Time Equals Money

Remote experts can also share images or pre-recorded videos to play on the touch screen panel of the device. By sharing this visual content, the experts can provide personnel or field technicians with visual instructions.

Time is money, and it has never been truer for industries such as aerospace with operations and equipment spread across the globe. Both the aircraft design and manufacturing process and post-sale aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul involve multiple parties and high costs associated with delays. In the airline industry, if the best engineer is located in Seattle, WA, and a maintenance problem occurs in South America, costs mount quickly when decisions are delayed. Typically, the expert (or a whole team of experts) would travel to the site to investigate and solve the problem, causing further delays and incurring high costs. With mobile collaboration, no one leaves his or her desk, let alone the country.

Librestream has created a mobile collaboration system called Onsight. Companies can now take video collaboration beyond traditional boardroom applications onto the manufacturing plant floor, to a maintenance facility, or into the field where the problems are occurring. The Onsight system fully connects internal experts to remote locations in real time with multiple layers of security to keep the content safe. Using Onsight, an internal expert can receive live video and audio, and share feedback with field staff, external suppliers, or customers to assess issues and resolve them immediately.

Quite simply, Librestream’s Onsight system brings the problem to the expert, rather than the other way around. The system visually connects a person at the site of the problem to the right person at the right time to get the right answer.

In aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul, field technicians can use an Onsight device to call in remote experts for immediate assistance with a difficult problem. These experts can be part of the internal team, from the final integrator, or from a supplier. Wherever the specialist resides, the field technician can reach them through Onsight.

The mobility of the Onsight solution gives maintenance, repair, and overhaul technicians the ability to go right to the problem and bring in one or more experts to help solve complex repair issues, performing remote inspections of complex equipment, and providing a visually report part with serial numbers or wear information. The Onsight sessions can be recorded for future audit trail or training purposes.

The use of mobile devices help share video, voice, telestration (i.e., onscreen drawing), and images with industry experts who collaborate remotely via PC software.

Specialized engineers that need to see the problems are involved immediately through real-time mobile video of the asset in question. Field workers can call an expert at his or her personal computer, removing the human latency associated with travel and overall time-to-repair. Providing key suppliers the information that is needed allows them to provide pertinent information, via a live video, at a much earlier stage. This, in turn, helps shorten the repair time. Onsight can even provide valuable on-the-job training by guiding junior employees through any situation.

In many cases, MRO facilities involve the use of camera optics such as a borescope to get visuals from difficult areas like inside the engine. In these cases, the Onsight devices can attach to the borescope and share that detailed visual with the expert. Together, the Onsight collaborators can talk, see, and draw onscreen to conclude on the next steps.

The Onsight system is comprised of three main components:

• Onsight Connect, the cloud collaboration platform that includes rich collaboration software for the desktop and Onsight mobile devices;
• Librestream’s ruggedized and Ex-rated wireless Onsight mobile collaboration devices; and
• Enterprise management software including Onsight Account Manager and Onsight Management Suite for system administrators to centrally manage user licenses, enforce security and set bandwidth policies.

Personnel in field locations, use the mobile device to share video, voice, telestration (i.e., onscreen drawing), and images with the experts who interact live through the collaboration PC software. Remote experts can also share images or pre-recorded videos to play on the touch screen panel of the device. By sharing this visual content, the experts can provide personnel or field technicians with visual instructions. The system can be used virtually anywhere as it connects with wireless, satellite and cellular networks.

The handheld Onsight mobile device is rugged and includes a Zone 2 hazardous location approved model. This approval means the device can be used in potentially hazardous locations such as aircraft hangars.

The wireless handheld video cameras are completely portable and hardened for durability. All communication and data is encrypted to provide tight security. For clarity, the camera provides close up images with 1cm macro zoom and a 10X optical zoom. Onsight can even attach external devices like a microscope or borescope to send additional visuals to the far end expert.

To enable excellent communications, the real time, high quality video streaming and two-way VOIP audio is enhanced with a built-in speakerphone and microphone in addition to headsets. All participants in the discussion can also perform two-way onscreen drawing. For record keeping, the system provides bi-directional video recording and still image capture.

Onsight Connect allows the experts to communicate freely with the field staff from their desktop. The experts can remotely control all the camera functions, including illumination, zoom, and focus controls to ensure clear visuals. Experts can also quickly bring in additional participants for a "one to many" live collaboration session.

The Onsight Management Suite and Onsight Account Manager tools simplify the administration of the Onsight system by providing a secure method to configure, update, and report on the usage of the Onsight devices and Onsight Expert software.

The Onsight system is a proven technology that is in use in six continents in manufacturing applications including aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, and consumer packaged goods well as the oil and gas industry and the field of health care.

Librestream
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
www.librestream.com