5 Reasons to Use Video Support in Telecom Industry
VIDEOCHAT / Visual Agent Platform is an innovative technical support software that employs a specialized video assistance tool which allows customers to connect their mobile cameras without the need for apps. Not only does this make life easier for your support staff but it also gives them and your customers an innovative experience that will win their loyalty. It is easy to use and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
Why the Blind Q&A Session No Longer Works
The most common support requests received from users by telecom operators and Internet service providers are complaints about loss of network connectivity. In such case technical support agents are not able to use applications for remote screen access, such as TeamViewer, so they run Q&A session according script-based questions in order to identify the cause of the service failure.
This would not be a problem if a customer is a professional user, such as a network administrator in a SMB organization. But for home users, conducting a blind Q&A session over the phone can be tedious and annoying.
More often than not such a home user has no idea what the tech support agent is talking about. And for the agent to try to figure out the problem over the phone without being able to see the customer’s side can be very time consuming.
For example, any Q&A scripts start by asking home customer !! to check if the router, satellite or ADSL modem is switched ON. Then the agent starts asking about the model of a network device and what indicators are lit. In this case, the client is often confused, cannot correctly name the ports of the network device and indicators, which delays the initial diagnosis of the problem.
Widgets for online chat on a web page, which is used by many operators’ support, somewhat improve the speed of initial diagnosis, since the client can send a photo of the network device or its computer screen. However, many customers don’t like using chat rooms because the operator usually has to chat with several customers at the same time, which leads to the long delays in answering irritate customers.
Any customer prefers the support agent to deal with his/her problem without any distractions and solve it as quickly as possible. Therefore, for support team video assistance tool working in point-to-point communication mode is a new and revolutionary level of technical support software.
Knowing the Problem Is Half the Solution
Let’s say your tech staff has to provide customer support all day long. And let’s assume that your company only uses email, phone, or chat to help customers. In this case, how easy would it be? Would your support team be able to quickly solve problems of hundreds of customers daily? If it takes a while for customers to get assistance, how happy do you think they’d be?
Oftentimes, it takes more time to determine the problem than it would to resolve the issue. This is made worse when customers do not understand technical support questions or cannot correctly describe the problem. However, if a support agent could be able to quickly identify the situation, they can provide an immediate solution.
Many companies handle customer requests and problems by trial-and-error, asking multiple questions and making assumptions about the issue. If the initial attempts to solve the problem fail, they transfer the customer to someone else who has more experience (this process is known as “escalation”). In this case, the client has to describe the problem from scratch to a new support staff member each time, which is annoying and has an extremely negative impact on customer loyalty. In the end the process of trial and error is repeated many times until the problem is solved or the consumer gets angry stops responding and starts looking for another telecom service provider.
It’s Time for Video Assistance
An effective solution for businesses today is, of course, the use of visual technology for technical support such as live video. This is the best thing that can happen aside from an agent’s personal presence at the client’s site.
As the popularity of touch-screen smartphones has grown consumers have increasingly used text messaging and chat rooms, making chat-based help a common practice. The worldwide pandemic forced people around the world to adopt video conferencing solutions like never before. Consumers who had previously avoided video technology have changed attitudes dramatically as a result of the pandemic and are using it on a regular basis.
Top Five Pros for Video Support Software
There are a number of reasons why video for customer support is becoming an essential service. Next in this article we’ll look at the top five reasons why video support is the future of telco customer service.
#1. Video support effectiveness
Visual ability is critical for successful communication. Consider any bad customer service calls you’ve ever made. Couldn’t it be simpler if you could show the problem to the person on the smartphone using video? What if from their side the support agent were able to demonstrate how to fix it in real time video instead of just explaining it?
Video support software provides a new dimension to the customer experience by giving agents real-time visibility into problems. By being able to see the problem, they can avoid verbal errors and instead provide customers with a clear guide to fixing the problem.
#2. VIDEOCHAT provides app-free visual support
Popular video chat messengers are inconvenient for technical support purposes because they require customers to download the application, go through the registration process, and have the skills to work in the application. This takes time adding an unnecessary level of complexity to the technical support process.
Unlike messengers the client part of the VIDEOCHAT is based on WebRTC technology, so it doesn’t require installation of any application and is activated via a link from an SMS, messenger or e-mail for a single communication session.
Once the session is over the link becomes inoperable. The operator cannot reconnect to the smartphone without generating a new link and without the client’s consent (here just like in TeamViewer — each communication session requires a unique link).
#3. VIDEOCHAT provides recording the communication session
Important advantage of VIDEOCHAT is the logging of the communication session. In contrast popular messengers do not have the functionality of logging the communication session. In case of customer complaint, it will be easily to restore the record in database and check who is responsible if the problem was not solved by support agent‘s recommendation during the video session.
The VIDEOCHAT also has similar functionality to TeamViewer when opened on a computer rather than a mobile device. In this case, the operator can see the client-side computer screen and make recommendations for software configuration on that computer.
#4 Integration with helpdesk and call center software
The VIDEOCHAT software is designed to be enterprise friendly. It can integrate into virtually any enterprise IT landscape, and also allows replacing some modules with third party software components. The seamless integration with call center and service desk software allows for registration of customer requests, their tracking and archiving, escalation to a higher level, and other standard technical support workflow procedures.
