Environmental services company Veolia serves customers requiring the ability to quickly diagnose and resolve technical issues to minimize costly downtime. Solving problems fast is both a strategic priority and a competitive advantage.
Veolia turned to Help Lightning to meet this objective. Help Lightning’s remote visual guidance platform uses merged reality to provide high-touch virtual support, giving Veolia’s customers the ability to feel as if they are working side-by-side with Veolia engineers no matter where they are located. As a result, Veolia’s customers resolve issues faster, and Veolia is experiencing higher customer satisfaction while reducing on-the-ground support. Internal estimates gauge that each successful remote fix saves an average of half a day of engineer time.
Veolia’s Senior Field Support Engineer Neville Matthews, Industrial Team Leader James Field, and Technical Support Engineer Stefan Sadnani, explain how Veolia is leveraging Help Lightning to optimize its support model, improve first time fix rates, and cut engineer time spent onsite.
A Need for Faster, Remote Issue Resolution
Veolia’s field service engineers support a wide range of industrial systems, many of which are complex, highly specialized, and geographically distributed. Prior to using Help Lightning, when systems go down or technical issues arise, engineers would be dispatched onsite to investigate and fix the issue. This process consumed time, budget, and personnel resources.
Veolia needed a better way to remotely diagnose and support technical issues, while still maintaining the quality and precision expected from in-person support.
Technical Support Engineer Stefan Sadnani said: “The main reason for us to use Help Lightning was so that we could digitally and virtually diagnose faults, and reduce time on the ground for our engineers onsite. It’s been really successful for enabling this so far.”
The Solution: Help Lightning’s Merged Reality for Remote Visual Support
Help Lightning’s merged reality technology enables real-time video collaboration that goes beyond traditional video calls. Engineers can see what the customer sees, draw and annotate directly on the screen, freeze frames, and even add colleagues into the same virtual session, among many other features.
For Veolia, this has made a massive difference in day-to-day operations. “Using Help Lightning, we save half a day of engineer time per successful remote fix,” said Senior Field Support Engineer Neville Matthews.
Industrial Team Leader James Field, noted that he has personally avoided at least three onsite trips, saving an entire day each time.
Whether it’s providing training, troubleshooting equipment, or walking a customer through a fix step-by-step, Help Lightning provides the visual context and interactivity needed to get the job done quickly and correctly the first time.
The Impact: Fewer Engineer Hours Onsite
According to Sadnani, the results have been transformative. “We have saved hours of engineer time. We have many examples where we can diagnose and rectify issues using Help Lightning and avoid sending engineers onsite. I would estimate, for me personally, Help Lightning has saved an average of 4 hours per case. Over the last 4 months, that’s about 100 hours of engineer time saved.”
From solving common mechanical faults to addressing complex electrical issues, Help Lightning has allowed the Veolia team to quickly assess, diagnose, and resolve problems remotely. If the issue cannot be resolved remotely, engineers still save time using Help Lightning to prepare in advance, ensuring they arrive with the right parts and knowledge to execute a first-time fix.
Matthews shared a recent example: “I used Help Lightning on one of my first calls with a customer. We not only helped create a temporary fix but also managed to diagnose the problem, which in turn meant we could order the correct parts and attend the site for a first-time fix.”
This kind of rapid turnaround is now standard practice for Veolia engineers, helping them meet their support goals while also reducing environmental and logistical costs associated with travel.
Accelerated Resolution for Internal and Customer Issues
In addition to customer support, Veolia uses Help Lightning to address internal technical training and collaboration.
“We sought out Help Lightning to assist us with training and breakdowns on a customer’s site,” said Field. “It allows us to take an approach where we solve problems faster. It’s also helped with engineers due to me being able to see what is actually going on. In the past, there could be miscommunication when an engineer says one thing but means another.”
By offering live, visual confirmation of problems and actions, Help Lightning eliminates ambiguity. Engineers can freeze frames, draw arrows to the correct wire or valve, and guide technicians through precise steps in real-time. The result: fewer mistakes, faster training, and better fixes.
