I Need Your Help! How to Establish a Support System for an AAL

Pilot Region

Viktoria Maringer

, Ralf Fabry

, Michèle Zlöbl

, Harald Rieser

and Verena Venek

Mobile and Web-based Information Systems, Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft m.b.H.,

Jakob-Haringer-Straße 5/3, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

bit media e-solutions, Jakob-Haringer-Straße 1, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Keywords: Support, Support System, User Satisfaction, Workflow, Templates, Independent Living, Active and Assistive

Living.

Abstract: The complexity and the specific user group of AAL systems make it difficult to provide adequate support. In

particular, in AAL projects where business cases should be simulated in order to guarantee a smooth transition

of the products and services to the market. Usually, the project consortium distributes or channelizes the

responsibilities for system components. On the contrary, the pilot region fit4AAL relies on a professional

support team. This paper describes how the workflows and support strategies were established and enhanced

due to ticket analysis of a first phase of the field trial. Within this phase of testing the developed training

program ILSE, an initial support system was launched consisting of three pillars: local centres, first and

second level support. The findings of analysing the support tickets demonstrated a high potential to reduce

support effort regarding technical issues. We visualised the support workflow and developed standardised

solving strategies to decrease the effort of the tickets and increase the satisfaction of the AAL users.

1 INTRODUCTION

According to the European Commission (2014) the

demographics of the European Union are projected to

change in the coming decades. The overall population

will be much older than it is now. A large portion of

the population will retire and the labour supply will

decline overall (European Commission, 2014). For

the growing user group of older people, technologies

and services have been developed in recent years

(Hallewell Haslwanter & Fitzpatrick, 2017).

Development and research conducted within this field

is summarised under the term Active and Assistive

Living (AAL). The overall aim of AAL is to increase

the quality of life for older people by introducing

tailored services and products (Hayn & Schreier,

2017). For example, these solutions target to support

the autonomy, self-confidence and mobility of older

adults. AAL wants to promote a better and healthier

lifestyle for individuals at risk while maintaining the

health and functional capability of elderly people

(Nguyen, Colin, Lemoult, Sigwald, Thiollier, &

Krivitzky, 2015). Therefore, AAL solutions support

ageing well at home, in the community and at work.

The range of developed products and services is wide:

AAL uses communication technologies (e.g. smart

watches), smart homes, assistive robots, mobile and

wearable devices as well as various sensors such as

sphygmomanometers (Jaschinski & Allouch, 2015).

Although a lot of development and research has been

conducted so far, there are not many scientifically

evaluated systems on the market nor currently used in

reality at this point (Hallewell Haslwanter &

Fitzpatrick, 2017). A possible reason is that services

are often provided in isolation and in a technocentric

way (Bertel, Teles, Strohmeier, Vieira-Marques,

Schmitter, Ruscher & Kofler, 2018) such as living

labs with highly controlled settings. Further,

technologies often fail to embed in the daily routines

of older people and their common surroundings

(Hornung, Müller, Shklovski, Jakobi & Wulf, 2017).

Often already the design does not take into account

the real needs and capabilities of users (Colomer,

Salvi, Fernanda, Cabrera-Umpierrez, Arredondo,

Abril, Jimenez-Mixco & Medrano, 2014). This

requires not only a focus on development of AAL

solutions together with the target group but also on

testing the setup in real life of the seniors. Such

settings are so-called pilot regions in Austria, which

156

Maringer, V., Fabry, R., Zlöbl, M., Rieser, H. and Venek, V.

I Need Your Help! How to Establish a Support System for an AAL Pilot Region.

