SPECIAL FEATURE
SOFTWARE & APPS
APPY DAYS FOR ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS In 2019, 55.5 million people in the UK were smartphone owners. According to Statista, in 2025, the number is estimated to reach 64.9 million. As the number of people owning a smart phone increases year on year, the popularity and use of apps continues to rise. Katie Plumstead, Marketing Manager at Scolmore Group, looks at how apps are making life easier for contractors and installers.
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sing an app to help with electrical work may have seemed unlikely a few years ago, however electrical professionals are increasingly using apps that deliver quick answers, manage and customise information consumption and hasten communication. Now, with information at their fingertips, they are armed with ever more powerful on-demand IT capabilities. Tasks that used to demand laborious hand calculations or time-consuming diversions to consult hefty code books (and the conveyance of information via face-to-face meetings, phone conversations and emails) have been sped up and simplified. With so many apps and so much information available, electricians will be looking for those that bring as much material as possible to their fingertips to make their working life easier, rather than having to search through a number of different sources. The award-winning Scolmore Group app brings to contractors a comprehensive range of features that will help them in their everyday tasks on site. It incorporates all the businesses within the Scolmore Group, with users having access to the full range of products from Click Scolmore, ESP fire and security, Ovia lighting and Unicrimp cable accessories – with just one click.
The app brings to contractors a comprehensive range of features that will help them in their everyday tasks on site
66 | April 2022
Software & Apps – Scolmore.indd 66
Originally launched in 2016, the app has been continually updated, with the company acting on feedback from electricians and contractors to ensure that the free app works for them to save them time and therefore money. What sets the Scolmore Group app apart is the free ‘Tool Kit’ feature, which includes a selection of valuable calculators, designed to make it quick and easy for electricians to make essential calculations on the job. Included are Z’s values; Cable Selection and Voltage Drop; Power Factor; KVA Convertor; Cost Saving Calculator; Downlights Number Calculator; Resistance Calculator; Voltage Calculator; Current Calculator, Adiabatic Equation Calculator, Inceptor Intense LED Strip Configurator, Quick Quote Calculator and Power Calculator.
Energy and cost saving calculations With households and businesses facing huge hikes in energy bills, any help with energy consumption reductions will be welcomed. For businesses, replacing outdated lighting with modern LED systems will help them to improve energy consumption and reduce costs at a time when many of them are facing rising operational costs. For a quick guide to the cost and energy savings on products within the Ovia lighting collection, contractors can use the ‘Tool Kit’ feature on the Scolmore Group app where they can access the Ovia Lighting Cost Saving Calculator to see cost and energy savings across the product range. Popular among contractors is the ‘Quick Quote Calculator’, which is designed to let electricians/contractors create a quick quote as they are walking around the site. As well as providing the facility to create a quick quote, the ‘Quick Quote Calculator’ also has an advanced setting which allows installers/contractors to set up the unit cost of each item and how much they would like to charge for labour. It is also set up so that if a double socket, for example, is added to the quote, it will also automatically add a double back box.
electricalcontractingnews.com
The free ‘Tool Kit’ feature includes a selection of valuable calculators
Also getting a lot of interest is the recently added LED Tape Configurator for the Ovia Inceptor Intense range of 24V LED strips. With a variety of strips, connectors, and drivers available in the range, installers have the flexibility for complete customisation. The simple LED Tape Configurator allows them to create the perfect LED Strip setup with an easy step-by-step guide. Free to download, the app features a complete range of searchable products from across the Scolmore Group companies (more than 10,000 products in total), product and tutorial videos, catalogue downloads and all the latest news and events to keep users up to date with what’s happening in the company and the industry. As well as browsing the complete range of products, users can add them to their Favourites or the Quote Basket. Electricians have the facility to email the contents of the basket for future reference, or straight to the wholesaler, providing all the information needed to obtain any quotations or make a purchase. Scolmore, scolmore.com
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25/03/2022 11:31
