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PSA Group and TomTom Telematics have recently announced that the award-winning TomTom WEBFLEET fleet management solution will be available for all connected Peugeot, Citroën, and DS fleet vehicles.

As of next quarter, the service will become accessible in France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Optimised fleet management

WEBFLEET enables fleet managers to make better business decisions. It helps to save fuel as well as localise vehicle positions and improves car maintenance planning. Within the collaboration between PSA Group and TomTom Telematics, the WEBFLEET platform will use the data sent by the manufacturer-fitted telematics units of Peugeot, Citroën and DS cars. This kind of alliance with a car manufacturer is a first for TomTom Telematics.

“We see an increasing number of vehicles entering the market with pre-installed mobile connectivity. Our WEBFLEET platform can provide a valuable service to the owners and users of those vehicles. Customers with Peugeot, Citroën and DS connected vehicles will now have easier access to Europe’s leading fleet management platform to help improve fleet efficiency, customer services and overall business performance,” said Thomas Schmidt, Managing Director at TomTom Telematics. “This initiative extends the relationship with PSA Group, after announcing the TomTom powered PSA infotainment platform¹ earlier this year.”

 

Brigitte Courtehoux, Head of the Connected Services and New Mobility Solutions business unit of PSA Group, added: “Our ambition is to provide customers with fully-connected vehicle fleets as part of our “Connect Fleet Management” program as well as a value-added service from market-leading partners. This innovative proposal allows customers to select services that best fit their company’s needs, helping to save time and money with an easy solution designed to significantly reduce the total cost of ownership. Collaborations like with TomTom Telematics enable us to provide a top-quality reliable service throughout Europe. In this way, PSA Group is furthering its strategy as a mobility provider."

 

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¹ This platform includes automotive-grade digital maps, TomTom’s award winning navigation software “NavKit” and its market leading live Traffic service.

 

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UK consumers are increasingly standing up to poor performing service providers by purposely withholding payments, according to new research - with 48% saying they had withheld or defaulted on payments in the past as a result of poor customer service or billing issues.

The survey of 1,500 households, by Echo Managed Services, revealed a number of reasons for debt outside of consumers simply not having the financial means to pay. Almost 1 in 3 people hadn’t paid because the bill was incorrect or higher than expected; 14% because the bill was difficult to understand or there was a mix-up with it; and 6% because they’d received poor service. Just 28% of people said that late or non-payment was as a result of not having the means to pay.

The research also revealed that higher income households are less tolerant of poor service, with 1 in 10 of those earning more than £40,000 per annum having withheld payment for this reason in the past, compared to just 1% of those earning less than £10,000.

Understanding the importance of collecting outstanding payments Echo are now urging service providers to improve their billing processes and customer service standards, in order to mitigate some of the reasons behind avoidable debt and to avoid losing valuable customers in a market full of competition and choice.

 

 “There are many reasons why people might not pay a bill and although a lack of income would be the obvious reason, our research clearly indicates that these days debt cannot be attributed solely to financial circumstances. Consumers are now much more aware of their rights and have the freedom to exercise them. They might be less tolerant of poor customer service or inaccurate billing, or think that failing to pay won’t necessarily lead to debt collection procedures, for example,” said Monica Mackintosh, customer services director at Echo Managed Services.

“That’s why it’s so important to understand customers and their reasons for missing payments so that the debt can be mitigated before it becomes an issue, or be resolved as quickly as possible. Making sure bills are clear and accurate, regular pre-bill customer engagement, and early intervention such as payment reminders are essential.  In addition, a range of internal and external data sources can provide a strong indicator of customer behaviour and propensity to pay. But data alone does not provide the answer and should be used to support personable and empathetic customer service to ensure customers receive a positive experience” she added.

The report also revealed that although most customers do feel guilty about missed payments (59%), a surprising 3% think that regular debt is acceptable and 4% think it’s acceptable if they have more pressing needs, such as paying for an annual holiday. Over 1 in 4 think it’s acceptable to get into debt in extreme circumstances, while 6% think it isn’t an issue to be late with payments and that it causes no harm.

 

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A staggering 3.1 billion has been spent on fixing or replacing broken gadgets in the last five years, a new UK study has revealed, which whilst focussing on the consumer sector should highlight the fragility of consumer grade devices for field service organisations..

