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 TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Why We Created this
Buyer’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Trends Impacting Remote Visual
Assistance (RVA)
Software Adoption . . . . . . . . . . 4
Use Cases for RVA
Software Adoption . . . . . . . . . . 5
Benefits of RVA Software . . . . . . 7
RVA Core Feature-Functionality . . 8
RVA Vendor Competency . . . . . 12
Should Ask Questions (SAQs) . . . 13
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . 15
About the Sponsor . . . . . . . . 15
A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 2
INTRODUCTION
Remote Visual Assistance (RVA) Software has become the new
expectation for service delivery within the Aftermarket Service
Industry (i.e., field service, call center, technical support). COVID-19
was clearly a catalyst to accelerate adoption of this technology.
Yet, remote virtual assistance software has been around for
many years before COVID. At first, many companies were slow
to deploy this type of solution. It was just not a priority since their
customers valued and expected onsite service. The realities of
COVID-19, which brought health and safety concerns, limited
and in some cases prevented companies from dispatching field
service personnel to their customers’ sites. These obstacles forced
field service leaders to consider remote assistance software as a
preferred, or at least alternative, model for onsite service.
The ability to deliver guided troubleshooting and remote assistance
to customers and field engineers through remote visual assistance
software has become the standard tool for providing remote
support. The best remote visual assistance software incorporates
augmented reality features, including merged reality and 3D
annotation, along with video collaboration tools to create a virtual
environment where the receiver and provider of support can
communicate instantly, on-demand, and in real-time.
DEFINITIONS
Remote Visual Assistance (RVA) incorporates augmented reality,
merged reality, and wireless communications to create a virtual
environment where the receiver and provider of support can
communicate instantly, on-demand, and in real-time.
Augmented Reality (AR) delivers virtual elements as an overlay
to the real world. An example is a televised football game where
the viewer can see the first down line superimposed on the
field. Of course, this line is not visible to people at the football
stadium.
Merged Reality (MR) merges real and virtual worlds to produce
a new environment and visual image where physical and digital
objects co-exist and interact in real-time. Merged reality adds
missing visual cues, gestures, and non-verbal communication
methods to any session.
 WHY WE CREATED THIS BUYER’S GUIDE
Companies of all sizes within a broad array of technology markets including but not limited to industrial
equipment, medical & scientific office automation, telecom, and information technology recognize the value
of remote visual assistance software in supporting customers and frontline workers. The market is in the
early growth stage and growing rapidly. As with many early-stage, high growth markets, many players (e.g.,
vendors) offer what looks like the same solution at face value; nothing can be further from the truth. There
are indeed many factors that buyers should consider when purchasing a remote virtual assistance solution.

We created this buyer’s guide to provide insights and perspectives on what to look for in the ideal remote
visual assistance application and solution provider. This guide will help accelerate your learning curve
and save time in researching applications, and support your due diligence efforts when selecting and
evaluating a solution. In short, we designed this guide to help optimize your success and support your
successful digital transformation!

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 3

 TRENDS IMPACTING REMOTE VISUAL
ASSISTANCE (RVA) ADOPTION
As mentioned previously, augmented reality has been available for some time. Only within the last few
years has its use as a significant feature gained in popularity. AR has become an enabler for delivering
remote visual assistance which in turn has become a preferred technology for delivering a touchless
service experience to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote visual assistance enables
companies to overcome the limitations and obstacles of social distancing and lockdown through the
application of its video collaboration tools.

