Remote operations
Marc Prempain
7 May 2024
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The evolving landscape of the telecommunications industry, where the demand for flawless connectivity and exceptional customer experiences reigns supreme, telecom operators face the dual challenge of addressing industry-specific hurdles and seizing the transformative opportunities ushered in by the digital era. In the first part of this topic, we discussed the telecommunication industry’s overview: the market size and the main challenges. In this article, we will explore how modern tools such as remote visual assistance address those challenges.
In fact, remote visual support bridges the gap between on-site and virtual realms and offers an array of advantages that are reshaping the operational landscape for telecom companies.
Although it may take time for telco companies to transform their operational modes to address the challenges of the industry fully and effectively, it does not mean that they cannot already implement the solutions that could facilitate the development. Remote visual support is what can help them deliver exceptional customer experience, maintain efficient operations, and allow easy troubleshooting by bridging the gap between on-site and virtual environments.
Utilizing real-time audio and video communication, remote visual support technology facilitates efficient collaboration among field technicians, engineers, and support staff, irrespective of geographical boundaries.
Let’s delve into the main advantages it can bring to telco companies from enabling swift and accurate problem-solving, maximizing network uptime, ensuring customer satisfaction, and reducing operational costs to promoting sustainability in an industry increasingly reliant on seamless connectivity.
The era of fiber optics will require care and know-how when it comes to installation. The equipment is very advanced, therefore, its maintenance will imply that experts will need advanced skills, and those who already have them will need to ensure that the knowledge is transferred to their colleagues. If it is not done, the already high cost of fiber installation will increase since untrained experts will be prone to mistakes. As industry professionals report, companies cannot really afford the period of trial and error.
Remote visual support bridges the gap between technicians in the field and experts in the office. Companies can use it to speed up the process of equipment installation. It is a tool that is accessible in a couple of clicks with no download. The knowledgeable expert sends the technician a link via SMS, email, or WhatsApp to connect to the video call. Once they join, the expert has 360° visibility of what is in front of the technician and can guide him through the process. With the help of collaborative tools, the explanations become precise and clear. Both parties can share relevant files with no limit in size, therefore, remote visual support solutions easily substitute e-mail attachments and such file-sharing programs as WeTransfer where there is either a limit in size or types of shared files.
There is no need for displacement, so remote visual support solutions make it possible to solve problems in areas that are difficult to reach or where infrastructure is not developed well enough. If additional expertise is required, multiple experts can be on the same call or the session can be shared with them after it is over, so everyone could provide their expertise by adding comments, supporting files, or triggering another video call.
Although it may seem like digitalization has reached every corner (based on how often it is talked about), there is still a significant number of people who have no internet connection. As of 2023, in India, there are 705 million “offline” people followed by China’s 358 million of not connected users. Some areas make it extremely challenging for telecommunication companies to provide stable connectivity. It is a matter of how far or how dangerous the sites are. Even if the needed equipment was installed, the maintenance of it would be challenging without connectivity.
Remote video support solutions offer asynchronous capabilities for such use cases. The techncian can use his phone to take pictures of the asses or the conditions offline, and once he is in an area with slightly better Internet, he can use a unilateral video report (there will be only him in the session, without an expert) to attach the recording he made, supporting media, and comments, and send it to the expert.
Surely, for areas with zero Internet connection, even such a feature cannot be fully implemented, but think of the areas such as off-shore territories or areas where it is impossible to have a full-size support team and you need to connect existing technicians/operators on-site with experts in the headquarters. Video reports for asynchronous collaboration can be the go-to tool for operators who work on the deployment of fiber optics, as it would allow them to keep track of the progress of the installation and obtain needed assistance if there is a need.
As mentioned, telecommunication companies have to transform their existing system if they want to keep up with the market, and the choice should be in favor of solutions that are flexible and interoperable. Modern remote visual support solutions are cloud-based with integration capabilities that allow them to be seamlessly embedded in any CRM, FSM, EAM, CMMS, etc. solutions.
Suppose, a telecom provider uses Zendesk to address customer queries, such solutions like ViiBE can be integrated into it in under 15 minutes thanks to its pre-packaged integration kit. The expert will be able to access the video calls feature directly from Zendesk without having to switch from one application to another.
Or let’s imagine that a telco company uses Filed Service Management software to keep track of the installation processes, intervention management, and scheduling of maintenance activities. The logic will be the same – ViiBE’s WebSDK allows this integration and brings the power of remote visual support to experts at the tips of their fingers. It is especially useful in mobility when the technician has to use his phone to perform an intervention. FSM integration with remote visual support enhances the speed and efficiency of the personnel.
