The Challenge: Supporting Customers Across Canada's Most Remote Territory
Providing telecommunications support across Canada's vast northern territories presents challenges unlike anywhere else in North America. NorthwesTel's service territory covers nearly one-third of Canada but serves less than one percent of the population, a geographic footprint that creates unique obstacles for customer service operations.
When customers experienced internet connectivity issues, television service interruptions, or equipment problems, NorthwesTel's traditional phone-based support model created significant challenges:
- Communication Barriers Without Visual Context: Customer service agents relied on verbal descriptions from customers who often lacked technical knowledge of their equipment. Trying to diagnose a router configuration issue, identify cable connections, or troubleshoot set-top box problems over the phone led to miscommunication, extended troubleshooting times, and customer frustration.
- Costly and Time-Consuming Truck Rolls: When phone-based troubleshooting couldn't resolve issues, NorthwesTel had to dispatch technicians, a process that was vastly more complex and expensive than in southern Canada. Many communities required expensive chartered flights, with technicians potentially waiting days for weather-appropriate flying conditions. A single truck roll to a fly-in community could cost thousands of dollars and take days to complete.
- Extended Customer Downtime: Without visual diagnostics, customers in remote communities often experienced prolonged service outages. A family in Tuktoyaktuk or Fort Good Hope might wait days or even weeks for a technician to arrive, leaving them without essential connectivity during critical periods.
- Limited Technician Availability: With a vast service territory and limited field technician resources, NorthwesTel couldn't efficiently deploy technical staff to every community for every issue. Agents needed tools to resolve more problems remotely, reserving truck rolls for situations that truly required physical presence.
- Seasonal Access Challenges: Some communities have seasonal road access via winter roads, while others are year-round fly-in locations. Weather conditions, including severe winter storms, spring flooding, and summer wildfires, could delay or prevent technician access for extended periods.
- Training and Knowledge Transfer Difficulties: New customer service agents faced a steep learning curve when troubleshooting equipment remotely without being able to see the customer's setup. Less experienced agents struggled to guide customers through fixes when verbal descriptions were the only diagnostic tool available.
- Customer Experience Impact: Northern customers already faced unique connectivity challenges due to geography and climate. Extended resolution times and communication difficulties compounded frustration, impacting customer satisfaction and retention in communities where NorthwesTel was often the only viable service provider.
NorthwesTel needed a solution that would enable customer service agents to see customers' equipment and technical issues in real-time, dramatically improve first-call resolution rates, and reduce the need for expensive, time-consuming truck rolls to remote communities, all while delivering the exceptional service that northern Canadians depend on.
The Solution: Real-Time Visual Customer Support Across the Territories
NorthwesTel selected Blitzz Concierge—an app-free mobile video platform—to transform its customer service operations and provide instant visual support to customers across Canada's remote North.
Key features utilized by NorthwesTel:
- App-Free Access: A NorthwesTel customer service agent simply sends a link via SMS text message to the customer. When the customer clicks the link, the agent instantly gains a secure, real-time view through the customer's smartphone camera—no need to download or sign into third-party apps like Zoom, Teams, or FaceTime. This was critical for northern customers who may have limited device storage, data constraints, or technical familiarity with video conferencing platforms.
- Real-Time Visual Diagnostics: Customer service agents can immediately see the customer's router, modem, cable connections, TV equipment, and error messages exactly as they appear in the customer's home. This eliminates guesswork and enables accurate diagnosis during the first interaction, dramatically reducing resolution times.
- Augmented Reality (AR) Collaboration: Both the agent and customer can use AR features to draw, highlight, and annotate directly on the live video stream in real-time. Agents can circle the specific cable that needs reconnecting, point to indicator lights that should be checked, or highlight buttons on remotes—making technical guidance crystal clear even for customers with no technical background.
- Interactive Video Support: Agents and customers communicate via live video call, allowing real-time questions, guidance, and collaborative problem-solving. This creates a personal connection that builds trust and confidence, especially important for northern communities where relationships matter deeply.
- Guided Self-Service: Agents can walk customers through equipment resets, cable reconnections, router reconfigurations, and troubleshooting sequences step-by-step using live video guidance. Customers can successfully complete fixes themselves with confidence, knowing an expert is watching and guiding them through each step.
- Remote Equipment Assessment: For customers considering service upgrades or equipment replacements, agents can visually assess the customer's current setup, identify compatibility issues, and recommend appropriate solutions—all without requiring expensive site visits.
- Reduced Technician Dispatches: By enabling agents to resolve issues visually that would have previously required truck rolls, Blitzz dramatically reduced the need for technician dispatches to remote, fly-in communities—saving both time and substantial operational costs.
- Seamless Integration: Blitzz integrated smoothly with NorthwesTel's existing customer service workflows and systems, requiring minimal training and enabling rapid adoption across the customer service team.
The implementation was straightforward: NorthwesTel's customer service team began using Blitzz to support customers across all 97 communities, from Whitehorse and Yellowknife to the most remote fly-in settlements across the territories. Agents and customers could connect instantly via smartphone, regardless of location, weather conditions, or community accessibility.