Sadnani offers another example: “I had a client yesterday involving reverse osmosis technology. The client was experiencing some sort of pressure differential that cut their system out, so their system wasn’t able to run. They called me up and they were stressed about it. I was able to quickly jump on the laptop and take him through a Help Lightning call and advise him what to do. It was a quick turnaround, with a ten minute fix and our client was happy again. Without Help Lightning it would have been more difficult. There are also more complex examples, such as having to do with electrical panels which is something you just can’t do over the phone. Before Help Lightning we would have had to send an engineer onsite. So that would take the time for the engineer to get to site, plus the cost of fuel, etc.”
Better Support for Increased Customer Satisfaction
For Veolia, improving first time fix rates is about more than just operational efficiency—it’s about minimizing customer downtime and delivering a consistently high-quality experience.
“Customer reactions have all been very positive,” said Matthews, “especially where we have resolved issues quickly and avoided downtime. By using Help Lightning instead of phone calls, we can point to buttons on the screen that we require the end user to press. This is easier than explaining which button to press and then praying they press the correct one.”
With a feature set designed for clear visual guidance, Help Lightning supports technicians even when language barriers or complicated systems are in play. “The subtitles feature is very helpful,” Matthews added, “especially when we have customers with strong accents or where English is not their first language.”
“Our customer experience has been positive,” Sadnani said. “I have many case references where we were able to not only diagnose, but rectify the issue right away.”
And when it comes to more technical scenarios, such as reviewing electrical panels or performing manual adjustments, the ability to pause the screen, annotate, and guide ensures customers follow each step correctly.
Even though video-based support is common today, customers are still surprised by how effective Help Lightning is in resolving complex issues remotely.
“It’s common practice that people are using video platforms, but clients are pleasantly surprised when we’re actually able to diagnose and resolve issues using video because Help Lightning has the tools to do so,” said Sadnani.
Easy Onboarding, Instant Adoption
One of the keys to Help Lightning’s success at Veolia has been the ease of onboarding and use. “Setting up the account was pretty straightforward, and there was no real resistance from fellow team members,” said Matthews. “Everyone was positive to see what benefits the software could bring.”
“Onboarding was pleasant. We received training which was really beneficial,” added Sadnani. “We didn’t struggle with onboarding, and I think my colleagues would agree that it’s quite easy to use because it’s a well laid out platform.”
Field agreed, emphasizing how well the platform works for small team environments, making it a practical and scalable solution across departments.
Favorite Features in Daily Use
Several features of Help Lightning have become favorite tools for the Veolia team:
Freeze frame and annotate: “I use the video and freeze function the most because I can freeze an image and then draw on it to physically show what I mean.” – Field
Multi-call support: “Another nice feature is the multicall. If I’m working on something but need assistance from a colleague who’s more experienced, I can bring them into the call.” – Sadnani
Speed to launch: “As soon as I send a link, I can start a call and get the customer on in about 30 seconds.” – Sadnani
“We like you can screen grab and draw on the image,” Sadnani further explained. “This is helpful when we’re reviewing intricate electrical boards, for example, and you can draw an arrow to the correct wire.”
Optimize Technical Support with Help Lightning
As Veolia’s team continues to meet the growing demands of industrial clients, tools like Help Lightning are redefining what’s possible in technical support.
Whether it’s saving 100+ engineer hours, reducing travel, avoiding costly downtime, or simply resolving issues faster with less friction, Help Lightning is helping Veolia do more with less.
“I’d recommend Help Lightning for sure,” said Sadnani. “It’s a user-friendly platform that enables you to do your job in ways we’d struggled to do before.”
“I have recommended Help Lightning to colleagues, and would continue to recommend it due to the good experiences and the benefits it offers.” Matthews
Help Lightning is a remote visual guidance platform that enables companies to virtually collaborate and resolve technical issues with customers and field teams. Its merged reality technology allows experts to be “hands-on” from anywhere, improving first time fix rates, reducing downtime, and increasing operational efficiency across industries.
Connect with a member of our team for a demo and to learn more about Help Lightning.