DOI: 10.5220/0009368601560164

In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE 2020), pages 156-164

ISBN: 978-989-758-420-6

the BMVIT

initiated in 2012. Compared to other

AAL projects, volunteers of the target group take part

in the development and testing of the solutions by

integrating them in their homes and daily lives for a

certain amount of time, e.g. for half a year or even

longer. How often, when and what they use is left up

to them with the aim to investigate the effects of the

usage. Hayn & Schreier (2017) emphasises that the

pilot studies include important tasks such as

recruitment of participants, clarification of ethical

aspects, the deployment of the system to the

households of users, the maintenance of the

installations and, last but not least, the ongoing

support of the users (Hayn & Schreier, 2017). The

importance of the support in pilot regions is

additionally visible when observing the common

solutions to overcome the different challenges, which

emerge when introducing AAL systems to real homes

(Förster, Werner, Hämmerle, Kofler, Ates, Piazolo &

Fuxreiter, 2017). On the one hand they are related to

the environment itself and on the other hand to the

users. Most homes are not designed to integrate

specific technologies. As a result, technical issues

such as cabling, power sources, already existing

technologies, internet connectivity or ordinary space

have to be considered before deploying technology

(Doyle, Bailey, Scanaill & van den Berg, 2014).

Beside this, acceptance and adoption of the

technology can be problematic (Heart & Kalderdon,

2013). Learning the usage of ICT-based solutions

represents a barrier for older users (Doyle, Bailey,

Scanaill & van den Berg, 2014). Nevertheless, elderly

people are open-minded about technology, when it is

appropriately introduced and when support is

accessible (Heart & Kalderon, 2013 & Doyle, Bailey,

Scanaill & van den Berg, 2014). ‘Older people need

space to be curious about new technology, to feel

comfortable to ask what they may think are ‘stupid’

questions and have these answered […]’ (Doyle,

Bailey, Scanaill & van den Berg, 2014). Jaschinski &

Allouch (2015) proposed special training programs,

which teach the elderly people how to use technology.

Further, technical support in form of a helpline or a

written manual is recommended to avoid technology

anxiety and promote a successful usage of AAL

systems (Jaschinski & Allouch, 2015). Doyle, Bailey,

Scanaill & van den Berg (2014) stated that a hotline

should be provided, which users can call 24 hours in

order that technicians can immediately fix problems

remotely. Usually, a monitoring system helps to

observe the support process. For research projects,

Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and

Technology

Förster, Werner, Hämmerle, Kofler, Ates, Piazolo &

Fuxreiter (2017) recommended a ticketing system,

which facilitates clear communication and regulation

of responsibilities within the project partners. The

effort of supporting users is often underestimated and

can be especially time consuming directly after

installation of the systems. Experts advise to budget

enough resources for unexpected incidents and

challenges (Förster, Werner, Hämmerle, Kofler, Ates,

Piazolo & Fuxreiter , 2017) such as temporary server

failure, news-related inquiries (e.g. General Data

Protection Regulation) or similar.

The pilot region fit4AAL intended to cope with

these challenges by including a professional support

team from a project partner. This paper presents how

their support system has been adapted to and

established for the AAL pilot region. The remainder

of this paper is organised as follows. The first section

introduces the problem statement, fit4AAL and ILSE.

Section two explains how the support system was

developed and improved. In section three the results

of this process are presented. Section four discusses

the outcomes. Finally, section five concludes our

findings.

1.1 Fit4AAL and ILSE

Fit4AAL is an Austrian pilot region including

Salzburg and Vienna. The AAL project focuses on

promoting an active lifestyle and sport in retirement

by new technologies. Therefore, the technology-

supported functional fitness program ILSE has been

developed. The primary target group of ILSE are

people aged 55 and older. The program offers fitness

exercises tailored to the determined fitness levels of

the users. The so-called ILSE-app is not only

available on the tablet, but a reduced version is

additionally installed on a 3D camera system (Orbbec

Persee) that can be connected to the users’ TVs.

Furthermore, ILSE includes an activity tracker to

support outdoor activities. The entire system is tested

within two field trials in Vienna and Salzburg. Over

200 independent people, aged between 59 and 75

years, use ILSE in their homes over a six-month

period. One of the main outcomes arising from these

field trials was to avoid usage barriers related to

insufficient support. The fit4AAL project members

aimed at supporting the participants adequately

without expanding resources boundlessly by

introducing the ILSE support.

