Severn Trent Services has been using service management software supplied by Tesseract for nearly four years. In the latter months of 2014, they saw the wisdom of upgrading to the latest version of the software, Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1).
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Apr 24, 2015 • Features • Water • Case Studies • case studies • Software and Apps • software and apps • utilities • Asolvi
Severn Trent Services has been using service management software supplied by Tesseract for nearly four years. In the latter months of 2014, they saw the wisdom of upgrading to the latest version of the software, Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1).
Already they are enjoying huge time savings and greater efficiency as a result of the new components available to them. UK-based Severn Trent Services is part of a major international conglomerate that in total serves 4.2 million households and businesses throughout the world. It is the leading national supplier of water and wastewater services to businesses in the UK, currently providing services to more than 1,500 sites nationwide.
Their work includes water hygiene services; controlling and maintaining assets such as sewage and water treatment works and sewage pump stations; and connecting water supplies to housing developments. Their national status means they have the capability to give businesses with multiple sites the ease, simplicity and efficiency of dealing with one supplier for all their locations.
Severn Trent use Tesseract to run their water hygiene service, which is a hugely important part of their work. Essentially they make sure businesses comply with water hygiene legislation by carrying out inspections, cleaning tanks and pumps, performing disinfections and conducting remedial works to bring water systems to the necessary standard.
Moving away from labour-intensive processes
Before the upgrade, Severn Trent only relied on Tesseract’s software to manage their customer contracts and invoicing. Their field service management depended on a variety of manual and labour-intensive processes. Several different software systems were used to manage the engineers – one for allocating the jobs, one for travel planning and one for collecting feedback, time capture and other data.
“Extensive manual intervention was required to make these systems work together properly,” says Jack Fleet, Water Compliance Scheduling Technician for Severn Trent Services. “This eventually became clunky and we saw that there was too much room for human error. It also took up a lot of office time.”
In July 2014, Severn Trent reviewed their business, looking at how timely and how efficient their processes were, and how they could serve their customers better. Having been using some components of Tesseract’s service management software for several years, they decided to extend that usage to field service management. They wanted one whole, cohesive software system managing their engineers instead of several. A field service management overhaul By upgrading to SC5.1, Severn
This allows engineers to log in remotely from their i-Pads, view allocated calls for dispatch, look at the call history for a site, product or customer, raise parts requests, add service reports and close completed jobs
Severn Trent also have the benefit of Tesseract’s flexible Email Service, which automates the sending and receiving of emails from Tesseract Service Centre. Severn Trent are using the Email Service to handle customer appointments and reports, but automated emails can be triggered by all kinds of activities, such as when calls are logged and closed, and parts have been shipped.
Finally Severn Trent are using Tesseract’s fully customisable Reporting Service, which enables customers to schedule and run reports at any time during the day or night.
A bespoke feature
Currently in development is a bespoke feature of the software, which Tesseract are producing especially for Severn Trent. This feature will help to assess whether certain site restrictions mean that specific engineers are required to attend them. For instance, the engineer might need to have a DBS check, a certain qualification or skill set, or a certain level of training to be able to work at the site.
Tesseract are looking at inserting some additional fields to the allocation software to help Severn Trent assign the right staff. “The good thing about Tesseract is their enthusiasm for customisation,” says Jack Fleet.
“They are developing this feature specifically for us because they are persistent in wanting to improve and expand what they offer. If this feature ends up working for us, it’s something Tesseract will make available to other customers.
In the same way, if Tesseract develop something for another customer and think it will work for Severn Trent, they will make it available to us.”
What does the future hold?
Efficiency has improved enormously thanks to REA and the upgrade has made customer contracts and invoicing more effective and timely as well.
However, Severn Trent’s more immediate priority is Tesseract’s Diary Assist, which they will incorporate in July 2015 in order to further streamline their field service management processes. Diary Assist is a centrally hosted web service for call optimisation which handles both planned and reactive maintenance calls. It allocates jobs to engineers based on skill sets, availability, travel time, customer site cover times and various other factors, and effectively automates the deployment process even further.
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Apr 23, 2015 • Hardware • News • Water • Getac • hardware • utilities
Global designer and manufacturer of rugged computing devices, Getac, has signed a deal to supply Southern Water with 380 F110 Windows 8 fully rugged tablets for field service use...
Global designer and manufacturer of rugged computing devices, Getac, has signed a deal to supply Southern Water with 380 F110 Windows 8 fully rugged tablets for field service use...
The devices will be a critical component of Southern Water’s Work and Asset Management and Management Information (WAMMI) initiative, designed to streamline operations out in the field and improve service for customers.
Southern Water selected Getac as its hardware supplier of choice following feedback from field operatives who rated the F110 tablet as superior to their existing hardware. The utility provider was also impressed by Getac’s service levels and ability to deliver a fully rugged device at a cost-effective price.
We needed a device with a large screen and rugged reliability for our field workers to effectively work with our geographic information system - Alex Chandler, WAMMI Business Lead, Southern Water
The new devices will provide a substantial efficiency boost for Southern Water. Thanks to the F110’s unparalleled connectivity and GPS capability via 4G LTE and SiRFstarIV™ GPS, the devices will be directly synchronised with the utility provider’s GIS solution. This means field workers can easily mark off areas of work and keep HQ dispatchers aware of the progress of operations – information that can then be used to allocate jobs to other workers and keep customers updated.
The F110’s large 11.6” screen provides ample space to display detailed information and allows the easy filling in of electronic forms, while the Windows 8 OS provides a familiar and easy-to-use interface.
The F110 includes Getac’s proprietary QuadraClear® screen which is viewable in even the sunniest conditions, while the touchscreen can be operated without having to remove gloves. MIL-STD-810G and IP65 rated, the F110 can also handle drops, shock and exposure to dust and water without damage. To support Southern Water, Getac has provided a five-year return-to-base warranty and providing full set-up to ensure field workers can boost their productivity the moment they receive their device.
Chandler adds: “We needed a tablet we could rely on in all weathers and conditions, with a familiar interface and high user acceptance – with Getac we have exactly that device.”
The devices are expected to be in operation by the end of June.
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