While COVID-19 accelerated the awareness and use cases for remote visual assistance software
adoption, several other trends have influenced the demand for this technology:

■ Faster Internet And Wireless Network

Speed: These advancements,
combined with improved network
reliability and connectivity, now make “We expect that the companies that emerge
it possible to inexpensively transmit
large volumes of data, like voice, stronger from the crisis are those that
video, and images, on-demand and in innovate through it, using the current crisis
real-time. . as an opportunity to digitally transform their
company.”
■ Electronic Miniaturization: Electronic
components have decreased in size Deloitte Insights - August 2020
while increasing in processing power
and speed. This trend has led to a
mass marketing of smart devices (i.e.,
smartphones, smart glasses, etc.) that
contain capabilities for sharing live
videos, images, and annotations. “Companies that make the right investments
now could build an enduring advantage in
■ Digital Transformation: Companies serving customers.”
have been investing heavily in
digital transformation to change how McKinsey & Company - May 2020
business gets done, resulting in new
business models and cultures.

■ Optimization Of The Service Supply Chain: For decades, manufacturers and service providers
have been attempting to find ways to deliver a better service experience to customers while
continuously finding ways to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and maximize productivity.

The convergence of these trends has created an ideal environment for the deployment of remote visual
assistance technology. It should come as no surprise that RVA represents the new standard for service
delivery.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 4

 USE CASES FOR RVA SOFTWARE
RVA is a versatile technology that can support multiple functions within a product service organization. The
most common use cases by business function include:

CALL CENTER – TECHNICAL SUPPORT

RVA can have a dramatic impact on call center productivity and efficiency.

■ Remote Support: Using annotations and hand-gestures, call center agents and technical support
specialists can help customers resolve issues faster, avoid dispatching a field service engineer (FSE),
and reduce total call resolution time.

■ Troubleshooting & Triage: RVA effectively helps call center agents identify skill sets and spare parts
required to resolve a service event. They can share this information with the FSE dispatched to the
customer site, which helps ensure a higher first-time fix rate.

■ Customer Self-Service: Using this technology, manufacturers can provide an enhanced level of Self-
Service/Self-Support to their customers and reduce call wait times/hold times that customers and
technicians may otherwise experience.

FIELD SERVICE
From a practical perspective, RVA provides FSEs with instant, live access to product experts to support the
onsite troubleshooting and repair process.

■ 2nd Tier Support: RVA is useful in situations where the FSE assigned to the site has not seen the
specific problem before and requires additional support or guidance. The expert can be another
colleague in the field or a technical support specialist located in another city, state, or country.

■ Cross Border Support: RVA also helps eliminate language barriers between experts and FSEs
in different countries where annotation and hand gestures prove more effective than verbal
communication.

■ Workforce Productivity: Additionally, FSEs can support multiple customers at once with RVA. For
example, an FSE can be located at a customer site while providing remote support to a customer at
another location.

■ Scheduled Service: RVAs’ ability to bring the customer’s problem or environment to the service
expert rather than the other way around applies in several different areas, including site surveys,
installations, assemblies, and inspections.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 5

OTHER

■ Applications Support: Sometimes, when there are defects or problems with an application, an
application engineering expert must determine the root cause and corrective action. With RVA,
these experts can perform their work remotely, eliminating travel and accelerating time to resolution.

■ Training & Onboarding: RVA also offers a cost-effective solution for training and onboarding new
customers and technicians. The feature set of RVA makes it possible to provide remote guidance
and an immersive learning experience.

FIGURE 1: USE CASE COMPARISON

Environment Business Driver Target Personas
Use Case Emergency/ Planned/ Drives Facilitates Reduces Expert to Expert to
On-Demand Scheduled Service Revenue Costs Technician Customer
Service Activites Excellence Growth
Remote Support      
Troubleshooting &
Triage    
Customer Self
cervice     
2nd Tier Support    
Cross Border
Support   
Workforce
Productivity    
Scheduled Service     
Onboarding &
Training   
Figure 1 provides a comparison of the different use cases on several factors. We considered if the use case
occurs as scheduled or on-demand. We also identified the business objectives RVA helps support (i.e., cost
reduction, revenue growth, service excellence) and the target personas.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 6

 BENEFITS OF RVA SOFTWARE
In every one of these use cases, FSO utilize RVA software to achieve critical business objectives; these
objectives include cost reduction, service excellence, and revenue growth. These are not new objectives
for companies that provide field service and call center operations. Companies with these operations
are continuously attempting to optimize or improve their performance in pursuit of these objectives. RVA
technology enables companies to continually optimize service delivery performance.