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2 PROCESS OF

ESTABLISHMENT

In this section the process used to establish and

improve the ILSE support system is described. First,

a basic support system has been installed. In the

second step, the previous support process and accrued

support issues were analysed. Based on the results,

process flows were standardized, support templates

developed and the manual refined.

2.1 Initial Support System

The basic ILSE support system comprises three parts:

the local centres, the first and the second level

support.

Two local centres were implemented, one in

Salzburg and one in Vienna, to act as physical contact

points. Each centre featured a so-called demo

apartment, where the ILSE system was installed for

demonstration. The field trial users were asked to

come to the centres for meeting their coaches. These

fitness trainers determined the fitness level of the

users and adapted the training programs for ILSE

accordingly. Subsequently, the users received the

system and initial instructions. At the end of the trial,

participants were able to return the ILSE system at

one of the centres. In addition, the centre was open

for users and other interested persons to demonstrate

ILSE.

The first level support was a professional call

centre providing a phone and an e-mail service, and

thus, being the first contact point for the ILSE users

during the trial.

A call centre is an indispensable part of a

satisfying support system (Doyle, Bailey, Scanaill &

van den Berg, 2014). Feinberg, Kim, Hokama, De

Ruyter & Keen (2000) even stressed the importance

of call centres for customer satisfaction. Many

interactions take place at a call centre. Tasks vary

from usual information to complex troubleshooting.

Regarding ICT, a call centre agent ideally interacts

with the caller and simulates the question on the

computer system meanwhile (Steel, 2003). Therefore,

call centre agents must have technical expertise as

well as communicative skills. A beneficial

conversation must be competent, efficient,

professionally friendly, flexible, and, finally,

satisfying for the caller (Maaß, Theißig & Zallmann,

2001). The main purpose is to listen and care because

‘understanding the customer is a key factor in keeping

them happy and solving support issues’ (Montgomery

& Damian, 2017).

The ILSE call centre was formed by the project

partner bit media e-solutions GmbH. The centre was

reachable via e-mail twenty-four-seven and the

hotline was available from Monday to Thursday from

8 am to 5 pm and Friday from 8 am to 1 pm. The

employees of the call centre are usually experts in

supporting ICT products for public institutions

(schools, public authorities and similar). Besides their

daily business, six employees were consigned to

support ILSE users during the field trials: One led the

support team, two persons dealt with questions in

detail and three other persons were mainly

responsible for the transfer of problems and solutions

between the users and the second level support.

Altogether, the team boasted 30 years professional

experience. None of them had specific experiences

with customers averagely aged 65.

The users were requested to contact the first level

support if they needed any help to install ILSE, if

devices did not or only partly work, if there were

questions according to the fitness program, the

technology or the participation itself. The questions

were grouped in nine support categories:

Participation, installation, technical questions, ethical

issues, training, survey, workflow, local support and

exchange of devices. All reported issues were

documented with the company-internal ticket

software. The first level support team was equipped

with ILSE tablets and fitness trackers to be able to

adequately accompany users through their support

case and to reproduce solutions for problems. Further,

the team used the ILSE manual to refer to specific

descriptions. The manual described how to use the

tablet, the 3D camera system and the fitness tracker.

A project-intern document clarified the

responsibilities of whom and when to forward a

problem to the second level support.

The second level support consisted of technicians,

who were able to fix bugs, and researchers, who

clarified specific problems that could not be solved

by the first level support. These persons were usually

not in direct contact with the ILSE users. They

received issues from the first level support via the

ticket software. When an issue could not be solved by

the first level support, the corresponding second level

support team member received a notification e-mail

to log into the ticket software to report the possible

solution. The first level support then took over to

forward the solution to the users.

