Telenav Track and Sprint Help National Technology Deployment and Installation Company Improve Communication and Efficiency

SITUATION

Federated Service Solutions is the fastest growing national provider of technology installation services for the retail, banking and financial services industries. The company’s field service operations include 90 technicians who provide wiring and cabling services for Internet, phone, CCTV and security systems for some of the nation’s largest retailers.

CHALLENGE

Before implementing TeleNav Track, Federated Service Solutions had to rely on technicians’ personal wireless phones to contact them with job details and identify their whereabouts. This made the company liable for wireless phone charges, made monitoring their locations inefficient, and provided no paperless solution to communicate job details or track technicians’ hours. The company also had no way to get up-to-date job status information, compromising their ability to respond to customer inquiries and delaying notification of job completions.

SOLUTION

Federated Service Solutions turned to TeleNav Track to improve communication with technicians. With the GPS technology offered by TeleNav Track, dispatchers can log onto a Web site for technicians’ exact, real-time whereabouts. The system also enables dispatchers to transmit complete job details to technicians, ensure technicians are clocking in and out, and review complete, up-todate status information. Technicians also use the system’s navigation functions to get driving directions, which allows them to reduce their time on the road. Company executives appreciate other benefits including saving time on work orders, having clear, accurate evidence of hours worked, and saving money on fuel and vehicle wear and tear.

RESULTS

“We are very happy with TeleNav Track,” said Jennifer Ferris, Corporate Operations Analyst of Federated Service Solutions. “We like the fact that we can find out where technicians are at any time. It’s a big customer service benefit.” Ferris also appreciates that they can monitor technicians’ hours and revise customer estimates if necessary, benefiting the company’s bottom line. “Before TeleNav Track, we would only get a rough estimate of the hours technicians worked. Now we have factual evidence of technicians’ hours and can change the costs invoiced to the customer if we need to,” said Ferris. Federated Service Solutions employees are exceptionally satisfied with the system. “As with any system, it took time to get used to it,” said Ferris. “But now that they realize all the benefits the system provides, they welcome the change.”

Xora and Sprint Save City of Chicago $3M

"We now have a visual representation of CDOT field activities, as they happen, that simply was not possible before Xora GPS TimeTrack™ was implemented. The combination of new procedures for field operations management and Xora GPS TimeTrack has been a significant improvement in response times to 311 requests and a savings to the city of more than $3M for pothole-related incidents alone. Generally speaking, CDOT field staff is more accountable, efficient and productive, and managers are making decisions faster and more accurately, thanks to Xora."

— Brian Steele, spokesperson for the City of Chicago Department of Transportation


BACKGROUND
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is responsible for city street, alley, sidewalk curb and gutter construction; bridge maintenance; public way inspections; signs and pavement markings; planter and median maintenance; bicycle and pedestrian programs; and ground transportation planning. Several dozens CDOT office and field staff respond daily to service requests that come in through the city’s 311 non-emergency services center. CDOT would like to improve customer service; reduce liabilities; and gain better insight into their field workers’ daily activities and locations.

SITUATION
In 2007, CDOT responded to 39,203 service requests, up from 24,157 in 2006. Faced with the increased volume of citizens calling 311, CDOT needed a more efficient solution for managing field staff. The primary method of tracking and dispatching field staff was calling their cell phones or waiting for them to return to the office. CDOT did not have a way of locating field staff and had difficulty responding quickly to 311 calls.

SOLUTION
As part of operations reorganization, CDOT began using GPS TimeTrack, a software application that runs on GPS-enabled mobile phones carried by 480 CDOT foremen and more than 80 consultants, who use the application to record timesheet and job status information from the field. Meanwhile, office staff can access web-based maps and business reports that show the locations and job activities of field staff throughout the day.

In addition to using the Shift Start and Shift End functions, CDOT hot-asphalt workers are using the “Job Start” and “Job End” to indicate when they arrive at and depart from the job. CDOT now knows precisely how long it is taking each team to load and unload their trucks. They are also piloting a project that will allow public way inspectors to record the specific task they are
performing and what is the task’s outcome.

