QR Codes & Loookit
Enabling Digital Transformation for Customer Assistance

The QR or Quick Response code has come a long way. Denso invented QR codes in 1994 to overcome limitations of the linear bar code where information is encoded only in one direction and thus have limited capacity. QR codes use both horizontal and vertical directions giving them higher capacity. Present day smartphones have built in QR code readers, making it easier to deploy and use them. The QR code has thus become the mainstay for a wide set of applications and use cases in industrial as well as consumer settings. As a result, they are scanned for product information, menus at restaurants, trigger payments and everything in between.

Companies understand the need for customer support solutions. At the same time, they also need to manage the costs of providing one. A common strategy is to offer self-serve solutions to manage the bulk of support requests and offer access to operators as the last step. They routinely adopt a tiered approach where the customers start with FAQs, community knowledge bases, bots, and chats before escalating the request to human operators.

Call centers provide the last but vital step in customer support solutions. Over the last few decades, their underlying technologies evolved as products and services became more complex. Today, cloud communications and Unified Communications (UCaaS) based call centers are common.

Digital technologies for core audio and video communication, while abundant, often come with complexity in initiating a connection with the remote party. Common solutions embed links in messages, email, and other digital channels, and can smoothen this experience. But they still need the participants to take the first step by invoking an email app or a messaging app.

At Waagu, we realized that QR codes can simplify the first step in “calling” or contacting people and companies as they do away with looking up or dialing phone numbers. Combining QR codes with a browser-based service can significantly improve usability and presents a unique opportunity for digital transformation.

A browser-based approach helps both the customer as well as the Companies. Customers experiencing “app fatigue” hesitate to download yet another app, whereas a browser-based scheme delivers the same results without installing yet another rarely used app. It also addresses another frequent refrain that a periodic update seems to kick in at the most inopportune time. In addition, product and service companies, can avoid the cost of maintaining apps on multiple platforms.
Using the QR code, the customer starts an interaction from a browser – so they are already on the digital stage. No Apps or downloads.
To take advantage of these benefits, we built a complete browser-based contact and communication platform. This is Loookit!

Furthermore, Loookit made QR codes extensible. Customers scanning a QR code get a web page to tailor their support request. For example, adding a language preference, a preferred date and time for later contact, etc. can help select the best support agent. Since the customer and support agent are already on an IP connection, other digital assistance tools such as screen sharing, “see what I see” viewing and document editing etc. are easily brought into the “call” without the need for switching to texts and then browsers.

For instance, in an airport scenario, QR codes could be deployed at different points around the airport and their respective location encoded in the QR codes uniquely. When a traveler scans one for assistance, the location is available to the help desk in addition to other relevant account information. This makes the call more efficient, helpful to the customer and resolves issues with a high level of customer satisfaction.

Similarly, when deployed on products such as appliances, the QR code would contain product information such as model number, installer’s name, customer’s name and address etc. In addition to the installer/service company, the manufacturer is also notified of a customer scan along with a report on the exchange during the session. This allows them to track the number calls/issues on a particular product/model, the installation company and use the information to improve the product and service.

In the hospitality industry, when Loookit is deployed, guests in rental units scan a QR code and can be served by either the owner or a designated call center agent. The owner does not need to post phone numbers in a unit and can easily be contacted to resolve a whole host of issues easily and without complex setups or downloads.

Loookit’s rich features set allows responding agents to start with chat and escalate to a voice or video call, jointly view and edit documents and images, use the AR feature to see what the customer sees, share location and get route guidance etc. Organizations can use Loookit to differentiate themselves by delivering superior customer support. Accessible from any connected device equipped with a web browser, it reduces user friction. No downloads or installs further ease its usability.

Contact Loookit to see how you can use it.

https://www.qrcode.com/en/history/
https://www.britannica.com/technology/QR-Code
https://www.qrcode.com/en/about/

About the author : Nagesh Challa

About the author : Nagesh Challa