Product category:
CAM, CNC and NC software
News Release from: Pathtrace Engineering Systems | Subject: WebEx Support Centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 November 2005
Pathtrace gets an edge over competitors
Pathtrace gets an edge over competitors with WebEx Support Centre for enhanced customer satisfaction
Pathtrace Engineering Systems is the driving force behind EdgeCAM, the world's most intelligent Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system With twenty years experience of CAM and hundreds of man-years of manufacturing expertise, Pathtrace provides innovative solutions to some of the toughest engineering problems
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 30 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The complex CADbased applications in EdgeCAM mean that regular technical support, such as a traditional call centre or email support facility, would not meet the expectations of users and resellers.
Pathtrace identified that to keep a competitive edge over its rivals, it needed a first-class communications system in place.
Lee Fowkes, Sales Support Manager of Pathtrace, explains: "We needed to provide our network of resellers with product training, support and advice, as well as offering end-users a technical support service that was second to none." Previously, if a customer or reseller called with a technical query, Pathtrace Support tried to resolve the issue over the telephone or email.
If a resolution could not be found, Pathtrace engineers would travel to the reseller or end-user locations.
Pathtrace initially adopted Placeware's web conferencing application for it's online remote support.
However, they soon decided that they needed a higher degree of interaction than Placeware could provide and began a search for a new web conferencing product in order to met their high-quality customer support initiative.
After a formal review process, WebEx was finally chosen as the communications partner for Pathtrace.
With it's high degree of collaboration and interactivity, WebEx Support Centre provided an excellent solution to having interactive support meetings with customers and resellers located anywhere in the world.
With an emphasis placed on excellent customer support, Pathtrace developed a unique way to guide users through the complex intricacies of solids manufacturing.
The integration of Support Centre to the EdgeCAM application offers end-users unparalleled service levels comments Lee Fowkes: "When end users need guidance, they can speak to one of our service Engineers at our call centre".
"If the issue cannot be handled simply over the phone with an explanation, our Engineer will ask the customer to click on Help Support Session, an option offered inside the EdgeCAM application".
"From there, the customer enters a meeting number and then our Engineer can see the customer's screen and exactly what issues he has." Pathtrace is able to conduct far more productive operational meetings, where staff are able to work on documents together and the web conferencing facility has streamlined the company's day to day business processes.
With WebEx Support Centre built right into EdgeCAM, Pathtrace has improved call resolution time, travel and productivity.
With the ability to take remote control of the end-users desktop, Pathtrace engineers can see and resolve technical issues remotely without having to make a potentially time-consuming journey to the customer site.
The time saved from not having to travel to individual customer sites has also given Pathtrace engineers the time to resolve more technical support calls in a day, and schedule in remote experts that would normally be difficult to get at to customer's location.
With WebEx, experts can join a support meeting from anywhere via a simple connection to the internet and a telephone, saving travel costs and improving employee productivity.
An enormous benefit of Support Centre is the true two-way interactive communication it allows.
Pathtrace Engineers can take control of the customer's computer and resolve issues quickly.
No longer having to have a problem described to them but actually seeing what the end-user sees eliminates a lot of the guess work involved.
Fowkes explains: "We use Desktop Sharing, Remote Control and WebEx diagnostic tools to resolve issues without having to travel to a customer's factory".
"Our Engineers can help far more customers using WebEx than ever before".
"It offers the possibility for an expert Engineer to help resolve issues, regardless of where he/she or the customer is located." Fowkes comments: "Many of our customers are in the Defence and Motorsport industries where confidentiality is paramount".
"Typically, they would never let a 3D CAD model outside of their organisation".
"Our remote support on WebEx is the perfect application for us to resolve issues whilst respecting confidentiality".
"Because WebEx is delivered over the proprietary Mediatone network, Pathtrace is also able to hold highly secure meetings with its end users and resellers." The current limiting factor in Pathtrace's use of WebEx is that many of its manufacturing customers do not have internet access into their factories.
However, as the availability of broadband connections increases, the benefits of the remote support provided via WebEx will become available to more and more of Pathtrace's customers.
Given the success of the Support Centre integration into EdgeCAM, Pathtrace is looking into using WebEx for giving product demonstrations to increase sales revenue".
Says Lee: "We are investigating the use of WebEx for remote demonstrations using a 3G connection, so called "mobile broadband".
"This could allow our Sales Engineers to visit clients and use their notebook PCs to start a WebEx session with an expert EdgeCAM engineer, whether he is in the office, working from home, or located in another country".
"Currently 3G coverage is still patchy and expensive in the UK, but we expect this to grow over the next few years and provide more opportunities for us to expand our reach.".
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