Associated Fire Protection Ltd was established as a family business in 1983 in Warrenpoint.
While the company has grown significantly in that time they still use Warrenpoint as its head office location for servicing the whole of Northern Ireland as well as the South East of Ireland. Initially, they only serviced Fire Extinguishers however in recent years they have expanded their product range and services offered to include Fire Alarm & Emergency Lighting Maintenance, Portable appliance testing, Staff Training, and Fire Risk Assessment. At Associated Fire Protection Ltd all staff are trained to the highest standards and receive regular refresher training when required and quality and service are ensured via 3rd party accreditation bodies (such as BAFE) to ensure full compliance with all required British and Irish Standards
Why did Associated Fire Protection Ltd choose Fieldmotion?
FIELDMOTION was able to reproduce and streamline all our inspection paperwork and worksheets and automatically generate certificates for the client on completion of the appointment. All our clients ‘details, appointments, contracts, and assets are available in one place at the touch of a button. When we are out on site we can fill in the job details on our mobile phones and the invoice and the certificate can be emailed to the customer meaning they get their certificates immediately and we get paid quicker.
What have been the biggest Positive changes?
The biggest benefit was that by throwing away the paper schedules, worksheets, timesheets, mileage records, completion certificates, and invoices we became more organized and efficient. The time we got back in the office let us work on getting more business. After using the software for 4 months we were soon in a position to employ another two field engineers. This was a direct result of being more organized, being able to clearly see what work we have ahead of us at any time, and being able to react in real time to our customers’ demands. We are now in a position where instead of thinking we don’t need it – we couldn’t do without it!
Which features have been most Beneficial?
Job Scheduling
We were able to stop wasting valuable time by automating all our routines. The Drag & Drop calendar enables us to allocate staff with ease and increase efficiency when they are out in the field. The calendar allowed admin staff to see where field staff were at a glance. Identifying gaps was easier to find without having to call each technician. This helped performance levels as FIELDMOTION Fire & Security software was able to assign the closest field worker with the most availability to deal with the reactive callout.
Planned Preventative Maintenance
As Associated Fire Protection Ltd grew, we were able to manage more assets. These assets were all maintained with intelligent automated routines helping meet the compliance standards required by the bodies we were accredited to. Maintenance frequencies were able to be improved by the FIELDMOTION Fire & Security Software. By setting up an automatic system to schedule the next required routine service appointment we didn’t have to rely on engineers to remember to schedule them, they were already in the diary. The date and tolerance period for every site can be set to the parameters of your choice. This ensured we never missed any jobs. If a single building had lots of assets, these all came through the FIELDMOTION software as sub-assets. This made everything simpler for us to manage, reducing admin time and therefore allowing us to expand and take on more business.
Mobile App
Cloud-based software means the app is more reliable as forms can still be filled in if a Wi-Fi Connection is lost. The FIELDMOTION App is easy-to-use and well-designed. If you can use a mobile phone, you will have no issues using the FIELDMOTION App. The ability to work offline is particularly useful when technicians go into basements or work in remote areas. A technician also has the full site history of any assets repair and service reports at their figure tips enabling the technician to solve problems quicker.
Asset Management
Fieldmotion gives us the power to respond quickly and efficiently to reactive jobs while handling planned work. Jobs are allocated based on real-time data such as engineers, equipment, and stock availability. We can share job directions, workflows, digital risk assessments, and safety certificates with our engineers via the mobile app, all the while providing live job progress to our back-office team and customers.
Increase Productivity
The system allowed us to reduce any downtime in the field by reducing the double handling of information, fully allowing us to cut down on unnecessary back-office paperwork and administration. With a comprehensive analytical system, FIELDMOTION allows us to quickly generate a number of comprehensive reports to aid in planning and reviewing our performance. Overall it helps us make data-driven decisions with confidence to assist our planning to grow our business.
Customer Portal
All completed/uncompleted jobs can be monitored by the customer in their own dedicated customer portal. Not only did this exceed service expectations, but this transparency also produced a higher customer satisfaction score from our customers. It allowed them to see what they were being invoiced for. The company felt this not only built transparency but also built trust. As a result, additional orders regularly came in as clients were able to understand fully what was being serviced and if anything was being missed. It also resulted in less time spent dealing with customer queries as they were able to access the information wherever and whenever they wanted.
Quoting
The system can add pictures to quotes allowing jobs to be instantly approved. Overall, these quote conversions move quicker from start to finish. Also, the software can easily select products with preloaded client details. The FIELDMOTION system allows you to add pictures so the customer understands the extent of the defects. All this can be sent to the customer as a PDF.
