CareAR, a Xerox-backed field service startup, raises $10 million

Customer expectations continue to rise, which exacerbates the challenges faced by companies that face a large number of requests during the pandemic. This problem is very serious in field service work, where employees must work on equipment with different technical specifications—usually in cramped, limited bandwidth and hard-to-reach spaces. In a recent survey by the Service Commission, more than 90% of field workers said that providing services for modern products requires more knowledge, while nearly 70% said that today’s products are more complex. In addition, more than 80% of respondents said that their current field service duties require “more technical knowledge” than when they first started working.

In this context, Xerox today announced that CareAR, a platform that combines Xerox’s content management system DocuShare and multi-channel marketing service XMPie with augmented reality tools for field service personnel, has raised $10 million. The funds from ServiceNow value CareAR at $700 million, and John Ball of ServiceNow said it will be used to expand the company’s operations and support future product development.

Bauer said in a press release: “Our customers have never been so desperate as they are now for work processes that can provide higher operational efficiency, better customer and environmental results, and higher security.” “Our investment Reflects our belief that CareAR has the potential to provide world-class enterprise-level augmented reality (AR). Customers who use CareAR’s AR to route work through ServiceNow’s leading workflow platform can better solve problems remotely, speed up resolution time and reduce The need for expensive site visits… Together we provide a powerful corporate service experience for the new world of work.”

Founded in 2018, CareAR is an AR company focused on field service work. Xerox acquired it in January and said at the time that it planned to combine the software of this “nursing experience management” startup with DocuShare and XMPie to form a new business unit.

AR-driven customer service

CareAR’s platform has more than 10,000 customers—including Allstate, Nordstrom, Staples, and Verizon—allowing agents to see what users see for real-time troubleshooting. Technicians get AR visual aids and guidance tools based on artificial intelligence, while IT service personnel get a portal from which they can resolve incidents remotely. Companies can use CareAR to create AR-based instructions for self-guided and animated step-by-step processes. In addition, they can use the platform to gain insight into specific assets, problems, and solutions.

CareAR competes with TechSee, which also provides a platform to guide agents and customers through product setup and troubleshooting steps. Other competitors include Aquant and Neuron7, which use artificial intelligence tools to automate field services on many different types of equipment. Even the technology giant Salesforce offers a competitive product in Field Service Lightning, which can use automatic classification and repair tools to coordinate the work of technicians.

However, Xerox believes that CareAR, which is sold directly by Xerox and sold through channel partners such as Accenture, Deloitte, HCL, and Tata, has a unique integration with ServiceNow, which provides AR guidance to customers, employees, and field workers.

Xerox vice chairman and CEO John Visentin estimates that the total potential market for service experience management is approximately US$80 billion.

“Xerox has positioned CareAR to provide the functions required by service-intensive industries, including real-time instructions, visualization tools, and data access at the fingertips of any user, all of which are driven by predictive artificial intelligence,” Visentin said. “By creating a platform that is intuitive to the digitally native workforce and investing in ServiceNow, we believe that CareAR will define and develop the service experience management category, disrupting the industry when it is most needed.”