Like many other organizations, Xerox faces a complex workforce challenge: several field-service technicians and engineers are retiring.

“They’re not just leaving. They’re leaving with a lot of the company’s experience.” – Sam Waicberg, General Manager, Xerox Digital Services.

To overcome this issue, which involves several technicians servicing many machines, Xerox is turning to augmented reality.

Xerox’s plan for its field techs is to have access to real-time remote and on-demand expertise as they perform their operations using AR. Supervised by an expert, they capture important content, including annotations and images, while recording it via mobile or smart glasses. The result is increased technician effectiveness and greater first-time fix rates in service of boosting customer satisfaction.

The transformation to augmented reality could suggest a more agile posture for the company.

The COVID-19 pandemic made sending multiple engineers to a Jobsite impossible. New field technicians could not ask experts to help with difficult service issues in person, stretching resources globally. To overcome this issue, Xerox acquired CareAR, an AR startup. The company created a Xerox Digital Services division to bridge the gap between customer service, service management, and field service.

CareAR’s service integrate and extend AR for field services. By using smart or wearable devices, field technicians can solve problems in real time. “Machine learning–integrated AR can predict where problems might arise in the job and prescribe solutions on the fly.” – Waicberg.

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