Remote support in times of the Corona virus – How to minimise the risk of critical equipment failure

For several weeks now, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been spreading more and more. The number of confirmed coronavirus infections has also increased significantly in Germany. However, the spread of the virus is not only a danger to health, but is also increasingly becoming an existential threat to industry.

The effects of the coronavirus are already clearly felt

In the last few weeks, the effects of the pandemic have already been noticeable. Numerous events and trade fairs have been cancelled or postponed to a later date. Business trips and visits to customers have been avoided. Many of our clients have closed entire branches and production sites or at least reduced them to minimal staffing levels. Most employees already work from home to avoid contacts. We have also decided to send all employees to the home office to prevent possible risks of contagion, especially in public transport.

Working together in times of Corona

During our home office time, we will mainly communicate with each other via video conferences and web meetings. Personal contact will be lost, but the effective flow of information will remain. Even during service, communication with service staff and especially operators must continue in order to guarantee the availability of the plants and machines. However, since the use case in industrial service has other prerequisites, working with conventional video conferencing for the office is almost impossible. What is important is ad-hoc collaboration, on-site support for employees and the effective communication of expert knowledge in the case of technically complex problems.

RISE Remote Support as a central component of the risk strategy Solution

With our RISE solution, we can currently offer an important piece of the puzzle for maintaining communication in industrial service. Some of our customers already use us as an integral part of their risk strategy in order to maintain critical plants despite travel restrictions. Since an on-site visit is hardly possible, the operator of the plant is supported during maintenance work and fault clearance via interactive video conferencing. This allows technical expert knowledge to be effectively exchanged remotely.

This is how you implement RISE within a few days:

Option 1 – RISE Remote Support via Smart Glasses

With the help of a smartglass, the field of vision of an employee or operator on site can be transferred to the home office or home office. Instructions, directions and screen content can be projected onto the built-in display to provide interactive support. This allows an expert to be virtually present on site and “look over the shoulder” of the operator on site.

For implementation, it is necessary that smart glasses are available on site. For this purpose, our customers usually send a pair of glasses by post if they are not already available on site. Once the glasses have arrived, they are immediately ready for use and remote support can begin. The smart glasses then usually remain on site for a longer period of time.

Option 2 – Remote support via smartphones and tablets by guest invitation

The integrated guest function of RISE Remote Support offers an even faster and more flexible solution. In case of need, i.e. as soon as an employee or operator requires support, he is invited as a guest via email or SMS. When the guest clicks on the SMS link on his or her smartphone, he or she is given immediate access to RISE Remote Support and can work together with the expert. This allows for worldwide and ad-hoc interactive support without the need for special hardware such as a smart glass on site.

Our conclusion

In the current critical situation with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, effective communication from a distance is essential to minimise the health risks for individual employees. This is a particular challenge for the technical service, as critical plants and machinery must be maintained in the best possible way despite travel restrictions. RISE can be an important part of the risk strategy here.

We have always seen ourselves as a partner of the industry and therefore want to make our contribution in these times. In order to provide quick and easy access in the current situation, we offer a free environment for 14 days in which you can make full use of RISE.

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