A support case was closed when the users were

able to continue using the system and when the

solution was documented within the ticket software.

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2.2 Initial Support Process

By knowing the instances and responsibilities of the

first and second level support, the process of support

within ILSE can be described. All support cases were

documented via the ticket system. Each support

process started with an issue, which was submitted

through phone or e-mail (step 1). A member of the

first level support accepted the issue (step 2). Then

the employee started to solve the problem (step 3).

The issues varied in category and severity. Some

could be answered directly on the phone or with a

short e-mail, whilst others needed more input, in

particular from the second level support. For tricky

technical problems, the support team member

referred to the manual to find answers or used the

ILSE system to reproduce solutions. Every incident

was recorded in a ticket. A ticket contained a

combination of structured (ticket ID, title, state,

priority, date, user, email, channel, ticket assignee)

and unstructured data (problem description). If the

problem could be solved, the resolution was

documented in the ticket and the ticket was closed. If

not, the first level support forwarded the problem to

the responsible person of the second level support and

assigned the ticket respectively (step 5). The second

level support team member tried to resolve the issue

and returned a gradual instruction with screenshots

and detailed information to the first level support

using the ticket system. If a problem could not be

resolved or fixed, the second level support asked the

first level support to arrange an appointment with the

user in a local centre (step 5). The first level support

contacted the user to solve the issue and, hence, close

the corresponding ticket (step 6).

Every ticket showed the resolution process of an

issue. It started with the submission of a problem and

the creation of the ticket, proceeded with problem

handling, and ended with the solution and closing of

the ticket.

2.3 Ticket Analysis

To improve the initial support system and process we

analysed the support tickets of the first phase of the

field trial from April to August 2019. The broad goals

of the ticket analysis were to facilitate the work of the

first level support and to reduce the effort of the

second level support for the remaining field trial.

The first phase took 18 weeks and included 120

elderly persons who tested ILSE. After six weeks 233

tickets were collected. These tickets were classified

according to the support categories (i) technical

questions, (ii) participation, (iii) installation, (iv)

exchange of devices, (v) training program, (iv) ethical

issues, (iiv) questions related to the survey, (iiiv)

workflow and (ix) local support. The number of

process steps from ticket creation to closure was

taken to determine the effort of problem resolution.

Little effort means that the problem needed one to

five process steps to be solved and it was executed by

the first level support. Medium effort means the

process took six to ten steps and the second level

support was also involved to solve the problem. High

effort means the troubleshooting needed more than

ten steps. In order to identify typical problems or

major problematic areas that contributed to most of

the tickets, we had to analyse the categories in detail.

Furthermore, we wanted to know if there were

common solutions to tickets or whether it was

possible to facilitate or even automate resolutions.

Therefore, two members of the first level support and

three members of the second level support compared

and contrasted ticket, problem and process

descriptions. The problem descriptions were

characterised by problem identifiers. Hence, problem

identifiers were again classified. These categories

were useful to adjust the problem identifiers with the

ILSE manual. Missing descriptions or unclear parts

were adapted in the manual according to the findings.

In addition, the process descriptions were analysed to

model the support workflows. Therefore, activities as

well as their order to solve technical problems were

identified and visualized in a process diagram. A

process diagram shows all steps of the process by

graphical elements. The sequence is visualized

through arrows and lines between the elements

(Berglehner & Wilberts, 2015). The process steps,

where the problem solution was given in detail, were

extracted. They were collected in a so-called

catalogue of standards e.g. process steps to update the

ILSE app.

The exchanged e-mails between users and first

level support were additionally analysed in detail. We

extracted e-mail correspondences that successfully

solved support cases and transformed them to

standardized templates e.g. detailed description to

update the ILSE app including screenshots.

3 RESULTS

In the following, the results of the ticket analysis are

presented. Firstly, quantity and quality of tickets are

shown. Based on these findings, technical questions

were analysed in detail. The ILSE manual was

enhanced, the workflow visualized and standardised

problem solving strategies developed.

