“AetherPal: Why Tech Support Remote Access is Important
for SmartPhones & Tablets”

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For Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Most people in North America and Europe are buying SmartPhones and tablets that have rich operating systems, app stores and the ability to run tens if not hundreds of applications – products from Apple, RIM and Samsung.  The entire SmartPhone & tablet environment has exploded with user-generated photos, multiple applications running at the same time and synchronization with your desktop or corporate server.  The SmartPhone and tablet environments are getting to be as complex as PC and Mac environments.

These complex environments will require   technical support on a SmartPhone or tablet that is just as good as that provided in PCs and Macs. 

Sometimes things are not working and you don’t really know what to do.  You call the operator and they give you advice based on prior calls.  If you call the hardware or apps provider, they can’t do much better. 

Calls to these SmartPhone & tablet tech support centers are rising exponentially, and the problem is only going to get worse and much more costly for operators, device makers and apps developers.

Wouldn’t it be great if a company were to develop remote control services for SmartPhones similar to what’s available today for PCs?  Such software would allow tech support to remotely see your SmartPhone or tablet display and allow the tech support rep to remotely control your SmartPhone or tablet.

A young company in New Jersey called AetherPal was set up to solve this exact problem, developing remote access and control for a number of SmartPhone and tablet systems.   Here’s how it works.
When the customer calls for tech support to a call center using AetherPal, the support center sends an SMS to the customer that enables the AetherPal app to be loaded.  When the AetherPal app is loaded, it asks for a security code. The tech support rep gives that security code to the customer who enters into the AetherPal application. 

AetherPal remote access is then activated and allows the tech support representative to see your screen and remotely control your SmartPhone or tablet (just like what can be done on the PC).  The tech support rep can check things out and then make changes that will fix the problem.  At the end of the call, you are instructed to exit the remote control application which automatically uninstalls itself from your SmartPhone or tablet. 

Using AetherPal is like having a tech support representative fly in to your house or office and sit down and take control of your SmartPhone or tablet.  Most of the time, they have seen your problem before but if not, all of the tech support operations have sophisticated databases that can be searched to see if the problem has been entered by someone before and what was done to fix the problem.

A number of wireless operators and enterprise organizations are deploying AetherPal in their own tech support environments -- or are having AetherPal deployed in the third party contractor that provides technical support services for the operator or enterprise.

AetherPal helps the operator, device maker, commercial developer or enterprise IT organization in controlling the escalating costs of SmartPhone and tablet support while also improving their support to a client and user base that has become more knowledgeable and demanding as they try new things. 

AetherPal’s parent organization, w2bi, has been working with leading device manufacturers, enterprise IT organizations and networks operators for the past 15 years to provide wireless device certification and network testing. As a result, AetherPal is well-positioned to provide valuable, state-of-the-art remote control services to its customers.

AetherPal is now conducting trials and initial deployments with handset manufacturers, enterprise IT organizations, and wireless operators.  The results of the AetherPal system in early deployments are very encouraging.  AetherPal has been able to demonstrate:

• An average of 35% reduction in the time it takes to resolve SmartPhone issues.
• Increased first-call resolution rates -- thus resulting in 25% fewer callbacks.
• 50% decrease in device returns from users -- which greatly reduces overall service costs.
• More rapid training of tech support reps -- making the job more satisfying which, in turn, has reduced the support staff turnover rate.
• Quicker adoption and utilization of new mobile applications in the enterprise -- which allows for increased productivity of mobility in the organization.
• 98% overall customer satisfaction with their technical support services.
• Technicians who are able to speak more intelligently about more difficult technical issues and are able to handle support and service tasks more effectively

Because AetherPal has the ability to support PCs as well as SmartPhones and tablets, AetherPal can become a one-stop shop to support all of a customer’s mobile assets -- including smart phones, laptops, netbooks, tablets and desktops.  AetherPal can also provide support across multiple operating systems, multiple device types, multiple operators, as well as multiple language environments to provide a complete solution for the customer.

It’s great to see advanced technical support services brought in to the mobile sector.  Handset manufacturers, app developers, enterprise IT operations and wireless operators are all going to benefit from companies like AetherPal.  Tech support for mobile devices is a big problem area, and I expect to see a number of companies offer similar remote control services.  It’s up to AetherPal to take their current lead in the market and continue to advance their services platform as the demand for SmartPhones and tablet remote control services continues to grow.

Written By:
J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D.
Principal Analyst, MobileTrax LLC