As described above, RVA helps to lower costs by facilitating the ability to resolve calls remotely and avoid
dispatching an FSE, and by making the call resolution process more efficient. Companies who utilize RVA
software have observed the following improvements:

■ 30% reduction in time to resolution

■ 20% improvement in phone fix rate

Companies can also achieve service
excellence utilizing the technology because
it allows them to meet and even exceed
customer expectations as evidenced by the
following performance metrics:
■ 35% increase in first-time fix
■ 30% increase in customer
satisfaction
“A real triple play in the service industry is
when you find technology that decreases
your operating costs, improves your customer
experience, and enables you to create a
revenue generating offering… our Remote Visual
Assistance solution has done that for us.”
Tim Spencer, Senior VP and General Manager
Service Operations for BUNN

RVA also supports business growth objectives. Companies are finding that they can monetize their
investment in RVA tools by offering remote support or RVA as a paid service.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 7

 RVA CORE FEATURE-FUNCTIONALITY
In general, RVA solutions should include the following core functionality:

■ Collaboration

■ Access & Communication

■ Enterprise Administration

As with most types of software, the value and benefits can be found within the features that support
the functionality. The next sections of this guide are intended to identify and describe the core feature-
functionality found within the best Remote Visual Assistance software offerings,

COLLABORATION
The ability for people at different locations to give and receive help through a remote, collaborative
experience is at the heart of RVA software. Essential features include:

■ 3D Annotation: is one of the primary features that make remote collaboration possible during a
remote assistance session. Annotation allows the giver of help to draw a freehand sketch over a
moving or still video image visible on the receiver of help’s mobile device screen. Also known as
a video marker, this feature allows
people to point to or circle parts of
a piece of equipment that the giver
of help would like the receiver of
support to focus on. Annotation
provides a non-verbal cue and
“According to the British Journal of Clinical
facilitates the remote assistance Psychology, research indicates that nonverbal
process. cues are 430% more effective than verbal cues.”

■ Merged Reality Help: is another

critical collaboration feature is. This
feature permits the giver of help to
merge hand gestures and tools into
the field of view of the receiver of “Studies show that adding gestures and
help. Hand-gestures combined with
nonverbal cues substantially improves
annotation provide an enhanced
level of collaboration. understanding speed, resulting in an improved
recipient/ customer perception of the overall
■ Face-to-Face Mode: is a familiar experience.”
video chat feature that enables
face-to-face visual and verbal Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, XXX
communication when necessary.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 8

 ■ Role Switching: feature makes
it possible for any participant
to assume a giver, receiver, or
observer role at any time during
the session. Remote Assistance is
a dynamic process. At times, the
giver and receiver of help must
change roles.

■ Other important collaboration

features include:

• Call Tagging & Commenting

• Real-time Screen Capture
• Photo & Document Sharing
• Co-Browsing

“[Using remote assistance made] it much easier

to show my peer the location of the network
POPULAR FEATURES interface card in the back of the controller than
talk through the complicated configuration of
 3D Annotation: Allows the giver of help to
draw a freehand sketch over a moving or still servers. Within seconds, he was able to identify
video image visible on the receiver of help's the component that needed to be replaced.”
mobile device or computer screen
Merged Reality Help: Permits the giver of Scott Scheffer, Canon Solutions America

help to merge hand gestures and tools into
the field of view of the receiver of help.

 Role Switching: Makes it possible for any

participant to assume a giver, receiver, or
observer role at any time during the session.

