Splashtop Launches Augmented Reality for Remote Tech Support

Splashtop, a leader in secure remote access and support solutions, today announced the availability of Splashtop AR, an augmented reality (AR) remote support tool that enables offsite technicians to easily see, troubleshoot and quickly resolve onsite technology issues through mobile camera sharing and interactive AR annotations.

“Augmented reality is a natural evolution and extension of remote support for industries like field service, maintenance and repair, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing,” said Mark Lee, co-founder and CEO of Splashtop. “Being able to see the problem allows remote technicians to quickly identify and fix an issue or share information directly with onsite staff. This helps improve time to resolution, reduce downtime, save on operating expenses, and ultimately reduce technology-related frustration for employees and customers.”

According to Aberdeen Research, unplanned downtime, across all businesses, can cost companies as much $260,000 per hour. Sending a technician to a site for a technology repair, or a “truck roll,” is a quantifiable expense, which includes labor costs, travel time and administration tasks related to dispatch. AR-assisted remote IT support allows a centralized IT team to support the entire organization or customer base and reduces truck rolls.

A centralized remote IT support team with multiple employees can also allow for knowledge share, making each remote repair much less time-consuming. And, if an in-person service call is needed, an initial remote diagnosis ensures that you will have the right technician, with the right parts or materials, before rolling a truck for the repair.

Paniceus Systems, which provides IT support for Peter Pane, a growing restaurant franchise operating 46 restaurants across Germany and Austria, has cut its device downtime by 50% using Splashtop AR. “FaceTiming employees and trying to talk through the issue is one thing. With Splashtop AR, I can virtually support my employees and point to items directly on the screen. It makes support so much easier for us, "said Björn Runge, Head of IT for Paniceus.“Now IT can say, ‘let me take a look,’ and the supported user can watch the technician point directly to items and annotate in the shared video. Any user can follow that. It’s so easy to fix issues like cable changes, reboots, etc.”

How Splashtop AR Works

Splashtop AR is easy-to-use. Remote technicians simply connect through a camera on a mobile device and view a live environment as if they were on-site. Now that they can virtually see the problem, they can collaborate with the on-site personnel just as if they were working side-by-side. In addition, by using the AR annotations they can resolve problems up to 50% faster without having to send a technician on-site.

Benefits of Splashtop AR:

• Resolve Problems Faster: Reduce downtime by remotely guiding on-site personnel to resolve issues with interactive AR annotations and two-way communication.
• Increase Technician Productivity: Enable technicians to support multiple off-site locations and decrease truck rolls with remote diagnosis and troubleshooting capabilities.
• Share Knowledge and Collaborate: Empower non-technical on-site personnel to fix problems and help apprentices in the field when they require Tier 2 technical guidance.
• Enhance Customer and Employee Satisfaction: Increase first call resolution by guiding employees or customers to fix technical issues with the help of an experienced remote technician.

*Splashtop AR is available as an add-on to Splashtop Enterprise, a unified secure remote access and support solution.