Hostcomm Limited

Remote Visual Assistance

Remote visual assistance enables experts to guide and support users through complex tasks from a distance. Using live video streaming, augmented reality, and real-time collaboration tools, remote specialists can see the user's environment, provide step-by-step instructions, and annotate the user's view to resolve issues efficiently without being physically present.

Features

• Start session using an SMS hyperlink sent to remote smartphone
• Image capture & video recording using remote smartphone camera
• Live Pointer to indicate area/object of focus
• Annotate remote person's view for complex tasks
• Optical character recognition for data capture.
• No application installation required on the remote device.
• Saving & storage of session data on web admin console
• All data transits and storage in the UK
• Remote control of smartphone camera, zoom and torch
• Works with any browser

Benefits

• Reduce travelling costs considerably.
• Provide much quicker response to customers.
• Capture and archive a recorded survey or inspection.
• Demonstrate complex issues where standard video is limited.
• Provide fast response to emergency situations.
• Invite a subject matter expert to join a technical inspection.
• Reduce aborted visits by pre-surveying a remote site.

£40.00 to £49.00 a user

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at chris.key@hostcomm.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

937599435266546

Contact

Chris Key
0808 169 4400
chris.key@hostcomm.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: No
• System requirements:
  • User PC with Windows, 2 CPUs, 2GB RAM
  • Headphones
  • Softphone or SIP handset

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Our average response time to a questions is 17 minutes during week days. Over the weekend the average response time is 80 minutes.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web chat accessibility testing: Hostcomm uses Microsoft's Access Insights for Chrome & Edge testing. It also uses Google Cloud Speech (TTS & STT) to convert chat dialogues into audible speech using a standard browser for people with hearing disabilities. Demonstrations of this are available.; ; Accessibility Insights for Web is an extension for Chrome and Microsoft Edge Insider that helps developers find and fix accessibility issues in web apps and sites.
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Severity 1 (Critical Service Incident) - Within 15 mins ; Severity 2 (Critical Service Incident) - Within 30 mins ; Severity 3 (Non-Critical Service Incident) - Within 1hr ; Severity 4 (Minor Support Request); ; Our service includes unlimited telephone technical support and access to our automated ticketing system. You will receive an average response time of 17 minutes to a ticketed question and will wait an average of 2 mins for a technical support call. You will have a dedicated account manager and technical engineer.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Training is provided at our training centre in Leicester, through online training classes and onsite as well. Full documentation including quick start guides and manuals are also made available. We also provide online chatbots to answer questions 24X7.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: They can download their data via VPN / TLS 1.2 or Hostcomm can provide their data via a USB drive and secure courier.
• End-of-contract process: The client is using a cloud service so termination is very easy, there is no need for a site visit. Data retrieval is the main issue, hostcomm charges if the client wants a USB drive with their call recordings and database backup.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Just the layout which adjusts automatically.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: The administration and agent service interfaces can be used with any browser without the need to download an application or module.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Accessibility testing: The system incorporates a chatbot for self service provision which can convert speech to text and text to speech. This means a user of the chatbot can hear the chatbot and speak to it without needing to see it. Even basic live chat text can be converted to speech using a Chrome browser. The live chat and chatbot interface has been tested for enlargement of text through Chrome and Firefox.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: The web API can be used to control functionality on the AI agent with a simple https web request to pass parameters to the API script. ; Further information is available upon request.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Administrators can change the colours and logo of the admin and agent interfaces. We can also provide a more advanced customisation of the web interface if required.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: All services are now 100% hosted in MS Azure & Amazon AWS. Users will have a dedicated server or will be allocated dedicated VPS resource. AWS scaling is very easy and VPS instances can be upgraded within minutes or can be set to “Auto-scale”.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: There are hundreds of reports which cover metrics such as agent performance, server loading, user access, admin change log, SLAs, client wait times, KPI achievements. These reports are customisable.
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: The service is hosted on Amazon AWS, Hostcomm follows PCI DSS process, data encryption, access control, firewalls, permission based logins.
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Data can be exported via a .csv file or MySQL export which can be scheduled to run each day. The service also includes a secure call recording export tool and GDPR data removal facility.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: Mysql
• Data import formats: CSV

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Service Availability Guarantees 99.99%.; ; If in any one (1) month Hostcomm does not meet its service availability guarantees, the Customer will be entitled to receive credit. Further details available on request.
• Approach to resilience: Data on Amazon AWS is stored using S3 or EC2 services which have fault tolerance built in such as multiple availability zones where data and applications can be replicated.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts and via a portal announcement service.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
  • Other
• Other user authentication: Firewall filtering on IP address
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Firewall filtering on IP address, VPN, Strong passwords, 2FA
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
  • Other
• Description of management access authentication: Firewall filtering on IP address

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: Amazon are accredited by EY CertifyPoint
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 05/11/2019
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Our data centre provider, Amazon Web Services, is certified.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Securious Ltd
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 24/04/2019
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: Service Provider Level 1 is what is covered.
• Cyber essentials: No
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: Other
• Other security governance standards: Hostcomm is a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider
• Information security policies and processes: PCI DSS

