical considerations of implementing Augmented Reality in Field Service.

The discussion looks at whether Augmented Reality (AR) is set to become a key part of the field service toolkit, how the shift to remote services will change the role of the field service engineer, the importance of effortless when it comes to new technology, how AR can improve multiple facets of field service operations and how it can be implemented effectively within just a matter of months.

In this excerpt from that full hour long interview the conversation turns to discuss whether we have finally reached a tipping point in terms of the use of AR in field service and if its incorporation into field service operations has now become seamless.

 

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Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium.  If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below. 

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more. 

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Company Information: At Help Lightning, we have completely reimagined how businesses, customers and employees are able to give and receive help using merged reality. We’ve eliminated the frustrations and inadequacies of phone calls or simple video chat, as well as dramatically reduced the need to drive or fly to interact in person.

Using existing mobile devices (iOS, Android) or a web-browser, experts can now visually collaborate with a colleague or customer as though they were working side-by-side.

They can telestrate, freeze images, use hand gestures, pictures, and even add real objects into the merged reality environment. With Help

Lightning, service experts can show a resolution, not just describe it, even from a thousand miles away.
Learn more at helplightning.com.

Services: Help Lightning  is a SaaS based solution that exclusively provides Remote Expertise through the use of Merged Reality. Our patented technology allows your remote experts to virtually reach out and touch what their service tech or customer is working on.

Merged Reality and Remote Expertise Help Lightning’s Merged Reality blends two real-time video streams, that of a remote expert and an onsite technician, into a collaborative work environment. This Virtual Interactive Presence provides a more personal experience and increases the ability to exchange knowledge and provide support.

Use Your Existing Devices! Help Lightning runs on your existing smart phones, tablets, web-browser, and smart glasses. There’s no new hardware to purchase! You can even invite a customer into a help session without requiring them to download an app. When they receive your invitation via text, they simply click on the link and the call is connected using their mobile browser.

The Advantage of Remote Expertise Merged Reality allows remote experts to be virtually present in a shared work environment. It’s the closest experience to actually being there.

Scientific Support:A study published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior showed that adding gestures and nonverbal clues substantially improves speed of understanding, resulting in an enhanced recipient/customer perception of overall experience. Research published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology also indicates that nonverbal cues are 430% more effective than verbal cues and that nonverbal cues make verbal/nonverbal communication combination up to 10 times more effective.

Testimonials: “We are seeing huge internal efficiency gains when it comes to fixing complex problems the first time, avoiding dispatches altogether.” - Senior Manager, Global Service Technologies

Case studies and reports: Click on the image to read the full content.

Augmented Reality ticks all the boxes of a technology that could have a truly transformational impact on field service delivery and offers a viable solution to many of the challenges of an ageing workforce. However, 2017 research by Field Service News revealed that adoption of AR is still lower than expected - so just what is holding everybody back?

It is long been a widely held belief here at Field Service News that Augmented Reality (AR) will one day play a hugely important role in field service delivery.

But how will that belief begin to materialize and perhaps, more importantly, why has it failed to do so in a significant manner as yet? Yes, there are a growing number of case studies of organizations who have implemented an AR solution but they still seem to be the exception rather than the rule and mass adoption of AR still seems a long way off - but why?

Is it a case that we are pushing at an open door and as we saw with Cloud adoption? Is it just a case of waiting for the rest of the sector to catch up?

Scott Montgomerie, CEO, Scope AR certainly seems to think so.

The potential for AR in field service is tremendous and as the technology continues to prove its worth within organisations who were early to adopt it, AR will only become more pervasive“The potential for AR in field service is tremendous and as the technology continues to prove its worth within organizations who were early to adopt it, AR will only become more pervasive,” he asserts.

“The technology is uniquely positioned to close the growing skills gap in the field service industry by delivering on-demand knowledge transfer and empowering workers to become experts at any given task with little to no training.”

