IRVINE, California — Bluon has relaunched its Live Technical Support service for HVAC technicians, connecting field professionals with U.S.-based technicians who have 20 to 50+ years of experience.

The brand-agnostic service works alongside Bluon’s MasterMechanic AI diagnostic assistant. According to Bluon, the AI handles 95% of questions, while Live Technical Support provides access to human specialists for complex or unusual equipment and diagnostic challenges.

The service is designed to provide technicians with multiple levels of technical support through the Bluon app. Technicians can access equipment specifications, parts information, replacement options and MasterMechanic AI. If additional assistance is needed, they can connect to Live Technical Support with one tap.

Calls are routed based on the equipment and problem involved. Bluon said this connects technicians with specialists who have 20 to 50+ years of field experience with those specific system and issue types.

Contractors can also manage access to the service by identifying which technicians are permitted to make Live Technical Support calls.

The service is available now to all Bluon subscribers on a per-use basis. Bluon said it may also make Live Technical Support available through partner integrations, including field service management platforms, in the future.

Bluon previously offered its brand-agnostic Live Technical Support service. The company said the operation grew from five veteran technicians handling five to 10 calls per day in 2019 to more than 40 technicians handling more than 600 calls per day during peak season in 2022.

Those support conversations also contributed training data for MasterMechanic AI. According to Bluon, the system is built on more than 135,000 technician-to-technician support calls that veteran technicians have further reviewed.

The relaunch comes as the HVAC industry faces a shortage of experienced technicians. Bluon cited an ACHR News estimate of roughly 110,000 missing technicians, with that figure projected to reach 225,000 by 2030. The company also cited an estimate that about 25,000 experienced technicians leave the workforce each year.

“While our AI troubleshooting tool Master Mechanic solves 95% of problems, sometimes a technician just needs to talk to a live person and work through an extremely nuanced issue,” said Peter Capuciati, CEO of Bluon. “Our Live Support is built to route those complicated issues to the experts with 20-50+ years experience on that exact equipment and issue type.”

According to Capuciati, the service is intended to help technicians address increasingly complex troubleshooting challenges as new equipment, parts and regulations enter the market.