07/05/2008 - Saltire increases productivity of field engineers with Cognito

Real-time scheduling and electronic records improve customer service

Cognito today announced a deal with Saltire, one of Scotland's leading service providers of responsive repairs, annual servicing and installation of heating systems to the social housing market. The solution will integrate with Saltire's existing back end database to enable real-time access to mobile data and electronic documentation. This will help more than 150 field engineers operate as efficiently as possible, increasing their productivity and improving customer service.

David Black, Saltire's Managing Director, said, "It's very important for our business that we are able to offer the best possible service to all of our existing and prospective clients. This means getting engineers out quickly and at times that suit our customers. With this new system, our mobile workers can communicate with the office far more effectively, improving the visibility of our field operatives so they can be managed more efficiently. In addition, we've enabled our field engineers to electronically access our systems on the move so they can keep the business updated and don't have to deal with a mountain of paperwork at the end of each shift."

By law, paperwork such as the Landlord's Gas Safety Certificate or CP12 must be completed annually for each property. Saltire has a system in place that gives field workers three opportunities to carry out the necessary annual inspection; however, as jobs are often allocated without agreeing a specific timeslot in advance, gaining access to properties is not always possible. The Cognito solution gives Saltire greater insight into how mobile workers are deployed and increases their awareness of the status of pending check-ups. The implementation also enables field engineers to access electronic forms and documents that can be completed on their mobile devices and submitted directly to the back office via the mobile network, where a certificate will be issued and securely stored. Engineers and tenants can even sign the forms on the devices, ensuring the signatures will automatically be captured and stored electronically.

The ability to monitor mobile workers more effectively enables Saltire to comply with regulations in another key way. Health and safety legislation requires that engineers take lunch breaks and the Cognito system provides visibility into when engineers are working, and when they are not, to provide some indication of whether they are getting the breaks they are due.

The solution will be integrated with Saltire's client interfaces reducing the need to operate onerous paper based systems. Previously, more than 150 engineers would go into the Saltire's operational sites every morning to collect the paperwork for their assignments for the day. With the deployment of Cognito's solution, this is no longer necessary as job allocation and information can be sent directly to engineers' mobile devices. Mobile workers can also send real-time updates in the same way, keeping the Saltire informed so jobs can be reallocated if needed to ensure work is completed on time.

David Perry, Head of Marketing at Cognito said, "Saltire was struggling with a problem that's common to businesses sending out field workers who require access to specific sites. Engineers were regularly finding they couldn't get access to the site because a specific appointment time had not been agreed, so they would need to try to reschedule and this process resulted in considerable wasted time, inefficiency and frustration for both customers and field operatives. By enabling real-time mobile data, Cognito can help Saltire eliminate redundant site visits, making every hour of the day count. Information on the location of each engineer means the closest or most appropriate person for the job can be deployed far more efficiently."

"While we looked at many companies to help us achieve our goals, we felt Cognito's considerable expertise in this area offered us the greatest value and insight into the challenges we were facing and how we could best meet them," concluded David Black.

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