“The efficiencies this creates in terms of a) ensuring a procedure is completed accurately every time by delivering best practices and verifying completed work, b) time savings gained with regard to reduced mean time to resolution and equipment downtime and, c) improved customer satisfaction, will soon propel AR into becoming a table-stakes technology that field service companies can’t afford to go without if they want to remain competitive.”

Evans Manolis, Senior Consultant at another of the pioneers of AR in Field Service, Help Lightning, also thinks that AR has huge potential in our sector.

“The potential is unlimited,” he asserts. “We are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the positive impact that Augmented Reality will have on the field service marketplace and the future of service delivery.”

When used correctly, AR can positively impact several Key Performance Indicators that most field service organizations measure.“When used correctly, AR can positively impact several Key Performance Indicators that most field service organizations measure. From significant reductions in truck rolls, to increased first-time fix rates, to improved time to resolution, to maximized product uptime and better overall customer experiences, AR’s potential is easy to envision. AR is the future of service delivery.”

So given this potential, just what is holding companies back from getting on-board the AR train? What exactly are the objections and hurdles (perceived or real) which are holding field service companies back from adopting AR?

“The biggest objection to AR adoption is actually a misconception,” comments Montgomerie.

“Fancy videos and energetic Innovation Teams want to show the future of AR in industry, which often jumps past the practical applications that can scale saving time and money today.”

“The future of AR will include everyone having AR wearables, which are still limited in availability and costly today. While practical applications of AR can be deployed in scale to support field teams on wearables where available, AR solutions can also support handhelds like smartphones and tablets for everyone else. Combine this with the fact that wearables will become readily available and increasingly affordable in the coming months, and AR is something for now, not just in the future.”

However, cost is also a consideration that is holding some companies back as Montgomorie explains.

The cost of hardware remains a barrier to entry for many organizations. Equipping an entire remote workforce or team of field service technicians with a wearable device requires a sizable capital expenditure, one that most enterprise companies don’t have.“The cost of hardware remains a barrier to entry for many organizations. Equipping an entire remote workforce or team of field service technicians with a wearable device requires a sizable capital expenditure, one that most enterprise companies don’t have.”

This is set to change rapidly though as an increase in demand drives competition up and costs down.

“The cost of even the most sophisticated AR devices on the market, such as the HoloLens, are becoming more affordable,” adds Montgomorie.

“That, coupled with big investments from the likes of Apple and Google to deliver platforms enabling AR to be accessed on nearly any smart device, are quickly reducing the hardware-related hurdles holding many companies back.”

For Manolis the question is more about a reluctance to adapt radically new service strategies more than the additional costs.

“A few years ago, the major objections centered on the technology. AR looked really cool and was cutting edge, but did it work?” He asks.

“Fast forward a few years and now few question whether AR works from a product standpoint. But the reality is that the use of AR is not a technology play.”

“The technology works. The successful deployment of a service strategy rooted in AR is really about service transformation, not technology.”

“It’s about effectively changing the way organizations deliver service. It is about breaking down walls of resistance within service teams and about driving successful buy-in from the service teams tasked with using the technology. It’s about the entire company and not just the service department. It’s about effectively communicating early successes and focusing on what is in it for the service team. Most service leaders we speak with see this (change management) as a hurdle,” he continues.

“At Help Lightning we realized these challenges and have started a Coaching and Consulting Practice, to help our customers successfully use AR to transform their service organization and that has been the game changer for our customers.”

Manolis’ point about the importance of understanding the sheer magnitude of impact AR will have on how an organization approaches service delivery is a hugely salient one and it leads us to consider how AR will fit into the ecosystem of technologies that field service organizations include within their workflows.

Could it be that ultimately AR will become an integrated element of the Field Service Management solution as mobile did previously?Could it be that ultimately AR will become an integrated element of the Field Service Management solution as mobile did previously?

Montgomerie certainly believes so.

