Remote distance assistance system and method

A method for diagnosing a user's malfunctioning equipment, the method comprising:

• transmitting to a remote mobile communications device of the user a message having an embedded link to a network address of a remote server configured to establish a bidirectional video session between the communication device and a support center;
• transmitting set up instructions to the remote mobile communications;
• receiving from an image sensor associated with the mobile communications device image data of the malfunctioning equipment captured by the image sensor;
• causing the received image data to be displayed at the support center for enabling the support center to remotely diagnose a malfunction of the user's equipment;
• transmitting to the mobile communications device augmented image data from the support center, the augmented image data including annotations for superimposing on at least one image of the malfunctioning equipment;
• and
• causing the at least one image of the malfunctioning equipment with superimposed annotations to be presented to the user via the mobile communications device, wherein the superimposed annotations are configured to provide the user with instructions on how to resolve the malfunction.

A computer implemented method for conducting a support session, the method comprising:

• transmitting to a remote mobile communications device of a user a message having an embedded link to a network address of a remote server configured to establish a bidirectional video session between the communication device and a support center;
• transmitting setup instructions to the remote mobile communications;
• receiving from an image sensor associated with the mobile communications device image data of the malfunctioning equipment captured by the image sensor;
• causing the received image data to be displayed at the support center for enabling the support center to remotely diagnose the malfunctioning of the user's equipment;
• transmitting to the mobile communications device augmented image data from the support center, the augmented image data including annotations for superimposing on at least one image of the malfunctioning equipment;
• and
• causing the at least one image of the malfunctioning equipment with superimposed annotations to be presented to the user via the mobile communications device, wherein the superimposed annotations are configured to provide the user with instructions on how to resolve the malfunction.