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3.1 Ticket Classification and Effort

Estimation

Figure 1 shows the classification of the support

tickets according to the support category. In most

cases (153 of 233), technical questions were asked.

One technical question concerned, for example, the

starting of the ILSE program; another user reported

that the monitoring system crashed several times. The

second most frequent requests concerned the category

participation (in total 53 of 233). These issues mainly

occurred in the beginning of the field trial. Twenty-

three of the 53 requests were related to the first

appointment arrangement with the coach. For

instance, the users asked to postpone the meeting due

to unforeseen incidents or similar. Categories with

fewer tickets were: ten issues related to the

installation, as well ten concerning the exchange of

devices, four questions for the training program

entered the ticket system and two with respect to

ethical issues. One support case was assigned to the

questions related to the integrated survey of ILSE. No

tickets were created for the categories workflow and

local support.

Figure 1: Classified support tickets.

Altogether, 162 tickets required little effort. 41

tickets needed medium effort to be closed and 30

tickets required high effort. The longest process took

32 steps. In this case, the user reported that the update

of the 3D camera system failed. Most high effort

tickets (23) incurred for technical questions. In

comparison to tickets of the category participation,

where many questions were related to time shifting, a

lot of potential to reduce support effort can be found

in technical questions. As a result, the support team

focused further on the analysis of the technical

questions.

https://play.google.com/store

3.2 Technical Questions in Detail

To identify which tickets could have been avoided

entirely or where effort could be reduced, we

analysed the problem descriptions of technical

questions in detail, tagged every ticket with a problem

identifier and mapped them to additional categories.

The 22 identifiers, which resulted from the

exploration of problem descriptions, were:

presentation errors (e.g. screens overlap of training

videos), human detection, installation, error icon,

update, internet connection, TV adjustment, app start

(no launcher), remote control (battery, handling,

exchange), gesture control, Installation via Play

Store

, training schedule, app crash, data upload,

problem to charge, data transfer, GPS signal,

connection of tracker and smartphone, closing app,

SHealth app, data volume, and feedback from server.

All raised questions or problems relate to a

specific ILSE system component. That is why we

mapped the identifiers to the four categories (1) 3D

camera system (Orbbec Persee), (2) fitness tracker,

(3) tablet and (4) server.

We compared the four categories and problem

identifiers with the ILSE manual. Nine sections were

identified that had to be revised:

1. General information about the SIM and its

available data volume as well as detailed

instructions how to connect to the local WIFI

were supplemented.

2. References to check the user profile were

revised.

3. It was added that the tablet should not be turned

off immediately after a training session.

Otherwise, the training may not be saved.

4. In addition, general information about the

fitness tracker and Bluetooth connection were

provided such as that data synchronization can

fail due to Bluetooth connection issues.

5. Specific expressions such as ‘update’, ‘gesture

control’, ‘profile’, were explained in detail.

6. Furthermore, instructions were given to

deactivate the gesture control of the 3D camera

system that disturbed some users while

performing their training sessions.

7. An overview of the system including

components and functionalities was added in the

beginning of the manual.

8. Explanations were added on how to check if the

app was connected to the server and/or the

internet.

102

0 50 100 150

participation

installation

technical questions

ethical issues

training

survey

workflow

local support

exchange of devices

little effort

medium effort

high effort

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9. Finally, some screenshots were added and

complemented with the descriptions of the

training summary.

3.3 Support Workflow

A possibility to speed up the support process is to

reduce the number of process steps. This means, we

had to empower the first level support. Members of

the first level support had to know quickly specific

problem-solving strategies. So, we decided on

providing a standardised process flow. Figure 2

shows the basic support workflow. It starts with a

problem which is submitted by an ILSE user. The first

level support creates a ticket for the problem and

starts to clarify the cause of the question. Some

questions e.g. excessive demands can directly be

clarified, the ticket can then be closed and the user is

satisfied. Other issues require more work. Depending

on the problem, the support agent follows the process

flow for the 3D camera system, the tablet or the

fitness tracker.