#5. Increasing customer loyalty
According to use cases, for technical support staff who actively use VIDEOCHAT as a remote diagnostic tool, including in combination with TeamViewer, the number of unresolved service requests decreased to 10% in average. Customer FCR (First Call Resolution) reached a high level of apprx. 95%. The joint use of remote diagnostic tools (Video Agent + TeamViewer) has a positive effect on customer satisfaction scores.
Support agents using our video tool got a customer satisfaction score of up to 4.95 on a 5-point scale. And customer satisfaction leads to customers continuing to use the company’s services and recommending them to their friends and colleagues.
Field Service Challenges Solved by VIDEOCHAT
Telecom businesses are well aware of field service problems especially if the serviced region is big enough:
High travel costs
The problem of staff recruitment for field technical support is now joined by a significant increase in travel expenses due to the high cost of fuel and transportation tickets all over the world which happened after pandemic. Similarly, the prices of rail tickets, intercity buses, and hotel accommodations have risen.
Pre-diagnosis errors
Field service technicians often rely on emails or phone calls to contact customers and get an idea of the problem before arriving on site. Not only does this limit the technicians’ ability to understand the problem but can also lead to faulty diagnoses because it depends on the customer correctly describing the problem.
Wasted worktime
Field service team members sometimes arrive on client’s site only to discover that the customer’s problem was not what the local staff described or that the problem could be resolved with online video support. This results to extended equipment downtime and other wasted resources.
Dispatching onsite without knowing the context of the problem increases the time it takes to close an onsite service request. It can end up taking much longer than anticipated or requiring repeat visits. Field service technicians also spend a lot of time documenting case details.
VIDEOCHAT — Technologies Under the Hood
VIDEOCHAT uses WebRTC — an open-source technology for real-time data transmission. Codecs with profiles optimized for real-time video conferencing are used for maximum stability. If delays in the channel exceed a fraction of a second, the video is automatically compressed to prevent the image from freezing.
To ensure secure communications we use DTLS-SRTP (Datagram Transport Layer Security — Secure Real-time Transport Protocol). It provides authentication, encryption, message integrity, and protection against unauthorized reconnection attempts.
There are following advantages of the technologies used for VIDEOCHAT software:
· Firstly, the software is designed as API-first. It can be integrated into virtually any enterprise IT landscape, and allows replacing some of its modules with software components available in the enterprise.
· Secondly, the software is available to customers app-free, it works in a standard browser of any smartphone.
· Thirdly, the VIDEOCHAT visual agent platform software allows add-ons like AI bots with computer vision technology and an augmented reality capability.
Conveniently, WebRTC technology provides point-to-point video communication using only a default browser on the smartphone or desktop. Moreover, WebRTC can be used not only for video chats: the technology allows transmitting data of any format and text messages in a dedicated data channel.
How VIDEOCHAT works
The VIDEOCHAT software contains a client part, agent part and an admin panel. To initiate a connection session after entering the client’s phone number and filling in the ticket fields (request subject, etc.) the support agent initiates a connection and the client receives an SMS with a link to start a connection session with the operator.
In addition to SMS the link can be sent as a message in Telegram, WhatsApp or by e-mail. When you click on the link the client is offered to allow access to the camera, microphone and his geo-position.
After accessing the camera and microphone on the client’s smartphone tech support agent can see what the client sees through the smartphone’s camera. The client sees the image of the own camera (by default, the back camera, but the client can switch the image to the front camera as well).
Then the technical support agent proceeds according to the corporate instructions for troubleshooting or setting up the client’s equipment. For example, according to the situation offers to point the camera to the network device, cable connectors, power supply indicators, etc.
In the process of working on the ticket using the two-way voice communication the technical support agent offers the client to perform a number of actions for troubleshooting or setting up of the equipment.
To make it clearer to the customer it is possible to use the online pointer to show the customer on the smartphone screen what actions should be performed. For example, to ask the client to point the camera at the keyboard and highlights which keys on the PC keyboard (TV remote control, etc.) which should be pressed and in what order to resolve the client’s problem.
If necessary, operator can take a picture of the equipment, enhance it and show this photo to the client with an arrow marked button or other control element which should be acted upon according to the support agent’s instructions.
The VIDEOCHAT admin panel allows technical support staff access to the service during their work hours, manage the settings, get various statistics on service usage, perform branding of the screen, and perform a number of other useful actions.
Video recordings and images created during the session are stored in the VIDEOCHAT database for subsequent analysis and resolution of disputable situations (like customer complaints).
You Are Welcome to Try It for Free
The VIDEOCHAT can be deployed in the cloud as a SaaS application or installed on-premises in an organization’s IT system (integrator, telecom operator, software vendor, etc.).
All customers are allowed for a 30-day trial period for the cloud version of the product so that their support teams can assess the software in detail.
At the end of the trial period VIDEOCHAT could be licensed on a monthly/quarterly subscription basis or as a one-time license purchase with one-year updates. The choice of licensing option is up to the customer.
Video Support Software — Conclusion
The VIDEOCHAT is a tool that helps support technicians solve customer problems faster by enabling them to see equipment malfunctions as customers see them. Visit VIDEOCHAT Video Support Software website for demo and run a trial.
Just send a link to the customer via a messenger, SMS, e-mail or other communication channel, and the support technician can see the situation at the customer’s site at the first contact. This helps to diagnose the cause of the problem faster and increases the efficiency of technical support contributing to customer loyalty and turning them into your brand advocates.
