The industry seems to recognise that enabling mobile working is a priority, but over a third of housing associations have yet to develop their mobile working strategy as they address integration issues with their existing infrastructure.
A recent poll from IBS OPENSystems indicated that only 38 per cent of housing associations have a mobile strategy, despite 82 per cent of the survey sample claiming it to be a priority for 2008.
Martyn Rees, head of housing, IBS OPENSystems said, “Housing associations face huge challenges. These include being able to generate tangible savings, improving ways of working for staff and enhancing services for citizens. Housing associations are recognising that mobile working strategies can deliver innovative and practical ways of solving these challenges.”
Helena Housing has recently adopted mobile working and is already seeing efficiency and productivity improvements through its field staff using handheld devices to carry out updates on repairs and timesheets while visiting tenants. Fuel and inventory costs have also been greatly reduced.
Helena Housing’s experience mirrors IBS OPENSystems’ report which found that the repairs and job processing function was the highest priority (70 per cent) when considering a mobile working strategy.
