August 24, 2020 | By admin

Dynamics 365 Remote Assist

As lockdown eases and organisations start the process of returning to the workplace, social distancing at work will be the new normal. The challenge for organisations is to keep employees safe and healthy while maintaining business-critical functions, carrying out repairs and delivering training, for example:

  • Many frontline employees must continue to work onsite but may require critical information or expertise from those located elsewhere
  • Balancing social distancing with business continuity including critical repairs, maintenance or training
  • Training employees and providing coaching and expertise to employees working onsite or in the field.

In many industries, hands-on learning and troubleshooting is the only way to get things done. This often requires an instructor/trainee or staff member/maintenance engineer to be working near others on the same equipment and using the same tools.

In the new world of work, greater care must be taken to maintain distance from colleagues and reduce contact with the same equipment, making it much more difficult to see what’s going on and intervene to provide assistance and guidance.

So, how do you safely execute the inspection or repair of equipment, for example, without a team of engineers working side by side?

Remote Assist on HoloLens

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens allows people to work together from any location. It is part of Microsoft’s mixed reality range for Dynamics 365.

Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens uses mobile devices or mixed reality headsets with built-in text and imaging to support collaborative working. Remote Assist allows a remote technician to see what their on-site colleague sees, provide text information through the HoloLens device and direct on-site technicians step-by-step to complete procedures. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist enables organisations to:

  • Share a real-time view with experts in remote locations to get the help needed and stay hands-free
  • Bring critical information into view
  • Pull in work order information from Dynamics 365 Field Service and schematics and diagrams from familiar applications
  • Reduce costs with remote inspections – combine video, screenshots, and annotations for more seamless workflows on the devices, you already use.

Remote Assist with HoloLens use cases

Technician

A technician uses Remote Assist on their HoloLens or mobile device to share what they are seeing and receive remote assistance.

Inspector or auditor

An inspector or auditor uses Remote Assist on their HoloLens or mobile device to collaborate with remote inspectors and auditors. Together, they evaluate and document asset quality.

Remote collaborator

A remote collaborator uses Microsoft Teams on PC or mobile to join a Remote Assist call, see what a technician or inspector sees, and provide guidance in context – it is all possible with the Teams client.

Remote Assist with HoloLens is very popular in the manufacturing and energy sectors. It can also be used by trainers to demonstrate how to use specific pieces of equipment with trainees joining remotely and with sessions recorded to be re-used later.

However, it is increasingly being used in office environments to facilitate remote training and meetings, with the trainer/collaborator sharing and recording content through HoloLens.