The Business Case for Virtual Reality: Customer XR Goes All-In on Channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqRHTW9Ah-A

Most of the time, if you can even get your hands on it, you realize you’ve already seen something very similar from another vendor, and it’s merely dressed a little differently with a new superlative adjective: most innovative, highest-performing, most advanced, etc.

That’s what makes CustomerXR’s extended reality (XR) showcase in the Meta Quest Store different. First, it’s easily accessible via the Meta Quest headset, so you can immediately see for yourself the business opportunity the company’s applications provide. Second, when you try one of the many apps available in 360° virtual reality, it’ll cause your mind to race, thinking about how you could put this technology to use in your own business or for a customer.

CustomerXR’s immersive technology is officially making its channel debut this week. Technology advisors and other partners will find its sales model to be familiar. There is the initial cost of application development, followed by the licensing of headsets. CustomerXR monitors and secures its software with regular updates, much like a hosted phone provider does.

Kevin Sheehan, CustomerXR’s co-founder, president and chief XR officer, tells The Voice of the Channel that the company is looking for those 10% or 15% of partners and customers who are forward-thinking. Too often, he says, the channel lags behind the greater tech industry when it could jump in on the ground floor. Cloud computing and AI are examples where the channel could have moved more quickly in the early days.

“When I first started in technology, I was selling commercial internet connectivity in the late ‘90s,” he told me. “I was there at the very advent of unified communications, when people first started putting their commercial voice traffic over the internet. I remember selling hard against that in the early 2000s to some clients who said, ‘What are you thinking? How can you dream of putting your voice traffic over the internet?’”

The CustomerXR showcase features applications that help you redesign your kitchen and bathroom, and even change your own oil. But the greatest opportunity might be with customers who need to train their workers efficiently. Consider the quick-service restaurant industry, where employee turnover is very high. The CustomerXR showcase includes applications that can teach potential employees the precise method for preparing and serving a meal without even stepping into the restaurant. Not only is it a huge productivity savings, but no food goes to waste.

CustomerXR is in a proof-of-concept stage with one quick-service restaurant that has 10,000 national locations.

“The training aspects that go along with combining AI and XR are tremendous,” Chris Fonte, chief technology officer at CustomerXR, told Galbraith Multimedia. “Now it becomes real—almost human. It's been proven that learning with XR is up to four times faster than traditional learning.”

Perhaps the most visually appealing app in the CustomerXR showcase is the company’s introduction to immersive tourism. Its Innisfree Garden tour, a proof-of-concept featuring a 360° view of a scenic botanical garden in Upstate New York, lets users learn about the popular tourist spot and experience it before they go—or if they are unable to go.

The possibilities are endless, making just about any customer a fit for extended reality. Most partners will admit that starting new conversations can be a real challenge, and reaching new customers might be harder than ever before. It could take something truly different—and this might be it.

“This is a great conversation starter,” said Sheehan, a channel partner himself who co-founded CX consultancy Cloudlinx, which provided the initial investment for CustomerXR and later acquired it. “The same pitches get a little tired. I have never gotten conversations with major brands easier in my career than when I reach out to the right person and say, ‘What's your immersive strategy? What's your game plan to use virtual reality to connect with your employees better, or to connect with your customers better?’”

Want to try the CustomerXR applications yourself? The company will be at the upcoming Channel Partners Conference & Expo, April 13-16, in Las Vegas. The team is looking forward to putting partners in headsets so they can not only see how the apps work, but maybe dream a little about the possibilities for their customers and the new revenue stream that could result for their own businesses.

Galbraith Multimedia Takeaway: Anyone who thinks virtual reality is just for gaming can rest assured, that’s no longer the case. CustomerXR is an exciting company to watch as it goes all-in on channel. Its applications are not only cutting-edge, they will spur further thought and innovation for any potential customer or channel partner who tries on a headset and imagines the possibilities.

Watch Galbraith Multimedia’s exclusive conversation with CustomerXR’s Kevin Sheehan and Chris Fonte here.