Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd announced the launch of its Remote Support solution for resellers and partners, enabling them to directly support customers remotely.
Following a highly successful pilot phase, Konica Minolta is now offering the solution to partners, enabling them to resolve customers’ issues and questions regarding their Konica Minolta printing devices.
Konica Minolta has been providing its direct customers with remote support for seven years, with more than 70,000 remote sessions held in 2019 alone. Based on this experience, the company has worked with ISL Online to develop a remote service solution for its re-sellers and distributors.
Nick Ranson, UK Director of Value-Added Services at Konica Minolta commented: “We can now effectively resolve as many as 80% of all issues remotely, and we are keen to provide this capability to our dealer partners by offering them this valuable tool.” Using the ISL Online screen share solution, remote administration as well as remote service are possible both via the web or a dedicated app. The packages offer an unlimited number of supporters, with a limit of one active session at a time per package.
ISL Online is a remote service solution that has been rated number one in the Remote Support Software category by Gartner’s Get App. Nick elaborated: “Working with ISL Online makes it possible for us to provide our dealers with this solution at a very competitive price. Branded in a Konica Minolta design, the appearance of the remote service solution reflects the authenticity of this solution to our dealers’ customers.”
The COVID-19 precautions have demonstrated an additional value of remote service solutions from a safety perspective, but other considerable benefits were already clear. Many customer enquiries or issues can be quickly addressed and resolved remotely, minimising business interruptions.
Fast reaction times are crucial in maintaining a good relationship with customers. Remote resolution also reduces service personnel’s travel times and expenses, which is not only cheaper and better for the environment, but also means the service team can help more customers.
To further support its resellers and distributors in their customer service, Konica Minolta has recently released an open beta version of an additional remote visual support tool, AIRe Link. This cloud-based solution enables a technical specialist to literally see what their customer sees, using the camera on the customer’s smartphone or tablet. With AIRe Link, issues can be identified even faster, and very often the problem can entirely be resolved remotely. As an open beta version, AIRe Link can be tested free of charge.
Cameron Mitchell, Partner Channel Business Unit Leader at Konica Minolta concluded: “COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation and associated changes to how we work. The phased return to work brings new challenges and a demand for a new level of service agility, as those who were once office-based are now increasingly splitting their time between home and office. Remote support will become a key feature of the new normal to allow our Partner community support their customers safely and diagnose remotely, as well as increase flexibility for both customers and employees. The demand for flexible working is likely to be there long after the pandemic is over, and Konica Minolta is at the forefront of providing the tools to support this.”
