2010 Rotherham District Council has chosen to implement mobile working systems from 1st Touch. The system is already live at 2010 Rotherham.
Set up in 2005 as an ALMO by Rotherham Borough Council, 2010 Rotherham is responsible for managing 21,500 domestic properties and 350 commercial properties on behalf of the council. One of 2010 Rotherham’s key goals is to bring its housing stock up to the Decent Homes standard by 2010. Three contractors, together with 2010 Rotherham, form the Rotherham Decent Homes Partnership to undertake the surveying, securing and refurbishment works required to bring the housing stock to the necessary standard.
2010 Rotherham identified mobile working and handheld technology as a core part of its Decent Homes strategy and as preparation for this move, the ALMO streamlined its repairs service into a single depot that could be centrally controlled through the use of handheld technology and electronic diaries for front-line operatives.
Having looked at several possible mobile systems for its 300 operatives, 2010 Rotherham was impressed by a live demonstration of the 1st Touch system in use at Morrison in Birmingham.
Jon Cocker, IT manager, 2010 Rotherham, said, “The demonstration of the working system at Morrison was very persuasive, and was certainly instrumental in our decision. We chose the 1st Touch solution with the confidence of knowing that we were buying a ready-to-use and proven off-the-shelf system.”
Through its previous experience of working with other technology providers, 1st Touch integrated its mobile system into 2010 Rotherham’s Xmbrace OptiTime software, ROCC Uniclass enterprise database and Keyfax diagnostics repairs tool.
The solution underpins all repairs and maintenance for Rotherham’s council properties, covering both emergency repairs as well as scheduled works such as annual gas maintenance plans. The 1st Touch system is also playing a significant part in improving 2010 Rotherham’s environmental credentials by cutting the 1.5 million paper-based transactions associated with its 130,000 work orders each year.
2010 Rotherham is planning to implement a dispatch courier service and a voids programmed works module. Further 1st Touch solutions in the pipeline for 2010 Rotherham are customer satisfaction surveys, gas safety and electrical test certificates, all of which will be completed using forms on the PDA.