Mobile phones are the item most likely to meet an accidental end, with 8 million of the fragile gadgets damaged in the last five years.

A survey of 2,000 homeowners revealed that, across British households, 5.3 million laptops and PCs and 4.1 million cameras have also fried at the hands of their uncoordinated owners in that time.

Water damage is the greatest phone-killer, accounting for 23 per cent of mobile phone and 7 per cent of laptop claims.

Kat Robinson, Head of TSB Insurance, who commissioned the research, said: "Now more than ever we rely on our gadgets to get through the day, so it’s unfortunate when they are taken out of action unexpectedly.

"The time and expense of dealing with smashed screens, sizzled monitors and defective equipment is a major gripe that many of us are needlessly suffering through because of having no insurance or picking inadequate protection."

 

But the research revealed more unusual ways to destroy your digital appliances. One unlucky respondent had their phone consumed by a hungry horse, while another had it slip out of their hands and into the toilet bowl while trying to take a selfie in the loo.

An over-enthusiastic fan totalled his phone at a football game after Gareth Bale scored the winning goal for Tottenham at White Hart Lane, and another had their TV destroyed when it was struck by lightning.

The study also revealed our typical 'walking wealth' – the cost of the gadgets we carry around with us on a daily basis – at an average of £288 per person.

 

When asked to choose which gadget they consider most precious to them, a third chose their mobile phone, while just over a quarter chose their laptop or PC.

Almost a fifth of mobile users have experienced a smashed or broken screen. In the event of ‘the dreaded drop’, one in ten immediately returned to the provider they were insured with to get the screen fixed, while 6 per cent powered through with a broken display.

 

Kat Robinson, Head of TSB Insurance, continued, "When it comes to insurance, having a flexible policy that works for you can really cut down on the hassle should you ever need to claim.

"Whether you want to protect the bricks and mortar of your home, the contents, or your latest piece of tech, it’s important to pick insurance cover that protects you and adapts to your needs."

 

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ACK Transport, based in Wollaston Northamptonshire, is using a unique mobile app from routeMASTER for remote monitoring of its general haulage fleet.

As a long-time customer of AGM, ACK Transport is eligible to add the recently upgraded app free of charge to its existing routeMASTER fleet control system. Vehicle progress can be pin-pointed in real time and access to the routeMASTER vehicle tracking and analysis system is possible from literally any location.

Managing Director Andrew Kevan has quickly taken to the new application: “We use the system to keep a check on vehicle locations and that’s handy when, for example, customers need to know an accurate ETA. It’s a good management tool which not only lets us monitor the vehicles but also enables us to check time sheets remotely. The app is easy to download and really simple to use. Always having my mobile to hand means I can access a host of fleet information from the minute I get up to last thing at night!”

 

ACK Transport runs an extensive curtainsider fleet and provides a nationwide general haulage service, including building products and electrical goods transport.

“With so many vehicles on the road and with multi drop delivery points,” adds Andrew” it’s also important to keep vehicle idling to a minimum. The routeMASTER system allows us to monitor each tractor for any excessive idling, which helps to keep fuel bills down and ticks a box for the environment. The cloud-based software has, for a while, played a key role in the efficient running of our fleet. This new app just makes it a little easier.”

 

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Berg Insight estimates that global cellular M2M module shipments increased by 19.4 percent in 2015 to a new record level of 96.0 million. A somewhat higher growth rate is expected for 2016.

Until 2020, shipments of cellular M2M devices are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7 percent to reach 256.0 million units. East Asia, North America and Western Europe were the main geographical markets in 2015, accounting for around 75 percent of the total demand. The regions are similar in size measured by volume.

Berg Insight projects that the relationship in relative market shares between the three regions will remain relatively stable in the coming five years. The latest 3GPP standards for LTE – Cat 1, Cat M1, and Cat M2 – will contribute substantially to growth in the next coming five years.

 

These new standards are designed to be less complex to limit power consumption and are priced more favourably to address the mass market and make it viable to connect entirely new applications.

