A Guide to Video Technology for Support Teams

In our previous blog on video support, we discussed how video technology is changing the customer support landscape. In this article, we’ll take a look at how video technology can help boost the customer support you provide. We’ll also take a look at the technology required to offer video support.

A few years back, companies looking for video-capture and editing programs had relatively few options to pick from. Given the system demands for video technology, it was even more challenging to find a cloud-based application to deploy across an organization at scale—the best tools often had to be installed directly onto individual computers and frequently required expensive licenses for multiple team members to access them individually. Not surprisingly, this limited the usefulness of video technology for support teams, who needed fast and lightweight solutions to deliver custom video content to multiple customers at a time. 

Thankfully, the boom in cloud-based applications has made video technology far more convenient and affordable. There are now a number of well-established video-capture and video-hosting applications that offer intuitive controls and robust editing tools—all accessible from a browser window or a desktop app. That means video applications can be integrated into your support team’s everyday toolset to expedite troubleshooting and increase resolution times, simplify social media and mobile support for your omnichannel strategy, and increase customer loyalty through educational outreach sessions that reach all your customers at once. Let’s take a detailed look at how video technology can help you provide better customer support.

Three Ways to Boost Your Support Program With Video Technology


Speed Up Resolution Times With Custom Video Tutorials

For support team members working directly in an email or chat queue, custom tutorials can provide a significant boost to resolution stats. When customers have to take extra time to respond to your agent’s questions about their issue or repeat information in a chat session, valuable time is lost, and the customer is probably not enjoying the experience either. However, when your team uses a video-capture platform to quickly demonstrate a process or test a bug report, they capture valuable information that speeds up technical escalations and presents the customer with a clear visual guide to the actions they need to take to accomplish their goals with your product. 

Make Social Media Support Easy with Video FAQs 

Customers frequently look for self-service options before contacting your team, and your FAQ (frequently asked questions) page is often the starting point. However, as social media and mobile messaging channels have become increasingly popular options for digital natives looking to communicate with their favorite brands, an FAQ document is less helpful. Video FAQs allow your social media support team to share a link along with a friendly message, keeping the conversation in the customer’s preferred channel. Better yet, get proactive with a collection of video guides on a wide range of product demos and process workflows.

Combine Customer Support and Customer Success With Webinars

It’s no wonder that webinars have grown in popularity. Live seminars and demos offer an unparalleled opportunity for internal collaboration while delivering an engaging customer experience. Sales and marketing teams benefit by using webinars to promote the brand and draw interest from prospective customers, customer success teams get to engage directly with mid-journey customers looking to improve their use of your product, and support teams can provide data highlighting frequent customer concerns that may be useful webinar topics. To add on, successful webinars are evergreen resources that can be added to your knowledge base and shared in promotional materials over and over again.

Finding the Right Video Platform For Your Support Program Needs

While many video applications offer similar features, each one of them comes with a different set of specifications that cater to different requirements. So it’s important to understand what your primary needs are before making a final selection. Some platforms emphasize flexibility and low cost while providing minimal editing tools and lower resolution, while others charge a premium for advanced editing suites and higher quality resolution. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which option best suits your needs, but the following questions will help you get started on the process.

Set Your Support Program Goals Before Selecting Video Tools

How you plan to use your video platform will also impact your final cost in a big way. If you have a large support team and most agents would benefit from being able to use video tools for custom tutorials, a team or enterprise pricing plans will help limit your overall expenses. However, if you’re focusing on high-quality FAQs and product demos or webinars, you’ll only need a few licenses. That also means you will require a video platform with advanced editing options, along with the ability to serve high-resolution videos and clear audio with minimal buffering even on a mobile data connection. Either way, you’d want your customers to be able to see the same quality videos whether they are using a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. But if the picture is lacking in depth and clarity, or if the audio is muffled, customers won’t find the videos useful. One key rule to follow: Pick a video platform that integrates seamlessly into your help desk for maximum efficiency.

If your program focuses on creating short custom tutorials for your support team to share with customers on the fly, then you’ll need options that let you create videos swiftly. Editing tools will be less necessary in that context, and resolution will be less important than ease of access. You wouldn’t need 4K resolution to quickly demonstrate a basic function or capture a troubleshooting session. Instead, pick a tool that lets you access the app, start a video session, and share a link to the recording as quickly as possible. 

However, should you be looking for a solution for hosting and capturing webinars to engage with your customers and showcase key aspects of your product, you’ll need a platform that provides picture-perfect video resolution, crystal-clear audio, and extensive hosting options. It can take a lot of resources to capture a forty-minutes-plus live video session for post-recording editing and then viewing by thousands of customers. 

Learn Filming Fundamentals to Create Polished and Professional Videos

Filming a professional-quality video that represents your brand and transmits a clear message to customers requires a little more technique than capturing moments of everyday life on video. The good news is that with a little effort and practice, you can quickly master the core techniques of good videography and create clear, effective videos with ease. If your program is only using videos for screen capturing and quick custom tutorials, some of these elements may not be an issue. However, if you’re filming physical processes—such as interacting with a product or service—they’re absolutely essential. Here are a few simple tips that can help you shoot better videos:

Film In A Clear, Well-Lit Space

It’s best to film in a space with abundant light and minimal background distractions. That means avoiding filming in crowded areas, such as a workshop or busy office area (unless you’re planning to showcase that space), and making sure there aren’t a lot of jarring visual elements behind the speaker or focal point of the video. With clear natural light and an open, clutter-free space, you won’t need expensive lighting rigs or backdrops.  

Make Sure the Audio Is Crystal-Clear

Even the most visually-stunning product video can be all but useless if the audio is muffled, garbled, or simply too quiet. Be sure to speak clearly and enunciate when reciting the video script. If the camera is a few feet away from you or if there’s loud background noise, it may be wise to invest in a microphone. If the person speaking won’t be seen in the video (for example, if they are narrating or providing voice-over while a process is shown), then a headset microphone may also be a good solution.

Keep Your Video Short And Focused

Pacing is the trickiest but most important element for most videos. A good rule is to keep the video between 30 and 120 seconds, unless you’re creating a complex tutorial for an advanced product. And even in that situation, it can be helpful to break the tutorial into smaller chapters so that customers can learn in easily digestible segments. Dialogue or narration should be slow and precise – your target should be the same pace and tone you would use to explain a process or feature to a customer if they were face-to-face with you. 

Take Your Support Team to the Next Level with Video

There’s never been a better time to build a video support program. Customer support teams now have easy access to inexpensive video capture platforms for creating custom tutorials, applications for video conferencing and premium-level customer assistance, and seamless live video streaming tools for educating hundreds or thousands of customers at a time. Whether you’re thinking of investing in tools for the first time or expanding on a current program, there is an abundance of options that are sure to fit your budget while helping your team deliver exceptional service.