North West tech entrepreneurs bring Airwave workforce management software to market
Airwave, the leading provider of mission critical communications for the emergency services, has worked with Manchester-based software developer Spaggetti to design and bring to market an innovative and secure workforce management tool.
Designed initially to schedule and manage workflow processes for Airwave’s field engineering operations, the new software – under the brand name Fissara – facilitates successful scheduling and workflow process management for any organisation with a mobile workforce. The inbuilt efficiencies of the tool have recorded significant improvements in response times and the associated service levels.
Used by Airwave for over two years, Fissara is used to schedule and programme all planned work for the field engineering team who maintain Airwave’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) throughout Great Britain.
John Lewis, Airwave Chief Operating Officer said: “The system gives us full visibility of work schedules, as well as arranging essential maintenance in accordance with our customer service agreements and our legal obligations with base site health and safety.”
He went on to say, “The reporting functionality means that we are able to proactively monitor and adjust our engineering activities, our spares, site inspections and outstanding work that still needs to be actioned. This means, over the past two years, we have seen improvements in planning and scheduling with the associated cost savings, ensuring our resource is used much more efficiently”.
Jon Holttum, director at Spaggetti, explains: “This system will benefit any business whose people are out and about. From a local team of window cleaners to a utilities or contracting company with thousands of engineers, it allows a fully customisable smartphone app to communicate with the head office to give everything from job-to-job directions, instructions, tracking, reporting, secure data transfer, form-filling and any other functions the subscriber needs.
“For example with a software upgrade to a higher security level, healthcare professionals can use the system for home visits, transmitting all patient information in real-time.”
The system will also include artificial intelligence, allowing it to estimate tasks such as job times based on past data, or to pinpoint the nearest individual with the appropriate skills for any given job. This, coupled with a dynamic view of business performance (average visit times, task tracking) can give organisations far more control over their operations, and ultimately improve efficiency.
From June 2014, Fissara will be made available publicly at a monthly subscription of £19 per month*.
