SPECIAL FEATURE
SOFTWARE & APPS
EASIER THAN YOU THINK Every electrical contractor knows that going digital is the way forward, but some are put off by perceptions that it will take a lot of time and money to make the transition. It’s easier than you might think.
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Quora Group says the system is helping it to win more business
here has been a seismic shift to digital working in recent years and the pandemic has accelerated that trend. A lot of electrical contractors have already made the first move to be at least partially paper-free, with software available for accounting as well as for compliance, job booking and scheduling – and many have also installed vehicle tracking. However, these various systems often operate separately, which increases workloads and complexity along with the challenge of dealing with multiple suppliers. Staff have to switch from one system to another and then manually enter data for customer reporting, invoicing and accounting. Nevertheless, digitalisation is no longer an option, especially for contractors looking to attract bigger clients. Property investors, retailers and large facility management companies have all been busy automating their processes and now require real time, digital reports; proof of compliance, digital certifications and evidence of the ‘job done’.
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“BigChange enables workers on site to use mobile devices to synchronise in real-time with the office – and managers out of the office”
With these growing demands from the industry, electrical contractors have to raise their game. What they are increasingly looking for is a complete end-to-end, seamless and digital solution that works as well out in the field as it does in the office. A great example is BigChange, a solution that brings together customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, job finance and business intelligence into one platform. BigChange enables workers on site to use mobile devices to synchronise in real-time with the office – and managers out of the office – giving everyone 24/7 visibility of all jobs. Compliance is made easy as vehicle trackers provide live location information, which is supported by accurate, time-stamped records, all backed up with accompanying photographs from site.
Scaling up A provider of mechanical and electrical building services says its new job management system is helping it to win more business. Founded in 2005, Quora Group works nationwide with a range of clients across the public and private sector. The £10 million turnover company operates a fleet of more than 20 Ford Transit Custom vans for its mobile engineers. Quora uses the BigChange field service management software, which it says is enabling it to win new public sector tenders. Craig Firth, director and co-founder of Quora Group, says, “BigChange is definitely a sales tool for us and has helped us to grow the business. We work primarily in the public sector, with contracts predominantly in healthcare and education. In these environments there is a high level of compliance and documentation required. BigChange enables us to offer a far higher level of service in terms of digitised, evidence-based compliance and reporting than a company that still uses a paper-based system. It has been a big advantage for us in terms of winning and delivering these public sector contracts.” The North Tyneside company started out in 2005 but has grown from a father and son operation into a thriving business with
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more than 50 direct employees. “Part of that growth has been down to BigChange,” adds Craig. “We use it across three of our four divisions, and it has helped us scale quickly. It is a simple product to use but it has so many functions and our clients love it.” Quora uses BigChange in its electrical, service and maintenance, and water treatment divisions. A complete, simple to use and easy to integrate platform bringing together customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, job finance and business intelligence. BigChange allows for all job scheduling and reporting to be done digitally, eliminating the need for mobile engineers to visit the office to pick up or drop off job cards. Rugged PDAs are also used to record job completion, including photographic evidence. “The ability to adapt the work sheets is a great feature of the software,” says Craig. “We have just won a big contract for a local authority, and that includes specific documentation that they want us to use. I can create a worksheet in BigChange and provide them with a document that is exactly what they want.” Quora also uses live tracking for its emergency call-out service. “We have service level agreements that require us to respond to emergencies within a certain time frame,” says Craig. “With BigChange we can see the locations of the engineers in real time, identify the person who is closest and has the right skill set to respond to the call-out, then inform the client with an accurate ETA.” Quora Group has three ISO accreditations: 9001 (quality management), 14001 (environmental management), and 45001 (health and safety). BigChange has helped it achieve all three. “As part of our ISO management system we use BigChange to monitor and measure the greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicles,” adds Craig. “It also helps with our health and safety management, because we can easily provide evidence that we have done what we said we were going to do.” BigChange, bigchange.com
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25/03/2022 11:27