 Call Tagging & Commenting: Add text tags “[Remote Visual Assistance] software gives us an
and comments to a RVA session
advantage to see things with own eyes and not
 Real-time Screen Capture: Obtain a digital
image during a RVA software that shows the rely on someone else’s perception”
contents of a computer display
John Kniffin, Canon USA
 Photo & Document Sharing: Allows multiple
people to load and access a document or
photo at the same time

 Face-To-Face Mode: Video chat feature

that enables face to face visual and verbal
communication
Co-Browsing: Empowers customer support
“Virtual apprenticeship is the wave of the future.

agents to collaborate with the customer's Experts interacting with live video and the ability
browser in real time
to annotate in real-time is our strategy for training
the next generation of technicians.”
Rodger Smelcer, VP for United Service
Technologies

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 9

ACCESS & COMMUNICATION
For remote visual assistance to be practical, the giver and receiver of help must quickly create a
remote session and communicate in real-time. This capability is contained within RVA’s Access and
Communication functionality. Critical features include:
■ Send Help Space Invitation To Customer:
Launch a RVA session by sending an email or
text invitation to a customer.
■ Mobile Web Browser Support: Optimized
to allow customers to join a help session on
their smart device without requiring them to
download an app.
■ Personal Meeting Room: enables a Remote
Expert to provide their customer with a
URL (or QR Code) to join a help session
automatically.
■ On-Call Groups: permits a person requesting
help to reach out to a group of remote
experts when they are unsure of which
expert to contact.
■ Multi-Party Calls: enables more than one
receiver and provider of help to participate in
a single session at a time. This feature may
be required in a situation where 2nd or 3rd
tier level of support is needed.
■ In-App Messaging: is similar to the feature
found with most web conferencing tools
“RVA software is making is easier for
us to communicate with technicians on
site to be able to see any issues in real
time to help with a quick diagnosis and
not have to wait on pictures or videos
to send through email (which takes time
usually)”.
Christian Kovach, Henny Penny
A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 10
where people on a session can exchange
private or public text messages with each
other.
■ Call Recording: allows both the receiver and
giver of help to record the call.
■ Freeze/Pause Video: makes it possible for
the receiver to handle another task or spend
more time reviewing the help provided.
These features also come in handy on the
initial call just in case the receiver of help
needs additional time to review the help
provided.
IMPORTANT FEATURES
 Send Help Space Invitation To Customer:
Launch a RVA session with customers
through a text or email
 Personal Meeting Room: Enables a remote
expert to provide their customer with a URL
to join a help session automatically.
 In-App Messaging: Enables people on a RVA
session to exchange private or public text
messages with each other
 Mobile Web Browser Support: Allow
customers to join a help session without
requiring them to download an app
 On-Call Groups: Permits a person requesting
help to reach out to a group of remote
experts when they are unsure of which
expert to contact
Multi-Party Calls: Enables more than one

