Interviewee: Christoph Beckmann, Product Manager TopicPilot
What is TopicPilot, and what does the product offer?
TopicPilot is our mobile publication platform that makes it possible for users to deliver content throughout a business and to all of a business’ customers. TopicPilot’s USP is its efficient way of finding and making individual topics, documents, videos, or Office files and PDFs available in the blink of an eye. But the best thing is that TopicPilot can be used immediately with existing data without the need for any special adjustments. A high-performance full-text search is another key component of the application and is available both online and offline on mobile iOS and Android devices.
What benefits does TopicPilot offer, and how does TopicPilot alter my everyday work?
For customers and individual employees, Topic Pilot is a tool to find information quickly and efficiently. Here’s an example: Service technicians are carrying out 1,000-hour maintenance on a machine. They open the app, take a photo of the machine’s code, and set the filter to “Maintenance/1000h.” The technicians are then provided with all topics (instructions for use, maintenance plans, general descriptions, security information) for the corresponding maintenance.
TopicPilot also provides everyday benefits in situations other than conventional technical documentation. Existing documents, videos, images, presentations, etc. can also be distributed conveniently via our publication platform. Sales personnel on customer visits, for instance, can use TopicPilot to access – and directly present – info material from the marketing department and documentation relating to particular questions.
TopicPilot can greatly simplify your professional routine.
Christoph Beckmann, DOCUFY GmbH
The changes in terms of day-to-day tasks offer a major step forward in convenience for individual users: The information required for work is no longer simply stored somewhere on a storage device or hard disk; instead, TopicPilot can deliver it in a flash. There are a number of benefits in day-to-day tasks, depending on the user group. In the aforementioned maintenance application, TopicPilot would significantly reduce service times and certainly also have a positive impact on service quality.
The most important change is certainly searching for information via augmented reality.
What about the link to augmented reality?
Augmented reality (AR) further simplifies the search for information. It offers an intuitive and interactive means of navigating and searching for information to visualize content directly on the machine as needed. With a few taps on a tablet, users can find and read information directly on the machine using the device’s live camera function. This provides a form of immediate support in a given situation. Users can attribute content directly to corresponding components on the device and continue to work on the basis of this new information without wasting any time at all.
In terms of technical documentation, AR offers one unbeatable advantage: Companies are changing their product strategies, with the range of products and machinery rising along with – remarkably – the degree of variation within a particular product line. Instead of training all technicians/users for all potential procedures, AR offers the chance to visualize required information directly in particularly complex processes or procedures that do no need to be performed very frequently.
What role does TopicPilot play in Multi-Level documentation?
TopicPilot is a key form of technology for accessing information simply. Usually, only a handful of employees at a given business will use our other products as part of the construction process to create content (particularly for risk assessment and technical documentation). TopicPilot can access this content and make it available to all employees online and via mobile apps – and, depending on the configuration of permissions, also to partners, customers, etc.
What is your funniest/best/most interesting memory involving TopicPilot/in developing TopicPilot?
It is the same everywhere: The best moments are quickly forgotten in the fast-paced world of projects. One particular memory was the first set of presentations I did, when I appeared on the stage wearing pilot’s goggles in aviator style. That sprang a surprise on my audience, but it stayed with a lot of people, and I am still asked about it today from time to time.