Remote visual support is accessible not only on any other software but also on different types of equipment from smartphones and tablets to RealWear. Many technicians and operators opt for RealWear as it allows them to perform maintenance while having their hands free. To use ViiBE with RealWear devices, a technician simply scans a ViiBE QR code from his mobile phone to join the call from the portable tablet. Once on the call, he can use the various collaboration and communication tools available to diagnose and resolve the issue. For example, the expert can take a snapshot of the technician’s live video feed in the field, and then he can annotate the snapshot with arrows and text to better guide the technician to a resolution of the issue.
As the number of connected devices grows, integration capabilities improve, and new networks emerge, more and more cyber threats appear. Although the cloud shift was mentioned from a positive perspective, it is crucial to notice that security concerns remain its pain point. That is why companies constantly work on the deployment of strong security protocols.
Data protection regulations are also something that telecom companies have to face. To ensure compliance with data security laws, they have to invest in privacy-enhancing technologies.
Traditionally, the video sessions conducted with remote visual support tools are saved in the ticket/work order/intervention, etc. ViiBE understands the importance of compliance with data security laws and regulations and enables its customers with administrator licenses (the licenses with the highest authority) to configure privacy settings. Some companies prefer to disable archiving, while others choose to use it to build a strong knowledge management base.
Video recordings of the sessions are a valuable asset of expertise. Companies can convert them into learning materials such as tutorials and guides to train personnel. To be in phase with technological advancements, telecom companies will need a skilled workforce. Knowledgeable experts can use tagging capabilities to pinpoint particular moments in the videos, add comments to them, and therefore share their knowledge with the team members. This not only leads to saving resources that could have been spent on training but also fosters accountability and a sense of collaboration among the workforce.
With the help of such archives, it becomes easier to perform maintenance activities. They show the state of the assets, the last maintenance that was conducted, etc., by completely substituting the need for paper documentation.
Reduced paperwork is not the only sustainable benefit that remote visual assistance tools can provide.
It is falsely believed that in order to reduce carbon emissions, companies have to go through drastic changes that would require significant resources and a lot of time. Adaption of remote visual solutions like ViiBE helps decrease unnecessary displacements that result in fewer CO2 emissions.
if you equip your technicians with remote support tools, it will reduce the risk of accidents and help to avoid costly fines for violating safety rules & laws.
ViiBE allows tracking all the necessary KPIs such as the number of tickets, calls, their duration, and the results (if the diagnosis was established, if the displacement was avoided and if more assistance is needed) that facilitates the measurement of ROI and reduction in emissions. Companies can use these data to prepare CSR reports
In 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission projected that with each 1°C temperature rise, there would be a corresponding 1.2% reduction in yearly GDP for the US. An IMF analysis from the previous year forecasted a potential 7% decline in worldwide economic output by 2100 due to climate change if no actions are taken. The telecom industry can significantly contribute to the improvement of the situation, and remote visual support solutions can be one of the primary tools in this mission.
The objectives of telecom companies have evolved far beyond the idea of only delivering connectivity to customers. It is about the quality experience that includes professional support, the proximity of experts, and a tailored approach to every need. According to the study by PwC among the US customers, 32% said they would stop doing business with a company if there were inconsistent experiences and more than half of the respondents reported that they would drop the company they liked after several bad experiences.
Thanks to remote video support solutions, professional assistance becomes one video call away from the customers. Telecom companies can benefit from white labeling, so the customer would get a full experience and associate every step of the customer journey with the company (personalized SMS, company’s logo and brand colors in the call interface, etc.) The expert can share his/her screen, use a laser pointer to guide the customer, add supporting files and comments, and even plan or trigger another video call inside the same ticket/work order if more assistance is needed afterward. With such an approach, the probability that the issue would be solved during the first contact increases, driving the First Call Fix rate metric higher.
A company can customize its feedback form at the end of the sessions to collect relevant data about customer experience in order to improve its products and services. Video recording, chat conversations, and feedback will eventually constitute a repository of valuable insights and facilitate decision making at a strategic level.
The already mentioned ViiBE Report can be embedded into a company’s assistance form. Instead of merely leaving contact details and waiting for assistance, the customer can receive a link to enter a unilateral video scream, record the encountered problem, attach files and comments if needed, and share it with the company. The support team will receive the query either on ViiBE’s standalone instance or in the company’s CRM ( EAM, FSM, CMMS, etc.) system. This eliminates the need for the customer support team to send multiple emails asking the customer to describe the problem and provide additional details if it is not clear.
The seamless integration of remote visual support capabilities allows these tools to become an integral part of telecom companies’ complex systems. The advantages offered by solutions like ViiBE span various facets of the industry, ranging from enhancing customer experiences and promoting sustainability to facilitating knowledge management and streamlining the maintenance of new equipment.
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