receiver and provider of help to participate in
a single session at a time.
 Call Recording: Allows both the receiver and
giver of help to record the call
 Freeze/Pause Video: Stop or freeze video
from an VRA session
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
RVA software must contain features that support system administration. Critical features include:
■ User Management: enables a system
administrator to set-up and control user
access, onboard and off-board users, create
groups of users, track call histories, and
export content.
■ Call Reporting & Analytics: enables an
administrator, managers, or supervisor
to analyze and evaluate RVA session’s
effectiveness on service.
■ Platform Integration & API support: is an
essential features for companies that want
to integrate their RVA application with their
CRM or enterprise service management
systems of record.
■ Single Sign-On Support: makes it possible to
launch the RVA session directly from CRM,
ERP, or FSM, and other systems of record.
“It is critically important that any remote
assist tool also have the capability to
operate seamlessly within your work
processes and integrate with your
customer management solutions…giving
you administration, reporting, and data
analytics to better operate your business,
bring more value to your customer,
and improve the overall customer
experience.”
Tim Spencer, Senior VP and General
Manager Service Operations for BUNN
A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 11
■ White-Labeling App And Brand
Management: valuable for companies
who want to brand RVA as their solution or
maintain their brand consistency with in the
application.
■ Provide A Disclaimer To All Users: Used for
GDPR Compliance
■ Smart Glasses Support: makes it possible for
field service personnel to have hands free
access to RVA software through smart glass
technology. Very useful feature in rugged or
hazardous environments.
ENTERPRISE FEATURES
 User And Group Management: Set-up and
control user access, onboard and off-board users,
create groups of users, track call histories, and
export content
 Single Sign-On: Makes it possible to launch the
RVA session directly from CRM, ERP, or FSM, and
other systems of record
 Call Reporting & Analytics: Analyze and
evaluate RVA session's effectiveness on service
productivity and efficiency.
 Platform Integration & API Support: Integrate
RVA application with their CRM or Enterprise
Service Management systems of record.
 Smart Glass Support: Hands free access to
RVA software through smart glass technology
integration
 White Labeling App And Brand Management:
Valuable for companies who want to brand RVA
as their solution
 Provide A Disclaimer To All Users: Used for
GDPR Compliance
 VENDOR COMPETENCY
Product features are, of course, a critical factor to consider when purchasing an RVA solution. Additionally,
buyers of RVA software are advised to evaluate the solution provider’s core capabilities and competencies.
Among these include:
Design For Ease Of Use: It is essential to evaluate
an RVA vendor based on their application’s ease of
use. Vendors who perform well on this factor have
designed their solution with the end user’s needs in
mind to ensure higher and faster adoption rates.
Customer Success Management: Consider the
vendor’s customer success management (CSM)
team’s bench strength when selecting an RVA
solution. Experienced CSM teams include subject
matter experts with a firm grasp of their customer’s
environment to drive usage and ensure maximum
success. This requires frequent and proactive
communication with the customer.
Strategic Coaching: RVA is an extremely versatile
tool with multiple uses. The application lends itself
well to any activity that can be performed remotely.
The more use case applications a company can
find, the greater the ROI. However, even the
best technology does not guarantee results.
Incorporating a new solution into any process is
complicated. Success Coaching can provide your
organization with a custom strategic plan to drive
maximum user adoption.
CORE CAPABILITIES
 Application Ease Of Use: Application was designed
with end-users in mind
Customer Success Management: Bench strength

of their implementation subject matter experts
Strategic Coaching: Vendor offers ongoing
 companies with enterprise support requirements. As
guidance on how to use RVA in other parts of the
customers organization
 Maturity Model Framework: Roadmap to evaluate
areas for improvement and future growth.
Partnership Approach: Responsive, flexible, and

collaborative; has built a partner network
 Enterprise-Grade Support: Ability to integrate with
enterprise systems
A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 12
Maturity Model Framework: With any endeavor, it’s
crucial to have a roadmap or framework to ensure
continued improvement and success with RVA
software. A maturity model helps service leaders
evaluate their team’s effectiveness in using RVA
and in determining where to implement RVA next to
realize maximum performance returns.
“With our RVA solution, we have an
easy-to-use way to help our customers:
immediate problem resolution to get
them up and running quickly.”
Andrew Martin, Diversey
Partnership Approach: The best vendor is the
one that understands their customers’ industries
and is willing to do whatever it takes to help their
customers succeed. This behavior is present within
a vendor that views themselves as a true partner
with their customer. Responsiveness and flexibility
are essential, as is the ability to build collaborative
relationships with customers both directly and
through a network of technology, services, and
reseller partners.
Enterprise-Grade Support: RVA is often used in
conjunction with enterprise software such as CRM
and ERP, and can scale for use by large and very
with most solutions of this nature, they often require
integration with other enterprise systems. Select
your RVA vendor based on their proven ability to
seamlessly integrate their application with other
back-office systems such as field service and call
center platforms.
 SHOULD ASK QUESTIONS (SAQS)
Everyone is familiar with the acronym FAQ. It stands for frequently asked questions. Up to this point, we’ve
attempted to identify topics typically addressed in a vendor’s list of FAQs. For example:

■ How does the product support collaboration?

