Our Mobile Repairs & Maintenance IT solution

Connect is the Company’s IT software for the management of our Repairs & Maintenance Services. Connect is a completely flexible mobile working solution and is utilised for the management of Responsive Repairs, Maintenance, Voids, and Gas Servicing and Maintenance.

Introduced by the Company in 2007 we have developed Connect to keep pace with developments in Client’s Housing Management Software systems, and the best practice within the industry. The following outlines some of the key aspects of Connect:

• Connect is completely adaptable and can interface with all Client Housing Management Systems. To date, the Company has successfully interfaced with Castle Vale Community Housing Association, NW Leicestershire District Council, Jephson Housing Association, LHA-ASRA and Bromford Group for example.
• Connect operates in real time therefore providing up to date information on the status of each job.
• Integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) ensures that the whereabouts of every operative is known and shown on an electronic map. This is invaluable in allocating emergency repairs to the most suitable operative.
• Works orders are issued to handheld PDAs electronically and completed works updated onto Client’s systems automatically upon completion.
• Handheld PDAs can take photographs and attach them to the Job File as a permanent record.
• Connect has the facility to alert Customers to approaching appointments via SMS texting.
• All Customers are offered appointments at the time they report their repair.
• The Connect Export Module provides Clients with up to date financial reporting, and the value of works within 24 hours of completion.
• Connect can generate automatic KPI reports to suit Client’s individual requirements.

The system operates around a central management database which links directly with the Client’s Housing Repairs System and manipulates and issues data to an individual operative’s handheld Pocket Digital Assistant (PDA). This provides all of the detail and functionality necessary to undertake the work. The system is multi-faceted in its ability to run measurement and Clients Works Order creation mechanisms in many different formats. For example it can run particular Works Orders on Schedule of Rates Contracts, and others on open book accounting systems. The reporting and time monitoring functions remain unchanged and enable the Repairs and Maintenance Manager and Team Supervisors to closely monitor activities and performance on site.

The detailed operation of Connect as the Repairs Service Management tool for individual Clients is dependent on the content of information supplied. Expected data includes:

• job priority codes
• SOR codes
• trade identifiers
• postcoded Customer addresses
• Health & Safety alerts and/or asbestos information

Job and reporting escalation is built-in, both in the in-office system and on the mobile equipment. Warnings may be generated at specified intervals both before and after scheduled appointment dates, if required. Customer appointment reminders may be automatically sent using SMS texts at defined intervals before appointments, if required (and if mobile numbers are available).

If used for appointing/scheduling jobs, Connect can schedule by any mix of skills/trades, location and estimated job/travel cost. For immediate jobs, Connect is well-placed to despatch the best and closest operative, due to its knowledge of real-time operative location. Jobs, data messages and alerts are despatched real-time to the PDA’s issued to our operatives, allowing us to maintain a paper-free, fully auditable database of client work. Our operatives are able to integrate images, signatures and free-hand sketches into their reports of work completed or suspended pending approval.

For the safety and protection of our operatives and Customers, Connect includes and administers such Health and Safety initiatives as Lone Worker protection, Panic alarms and scheduled vehicle safety checks along with Risk Assessments, Method Statements, and any other Client defined Health & Safety information incorporated within the Works Order. Automated variation processing and invoicing are available. Our Connect Repairs and Maintenance Management System currently interfaces with Housing Systems from Orchard, MIS, IBS and Northgate. Connect represents a crucial tool in the automated recording of Key Performance Indicator data and supports the company’s ISO 9001 Policy and drive for continuous improvement.

The practical benefits of Connect have demonstrated themselves through the following efficiency gains to our Responsive Maintenance services since we adopted and developed it. These are:

• A reduction in human intervention within the repairs scheduling and management process by more than 80%
• An increase in Operative productivity of 27% due to the reduction in administration provided by the use of PDAs
• An increase in Customer satisfaction of 8% due to the increase in ‘right first time’ repairs facilitated by better and more comprehensive job information
• A reduction in Operative journeys of 12% due to the use of GPS positioning, the smart allocation of work, and the use of ‘Route Logic’ to get the closest, most appropriate Operative, to the job.