Augmented reality (AR) has always delighted science fiction aficionados. Now, augmented reality has garnered the attention of the field service industry. Today, companies are taking steps to empower technicians with AR technology to maintain and repair sophisticated industrial equipment. American research firm Gartner, responsible for providing many businesses the latest IT information, listed augmented reality as a critical technology for all companies to prioritize. By incorporating AR technology, field service companies are sure to experience more success and customer satisfaction.
How Augmented reality is changing the field service industry:
Augmented reality Enhances the service delivery
How many customers actually experience seamless service delivery? How many times is a customer call transferred, just schedule a visit of a field technician? There is no generic answer because the time varies from company to company. It’s the customer who suffers because of complicated organizational procedures and lack of coordination among different departments. Now, companies are able to assist customers through self-service applications. For example, using AR presentation, a technician can explain the difference between the air quality in a damaged purifier and the air quality in a repaired purifier. It will bring the customer closer to a brand because the brand is successful in creating an immersive environment.
Augmented reality Provides more operational knowledge
How many times have you read through an operational manual? Most likely, you only pick up the manual when something goes wrong with your machine. Operational knowledge is more accessible with apps using augmented reality technology. For instance, consider a company that sells electric motors to dealers. Then the dealers rent the electric motors to customers. As a renter, the customer most likely would not want to invest the time it takes to read the operational manual. Using an app that uses augmented reality provides the operational information they need to use the motor. Simply, customers would be able to point their mobile device at the electric motor to see how it operates. Sometimes, it’s awkward to hold a book while trying to work on a complicated machine. Instead, technicians can use the AR lens to display an overlay of manual. Not to mention, an AR map of the faulty machine can be sent to the senior technician to assist remotely.
This promising technology increases the speed of making a repair and eliminates the chance of making an error. AR is changing the way field service technicians serve the customers, which helps build a loyal base of customers.
Helps in making informed decisions
AR, when combined with artificial intelligence, forms a lethal tool because it provides in-depth analysis of marketing data. For example, companies can use the customer data to know which geographical areas receive the highest service calls and design their solutions to meet the requirements. AR empowers the companies to make decisions which are profitable and provide thoughtful, professional customer service.
The field service industry has started to realize the competitive advantage of augmented reality to improve customer satisfaction and fuel loyalty.
