Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) has just announced details of the implementation late last year of a new HR and payroll system from Cascade HR and other updates to its IT applications.
Since stock transfer in November 2006, ACHA has been steadily improving and updating the technology infrastructure which supports its management of over 5000 properties across 12 islands and mainland Argyll and Bute.
ACHA’s new systems are based on a Capita housing management system, which also supports ACHA’s cash receipting, asbestos management and factoring requirements. Castle Computer Services provided ledger accounting and debtor systems alongside a Sage stock control system. All staff now have Office 2007.
ACHA’s in-house repairs staff now have PDAs in order to pick up new jobs while out on site, which is particularly important for ACHA given the wide area it covers.
The new systems support HOME Argyll, which is Scotland’s first common allocations policy, allowing three partner RSLs to access ACHA’s housing management system remotely via VPN, enabling them to monitor applicants and to allocate properties from a common waiting list.
ACHA’s future plans include extending its mobile repairs facility to cover both pre- and post-inspections on the PDAs, and e-procurement for restocking supplies and taking internet payments from tenants.
Vivienne Kerr, IT Manager, ACHA, said, “It’s been a very busy and challenging time for the IT team since stock transfer. We have implemented several new systems in a short space of time but they have all been delivered on time, within budget and with little disruption to staff.”