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: Hostcomm uses a web based change management system which is part of our helpdesk system (FreshService) Change control applications are forced for PCI DSS cases and reason, risk, impact, rollback plan are all assessed and logged. There is an approval board which has to sign off changes based on the request. Changes to software applications are approved by a second developer.Lifetime tracking is achieved through a combination of the helpdesk system and GitHub.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Hostcomm performs vulnerability scanning every 3 months in line with PCI DSS compliance. The scanning software is updated with new threats by the vendor. Updates and patches are implemented overnight if critical or as soon as is reasonable if medium or low categories.
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Hostcomm uses an Intrusion Detection System which identifies compromises using "agents" deployed on all network assets. When one is found an alert is posted on the technical support dashboard and an email is sent to the Technical Support Manager and Security Officer and a incident ticket is raised. The client is informed immediately if applicable, Hostcomm then follows PCI DSS procedure for remedial actions.
• Incident management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Incidents are logged using our helpdesk ticketing system. We follow PCI DSS Policy and Procedure which is reviewed and updated. We carry out quarterly internal/external scans on our systems in the PCI DSS environment. Security Information and Events Management system (SIEM) monitors the systems in the PCI DSS environment which logs events and warns us on important events which our information security officer investigates.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality

  Fighting climate change

  Remote visual assistance technology significantly aids in combating climate change primarily by reducing the need for travel, which in turn decreases carbon emissions. This technology allows experts to provide real-time guidance through video calls or augmented reality, eliminating the necessity for physical presence during troubleshooting or other assistance tasks. This not only conserves energy but also minimises traffic congestion and fuel use.; ; The technology enhances maintenance and repair efficiency, as experts can remotely guide on-site personnel, ensuring that issues are resolved correctly on the first attempt. This minimises the need for repeat visits and reduces the use of excess materials, leading to less waste and lower energy consumption.; ; Remote visual assistance is also beneficial for training purposes, offering a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional in-person sessions. By conducting training remotely, organisations can cut down on the resources typically associated with such training, including printed materials and venue energy use, while also avoiding the carbon footprint linked to travel by participants.; ; In terms of resource management, these tools provide real-time data and analytics that help optimise the use of machinery and equipment, especially in sectors like manufacturing and agriculture. This leads to better energy efficiency and resource utilization.; ; The technology also plays a crucial role in the renewable energy sector by facilitating the swift installation and maintenance of infrastructure, such as wind turbines and solar panels, with remote expert support. This accelerates the adoption of renewable energy by ensuring optimal performance and sustainability.; ; Furthermore, remote visual assistance extends expert help globally without the environmental impact associated with long-distance travel. This is particularly beneficial for remote or underserved areas, enhancing global access to expertise while supporting sustainable practices across various industries. Overall, remote visual assistance contributes significantly to environmental conservation by promoting more efficient and sustainable operational practices.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Remote visual assistance has played a crucial role in aiding recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by facilitating continuity in several key areas:; ; Healthcare Delivery: During the pandemic, remote visual assistance enabled healthcare professionals to provide guidance and support to patients and other medical staff without the need for in-person visits. This technology helped in diagnosing symptoms, guiding treatment, and even assisting in remote surgeries and medical procedures, thus minimising the risk of virus transmission and protecting both healthcare workers and patients.; Business Continuity: As many industries faced lockdowns and social distancing measures, remote visual assistance allowed businesses to continue operations by enabling remote troubleshooting and maintenance. Technicians and experts could guide on-site employees through complex processes over video links, helping address technical issues without needing to travel, thereby reducing downtime and maintaining productivity.; Education and Training: With educational institutions closed, remote visual assistance provided an innovative way to continue education and training programs. Teachers and trainers could interact visually with students, guiding them through educational content and practical skills, which was especially beneficial in fields requiring hands-on training, like engineering and medical sciences.; Customer Service: In retail and service sectors, businesses utilized remote visual assistance to enhance customer service. Customers could receive real-time help with product setup, troubleshooting, and usage tips through direct visual guidance, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty during challenging times.; Support for Remote Work: The technology also supported the widespread shift to remote work by allowing more effective collaboration and communication among teams. Employees could share their screens to get real-time assistance on issues, ensuring smoother workflow and productivity despite the physical separation.; Overall, remote visual assistance not only helped maintain critical services during the pandemic but also supported a safer and more efficient recovery process, adapting to new norms like remote work and digital healthcare.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Remote visual assistance technology plays a crucial role in addressing economic inequality by providing equitable access to resources and opportunities. Here are the key ways it contributes:; ; Access to Expertise: This technology democratises access to expert knowledge, enabling individuals in remote or underserved areas to connect with specialists worldwide. This helps level the playing field between urban and rural regions by improving the quality of services available.; Education and Training: It facilitates remote access to educational resources, bridging the educational divide. People in low-income areas can receive the same quality of training and support as those in wealthier areas, enhancing employability and skill development.; Employment Opportunities: Remote visual assistance allows for employment that does not require travel or relocation, offering job options to economically constrained individuals. People can work as remote assistants in various sectors, regardless of geographical location.; Cost Efficiency: By reducing the necessity for travel, the technology makes accessing services like healthcare and education more affordable, particularly beneficial for low-income individuals and communities.; Supporting Small Businesses: Small businesses can use this technology to access expert advice and compete on a more level playing field with larger corporations, stimulating local economies and providing local employment.; Inclusive Financial Services: In finance, it provides personalized advice and support to individuals who might otherwise lack access due to their location or economic status, improving financial literacy and decision-making.; Overall, remote visual assistance helps reduce economic inequality by breaking down barriers to access and promoting inclusive growth, making it a powerful tool for economic empowerment.

Pricing

• Price: £40.00 to £49.00 a user
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Full access to standard features for a One month trial.

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at chris.key@hostcomm.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.