Issue link: https://industrialengineer.epubxp.com/i/777540
56 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine By Maj. Christina Rusnock Maj. Christina Rusnock, a member of IISE's Young Professionals group, is a deputy department head at the Department of Systems Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology. tools & techn logies The "branch" is a staple of the retail and financial world. It is that go-to, conve- nient location where customers connect face to face with salespeople and com- pany experts. Branches offer customers a satisfying connection to the company and its products and services. But staffing can be expensive – espe- cially when customer demand is uneven or when a few key experts are needed in multiple locations. Companies are increasingly turning to automated solu- tions to solve these problems. This pivot to automation is well-established in banking, where live tellers have been (at least partially) replaced with automated teller machines. However, automated services diminish the "personal touch" advantage provided by branch locations. BuffaloPacific's Omni-Solution Se- ries is specifically designed to leverage the face-to-face personal connections provided at traditional branches while minimizing the space and on-site person- nel requirements. The Omni-Solution Series provides companies with a 3-D telepresence system, enabling employ- ees to service multiple branch locations remotely from a single location. Telep- resence systems eliminate the costs and time of travel, reduce the space required in branch locations and minimize over- staffing due to erratic customer utiliza- tion. Unlike traditional videoconferenc- ing, the Omni-Solution Series provides customers with an engaging interaction due to the high-quality telepresence that is three dimensional and life-sized. Most significantly, the 3-D telepresence im- age supports full eye-contact communi- cation, enabling the company represen- tative to make eye contact clearly with a particular customer, even shifting eye contact between individuals when mul- Technology helps add that personal touch BuffaloPacific's Omni-Solution Series adds that human dimension by offering a telepresence that mimics face-to-face personal communications.