A key benefit of digital microscopes is the ability to easily discuss samples with colleagues or customers – either in person or via online meetings.
With the in-person discussions, two or more people can stand around the microscope and discuss what is displayed on the monitor. This allows multiple people to inspect a sample at the same time rather than taking turns looking through an ocular.
This digital display is also what enables an operator to share the microscope feed during online meetings, also known as remote visual inspections.
What is remote visual inspection?
While visual inspections are typically performed by an operator with the microscope in front of them. A remote visual inspection, however, is performed by someone who does not have the microscope in front of them, but is still able to see what a remotely located microscope is magnifying.
Remote visual inspections are thus made possible by an operator who shares the microscope live image to remote colleagues or customers during an online meeting.
Why you should do remote visual inspection
Remote visual inspections are useful for companies of all sizes that need to discuss findings with colleagues or customers who are located on different locations.
Let’s use a larger company with production facilities and headquarter located in different cities as an example though.
Example:
You’re responsible for production quality within your company and have production sites in multiple cities. Today, a production site in a city that’s 5 hours away by car has encountered an issue and they want your opinion on it immediately.
The only solution is an online meeting.
The operator has sent 3 photos before the meeting to give you an idea of the issue, but even as he explains it, you’re not getting the full picture and you need more information.
You can’t help but wish he’d taken more photos before the meeting or that the issue could wait until you could visit the production site so you can look at it yourself. That’s when your colleague remembers that you can do remote visual inspections.
He simply connects the microscope to a computer and shares the microscope live image with you. As he continues to explain, he’s twisting and turning the sample, showing you exactly what the problem is.
Now that you’re doing a live inspection together, it’s easy to see the issue that your colleague was previously trying to explain, and you’re able to quickly find a suitable solution.