The results of Berg Insight’s latest cellular M2M module vendor market share assessment show that the three largest module vendors have 72 percent of the market in terms of revenues. “Annual module revenues for the three largest market players Sierra Wireless, Gemalto and Telit increased by 12.5 percent to US$ 1.12 billion, with the total market value reaching approximately US$ 1.6 billion,” says Johan Fagerberg, CEO at Sweden-based M2M/IoT analyst firm Berg Insight.

Sierra Wireless leads M2M module revenues, followed by Telit and Gemalto. SIMCom Wireless leads in shipments for the first time in 2015, but is only in fourth place in terms of revenues.

 

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Based on its recent analysis of the workforce management (WFM) solutions market, Frost & Sullivan have recognised Teleopti with the 2016 EMEA Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Leadership.

Teleopti's pioneering work in the WFM market, backed by the outstanding customer value of its full-featured product set, has earned it an eminent position in the market. Its commitment to product innovation is highlighted by the richness of its features in all areas, from forecasting and scheduling to performance management and agent enablement.

Teleopti was an early mover in the WFM market, and is now one of the last of the pure-play WFM providers, allowing it to focus on improving WFM and not spread resources over the other areas of agent performance optimisation (APO). It has a powerful, flexible, versatile, best-of-breed WFM solution that meets the diverse needs of European and global markets. Its solutions are available on-premise and in the cloud, allowing companies of all sizes to choose the option that best fits their budgets.

"Being able to deliver its solution on-premise, the company has an advantage in countries that are reluctant to move to the cloud. However, as with the rest of the industry, Teleopti provides cloud-based alternatives as well,” said Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst, Nancy Jamison. She added, "Teleopti mainly sold cloud to smaller companies, but in 2015, its cloud business won many more enterprise customers, including large centres with thousands of agents."

 

Being headquartered in Sweden, in a region with numerous countries and various labor laws, has given Teleopti knowledge of specific needs across different regions. For instance, for the Middle East market, Teleopti created a prayer planning function within its product that inserts breaks at the required times. The agent screens also accommodate differences in language — including reading from right to left — and regional calendars.

The company differentiates itself through its consulting model and staffing tenured consultants with expertise in contact centres.

Customer engagements start with pre-installation analysis, but a critical component of the engagement is that the consultant sticks with the customer for the first half year after implementation, before handing off to a post-sales support team. This model tends to be expensive, but it has paid off for Teleopti by ensuring long-term customer satisfaction.

"Teleopti has been successful in its attempts to deliver top-class ownership experience, as evidenced by 9 out of 10 of Teleopti’s customers recommending the solution to others," noted Ms. Jamison. "Furthermore, customers have come to expect speed of innovation from the company. In the past 18 months, it has released six new feature modules, ranging from product integration with third-party suppliers to features that directly affect the agents, such as a notification system, talent management, advanced training planning, and overtime availability."

 

The company also places due emphasis on employee satisfaction, providing easy-to-use and visually appealing access for agents on mobile devices, supporting shift trading or requesting time off no matter where they are. Gamification is another key area designed to keep employees motivated and engaged.

Significantly, the company’s offerings have attracted notable partners, including system integrator and value-added reseller partners normally found in the ranks of well-established contact centre players. Longstanding partnerships with companies such as ZOOM International, ASC, and Telstrat enable Teleopti to go head-to-head against the more entrenched WFO suite providers.

Overall, strategic partnerships and a rich product line have ensured customer loyalty and profitability for Teleopti, making it a name to be reckoned with in the EMEA WFM market.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognizes the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and, ultimately, customer base expansion.

Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for outstanding achievement in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research.

 

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According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of insurance telematics policies in force on the European market reached 5.3 million in Q4-2015 and 6.3m in North America. 

In Europe, annual growth rate (CAGR) is predicted to be 37.2 percent, with the number of policies expected to reach 25.8 million by 2020. In North America, the number of insurance telematics policies in force by 2020 is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45.8 percent to reach 42.1 million in 2020.

The European insurance telematics market is largely dominated by hardwired aftermarket black boxes while self-install OBD devices instead represent the vast majority of all active policies in North America. Several major US providers of UBI have recently shifted to solutions based on smartphones. Berg Insight now expects a rapid increase in the uptake of solutions based on smartphones and also embedded OEM telematics systems in all markets in the upcoming years.

