Just to imagine all products named as "business critical", where a disservice is equivalent to a concrete loss of earnings (e.g. a cash register, pos ...).
How technology affects?
The digital transformation that is entering the world of classic technical assistance, with "remote assistance" solutions, through more or less advanced technologies, optimizing on-site assistance services.
We can make several examples of digital transformation in this context, but we will try to focus on two main concepts:
- highly specialized assistance: they allow to suggest complex and extremely delicate actions remotely;
- reduction of on-site actvities: they aim to reduce activities not linked to real issues but missed product skills;
If we analyze the first case, the reduction of skills and specialization of technicians in the area, through specialized and central teams, can be addressed with augmented reality tools or remote assistance.
The previous immage represents the evolution of a company that offers technical assistance services, highlighting how the skills (represented by the various colors) have been centralized in a remote team, thanks to the adoption of a new technology. In this specific case, the company aimed primarily at lowering local costs, due to the use of highly specialized resources and with a high turnover difficult to manage in an international context located in several countries.
There are several technological examples that cover this use case, I bring you a Microsoft product that I really appreciated for the evolution it is having.
Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
In order to understand better, the potentiality of the application, below a short product demostration:
In the second case, the use of technology can be effectively addressed even with less sophisticated products, which implement a point-to-point channel with the customer (see the direct arrow from CC to Customer, in the previous image).
If we consider classic retail contexts, for example a retail store that needs support on a product used daily, to make assistance effective and fast, it is necessary to evaluate the introduction of a simple and highly usable tool for the end user.
Furthermore, customer must be able to take advantage of the classic mobile channels, which are now an integral part of our lives.
In this context, the use of an advanced chat, capable of recalling the lines of the tools used for the whole social world, covers the scenario and provides the customer with rapid and effective assistance compared to an on-site intervention. An example that I would like to share, is based on the use of a well-known product in terms of chat channel. This product need only few customizations, in order to covers the simple scenarios that have a final contact point, not highly specialized.
I speaking about Vivocha, a platform with a strong configuration features and the possibility of integration with the best social channels. A web console allows the call center agents to monitor and hire customers.
Progressive improvement
Based on previous considerations, purchasing or building an assistance service (today or in the near future), must consider, in addition to the classic dimensions (average time for resolution of intervention, SLA, penalties ...), the technologies used.
In fact, the latter defines a new index “PI" (progressive improvement) which affects the basic parameters as a multiplier. The parameter is closely linked to the technologies and processes used in technical assistance, and can vary based on the products or areas covered. Monitoring this index allows companies, which already use advanced techniques internally or through external support, to check the evolution of the service with a different perspective.
A supplier or a company that offers technical assistance services, must not only promise quality and rapid on-site assistance times in the short term, but must present a plan of progressive evolution that allows his customers to understand, what results they will get from the adoption of the service.