“AR will inevitably become part of the tools that field technicians and remote workers use daily in order to do their job. AR is the next evolution in user interfaces and is revolutionizing the way we see and interact with data and information.”

“By allowing users to intuitively follow instructions or easily act upon insights by putting content when and where the worker needs it most - directly overlaid onto the real world - AR is delivering the on-demand knowledge transfer employees need to conduct complex tasks.”

“As the market matures, we expect to see fewer evaluations of how AR alone can drive value, but instead, the mindset will shift toward how it, integrated with other support tools, can impact a company’s bottom line collectively.”

Manolis also thinks that this will, without question be the case.

“Service delivery is changing rapidly. If you are delivering service today the same way you were 5 years ago, you are in trouble. And if you continue to deliver service that very same way, you will be extinct in another 5 years. Integration is a key element in the successful deployment of AR,” he states.

“Integrating AR technologies into service management software solutions like ServiceMax and SalesForce, is critically important,” he adds.

Of course, one additional theory as to why AR hasn’t yet set the world on fire is that in the minds of many field service executives it is intrinsically linked with the development of smartglasses - which themselves are struggling to overcome the stigma left by the widespread disappointment of Google Glass.

Is the widespread adoption of AR essentially actually tied to the adoption of smart glasses in reality?But is the widespread adoption of AR essentially actually tied to the adoption of smart glasses in reality?

Montgomorie doesn’t think this is necessarily the case.

“While smart glasses deliver the ideal hands-free experience to allow remote workers to more easily and efficiently repair or assemble a piece equipment, AR is successfully being deployed (and showing ROI) through the use of smartphones and tablets today. Considering that AR glasses are very limited in availability at this point, it is critical that adoption also includes handhelds so that an organization can support all employees today until glasses become more common,” he explains.

“With advances in hardware, we are expecting several new smart glasses to come to market in the next year or two, bringing down the price and solving many of the issues with the current crop of smart glasses, including field of view, battery life, durability and user experience.”

“It may be a few years after that, but within 3-5 years we expect many field service technicians to be equipped with smart glasses.”

Manolis also sees the future of AR not being dependent on smartglasses in the short term although he does see that changing in the future.

“The important word in the question is “essentially” and my answer to that is no,” he comments.

“We have many customers who have adopted and deployed our solution to their service organizations on a global basis and they’re not using Smart glass technology.”

“That being said, smart glasses will be the next wave of AR technology that we will see, but in my opinion, we are still 18-24 months away from that point. Today there are too many challenges to deploying smart glasses across large service organizations. They tend to overheat, battery life is short, field service techs tend to treat them roughly and they are prone to break, they are still expensive, and many service techs say they are hard to use. All of this will change as the technology improves over the next few years.”

With AR being such a quickly evolving market, FSOs should look for a technology solution that can be implemented today, but that is scalable enough to support devices or hardware platforms of the future,But what about those companies that want to move forward with AR in the here and now? Whilst it is still a sector in its infancy, there are an increasing number of companies offering AR solutions dedicated to the field service sector. So what should we be looking for in an AR provider?

“With AR being such a quickly evolving market, FSOs should look for a technology solution that can be implemented today, but that is scalable enough to support devices or hardware platforms of the future,” urges Montgomorie.

“In addition, it is important for FSO’s to identify a specific challenge with the vendor and ensure that this challenge can be solved. Just as important, FSOs need to remember that it does not need to be every challenge,” he adds.

“The first question a field service company should ask themselves is what is driving their interest in AR and what do they hope to accomplish through the use of AR? Once those answers have been given they should look for a company that fits their goals and objectives,” Manolis asserts.

“Then they should look at the product roadmap the company has laid out. They should be sure that the AR vendor they choose has a product that is easy to use. Frictionless and effortless for both internal and external customers. Finally, they should ask about what the AR provider can offer to help them through the process of service transformation and adaption of the AR solution.”

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