Augmented Reality in Service Industry
In addition to reducing technician errors, augmented reality helps increase first time resolution rates. This enables companies to provide better customer service experiences while reducing contact center volume and technician visits.
AR can also help prevent knowledge loss as senior technicians retire, by allowing them to record their own work and share it with newer team members. This will allow for faster onboarding and quicker training for new technicians.
Improved Customer Experience
In an increasingly competitive business environment, companies are seeking new ways to differentiate their products from those of competitors. AR and VR are powerful tools that offer many different paths of differentiation. The right differentiation path will depend on the business context, product capabilities and value chain, and customer requirements.
One way to enhance the customer experience is by providing better service through AR. AR can help technicians and engineers solve complex problems faster by providing them with clear and detailed repair instructions and step-by-step guidance. It can also allow workers to communicate with remote experts through augmented reality, allowing them to ask questions and get the information they need without leaving the field.
Another benefit of AR is that it can improve safety in the field. For example, using an AR solution to provide real-time information on a machine can help prevent injuries by reducing the likelihood of manual handling mistakes. It can also help to reduce downtime and costs by enabling employees to identify and resolve issues more quickly.
Augmented reality can also provide a better way to train field technicians. Using an AR-enabled mobile device, employees can interact with virtual holograms to see how a particular process works and learn about best practices. This can help them become more familiar with equipment and processes, reduce training time and save money on travel expenses.
More Effective Training
The use of AR can help reduce training costs by providing a more interactive and engaging way for employees to learn. AR can also be used to provide virtual training for dangerous or risky tasks that can help to reduce on-the-job injuries and safety risks. It can also be used to train for complex procedures, such as the assembly and welding of parts of an automobile.
For example, if a technician is trying to fix an appliance in a customer’s home, they can look at the dishwasher on their mobile device and overlaid with augmented reality will appear a detailed schematic of the machine, which helps them to identify any issues with the machine. This will help them to make the correct repairs and save time, money and energy.
AR can also be used to give real-time feedback to employees, which can help improve performance and productivity. This can be done augmented reality in service industry through voice and gesture recognition, or with the use of an augmented reality headset.
One of the most popular applications of AR is in the medical industry, where it is used to assist doctors and surgeons during procedures. Companies like Echo3D are developing utility tools to assist in surgeries, such as locating veins for injections. This can lead to a more comfortable experience for patients and improve procedure outcomes.
Reduced Travel Costs
Ever since the launch of a certain mega-popular mobile game featuring a gaggle of famous Japanese cartoon monsters (that’s Pokemon Go, by the way), augmented reality (AR) has been growing in popularity — and for good reason. It can help businesses innovate their products and services, increase worker efficiency, and reduce downtime and costs – especially in field service industries.
One of the most popular applications of AR involves helping field technicians and quality managers identify equipment, parts, and issues. It can also assist with troubleshooting, repair, and training.
The best AR solutions use projection-based AR to superimpose virtual step-by-step interactive graphics onto a physical work surface. This type of technology enables users to perform their jobs with both hands free and without the need to move around a physical workspace, which can decrease the risk for on-the-job injuries.
Manufacturers are also utilizing AR to improve manufacturing operations by integrating it with manual process data. For example, augmented work instructions show technicians how to perform a specific task by highlighting the required steps and the order in which they need to be completed. Adding this information to the existing process data enables workers to quickly understand and identify problems, reducing downtime and improving productivity.
Another benefit of AR is reducing travel costs, which can be a significant expense for field service companies. These expenses can include fuel, purchase costs for vehicles, and the cost of maintaining and repairing them.
Reduced Downtime
For companies with large service operations, AR can reduce downtime by allowing technicians to remotely access manual process data and perform more advanced troubleshooting. This allows technicians to identify and resolve issues faster, resulting in fewer visits and higher customer satisfaction.
AR can also help to reduce the gap in communication, skills, and training between newer technicians and senior engineers. This enables the transfer of knowledge in real time, which can greatly reduce the amount of time needed to train and support new technicians. Additionally, leveraging AR for remote repair can reduce the need for expert technicians to be onsite, reducing travel costs and other operational expenses.
Moreover, augmented reality can reduce downtime by enabling technicians to see a product’s diagnostics and location-based information dashboards through AR smart glasses. This allows technicians to augmented reality in service industry make more informed decisions about how to resolve a problem, which can result in significant savings for the company.
The use of AR is expanding to a variety of industries that need more accurate, efficient processes. Some examples of this include the healthcare industry, where AR is used to assist surgeons during invasive procedures like vascular interventions and to assist patients with chronic pain management. Additionally, the utilities sector is using AR to improve inspections and maintenance by overlaying schematics of the optimal set up of pipes or components on a physical layout. This can significantly reduce downtime and ensure safety on the job.
