South Kesteven District Council has completed the implementation of its first mobile working project for its repairs and maintenance operations with Android-based software and devices from 1st Touch. The council has reported that it is already completing an extra 60 jobs per day across its 30 multi-skilled workers.
When it decided to introduce mobile working for the first time, SKDC decided that Android was the best platform solution in terms of flexibility and value for money.
David Lewis, ICT manager, South Kesteven District Council, said, “We reviewed the options available and it was apparent that Android had become the leading mobile platform, and the value for money advantages it offered were significant. The devices available were ideal too, because they were small enough to be handy but large enough to be useful. In addition, as 1st Touch had launched an Android version of its service, this fitted well with our use of this exciting alternative to other mobile platforms.”
Stuart Sheardown, a project manager in SKDC’s property services team, said, “1st Touch could work perfectly with our Northgate housing management system, plus there was also the ‘smart airtime’ feature within 1st Touch Mobile. This is useful in rural areas with patchy network coverage; the software only sends and receives information in short encrypted bursts when there is a signal.
“Furthermore, we needed a contractor willing to not only provide the support detailed in the specification, but also to offer some degree of flexibility, as in many ways this was a design and learning process for us as we had not used mobile technology before.”
Liz Bishop from SKDC’s property services team said, “On average, we are achieving two more repairs per operative per day, resulting in 60 extra completed jobs per day, which is phenomenal. The operatives are now travelling fewer miles between jobs, thereby reducing fuel and servicing costs, and we’re also less dependent on external contractors.”
In the future, SKDC next plans to use the 1st Touch system for its voids management followed by automatic stocking of its workers’ vans.