Figure 2: Basic support workflow.

Figure 3 illustrates the support workflow for the

3D camera system. Initially, the agent has to clarify if

the question is related to

• The installation,

• The usage of the 3D camera system, or

• The ILSE app on the 3D camera system

displayed on the TV.

Then the cause of the specific problem needs to

be identified. The most common problem solving

strategies such as to start and update the app, how to

the gesture control and remote control, and how to use

the ILSE app (continue training, training

visualization, person recognition, training feedback)

are described in the ILSE manual. The agent guides

the user through the respective page(s) and supports

the user to execute the steps to solve the problem. If a

missing internet connection is identified as the

reason, the agent supports the user to activate WIFI.

If the connection to the local WIFI fails again, the

agent supports the user to start a hotspot with the

ILSE tablet to connect the 3D camera system.

Reported support cases related to the training

functionalities of the system require the forwarding of

the ticket to the second level support.

Figure 3: Support workflow for the 3D camera system.

If the tablet is not working as expected, the agent

first supports the user to close messages and apps on

the tablet and to reopen the ILSE app. Some issues

are already solved at this point. Otherwise, the user

has to check the data connection. If it is not possible

to activate data connection, the second level support

has to check the tablet. If the data connection is

enabled or can be activated, but the problem still

exists, the tablet needs to be rebooted. If the tablet

does not work properly after rebooting, the ticket has

to be forwarded to the second level support.

If the submitted question is related to the fitness

tracker, the agent first clarifies the problem

specifically. The ticket is forwarded to the second

level support, if data is not transferred to the server

even though the tracker is adjusted correctly.

Problems with energy supply, GPS tracking,

Bluetooth connection, data transfer or training

records require rebooting of the tracker. If the

problem remains afterwards, the Bluetooth

connection of tracker and tablet has to be verified. In

the case of handling problems, the agent recommends

an appointment at a local centre to clarify the

problem.

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3.4 Catalogue of Standards and

Templates

The catalogue of standards is a file, which presents

standardized solutions for most frequent problems.

In its first version, the catalogue included 50

standards. Each standard was labelled with the

affected component e.g. ‘tablet’ and the problem

identifier such as ‘update’, followed by a brief

description of the problem like ‘the ILSE app is

outdated’. Finally, the solution is stated such as ‘the

ILSE app has to be updated’, and the solving process

is described in steps. For the given example, the steps

were:

1. Open Play Store on the tablet

2. Insert “Fit mit ILSE” in the search line

3. Press the button “actualise” if shown and

confirm the update

4. Reboot the ILSE app

If the problem solution is even included in the

ILSE manual, the respective page is added to the

standard. For 16 problems, templates were created

additionally. Templates represent predefined answers

for users. They are used to evaluate specific data for

problem solution or to help users to execute steps to

solve a problem by themselves. Templates are step-

by-step solutions, which are especially written for the

users. The descriptions are very detailed and include

screenshots where they are needed.

4 DISCUSSION

In order to support users of ILSE adequately, we built

the ILSE support system on a professional call centre.

The call centre agents represented the first level

support. They had no experience with AAL

technologies or elderly users specifically. As part of

their usual daily activities, they supported users of

software products. ILSE consists of hardware and

software components. Members of the first level

support reported that the mix of hardware and

software components made the support very complex.