RESULTS
Since deploying GPS TimeTrack, CDOT has dramatically improved customer service by responding to 311 requests more quickly. For example, the number of days to respond to citizen calls to fill potholes has been reduced from 20 days to 3 days. As a result, the city has seen its liability costs for pothole-related incidents reduced from $4M to $600K.

Landscape Company Sees $41k Increase in Revenues with Sprint and Xora GPS Solution

“ Measuring job costs and time billed down to the quarter hour is no longer enough. We needed a system that would enable us to track time down to the minute. We also wanted to cut down on time spent traveling between sites, so more customers could be serviced each day. Xora helps us to do both and plenty more. It is the backbone of our strategy to automate critical business processes.” — Nate Sandstedt, CFO at Landscape Design Services

CHALLENGE
Reduce liability issues and improve the processes of routing drivers, assigning new orders and responding to unscheduled orders.

SITUATION
Founded in 1968, Landscape Design Services is the largest full-service landscaping company in Western Michigan. The company employs over 125 professionals delivering landscape architecture, construction, and maintenance services to residential and commercial customers. Landscape services, like other professional service markets, is an industry focused around time and materials. A service provider’s ability to minimize costs and maximize profits depends on how it operates. With its thriving reputation, Landscape Design Services wants to continue to stay ahead of its competition by streamlining their business.

SOLUTION
Landscape Design Services began using GPS TimeTrack™, a mobile location workforce management solution from Xora, Inc. GPS TimeTrack runs on GPS enabled cell phones. Using the phone, field staff can punch in and out and record job statuses.

Data captured by the system is available in real-time over the Internet in the form of maps and reports. Because the phones are equipped with GPS receivers, Landscape Design Services' managers can track what its field staff is doing throughout the day, as well as where they are at any given moment.

As a result, managers know precisely how many hours each employee worked, the travel time between jobs, and how long it took to complete each customer assignment. This helps management accurately calculate payroll and to estimate the cost of existing and future jobs, which assists in the job bidding process.

Also, if an unscheduled order comes through, managers can quickly check the web-based maps and effectively dispatch the appropriate field workers to the job.

RESULTS
-- Landscape Designs is serving approximately 300 customers per week, as opposed to 250 before GPS TimeTrack was implemented; which translates to a $41,000 increase in annual revenues.

-- Field workers are spending 50% less time on overhead-related tasks, such as paperwork.

-- Increased accuracy of job estimates.

Lost and Found … Thanks to Sprint’s GPS

Last month Darleen Husson got a phone call she won’t soon forget. Her 18-year-old daughter and her two girlfriends decided to go hiking late one afternoon on the Appalachian Trail and called at about 7:30 p.m. to say they were lost.

The Rangers were quickly contacted to begin searching for the girls. Fortunately, one of them had GPS on her Sprint device. The service had been deactivated when she went to college, but her parents were able to get it turned back on quickly.

“After a couple of phone calls to Sprint to activate the GPS and many hours, we were given the coordinates of the Sprint phone,” Darleen recalled. “The girls were found about 1:30 a.m., a little cold, hungry and scared. We were all very thankful for the Sprint GPS.”

Sprint and Agilis Improve Operations for Schnuck Markets

“This solution gave us capabilities above and beyond what had been previously sought … resulting in a significant return on investment for Schnucks.”
– Bob Drury, Senior Vice President of Logistics, Manufacturing, and Information Technology, Schnucks Markets, Inc.

BACKGROUND
Schnuck Markets, Inc., is one of the largest privately owned companies in the nation, with 103 supermarkets and pharmacies in seven states. Founded in 1939, Schnucks has remained a family-owned and -operated business for three generations.


