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Axis Communications is a global manufacturer of IP-based surveillance cameras. Axis invented the network camera 15 years ago and has been the leader in IP surveillance cameras ever since. Axis operates across nine different regions and has different technical services teams to cover these regions in order to make sure that customers have help at their fingertips or at the end of the line when needed. Axis sells its products via their partner network of distributors, resellers and systems integrators and designers.

However, the partners are not the users of the products, ultimately there is an end user. Although the end user is not a direct customer of Axis, they are able to take advantage of the technical service Axis offers, even though their first resort would be to the company that sold them the product. What kind of technical service does Axis provide? There are many ways in which customers can access our service. Customers can get support from the online help desk on the Axis website. They will also find a live chat service and a customer forum on the site. And this is before we mention the FAQs that we have collected from our customers – there are more than 400! These cover all sorts of issues such as typical problems that can occur at the setup and installation phase, software and server issues, warranties, power supply, discontinued products and other questions.

Customers can also call one of the local support numbers and get support in their own language during normal working hours. When a customer dials their local number, they don’t realize that the call is being put through to Sweden. Sitting together as a team we really notice the cultural differences between callers. In Europe we have 14 nationalities on the team and we support 8 languages – English, Swedish, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian. There are two lines for phone support. There is a prioritized line for gold and silver level partners, which operates across normal business hours and a second line for all other customers. Customers can also avail themselves of a raft of online tools such as technical guides, tutorials, webinars, system design tools and web based training. What are the typical sorts of problems that customers have? It’s very hard to generalize but the most common thing we hear is that “the unit doesn’t work”. Often this doesn’t mean that the unit is broken, there can be numerous causes for why customers express themselves like this and our job is to figure out which one it is. The result is that we can share our trouble fixing knowledge with our customers via the FAQs.

Many problems have quick and easy solutions and the answer can be found in the FAQs. However some can be quite complex and involve a lot of troubleshooting. It’s not uncommon for a partner to call in the middle of a large installation. The problem that they have encountered could be due to the configuration, a dysfunctional camera or it may be a problem on the network. A problem of this nature can halt the whole installation and needs urgent attention. Large installations can be very complex in that the cameras may be not only connected to the video management system but also integrated into other systems in the infrastructure such as the POS system or the building management system. We will perform methodical troubleshooting in these cases to determine whether the problem lies with the Axis product or in another part of the infrastructure. What is it that makes your technical service stand out? For starters, it is easy to reach us and once you raise an issue we do our best to have you always speak to the same person throughout the process. We have very personal relationships with our partners. When you call us you don’t feel that you are just a number. Let me give you an example: one of our customers purchased a camera online and not from one of the Axis partners. It turned out that there was a problem with the camera. However, the website that he purchased that camera from wasn’t interested in providing service, their view was that once it was sold it was out of their hands. This customer got in touch and we arranged for them to take the faulty product to a distributor who was able to give them a new camera under the 30-day replacement service.

The customer told us that this was the reason he had bought an Axis product in the first place, he knew that when you have a problem, Axis is the one that helps you out.

Another reason is that there is a high level of knowledge in the technical service team, it’s not just a help desk. We are the first line of contact and are able to give deep technical service to our partners. There are about 20 people in the team and knowledge sharing is at the core of the service – there is often more than just one technical engineer answering your question as it is discussed with the team. We work closely with our product specialists and the R&D team to resolve the issue. Our customers are often surprised at the lengths we will go to when solving a problem. Can you describe your setup? We have an online lab where every single Axis product is connected for all the technical services engineers. We actually operate on a separate network from the rest of the company as we have been known to crash the whole system in the past. In some cases we ask for access the customer’s camera over the IP network but they are not always connected to a public network so this isn’t always possible. In this case we will connect to the lab and try and simulate the customer’s problem by replicating their settings. What do you do with the knowledge that you get from solving problems? Technical service is not only about keeping the customers happy. We are involved in all the different phases of the Axis product cycle, from the design stage through product improvements and upgrades or fixes to the technical support once a product is out in the market.

There are various ways in which the information that we learn from customers is used. We meet with the R&D team and we pass on any bugs or defects that we come across. As a result products are improved and the bugs can be fixed. One example is where we found a problem with H.264 in the firmware for a particular product which only showed up once it was attached to the video management software. We informed the R&D team and they were able to come up with a firmware release so that the problem was resolved on all the products running on that particular platform. Every so often, members of the R&D team will come and sit with us when we are working with customers’ cases, this way they get a real feel for how the customers are using our products. New product features and enhancements can also come out of our experiences. Customers will ask for a specific feature and we will pass this on to the global product managers. Sometimes an idea for a brand new product can be a result of something we’ve learnt. At other times the things we learn will go into the manuals or the training programs run by the Axis Academy. If we learn something during an installation, we’ll pass this onto the technical writers and it will appear in the next version of the installation manual. The technical writers will consult us when they are writing white papers and even ask us to proof read them. Perhaps the most unexpected benefit is that we can sometimes be privy to new sales opportunities that our customers tell us about on the calls and we forward these to the sales team. The sales team can learn a lot about the products and their application in the field by talking to us. Ultimately the sharing of knowledge across functions is at the core of our success as a company. Axis sees great value in providing excellent support and this is a service that gains a lot of support from the other areas of the business. We pride ourselves on being a highly skilled team of professionals who are accessible to our customers at any time across the globe.