A reported, very challenging support case was

helping to connect the 3D camera system with the TV

via the smartphone. Users often demanded

subsequent support directly at their homes, which in

the end was not necessary. According to the user

group, agents determined that the expectations at

ILSE and the support were high. Users expected that

the installation and usage of ILSE was simple, and the

system runs properly. Problems and questions had to

be solved quickly. But some questions needed time

and many process steps to be solved. With respects to

this, the first level was supported in solving problems

by the second level support. Members of the second

level support were researchers, involved in different

areas of the fit4AAL project e.g. sports, technology

or evaluation. Due to this mix of different people, the

communication between first and second level

support was difficult. First level support members

complained about reaching the needed persons in

time. The third pillar of the basic support system was

formed by the two local centres in Vienna and

Salzburg, where the ILSE participants received the

system components and a first introduction. The

introduction comprised the installation and all

functionalities of ILSE. Afterwards, the user installed

ILSE at home and started to use the system. When

problems or questions arose, they notified the first

level support via phone or e-mail. Submitted issues,

as well as the process of clarification, were

documented using a ticket system. To improve the

basic support system, tickets were analysed after six

weeks in practice. Within the starting trial weeks a lot

of tickets were created. Many tickets required a high

effort to be solved. Overall, we can say that the

support effort was underestimated. First results of the

ticket analysis indicated high potential in reducing the

load in form of technical problems and questions.

Thus, we aimed at decreasing the number of tickets

by encouraging the ILSE users to solve questions by

themselves. Gaps and unclear parts of the manual

were identified and revised. Another possibility to

speed up the support process was to reduce the

process steps. This meant the first level support had

to be empowered. We visualised a standardised

support workflow and provided step-by-step solving

strategies for specific problems. Additionally,

templates were improved that included user-centric,

detailed descriptions to solve a problem. In the first

weeks of the second phase of the field trial, that

started in late of September 2019, we experienced a

positive impact of our improvements, in particular on

the work of the second level support. Since the first

level support team was empowered by the support

workflows, the standards and the templates less

tickets had to be assigned to the second level support.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this paper we have demonstrated an approach to

create and enhance a support system for an AAL pilot

region as well as shared the experiences of running

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such a call centre. The resulting support system of

ILSE comprises

• A professional first level support, equipped with

a visualized workflow and standardised

problem-solving strategies,

• A second level support equipped with templates,

• The local centres as physical contact points, and

• A clear, comprehensive manual.

We conclude that analytics of support tickets

enables the identification of gaps and the potential to

improve the support system. AAL systems are often

multi-component solutions, consisting of hardware,

software, and, particularly, might additionally include

private equipment of the users (e.g. ILSE includes

private TVs). Hence, providing adequate support is

challenging. It is important to think about this issue

as soon as an AAL project is drafted. We recommend

a professional call centre as first contact point for the

users. Even though the agents had no experience with

AAL technologies or elderly users, it was a good

starting point to establish a satisfying support system

for an AAL project. The experiences in supporting

people are valuable and are in addition essential for

estimating the potential workload for the business

case. The local centres facilitated the preference of

the users for personal support and contact.

Nevertheless, the first appointments at the local

centres, including the appointment with the coach to

assess the fitness level and the initial instructions on

how to use the system, were too long and the

presented content too much. We think that many

tickets regarding installation could be avoided if more

comprehensive face-to-face training would be

provided in the beginning of a trial phase, perhaps

even in groups. A short manual of functions and

component descriptions, including a checklist for the

equipment, would support the first appointment

beneficially. Fit4AAL further demonstrated that it is

difficult for an AAL pilot region to measure the

expectations of participants. High expectations may

raise frustration, and low expectations may reduce the

acceptance of the system. We recommend not to

conceal the research background, but instead to

promote the technical level of the system. In addition,

the integration of a support area in the app for quick

notifications, such as information about server

failures, support availabilities, frequently asked

questions, could additionally be beneficial.

Currently the second field trial of ILSE is taking

place. First ticket analytics showed that the technical

questions decreased. Besides the support system, the

ILSE system itself was improved. Further research

giving detailed information about ticket development

will be conducted after the trial. The next step to

professionalise the support, is to outsource the second

level from the research team to the product owner.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was funded by the Austrian Federal

Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology

under the research program benefit in the co-

operative project fit4AAL.

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