NorthwesTel's work connecting Canada's remote North is extraordinary, operating in some of the most challenging conditions in the world. With our live, app-free video support, they can deliver exceptional customer service across vast distances, ensuring northern Canadians stay connected no matter where they live. We're honored to support NorthwesTel's mission to bridge the digital divide in Canada's territories.
— Rama Sreenivasan, Founder and CEO of Blitzz
The Results: Faster Resolutions, Reduced Costs, and Enhanced Northern Connectivity
By integrating Blitzz Concierge into its customer service operations, NorthwesTel transformed its support delivery model, leading to measurable improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and customer satisfaction across Canada's remote North:
- Dramatically Improved First-Call Resolution: With visual confirmation of equipment and issues, customer service agents can accurately diagnose and resolve problems during the initial interaction. Issues that previously required callbacks, escalations, or truck rolls are now resolved in minutes through guided visual support.
- Significant Reduction in Truck Rolls: Many service calls that would have required expensive technician dispatches—particularly to fly-in communities—can now be resolved remotely through live video support. This has saved NorthwesTel substantial costs in charter flights, technician travel time, and operational expenses.
- Faster Customer Issue Resolution: Customers no longer wait days or weeks for technician availability and travel logistics. Visual support enables immediate problem-solving, getting customers back online in minutes instead of days—critical for northern communities where connectivity is essential.
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Northern customers appreciate the immediate, personal attention and visual guidance. The ability to see their equipment alongside the agent, ask questions in real-time, and receive confident step-by-step guidance has significantly improved the customer service experience.
- Improved Agent Confidence and Capability: Customer service agents can troubleshoot more effectively with visual context, building their technical expertise faster and handling complex issues that would have previously required escalation to senior technicians or field staff.
- Optimized Technician Deployment: Field technicians can now focus on installations, infrastructure maintenance, and complex repairs that genuinely require on-site expertise—maximizing their impact across NorthwesTel's vast service territory.
- Cost Savings on Remote Community Service: Eliminating unnecessary truck rolls to fly-in communities has generated substantial operational savings, with each avoided charter flight saving thousands of dollars in travel costs alone.
- Seamless Integration Experience: The ease of implementing Blitzz and the strong support provided during rollout enabled NorthwesTel to adopt the platform quickly across its customer service team with minimal disruption.
- Weather-Independent Support: Video support can be delivered regardless of weather conditions that might delay or prevent technician travel, ensuring consistent service delivery even during severe Arctic storms, spring flooding, or wildfire seasons.
Key Success Metrics
| Metric |
Before Blitzz |
After Blitzz
(Impact) |
Value Proposition |
| First-Call Resolution Rate |
Lower due to communication barriers without a visual context |
Significantly increased |
Visual diagnostics enable agents to accurately identify and guide customers through solutions during the initial contact, eliminating callbacks and escalations.
|
| Truck Roll Reduction |
Frequent technician dispatches to remote communities for issues that could be resolved remotely |
Dramatically reduced |
Live video support resolves many service calls remotely, eliminating expensive and time-consuming truck rolls, especially critical for fly-in communities accessible only by charter flight.
|
| Customer Resolution Time |
Days to weeks waiting for technician availability and travel to remote locations |
Minutes with live video guidance |
Customers receive immediate visual support, resolving connectivity issues quickly and minimizing downtime in communities where telecommunications are essential lifelines.
|
| Operational Cost Savings |
High expenses for charter flights, technician travel, and time spent reaching remote communities |
Significantly reduced |
Eliminating unnecessary truck rolls generates substantial savings, with each avoided charter flight saving thousands of dollars while improving service efficiency.
|
| Agent Efficiency |
Limited by phone-based troubleshooting and verbal communication challenges |
Dramatically improved |
Visual context enables agents to diagnose issues faster, guide customers more effectively, and resolve complex problems that previously required escalation or technician dispatch.
|
| Customer Satisfaction |
Frustration with extended downtime and communication difficulties |
Improved satisfaction with immediate, personalized support |
Northern customers appreciate instant visual assistance, clear guidance, and rapid issue resolution—demonstrating NorthwesTel's commitment to exceptional service across the territories.
|
| Technician Resource Optimization |
Technicians dispatched for simple issues that could be resolved remotely |
Available for complex work requiring on-site presence |
Field technicians focus on installations, infrastructure projects, and repairs genuinely requiring physical presence, maximizing their impact across NorthwesTel's vast service territory.
|
Conclusion
By integrating Blitzz Concierge into its customer service operations, NorthwesTel eliminated the communication barriers and diagnostic limitations associated with traditional phone-based troubleshooting across Canada's remote North. Customer service agents can now see exactly what customers see in their homes—from Whitehorse to Inuvik to remote fly-in communities across the territories—enabling instant, accurate support that resolves issues in minutes instead of days or weeks.
This transformation has enabled NorthwesTel to significantly reduce costly truck rolls to remote locations, improve customer satisfaction, optimize technician deployment, and deliver the exceptional service that northern Canadians depend on. With visual support bridging the vast distances of Canada's territories, NorthwesTel continues to fulfill its mission of connecting the North—ensuring that geography is never a barrier to outstanding customer service.
Blitzz has become an essential tool in NorthwesTel's commitment to serving 97 communities across some of the most challenging and remote environments in the western hemisphere, proving that even across thousands of kilometers of Arctic wilderness, excellent customer support is always just a click away.
