How Arnav Anand’s ResolutionTube is aiming to eliminate the 1-800 customer service number

Arnav Anand completed his mechanical engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering and went on to get a Masters in Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His background in Mechanical Engineering and his exposure to the various activities in the startup world due to his involvement with the Startup Leadership Program ensured that he’d start up soon.

He worked with Boston Scientific where he was responsible for fixing machines and had a rather frustrating experience with the technicians and how customer service works. Thus was born ResolutionTube in 2012.

ResolutionTube is a mobile augmented reality platform for remote collaboration that is set to revolutionize product service. “With the ubiquitous adoption of smartphones containing high resolution cameras and increased computing ability, we are in the middle of a paradigm shift in the way we service products. Getting instant help will not only change the way product service is delivered, but will increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty,” says Arnav. Their aim is to eliminate the 1-800 customer service and empower the on-field technicians to troubleshoot problems more efficiently.

There are more than five million field technicians in the US alone and the team at ResolutionTube believes the current customer service experience to be completely broken. “A consumer calls 1-800 and then s/he has to navigate long phone call trees to reach someone relevant,” says Arnav. And after this, the field technicians have to make visits to a consumer’s house even if the problem is small enough which could have easily been taken care of by the user herself. ResolutionTube is harnessing mobile video and augmented reality to reinvent customer service for products.

There are multiple ways in which ResolutionTube can be used by companies. The app firstly enables the technician/company to send relevant steps via video/AR to help the user solve the problem. Post this, even if the technician needs to make a field visit, he is better equipped with knowledge and the ability to collaborate with his team back at the service centre so that the problem can be solved more efficiently.

Based out of Seattle, Arnav got together with Spencer Poff and a bunch of other talented folks in the domain to build this solution. Thereafter, the company was also selected to be a part of the TechStars class of 2013. Graduating in September 2013, the company has also gone on to raise $1.5 million Series Seed funding led by Madrona Venture Group with participation from Acceleprise Ventures, Kae Capital, David Cohen (CEO of TechStars), Rudy Gadre (former Amazon & Facebook exec), Owen Van Natta (former COO of Facebook), Vijay Vashee (former Microsoft Exec), and others.

ResolutionTube is using the funding to develop advanced product features like superimposing 3D models into video, and the company is also making a prototype app on Google Glass. The final aim is to reach a level of intelligence where a user can get all information about repairing anything by simply pointing a device in its direction.