Remote Service
A new way to service your machines equals new value for you.
Original equipment manufacturing companies in a wide range of industries around the world benefit from using Ei3′s hosted remote service platform to service their machines and devices at remote end-customer locations. Beyond just delivering remote technical support services, our OEM customers use remotely acquired data to increase awareness of their equipment in operation, proactively support their customers, and increase value. Ei3 enables OEM Smart Service programs by delivering a packaged solution that maintains security, controls access, monitors critical points, alerts for replenishment, and manages documentation. The remote service platform is branded with the identity of the original equipment manufacturer that is providing the services. When OEMs combine our remote service platform with their existing in-house service teams they create their own-branded Smart Service plans. These plans create new service-based revenue streams that offer numerous advantages including lower costs during the warranty, reduced equipment downtime, and better spare parts management. By taking advantage of the internet’s ability to connect people and systems to machines and devices, Machine-to-Machine communications, or M2M, forms the core of our remote service platform and our library of solutions addresses the needs of equipment ranging for basic to complex, large to small.
Remote Access Control
The Ei3 Remote Service Platform has many features that make it superior to a simple VPN solution. Where a VPN requires an administrator expert with firewalls to configure complex user access roles, the Ei3 Platform makes it much easier to add and edit machines by using friendly web pages. The access to each device is protected and locked.
Protect Machines & Devices
The value of connecting a machine to the internet is well understood. Technicians prefer to use the increased bandwidth of an internet connection because it is faster and more powerful than a telephone modem. But too often this connection is not set up properly and that leaves machines on line vulnerable, waiting to be exploited by a hacker. The Ei3 Remote Service Platform protects machines with state-of-the-art firewalls that are managed by a team of network security professionals. Ei3 provides a package of hardware, software, and professional services allowing machinery companies to outsource their remote service network and safely enjoy the benefits of remote service access. 
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User Management
Serving as the gatekeeper to a global installed-base of devices, the Ei3 Remote Service Platform manages users and their access privileges. Complex organizational hierarchies are supported including product line company, service regions and other roles. For example, a global machinery company might have several divisions and different satellite offices. By limiting the view of the technicians to their appropriate sub-sets of the install base, access and other information is available on a need-to-know basis – a key concept and security best practice.
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Device Management
Management of the installed base is performed through the Remote Service Platform. It coordinates all types of information about the equipment installed in the field, including information about customers, machines, devices, networks, and technical information that is attached to service sessions.
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Network Monitoring
Continuous monitoring of the quality of the network and connections to remote devices. Having this information available helps the service provider understand the communications capabilities of the remote site.
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Establish Connections
Getting a device connected to the service network can be accomplished via an Ethernet connection, a hardware protocol conversion device or through a custom software agent. Most new equipment has Ethernet capability which makes connections easy. For existing equipment already out in the field, if there is no Ethernet port, then using a hardware protocol conversion device is required.
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Service Navigation
Once a connection is made to the remote site, the service provider can easily navigate through the remote digital landscape and access the correct devices and use the proper programming terminal or software tools. Ei3′s Remote Service Platform makes this navigation intuitive with a database that stores and lists all available devices, their communications parameters, and the programming tools needed. Helping the technician establish the connection quickly and get online promotes service efficiency and reduces equipment downtime.
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Log Activity
Each remote connection is logged by the Ei3 Remote Service Platform to provide an audit trail showing the details of when each connection was made, who made the connection, and how long the connection lasted. Both the service provider and the equipment owner benefit from having this knowledge at hand without having to comb through individual device log files.
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Share Data with Business Software
Remote service sessions can be linked to incident ticketing or CRM systems by using Ei3′s platform API tool kit. Having a transparent bridge between the service platform and the ticketing system makes it easier for technicians to log their time and activity. This increases the efficiency of the service organization by capturing the technical service activity delivered through the platform.
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Report Activity
The Ei3 platform provides aggregate reports of service activity and remote service service metrics delivered by the Ei3 Remote Service Platform. These reports provide valuable insight into the nature of service, for example who is receiving service, what machines receive more or less service, what are the service trends, adequate staffing levels, time zones and many other very valuable trends.
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Dashboards
All the information process about service sessions, the equipment install base, remote monitored data and computed Key Performance Indicators can be displayed using Real Time Dashboards. These dashboards provide real time business intelligence to increase an organization’s performance.
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Wireless Networks
The Ei3 Remote Service Platform works on both wired LANs and mobile networks.