The insurance telematics value chain spans multiple industries. Insurers with notable presence in the insurance telematics market include Progressive, UnipolSai, State Farm, Allstate, Generali, Allianz, Intact and Insure The Box.

 

Renowned telematics suppliers active in the insurance field for example include Octo Telematics, Vodafone Automotive and LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Modus, Baseline Telematics, DriveFactor and The Floow are also notable players on the market. Automotive OEMs are increasingly taking an active part in the ecosystem. Examples include General Motors, Ford, Renault-Nissan, BMW, Daimler and Fiat. In addition, mobile operators such as Vodafone, Telefónica, Verizon and Sprint are offering insurance telematics solutions, commonly working with telematics partners.

The insurance telematics market is currently in a phase of strong growth in both North America and Europe. “Canada, the US and Italy in particular have seen a significant increase in the use of telematics-based auto insurance during 2015”, said Jonas Wennermark, IoT/M2M Analyst at Berg Insight.

He adds that the UK is also one of the front-runners and that uptake is expected to increase in a number of additional countries in the coming years. Telematics-based insurance has already been introduced in a number of European countries including Spain, Austria, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Differentiated telematics offerings are predicted for a broader range of segments, and insurers are increasingly expected to embrace usage-based pricing as well as claims-related insurance telematics and various value-added services. In North America, smartphone based solutions are growing rapidly whereas Europe still largely favours device-based solutions. “We are also seeing a growing involvement from OEMs. Progressive and OnStar are about to launch what might become the first major PHYD offer using OEM data. There are also recent attempts to share OEM data through intermediaries such as Verisk and the Floow”, concluded Mr. Wennerma

 

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Optical measuring solutions provider GOM UK, whose clients include many major automotive & aerospace companies, is utilising innovative lone worker security solution, StaySafe.

The app, which tracks an employee’s location via GPS and alerts their manager if they do not check-in within a specified time, will be used to ensure that GOM’s engineers are safe whilst visiting and travelling between sites.

GOM works across a range of industries such as medical and transportation, and engineers are responsible for the maintenance and repair of GOM technologies.

The app has been put in place on the advice of health and safety consultants who flagged lone worker safety as a priority focus for the business in 2016.

 

The app works on iPhone, Android and Windows and offers a wide range of functions including a panic button, working session expiry and low battery warnings, GPS tracking, inactivity and duress alerts making it a powerful device for protecting employees working alone. User monitoring can be done in‐house via an online Hub or outsourced to one of StaySafe’s professional partners.

Tim Collier at GOM explains their decision to work with StaySafe; “Our staff are not what you would traditionally call ‘high risk’ but fully meeting our duty of care to all employees is paramount to us. We have just issued all employees with new smartphones so a lone worker solution that would work on their smartphones without the need for any additional technology really appealed. The app has been easy to set up and use and monitoring the app requires minimal resource, which is great”.

Don Cameron, CEO, StaySafe adds “The StaySafe app is a great solution for organisations like GOM who want to provide a high level of security provision for their lone workers without the expense and hassle of providing new technology. The prevalent use of smartphones amongst all age groups means that the app is cost effective and quickly becomes part of an employee’s routine”.

 

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A contractor job management platform for field service and facilities companies has been developed by UK software company Okappy.

As many field service organisations have discovered, it's no fun trying to manage lots of subcontractors when they don’t have access to your internal job management software and take an age to return job sheets or reply to emails. The Okappy job management platform resolves these issues by allowing customers, employees and subcontractors to share information.

Field service organisations can connect to their customers and subcontractors, and receive jobs and then monitor the status of those jobs as they are updated by employees or subcontractors wherever they are. Job sheets can be tailored to suit specific requirements and images and signatures can be added.  Technicians can view customer history electronically and complete invoices.

“In the past jobs sent to subcontractors entered a black hole leading to the same problems that companies thought they’d got away from when they introduced job management software for their own employees,” points out Richard Harris, CEO of Okappy.

The Okappy platform was initially launched last year to plumbing and electrical contractors and already has thousands of users. Benefits reported include reduced paperwork and better management of their employees and subcontractors.

“Often these companies will have already invited their own customers on to the platform so it’s not a great leap for larger companies to get started and see the benefit as well”, says Harris

 

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