• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Housing Technology logo

Housing Technology

Housing | IT | Telecoms | Business | Ecology

  • Free Subscription
  • Search Archive
  • Home
  • Research
  • Magazine
  • Events
  • Recruitment
  • Blog
  • On Demand
  • Contact
Home / Magazine Articles / AccuServ & 1st Touch consortium supports award-winning Osborne

AccuServ & 1st Touch consortium supports award-winning Osborne

A consortium of technology suppliers led by 1st Touch has helped Osborne, the property services, civil engineering and construction business, to win the Institute of Customer Services’ Best Application of Technology Award earlier this year. Osborne beat competitive entries from many leading UK companies, including Prudential, British Gas, RBS and Barclays.

The integrated maintenance and repairs system comprised 1st Touch for mobile data, Opti-Time (now renamed Xmbrace DRS) for dynamic job scheduling, Keyfax for diagnostics, and AccuServ for job management and costing, stock control and KPI reporting. The new system is already being used for Osborne’s 15-year contract with Ascham Homes.

Nick Sterling, managing director of Osborne’s Property Services team, said, “Maintenance and repairs require a strong customer services ethos, backed up by the technology and logistics to deliver it effectively. We are the only company from the social housing sector to be recognised at these awards and are pleased to have stood up to scrutiny against much bigger companies.”

Osborne reported that the four technology companies’ individual packages are seamlessly integrated and fast. This means that when the call centre takes a new call from a resident, the property is quickly located in AccuServ and Keyfax is automatically launched with the selected property already loaded. The call handler is then guided through the job diagnosis by a series of user-configured scripts which result in the correct priority and SOR codes. Once confirmed, the job is created in AccuServ and passed to Opti-Time, with the call handler immediately presented with the job in Opti-Time to be appointed, while the resident is still on the phone.

Osborne is now making almost 100 per cent of appointments on the first resident contact. The job is dynamically scheduled by Opti-Time, despatched to the operative’s 1st Touch PDA, and automatically updated in AccuServ, with variations to material and labour costs and SOR codes all captured at source.

Robert Dent, CEO, 1st Touch, said, “As outsourcing becomes more common, it’s imperative that contractors use the best technology in order to deliver better and more economical services for repairs and maintenance to housing providers. Mobile plays a big part in this because they can manage their workforces so much better.”

See More On:

  • Vendor: 1st Touch, Accuserve
  • Housing Association: Osborne
  • Topic: Mobile Working
  • Publication Date: 033 - May 2013
  • Type: News

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent Articles

  • Free cyber-defence tools from NCSC
  • Learning from history
  • Grand Union Housing gets connected with Aico HomeLink
  • The silences in the system: Predicting and preventing damp and mould
  • Looking back and to the future: Cyberthreats in social housing
  • Hyde signs repairs contract with Totalmobile
  • Fuelling high performance automation
  • Morgan Sindall’s Carbon Zero decarbonisation tool
  • An ethical approach to arrears
  • Housing and the ever-evolving workplace
  • Supporting residents with home safety risks
  • Less innovation & more service design at RHP
  • Ateb Group outsources IT help desks to Central Networks
  • Capital Letters partners with Evo Digital to tackle homelessness
  • Calico appoints M247 for digital transformation
  • 24/7 care requires 24/7 technology
  • Govtech trends for 2023
  • Are you ready for business process automation?
  • Lincoln council moves to the cloud with Civica
  • Why do IT business improvement projects fail?
  • Flagship and Ebrik launch augmented reality app
  • Following the golden thread
  • Setting the standard for carbon-monoxide protection
  • The business case for data
  • Digital twins – When, not if…
  • Using data to build communities
  • The cyber-security jigsaw’s missing piece – Managed detection & response
  • Cyber-security challenges in housing
  • Digitalising retrofits with SHDF & HomeLink
  • Tips for improving care and support

Footer

Housing Technology
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Contact
  • Free Subscription
  • Book an event
  • Blog
  • Search All Articles
  • Research
  • Update Your Subscription
  • Privacy Policy

Welcome to the housing Technology – Trusted Information For Business Professionals in HOusing

Housing Technology is the leading technology information service for the UK housing sector and local governments. We have always believed in the fundamental importance of how the UK’s social housing providers use technology to improve their tenants’ lives.

Subscribe to Housing Technology to gain market-leading research, unsurpassed peer networking opportunities and a greater understanding of your role to transform your business.

Copyright © The Intelligent Business Company 2022 | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
Housing Technology is published by the The Intelligent Business Company. A company with limited liability. Registered in England No. 4958057 | Vat Registion No. 833 0069 55.

Registered Business Address: Hoppingwood Farm, Robin Hood Way, London, SW20 0AB | Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8336 2293

htc23 pop banner