Northgate Information Solutions Plots Path To Success With Aspective

Mobile Workforce Management solution optimises work scheduling and increases flexibility

Aspective, a specialist in solutions for Field Service Automation, today announced that it has won a five-year contract to implement and manage a ViryaNet Service Hub-based Mobile Workforce Management system for Northgate Information Solutions, a leading provider of software and managed services to the public services and utilities markets. The new Mobile Workforce Management system, incorporating scheduling, resource planning, process automation and mobile data communications, will improve the efficiency of field operations and ensure scalability as Northgate's customer base and field force continues to grow.

Northgate has a rapidly expanding IT systems support business, including around 280 field engineers across the country. Northgate supports customers at thousands of sites and receives around 12,000 support calls per month into a central call centre, from which in turn new field support requests are generated and dispatched.

Northgate made the decision to upgrade its old Mobile Workforce Management solution following a change in its legacy help desk system and having evaluated a number of options, chose Aspective to implement and manage the project.

"We have been very pleased with our relationship with Aspective over the past four years and when we went to market in search of an upgrade to our old system, Aspective came out on top yet again," said James Turnbull, Managing Director of Northgate Infrastructure Solutions Division. "The previous solution enabled a step change in the efficiency of our field force and service levels achieved, with ViryaNet Service Hub solution we are investing to continue this improvement for our customers."

Previously, Northgate field engineers received work orders and information through their laptops delivered over a GSM connection, which could often become a time-consuming process. Following the upgrade however, personnel have been issued with GPRS-ready PDAs, giving them instant-on access to work schedules and detailed job information.

Other key benefits include:

• Work consolidation; scheduling tools to ensure same site activities are consolidated into a single visit to minimise travel
• Improved work visibility and jeopardy management tools
• Increase levels of data quality capture; increased time stamp capture of in-field status updates and improved validation of status updates.
• Site-based engineers able to access updated jobs and status allowing possible resolution via remote access.
• Added flexibility; soft boundaries mean dispatchers and engineers are not restricted to one regional area.
• Assistance action; engineers can respond to assistance requests from colleagues and be dynamically allocated new job details without lengthy login procedures.

"Northgate has responded to company growth and increased customer demand by upgrading to a cutting edge workforce management system," said Javaid Aziz, CEO, Aspective. "they were an early adopter our mobile solutions in a hosted managed service environment and signing up for a new 5 year deal is a great credit to our team."
For further information or interview requests:

Aspective
Tel: +44 (0) 1784 410420
Email: pr@aspective.com