■ Does the application have a single sign-on feature?

■ Does the vendor offer enterprise-grade support?

■ Etc.

In other words, questions whose answers may form the basis of a functional specification or RFP. Even
more critical than FAQs are SAQs. These letters are an acronym for Should Ask Questions.

A vendor’s responses to SAQs will help prioritize your vendor short-list and support your success in making
a final selection. We’ve taken the liberty of identifying what we believe are the most crucial SAQs along with
what you should hear back from a qualified vendor.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 13

 RVA SAQS
QUESTION: How sound is the vendor’s company?
ANSWER: A broad, varied, and growing customer list in a wide array of industries including but
not limited to industrial equipment, medical & scientific equipment, office automation, telecom, and
information technology is the best answer to this question. Avoid selecting a vendor with a narrow
vertical market or use case focus. It’s likely they lack the know-how to help you grow and transform your
business. Also, consider if the vendor has received growth equity financing and don’t forget to ask for
customer testimonials.

QUESTION: How easy is the product to use and implement?

ANSWER: Look for an RVA solution that requires little set-up and training. The demo is the best place
to evaluate this capability. An interactive demo experience, where you or your colleagues can launch
and use the application immediately, is a good litmus test. The next best way to evaluate this capability is
through customer references and testimonials.

QUESTION: What level of security and certification does the application have?
ANSWER: There is absolutely no doubt that your company will utilize RVA to support customer
interactions or FSEs at a customer site at some point in time. Make sure your vendor is SOC2 and GDPR
compliant. These certifications ensure that your customers’ personal information is safe, secure, and will
not be shared with anyone outside your company.

QUESTION: How will the vendor support your future requirements?

ANSWER: RVA is in its early growth stage and proliferating. It has not reached full maturity, neither
have the use cases been fully implemented. Choose an innovative, flexible, adaptable vendor willing to
proactively help transform your business. Avoid a vendor that takes the position that they have all the
answers, and it is their way or the highway.

QUESTION: What is the vendor’s track record?

ANSWER: First, consider the number of new customers and new users the vendor has added within the
last year. Second, evaluate if the vendor has a proven methodology and skilled customer success team to
guide your team through the implementation and roll-out of their RVA solution.

QUESTION: How scalable is the vendor’s solution?

ANSWER: Opt for doing business with a RVA vendor that can deliver an enterprise-grade solution
and associated support. Consider if their solution integrates with a broad array of devices, enterprise
solutions, and related field service applications. Select a vendor that has built a partner ecosystem of
resellers, technology providers, and integration providers. Most importantly, select a vendor that doesn’t
view you as just another customer but as a strategic partner capable of pivoting to align with your service
strategy and business objectives.

A Buyer’s Guide to Remote Visual Assistance Software 14

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Blumberg is President of Blumberg Advisory Group, Inc., a research and
consulting firm in the Field Service Industry. Blumberg’s firm provides clients with
strategic guidance and tactical assistance for improving the overall profitability and
quality of field service operations through procedural and systemic improvements
and optimized service marketing strategies. Blumberg is a prolific author and
frequent speaker at industry events and conferences. He can be reached via email
at michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com. His blog is accessible at https://www.
blumbergadvisor.com/blog. Follow him on Twitter via @blumberg1.

Learn more at https://www.blumbergadvisor.com

ABOUT HELP LIGHTNING

Service organizations and call centers across a variety of industries rely on Help
Lightning’s remote visual assistance software to improve first-time fix rates, extend
their workforce capacity, and improve customer satisfaction. Using Help Lightning
on an existing mobile device or a web-browser, experts can visually collaborate
with a colleague or customer as though they were working side-by-side. With Help
Lightning, service experts can show a resolution, not just describe it, even from a
thousand miles away.

Learn more at helplightning.com