How a Computer Peripherals OEM Met Their Field Support Challenge
With a decade of experience in end-to-end IoT solutions and IoT services, Thinxtream used Azure IoT Hub to develop a custom IoT device management and field support solution for remote monitoring, diagnostics and preventive maintenance.
The Business Goal: Monitor Every Device Issue Centrally
In competitive markets, device OEMs, such as our customer, are challenged to provide high-quality field support services for geographically dispersed end users.
Budget goals demanded that field support services be profitable for the device OEM, while maintaining a balance between quality of service and number of technicians. Repeat field visits impacted cost, device availability and response time.
To achieve high customer satisfaction while managing costs, Thinxtream, an end-to-end IoT solutions partner, developed an IoT solution that monitored and managed the health of a user's device, enabled remote field support services, remote updates, preventive maintenance and a high first-time fix rate during field support visits.
Top IoT Challenges
- Multiplicity of device models
- Streams of device data and logs in multiple formats
- Secure data storage and transfer
- Minimal loading of end-user systems
- Support for field gateway servers
- Support for limited internet connectivity scenarios
- Testing devices while in continuous use
- Diagnostics information availability in quick time
Key Highlights
- Remote device monitoring and management
- Remote diagnosis and issue resolution
- Analytical queries to identify potential malfunctions before they occur
- Integration with existing product interfaces
- Authentication and authorization with Azure Active Directory
- Common gateway to the internet
- Multi-tenant solution architecture
The solution architecture supported centralized device health monitoring and diagnostics while reducing the need for repeated on-site intervention. Remote access to device information helped field support teams identify potential issues and prepare for service visits.
The IoT Solution
Thinxtream developed a field support solution using Azure IoT Hub to connect, monitor and manage devices remotely. The solution enabled centralized device monitoring, remote diagnostics, issue resolution, preventive maintenance and field service support.
The Results
The computer peripherals OEM leveraged Thinxtream's end-to-end IoT services to develop a custom IoT solution for field support and experienced a significant improvement in the ability to remotely diagnose and troubleshoot device malfunctions.
The rich and user-friendly dashboard of the field support solution enabled effective monitoring of overall device status, usage and alerts.
Leveraging Azure IoT Hub reference architectures, infrastructure as code (IaC) and DevOps practices resulted in fast turnaround and a stable, repeatable development and deployment process.
The IoT solution architecture established the foundation of the field support solution for future implementations and innovation by the customer.
Expert Perspective
“We delivered the Azure IoT Hub solution on time and within budget, enabling our customer to rapidly address their field support challenges.”
