Diebold, a leading provider of self-service innovation, security and services to financial, commercial, retail and other markets, needed a mobile solution to increase efficiency and collaboration within its field services operations. As its team of field technicians grew, Diebold found a need to accelerate the training process for newer team members who lacked the deep technical knowledge to make complex repairs. Diebold wanted a mobile collaboration platform to enable newer technicians to benefit from the expertise of experienced senior team members and receive training in real time.
The Challenge
The Solution
Diebold chose to use Samsung Galaxy S smartphones enabled by Librestream Technologies’ Onsight video collaboration tool on Verizon’s leading 4G LTE wireless network to give field service teams the ability to connect with experienced technicians. Remote experts not only see live feeds, but can control a technician’s camera to get the data they need to fix ATM issues quickly, while also training and mentoring newer technicians and working toward building a searchable knowledge base available to the entire organization.
Delivered an ROI of approximately 250% in the first year
The Results
The deployment of Galaxy S smartphones with the Librestream Onsight application has significantly boosted the efficiency of newer technicians in the field, and reduced the need to pair less-experienced field service team members with more senior mentors. The video collaboration solution reduced in-field mentoring by 33 percent and delivered an ROI of approximately 250 percent in the first year. In addition, the solution reduced service resolution times and held first-time fix rates steady for service visits in spite of the training that was occurring simultaneously.
Diebold, Incorporated is a multibillion dollar U.S. public company with 15,000 employees around the world. Diebold manufactures and services ATMs and other self-service systems, as well as vaults and other security products. The company was established in 1859 in Ohio, where it remains headquartered today.
Throughout the years, the company has diversified and expanded from its original business of providing safes into newer areas, including ATMs. Diebold has become the largest U.S. manufacturer of ATMs after branching into the ATM business in the 1970s. Diebold constantly seeks to deliver new solutions that improve customer outcomes, powered by its extensive service organization focused on providing efficient resolution of customer issues. That focus has paid off, with 70 percent of the company’s revenue now coming from its service division.
The Customer Need:
Facilitating Remote Mentoring and Training for New Field Technicians
Many of Diebold’s senior technicians have more than 20 years of experience and a wealth of field knowledge. Continued business growth and new technologies necessitate the growth of the field services team, but it can take time for new technicians to become fully productive and acquire the knowledge of more senior experts.
Diebold needed a way to connect new technicians in its global field services team with senior remote experts to enable them to gain experience diagnosing and resolving issues with ATMs and other devices for which Diebold provides service. Newer technicians can handle tasks such as adding paper and fixing jams or torn currency, but need senior guidance to repair hardware, replace parts and fix software.
Training new technicians to become experts takes between six months to two years. Pairing experienced technicians with newer field services teams is one way to share knowledge, but this method is expensive and reduces the capacity of senior experts to service customers. Diebold discovered that up to 30 percent of service issues could be solved using the remote support of experts, so they established a remote team to provide support to front-line technicians. Initially, the use of video collaboration technology was limited; some technicians used video apps on smartphones to connect, but usage was inconsistent and there were challenges with bandwidth, security and uneven access across the service organization.
At the same time, Diebold wanted to continue to transform itself into a provider offering multivendor solutions and services. It also identified a lack of systematic knowledge capture, which, if improved, could enable technicians to search for solutions without having to escalate issues to experts.
“Being able to bring in specialized experts virtually allows us to offer an expanded service to our customers,” explains Steven Wagner, Diebold’s support manager for the U.S. “Empowering our field technicians with video from the customer site would provide us with one of the tools we needed to launch this new revenue opportunity.”
The goal therefore expanded to not only involve video collaboration to improve on-the-job training, first-time-fix rates and service resolution times, but to also improve overall mentorship and customer experience.
“Empowering our field technicians with video from the customer site would provide us with one of the tools we needed to launch this new revenue opportunity.”
— Steven Wagner, U.S. Support Manager, Diebold
The Solution:
Librestream Remote Video Collaboration With Samsung Galaxy Smartphones
Diebold selected Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones using Librestream’s Onsight video collaboration software on Verizon’s leading 4G LTE wireless network to provide field services teams the ability to connect with remote senior technical experts. Remote experts not only see live feeds, but can control a technician’s camera to get the data they need to fix ATM issues quickly, training and mentoring the more junior technician in the process.
The remote video collaboration solution with Samsung smartphones and Librestream’s Onsight software was superior to earlier, ad hoc use of mobile video apps by the field services team, which didn’t adequately address security or archiving requirements.
These apps also didn’t offer core capabilities like the ability to pause the video and “telestrate” onscreen, take high-resolution pictures, or quickly share previous images and recordings with field techs, explains Dave Baxter, client manager at Librestream. As Wagner states, “We needed a solution that matched our workflow. While talking and sharing live video is important, the ability to telestrate, capture and share content is also important to our teams.”
Another benefit is that the solution works in “limited bandwidth areas, such as when field technicians must operate in areas that may be subterranean or have limited cell phone coverage,” says Wagner. The solution offers experts the ability to manipulate the camera remotely while the technician is working. This is valuable, as the technician can continue their work while the expert views and diagnoses the situation.
The solution promises to play a key role in building a searchable knowledge base to help the organization continue to meet the needs of customers securely and productively. The initial video collaboration rollout involved around 400 Diebold field technicians but is expected to expand to its wider field services team.
The Technology:
Galaxy S Series
Flagship smartphone line for enterprise productivity, performance and security.
Galaxy Note Series
Large-format display and innovative S Pen technology for multitasking.
The Results:
Improved Field Service Efficiency
The deployment of Samsung Galaxy smartphones with the Librestream Onsight application has provided a more efficient way to share expertise with newer technicians, reducing the time spent on in-field mentoring by 33 percent. The program delivered an ROI of approximately 250 percent in the first year based on an initial deployment involving around 25 percent of technicians, prompting a planned expansion to the broader field services organization.
“We experienced strong results from the use of live video from the field during our initial deployment. In one case, our technician needed to resolve an issue with an ATM in the basement of a customer facility. This issue was unusual and would have required a return trip to resolve without this solution. Together, the tech and support specialist were able to see the issue and resolve it immediately,” explains Wagner.
In addition, the solution reduced service resolution times and enabled faster equipment troubleshooting in the field, while improving field technician mentoring programs and supporting the accumulation of real-world training content for later use.
We experienced strong results from the use of live video from the field during our initial deployment. . . The impact has been enormous.” — Steven Wagner, U.S. Support Manager, Diebold
“The impact has been enormous,” according to Wagner. “A picture is really worth a thousand words and a video is worth even more, as we can actually see in real time what the local technician is looking at and the problem they’re seeking to address.”
First-time fix rates held steady even as field technicians were on their own at customer sites much earlier in their training cycle. On-the-job training using the video solution increased the capacity and productivity of field services teams. More importantly, by delivering access to experts for technicians anywhere in the field instantly through video collaboration, the solution also enabled the organization to improve the total resolution time and the first-time fix percentage — key metrics for Diebold customers. Over time, the solution will also augment the knowledge base available to all service staff.
Beyond the immediate benefits, Diebold anticipates a greater ability to meet its strategic priorities of providing support to third-party products, which is key to its goal of meeting a variety of servicing needs beyond its own products.
