Short-term fix or a long-term inspection solution?

As the lockdown due to the Coronavirus has continued, the number of businesses using conferencing software for remote inspection has sharply increased. What remains to be seen is if this trend towards remote inspection and support will be sustained when life returns to normal and travel restrictions are lifted. Since remote inspection is a relatively new concept for many businesses, the process of finding the right tool is often a case of trial and error. In this article, you will find three key considerations for selecting the right platform. 

1. Health and Safety 

Any solution needs to take health and safety into consideration. Remote inspection and support activities must not require the operator to work in a distracted manner or compromise their safety. Many conferencing systems being used require the test operator to divide their attention between operating a camera and running a test which increases the potential for injury. 

2. GDPR and Data Privacy 

Data privacy is often overlooked when trying to solve immediate challenges related to remote inspections and witness testing. The risk, as more testing is conducted remotely, is that more data is collected and stored that may not comply with GDPR and specific data privacy regulations.  

Most conferencing tools do not have traceability at the core of their image and video capture capabilities. This makes fundamental requirements like the “right to erasure” (where an individual can request that their personal data is erased) increasingly difficult and expensive to comply with, increasing the risk of fines for non-compliance. 

3. True Cost 

The initial savings possible from conducting remote inspections are large. These can be increased further by using tailored solutions that are stable, have high video quality, and can efficiently capture the details needed without requiring the test operator to start and stop the test.  

Many remote inspections degrade to a document review due to poor system stability and poor video quality. This unreliability negates many of the potential savings of remote inspection and increases the risk of quality non-conformances going unnoticed. These issues can be resolved by utilizing a suitable inspection platform that is designed specifically for remote inspection. 

The convenience of using pre-implemented conferencing software for remote inspection is hard to deny. However, when the three elements above are factored in, convenience should fall lower on the list – especially if the solution is intended to be long-term and legally compliant.