Spatial Annotations and Simultaneous Translation in Teams

Field Service is Microsoft’s solution for companies that need to manage field technicians who perform services at client sites, from planning and finding the right resource to the technician’s operations when performing the service, whether it be for installation, corrective maintenance, or preventive maintenance .

Among the many features that Field Service offers, it provides a mobile app for field technicians to view their assigned tasks, know when they need to be done, where they need to go, and the details of the work to be performed .

Imagine that one of the technicians is assigned a service and, during the service, needs help to complete it and knows they can contact a colleague or a specialist who can guide them .

Until recently, Microsoft provided the remote assistance functionality through an application called Dynamics 365 Remote Assistant, but as of March 25 of this year, it will no longer be available for mobile devices. So, how can colleagues provide remote assistance to each other?

This is where Teams’ spatial annotations come into play, allowing calls via Teams where both parties can share a photo, file, or video and make annotations on them.

And if, in addition to requiring assistance, the technician requesting it speaks a language that the agents or specialist do not understand, Teams comes into play again, offering subtitles during the conversation. If we want to take it a step further, simultaneous translation is available within the functionalities provided by Teams Premium .

I have made an explanatory video because it is the best way to watch and hear how an English-speaking technician can request assistance from a Spanish-speaking back-office technician .

The technician, using the mobile app, requests assistance from a support team. This team receives the request as a Teams notification and they have several options, from opening the work order, initiating a Teams chat with the field technician, or calling them directly .

In my case, we initiate a call where the field technician activates subtitles from English to Spanish and vice versa for the back-office technician. Additionally, the back-office technician activates the interpreter to listen in Spanish when the technician speaks in English .

During the call, they agree to share the field technician’s video camera so that the back-office technician can guide and explain what needs to be done .

Imagine the amount of time and travel savings we can achieve if we have a team supporting the technicians or even among themselves. It is also possible to do this between two mobile devices. And if we have technicians who speak other languages, we can also rely on Teams to help them communicate in their language.