Expert Link: Your Safran expert ready to assist you immediately and in all situations

 

8 June 2020

The current worldwide health crisis requires new ways of working, particularly in the support and maintenance of helicopters. Safran Helicopter Engines has adapted itself to this new way of life and is promoting its customer services that have enabled them to keep strong ties with their customers over the last few months, especially with those involved in the fight against the Covid-19 virus.

The helicopter engine manufacturers’ Support and Services teams have stayed available so that helicopter operators can continue to fly. Despite travel restrictions, all of this has been possible through digital solutions such as Expert Link.

Expert Link enables helicopter operators to have immediate, remote visual assistance and to contact a Safran expert through a secure video feed. It is an easy and fast way to get help and advice during a maintenance task. 

For mechanics the world over, it brings a lot of advantages. They can receive technical diagnostics at a distance and learn best practices from experts, without having to leave their workshop.  

“Today, our digital services are the key to keeping in close contact with our customers, sharing information and providing the top-quality technical expertise that they need”, explains Olivier Le Merrer, Executive Vice President of Support and Services at Safran Helicopter Engines.

 

 

Expert Link is a solution provided by Librestream Technologies Inc. on PCs (and Mac), smartphones and tablets. It is free of charge in the Essential version and offers many features that help make assistance much easier and efficient. For instance, users can create visual indications during a live video, do high definition  screenshots, share files and invite several people to join a video call at the same time. In its Premium version, the customers can also connect their borescope or their smart glasses to it, to carry out even more in-depth diagnostics.  

In South Korea, the helicopter operator Helikorea, who specialises in air transport, offshore transport, EMS and firefighting missions, has used Expert Link during a “troubleshooting” session with their Field Rep. The helicopter was located in an isolated, mountainous region. 

“During a technical event on one of our S-76C+ helicopters powered by Arriel 2S1, we contacted our Field Rep to ask for help. He suggested that we use Expert Link to solve the problem quicker. Together we were able to find the origin of the issue with the use of Expert Link. The problem was easily solved by our teams, which allowed us to get our helicopter back in service rapidly," says Seong Ryong HWANG, Maintenance Manager at Helikorea.

"Expert link is a very powerful tool for Safran’s engine support, as it allows us to carry out a first diagnostics immediately and easily, as if we were at our customers' premises. We can therefore assist him remotely to carry out the intervention or troubleshooting by himself, if possible, or to schedule an intervention with one of our technicians. With the travel restriction now due to the Covid-19 crisis, it's a real advantage to proceed in this way.” adds Wei Wen BOO, Field Rep at Safran Helicopter Engines Asia.

 Today, Expert Link has 180 active users in more than 40 countries, with a satisfaction rate at 99% amongst users, according to a customer survey conducted in March 2020.

If you would like to use Expert Link, you can contact your CSM or Field Rep. 

 

Expert Link is service that are part of the EngineLife^® range, Safran solutions for helicopter engines.