How remote support for Smart TVs eliminates high shipping costs

The competition amongst television manufacturers is enormous with many big tech players in the industry. However, smart TVs offer great possibilities not only for customers, but also for manufacturers. 

When thinking of smart TVs, the user’s benefits are the first things that come to mind:

A multitude of features that break the barrier between the offerings of traditional television services and the gigantic capacities and range of diverse internet content.

The line between televisions and computers has been blurred by providing the good old tube with an internet connection and applications for ease of use.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

In most households, the TV was probably the first object, except for phones, that got smart – probably even long before the average consumer had heard of the internet of things at all.

Nevertheless, or maybe because of that, the manufacturers had to make their learnings regarding user experience and interface design and it was not until recently that best practices were implemented throughout the industry.

Still, a smart TV is harder to use than a regular TV. The simple availability of more options and possibilities at the same time automatically results in more possible errors and faulty settings.

That might go on to a point where the user is just frustrated and sends their smart TV back to their reseller or to the manufacturer to get the allegedly broken TV fixed by them.

As an obvious consequence, the frustration, anger and inconvenience that come along with such issues are then projected onto the associated brand.

Now, this is where the not so obvious advantages of smart TVs for manufacturers come into play:

Due to their collaboration with TeamViewer, Philips can now offer an easier solution for all of these problems and tremendously increase their brand image and customer loyalty by providing the TeamViewer QuickSupport App pre-installed.

If It Has an Internet Connection, It Can Be Supported Remotely 

Many IoT devices rely on Android to provide for the software platform running, for example, Points of Sales, ATMs, public displays, or vending machines.

With TeamViewer, users can support a wide range of operating systems and, of course, Android is one of them.

Using the QuickSupport App on a smart TV, the device can be controlled remotely by a technician or the owner.

By pre-installing the QuickSupport App on Philips smart TVs, Philips is able to drastically cut costs for shipping and handling in support cases.

“We find that many issues with smart TVs stem from faulty system settings. Yet many users may blame these errors on the brand and then stay away from it all together. […] These cases can now be handled and resolved remotely within minutes.” said David Kou, General Manager at TP Vision.

For the customers that means support is only one step away, when a problem occurs. The integration makes it possible for them to receive help with minimal interruption of their enjoyment and TV experience.

As mentioned above, Android TV owners can also make use of the QuickSupport App themselves to remotely control their TV.

For example, they could use it to set up TV programs for their children, or even remotely trigger the recording of a TV broadcast.

As always, TeamViewer stays on top of the latest security and privacy standards.

IoT and Remote Support – the Perfect Fit 

TeamViewer’s collaboration with Philips makes for a perfect example of how everyone involved can benefit from the potential of the Internet of Things.

The customers don’t have to be frustrated over what is actually a minor issue, e.g. in the TV’s system settings.

They can just notify a supporter, who will be able to quickly connect to their device and solve the problem within a few minutes and as if they sat right in front of the TV.

The supporters themselves are not forced to carry around, unpack and repack TVs that were shipped to them, but all they have to do is to connect directly from their computer.

For Philips as a company, they gain a much better image and customer loyalty by offering such an easy and convenient solution to their customers while drastically cutting shipping costs and becoming much more efficient with their support.

I believe that remote support and IoT devices are really a smart combination. If you try it out once, you don’t want to go back to the old way anymore – no matter if you’re a customer, supporter or company.