Asolvi has brought about a digital transformation at Cryptex Security, a London-based specialist in home and business security systems. This has not just enabled the company to go paperless, reduce admin staff and acquire a competing business. It’s also let co-founder and finance director Ian Zeff fulfil a lifelong dream to live and work abroad...

Cryptex specialises in harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to make people and buildings safer. Its intruder alarms, access control and CCTV systems are embedded with sensors and software that enable them to interact with each other via the internet and are capable of being controlled by computer or smartphone. This provides occupiers with more extensive and comprehensive security as well as greater ease and flexibility in how they use it.

Maintenance in this industry is more important than in any other because of the disastrous implications of a security system going down. IoT technology is vulnerable to cyber threats as well as physical threats, which is why the maintenance of smart security systems has to be intensive and meticulous. It also means that providers need a foolproof maintenance management system to ensure not just that nothing falls through the cracks, but that there are no cracks. 

Cryptex operates rigorous preventative and corrective maintenance programmes on all security assets, both on-site and, leveraging its IoT capabilities, remotely. Since April 2016, all of these programmes have been managed through Tesseract — Asolvi’s pan-industry solution, suitable for field service businesses of all types — which Cryptex chose over several market-specific options.

Going paperless

One of the reasons Cryptex chose Asolvi was because it wanted to automate its service processes, including workforce management and invoicing, and go paperless. “The efficiency gains we’ve made since implementing Tesseract are radical,” says Ian Zeff. “We’re now completely paperless. Our printing and postage costs are zero. And being in the security industry, we used to have to do huge amounts of shredding. Now we do none. The fact that there’s no wastage has made Cryptex much greener.”

"Our printing and postage costs are zero. And being in the security industry, we used to have to do huge amounts of shredding. Now we do none."

The elimination of paperwork also enabled Cryptex to swap an administrative staff member for a new engineer. “Thanks to Tesseract, we no longer needed a junior administrator doing filing, printing, posting etc. This meant we could employ another field engineer in their place. And engineers are our bread and butter. The work they do is our business. So having an extra engineer on our books is enabling us to do more work and bring in additional revenue.”

The power to scale up

Tesseract has given Cryptex the power to grow, something that its old, manual, paper-driven service management system would have made too difficult. It’s partly because the efficiency gains that come with Tesseract cut out a lot of administrative red tape when taking on new customers, contracts and workers. It’s also because of how easy it is to input new data and users into the Tesseract system.

“In May 2018, we purchased a local competitor, Henry Gates Security Services,” says Ian. “Tesseract gave us the power to make this acquisition, because of how easy it was to input data and users and get visibility of the new company straight away. We were able to take on nearly 700 new contracts instantly. The integration process was a breeze.”

A more enjoyable work life

Since implementing Tesseract, the most exciting change for Ian personally is that he’s moved abroad and performs all his management responsibilities remotely.

“My favourite thing about working with Asolvi is that they’ve helped me emigrate!” he says. “It was always a dream of mine to move to Israel. Now I can be in the office without physically being in the office. The fact that our data is in the cloud, our processes are automated and everyone’s connected via a central point has made that possible.”

"Now each person is at his or her desk driving the business forwards with a few clicks of the mouse..."

The rest of the people at Cryptex are also experiencing radically improved working conditions. Ian explains, “Our staff no longer have to get up and walk to a cabinet, check a file, find that something’s missing and have to look for it, wait for things to print, deal with printer jams, stick things in the post, lick envelopes. Now each person is at his or her desk driving the business forwards with a few clicks of the mouse. And our engineers are happier too. They loathed paperwork and having to lug around files. Now they have everything they need on their phones and it means we’re not chasing them for forms and timesheets.”

Ian continues, “The way Tesseract has changed our service operation is nothing short of the digital transformation that everyone in the industry is talking about. The automation, the mobility and the seamless lines of communication between us all — it’s exactly what digital transformation is all about.”

Automated scheduling for customers

A new development at Cryptex is about to make its people’s lives even easier. The company will soon adopt the Tesseract customer service portal, which gives customers direct access to the Tesseract system. They will be able to log incidents, monitor progress and escalation, and run reports. They will also be able to use Tesseract’s automated scheduling functionality to book appointments directly through the portal. This is a new feature and something that many field service management software providers don’t offer.

Ian explains, “Now that we’ve got the bug for automation and making everything run faster and slicker, we wanted to foster a culture of customers booking their own service visits. At the moment we have to tell customers when maintenance is due and book the visits ourselves. With the new functionality, when maintenances become due, customers will receive an automated email telling them to book their appointment through the portal or call the office, in that order. This will save even more time for our office staff and give customers more control over their service needs.”

Forward-thinking development

Asolvi is committed to strengthening and adding to its solutions in an effort to make field service operations, particularly those of SMEs, faster and smarter. Ian says, “What I like about working with Asolvi is that they’re looking to drive their business forwards and continually refine what they offer. This can only be a good thing for customers.”

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