Skip to content
Remote monitoring solution trial with James Paterson
Over the last 2 years, ASL has invested £500k in order to improve not only the customer experience but also the services that it provides for them. What does this mean?
We have been trialing a remote monitoring solution to fulfill several objectives: to be more proactive and sustainable. James Paterson, a Field Service Engineer who is leading this project, explains his background, his role and how ASL is meeting these goals…
Tell us a little about you and your role within ASL
I started with ASL as an apprentice workshop engineer building, calibrating and prepping devices for two years until I was promoted to field service engineer. I have been on the road for seven years now, installing new devices and fixing printing issues (both hardware and software).
Explain the project you have been working on
Every manufacturer has its own portal, which is a live database of devices. These are devices we have added from our customers’ sites, so we can monitor them and see such information as the current status of the device, toner levels, meter readings and much more. I have been tasked with working out how each portal works, the best way that we can implement these changes and to determine how these will benefit us and improve our customer service for our customers.
How do you think this remote monitoring service will benefit ASL and our customers?
This project will enable us to be proactive instead of reactive and to pick up any errors before our clients do, thereby reducing the downtime of devices. Also, we will be able to fix remotely, or at the very least diagnose the problem. With remote monitoring. we can reduce the need for engineer visits, therefore improving our carbon footprint and offering fewer distractions for our customers, and which is safer considering the current circumstances. This project will evolve into a system that multiple employees monitor daily as well as receiving email alerts for any issues.
Since this project started, how effective do you think it has been?
The project is still in its early days for me and the manufacturers, who are constantly developing their portals. However, I believe this project has had a positive effect because we are adding devices daily. This allows us to monitor more and improve the already high standards of our service. Weekly team discussions and interaction with manufacturers are helping us to develop the systems, and combined with our ideas, we can create a very effective method that will benefit our customers.