CHALLENGE
Schnuck Markets, Inc., is a successful regional grocery chain and one of the largest privately owned companies in the country. Schnucks supplies 103 stores in seven states using a fleet of more than 100 delivery trucks, all carrying critical, highly perishable cargo. Prior to engaging with Agilis, Schnucks used GPS locators in its trucks to collect some tracking data, but dispatchers had to manually record deliveries and plan route changes using enormous sheets of paper. Even common questions or updates could require multiple phone calls to drivers. The lack of an integrated, automated system made it difficult to ensure timely and efficient delivery on a consistent basis. In addition, Schnucks faced strong cost pressures due to increasing fuel prices and other expenses.


SOLUTION
Agilis Systems, Inc. developed a customized fleet management solution for Schnucks using the Agilis’ Mobile Resource Management software . SmartLOCATE provides dispatchers with each driver’s real-time location using a truckmounted, GPS-enabled phone. Agilis’ software provides integrated web-based dispatching, work order management, routing and automated call ahead services in a single, affordable platform. Rather than dealing with distracting paperwork, drivers now download to their phone their scheduled stops and route information at the beginning of each shift. Dispatchers follow their progress on a Web map, easily capture delivery information and provide updates on-the-fly. If bad weather, traffic problems or urgent customer requests require route changes, it’s simple to make adjustments and automatically alert drivers. After each stop, the next Schnucks store on a driver’s route is notified to prepare for delivery, greatly reducing costly idle time. Drivers also enjoy the security and convenience of having a mobile phone for use in emergencies.

RESULTS
Agilis Systems enabled Schnucks to greatly increase efficiency, lower costs and improve customer service. Idle time for each delivery has declined by nearly 16 percent, reducing expensive fuel usage and allowing each driver to make an additional delivery during every shift. Real-time route management has decreased time previously lost to traffic and weather delays, and dispatchers can prioritize and respond to customer needs immediately via the nearest available driver. The new system is also completely paper-free, more reliable and responsive, safer and more satisfying for drivers, and less expensive to implement and maintain.

Xora GPS Tracking and Sprint Help Appliance Company

"The time savings have been tremendous, but the biggest benefit to Xora is in the customer service. Prior to Xora, we could tell customers their appliances would be delivered that day; now we can say in a two or three hour window. Xora helps us to forward our mission of delivering good products at a great price, when the customers need them."
-- Jackie McCarter, Dispatcher at Allstate GES

CHALLENGE

Improve the process of tracking the locations
and job activities of delivery drivers and
appliance installers.

SITUATION

Allstate GES Appliance Inc. was founded in
1970 and quickly became a popular choice
for Arizona’s home appliance distributor /
installers. Delivery drivers and appliance
installers are based out of two different
warehouses in the Phoenix area, and travel
from job to job throughout the day. Allstate
managers had limited visibility into field
activities.

SOLUTION

In July 2006, Allstate began using Xora
GPS TimeTrack™, which runs on Sprint GPS enabled
cell phones, to improve the
process by which it tracks the location and
job activities of delivery drivers and
appliance installers. Drivers and installers
use the Xora application installed on their
phones to record when they arrive and
leave a job site by inputting job numbers
into the phones. As a result, Allstate knows
the exact amount to bill each customer.
From a drop down menu on the phonebased
Xora service, drivers and installers
also capture specific details about each job,
including any problems they encountered.
Using the phone's keypad, Allstate’s field
staff jots short notes, such as "concrete
was wet" or "site not ready for installation,"
that are available in real-time to office staff
in the form of web-based business reports.
Allstate has taken the process of field staff
data capture to a more advanced level by
incorporating JobPix™, a camera feature
provided by Xora. Drivers and installers use
cell phones to snap pictures of the job site
to attach with job information, so office
staff can view all relevant information all in
one convenient report. The combination of
pictures, job start/end times and job status
data provides Allstate management with a
comprehensive view of field activities.
In addition, the Allstate dispatching
department checks web-based reports 4-5
times a day to ensure that drivers are taking
the best routes possible.

RESULTS

-- Time savings of 50 minutes to two and a
half hours per day by cutting the number of
phone calls from the office to field workers
in half.

-- Reduced customer delivery time window
from one day to just two or three hours.

-- Automating timesheets and work order
management helps eliminate liabilities and
miscommunication.