We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words … so a video is worth a thousand pictures!  What if you could watch a “how-to video” when you needed help with a server, instantaneously, no matter where you were located?

Now, with Dell’s industry-first Quick Resource Locator (QRL) application, you can. The QRL will revolutionize the way you use digital resources to learn about physical hardware. You just use your smartphone to scan a Quick Response (QR) code that we are including on the top of every 12th Generation PowerEdge server (see picture) and get direct access to all sorts of critical service information:

• Step-by-step videos, including overviews of system internals and externals, as well as detailed, concise, task-oriented videos
• Reference materials, including searchable owner’s manual content, LCD diagnostics, and an electrical overview
• Your service tag, so you can quickly gain access to your specific hardware configuration and warranty information
• A direct link to Dell, to quickly get in touch with technical support and sales teams

Our Experience Design Group has developed the QRL to empower IT professionals with the information they need when they need it, making them more effective at managing their data center hardware, and giving them the power to do more!  IT professionals are expected to be experts in all areas of servicing these products and are often challenged with business-critical servicing situations. With that in mind, we have created a menu that is mapped onto the actual layout of the server, making it instinctively easy to navigate and view the most relevant videos (see image).

There is an enormous amount of information available about these products on specific support websites and other sources, but it can be challenging to find the specific information needed under the pressure of a critical hardware failure. But with QRL, even while standing in the datacenter at the box, they can just scan the QR code and the information is immediately (and literally) at their fingertips! No longer will IT professionals have to search the internet for relevant information about hardware issues, or carry around an owner’s manual.

All the QRL videos are all shot specifically for this application and precisely to meet the needs of an IT professional who is in the data center servicing a specific Dell product. And the full product owner’s manual has been translated into mobile format to allow simple drill down navigation, including the ability to open relevant figures in full screen mode. The manual content is also searchable to allow quick discovery of component details

The QRL is a learning tool too. It gives customers access to information about the full PowerEdge portfolio and our sales team will be able to use this application as an convenient tool to educate them. At the same time, just using this tool is a demonstration of our competitive advantage in usability and product design.

This is just the first step. We are committed to continually improving our customer’s at-the-box experience through mobile content.  To see the QRL in action, check out the video: