Metering Services saw an opportunity to benefit from the introduction of mobile technology to improve engineer efficiency and customer service. It decided to implement a Microsoft Windows Mobile solution, which involved the rollout of TBS TaskMaster on Windows Mobile devices

The solution ensures fast, accurate delivery of business-critical information to field staff and eliminates time-consuming paper-based processes.

Situation

Metering Services is a subsidiary of EON, the largest regional electricity company in the UK, which provides electricity services to 2.3 million customers. Metering Services' operational scope includes the reading, re-certification, replacement and emergency repair of both electric and gas meters. The division deals with between 3,000 and 4,000 calls per day from customers.

For many years office employees transferred customer requests to job sheets and allocated them to field engineers. Business practice within the Metering Services operation required field workers to attend their depot at the start and end of each shift to collect and return job sheets, limiting the number of jobs each engineer was able to complete. Julian Windmill, IT Director, Aquila Metering Services comments, "This time could have been used for one to two extra jobs per engineer each day." Additionally this process meant that the business needed to maintain a considerable (and expensive) depot infrastructure in order to support its mobile workforce.

Julian continues, "Requests were noted in the form of hand-written instructions on paper forms. There was no room for extra notes or safety information. Also, administrative staff relied on engineers to write clearly when completing job sheets, to ensure they interpreted information correctly."

As a result, delays in job completion occurred due to misreported information such as contact names and addresses, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and financial losses through missed work. Metering Services needed to minimise engineer downtime and simplify communications, with a minimum investment in infrastructure. Better workforce management was also high on the company's criteria for a solution. They wanted to eliminate the need for engineers to collect their job sheets from the depot each day. Management also needed to gain greater visibility of workforce activity through improved statistical data. The company realised that a mobile solution could help them meet these requirements.

Solution

Metering Services approached mobility solutions specialist TBS, which uses Microsoft technologies to create its mobile field worker solution, TaskMaster. Fully integrated into the Metering Services' existing work management system, TaskMaster provides a complete, intelligent solution for Metering Services' engineers to dynamically receive and transmit job critical information.

Engineers record details on their handheld devices such as serial numbers, certification dates and safety information. Drop down lists help them to enter data without having to key in long product codes and the forms also ensure that engineers follow directions and comply with guidelines. The detailed information is then updated on the central management servers in real time via GSM.

In 2001, the company rolled out Microsoft Windows Mobileô-based HP iPAQ Pocket PCs to 120 engineers in its electrical metering operation. More recently, the business has worked with TBS to combine the gas and electricity metering services across the same network infrastructure. "Pocket PCs are ideal for our engineers, as laptops are bulky and heavy to carry around," says Windmill.

The solution is supported by a powerful and scalable Microsoft solution that can deal with large-scale business applications. "It would have been very difficult to use this solution without Windows, which enables information presentation in a language users understand," says Windmill.

Benefits

Accurate Data from Any Site

TaskMaster enables engineers to access detailed information relating to each job from any location via Pocket PCs. This empowers engineers to maximise their efficiency, whilst simply and dynamically providing job status information to the call centre. This includes causes of meter failure, methods for solving the problem and required parts. Metering Services' Management now has instant access to detailed and accurate data, instead of having to wait for manually created reports based upon unreliable handwritten information.

Improved Efficiency

More accurate information also means engineers can react faster to emergency calls. Administrative staffs are relieved of the heavy data entry workload and customers benefit from more efficient service, with better staff management leading to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Cost Savings

"The cost of meter operations has been cut by 20 per cent, as there is no need for clerical intervention," says Windmill. "Engineers are able to carry out an extra one or two jobs per day and savings are in the region of £100,000 a year. There has been good return on investmentóthis solution paid for itself within 18 months."

With their familiar Microsoft WindowsÆ operating system interface and customisable look and feel, Pocket PCs are easy to use so staff training can be kept to a minimum. "The solution was well-received by staff. They are not all technically minded but picked up the solution quickly. Training took only half a day per person," says Windmill.

New Potential

The TaskMaster solution has also enabled Metering Services to bid for new contracts that require mobile enabled workforce. "We have won large contracts because of thisósuch as those that require a service with a four-hour response," says Windmill.

With the newly combined gas and electricity workforces, over 200 mobile employees now have access to previously disparate information systems.