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Telecom has made a change in its external communications. Wilco explains: “We are less concerned with what we do and more concerned with who does it. It is often only when it doesn’t work that it becomes apparent how important tube mail is. We make it clear to the customer upfront what the value of pneumatic tube is. What is the customer’s need and how can our tube mail systems provide the value the customer is looking for? And we have expanded our Service to include Remote Support, spare parts at the customer’s site and preventive replacement of system units over the longer term. This minimizes the downtime of our systems and actually allows us to prevent problems!” With its tube mail systems, Telecom ensures that the transport of crucial resources runs smoothly, relieving companies of the burden. Wilco concludes, “We are focusing more on our customer relationships. Quality and service are very important. We look forward to working with our customers to build and maintain a good relationship”.Wilco sluit af: ”We focussen ons meer op onze klantrelaties. Kwaliteit en Service zijn hierin heel belangrijk. We kijken er dan ook naar uit om samen het onze klanten een mooie samenwerking en relatie op te bouwen en te onderhouden”.
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International Telecom recently enriched with FieldBuddy
''I save at least 8 hours work per week'''
Wilco Theunisse, Coordinator Team NL a tTelecom
Telecom Bedrijfsinformatie BV approached FieldBuddy when they noticed that they needed help with the necessary digitization. Telecom is one of the world players in the field of Tube mail. This Dutch manufacturer exists since 1950 and has built a great name in the Medical sector. Telecom is active in more than 40 countries, where they optimize the internal logistics of their customers. Telecom’s systems are continuously being developed for sending blood samples and medicines within and between hospital buildings and departments. They also operate within companies in the logistics and industrial sectors for the internal transport of samples and other materials.
We spoke to Wilco Theunisse, Coordinator Team NL at Telecom, about the implementation of FieldBuddy. In this success story you can read why they chose FieldBuddy, how the implementation process went and how they currently experience FieldBuddy.
The Activities
Imported the necessary data
Extended the data model
Work orders set up whereby multiple installations can be added
Looking for a field service solution to digitize
Three and a half years ago Wilco started as a Service Coordinator at Telecom. He received a big stack of paper timesheets and work orders on his desk, mostly handwritten. ”In 2016 still working with handwritten work orders? Of course that was ”not done”, Wilco thought.
Looking for efficiency and digitization opportunities
As he progressed to Coordinator Team NL, his current position, Wilco noticed that many things could be much more efficient. Timesheets and work orders, for example, were not arriving in sync, which meant that the office staff had to wait unnecessarily. Separate applications were also used for many activities: the planning was done in Excel and for invoicing you had to go to the administration. All in all, this resulted in a cumbersome way of working, unnecessary extra actions and a lot of lost time. ”It was really time for us to digitize”, Wilco says about his early days as Service Coordinator.
The requirements of Telecom
Telecom was looking for a solution with digital work orders and digital timesheets that could be generated automatically. The automatic, digital timesheets was a major bottleneck in the old situation: When a work order came in, the timesheet could arrive a week later. As a result, invoicing was delayed and the billing system was delayed. Telecom was looking for a solution that would immediately send out an invoice after a technician had visited a customer.
‘'We no longer need to use separate applications; everything is in one place’'
Wilco Theunissen, Coordinator Team NL
Choosing FieldBuddy: visiting another customer
A technical employee at Telecom had done some research into field service applications. This resulted in two options of companies, of which FieldBuddy was one, which might suit them. ”It quickly became apparent that FieldBuddy’s solution was more suited to our company than the other candidate,” says Wilco. After this discovery, they visited an existing FieldBuddy customer, De Ridder (THO), on advice. Wilco says: “It was very nice to see what FieldBuddy was all about, how it worked and what we could expect. After this visit they decided to go work with FieldBuddy.
At FieldBuddy we find it important that the field service software fits our customer. Software must be able to adapt to the wishes and requirements of a company and a company should not have to adapt to the limitations and possibilities of software.
The implementation of FieldBuddy: How did it go?
The implementation for Telecom was spread over a longer period of time. In the meantime FieldBuddy had developed a new mobile application, FieldBuddy Swift, which made it possible to handle multiple installations under one work order (Location Based Work Orders). This actually provided an advantage for Telecom: ”With Swift, more could be realized for us, compared to the old mobile application. Especially the Location Based Work Orders was an essential part of the digitalization for us”, says Wilco. Thanks to FieldBuddy, we no longer have to use separate applications; everything is in one place”, adds Wilco. Curious about other features of FieldBuddy? Check out our feature page.
CSV data import
Last year Telecom started filling the database. A CSV data import was chosen at that time. The app is used stand-alone, after it turned out that their version of Exact Globe had no linking capabilities. Read here which software packages FieldBuddy can link to.
Extensive data model
FieldBuddy consultant Mitchell explains that for most customers they use a standard data model from FieldBuddy, which is then expanded with relevant fields for the customer. For Telecom, this standard data model from FieldBuddy was not an option, as they use Systems (Installations) and System Units (Sub-Installations). FieldBuddy is very flexible in this respect, so the data model has been expanded with an extra level. This means that Telecom can now keep information about their Systems and System Units and link one or more System Units to a System. In this way there is more insight into which Units are related to which System.
Import of System Unit
By setting up the service agreements and maintenance contracts of customers, the System Units could be placed in FieldBuddy. In this way a technician can create work orders at the location level and link several System Units to them. In this way Telecom creates a history and appropriate advice can be given to the customer. Through FieldBuddy, they can immediately click on the System Unit to view its status.
Service and maintenance contract set up for customers
Outside of service requests, Telecom also works with maintenance contracts for preventive maintenance. We store these within FieldBuddy as service contracts. From there, employees can follow the status of the systems. After preventive maintenance is performed, a maintenance report is automatically sent to the customer. onderhoudsrapport naar de klant gestuurd.
Wilco: ‘'I save at least 8 hours a week because of this solution.’'
How Telecom looks back on the implementation
Wilco is satisfied with the process: ”That’s mainly because of the efforts of Camille and Mitchell, who eventually won the project over. I really enjoyed working with them”, he explains. As feedback, Wilco indicates that some things took longer than expected. The delay in the project did have one advantage according to Wilco: “We ended up with the best solution for us, namely FieldBuddy Swift. That’s an asset!” Once the process with Camille and Mitchell was underway, things moved quickly in Wilco’s opinion. Telecom has already had a number of training sessions in the new system. In the meantime, Mitchell was able to implement everything for them: ”We were very happy with that!” says Wilco convincingly.
Mitchell can confirm the pleasant cooperation: “The advantage for me as a consultant was that Wilco and his colleague Stephan Smit really thought along with me as a consultant about the layout of the system, but also asked enough questions. You could tell that they had thought it through. In this way, I could gather sufficient input and organize the system in the best way to meet their needs.Mitchell kan de prettige samenwerking beamen: ‘’Het voordeel voor mij als consultant was dat Wilco en zijn collega Stephan Smit echt mee dachten met mij als consultant qua indeling van het systeem, maar ook voldoende vragen stelden. Je kon zien dat ze er goed over hadden nagedacht. Ik kon op die manier voldoende input vergaren en het systeem het beste naar hun wensen inrichten’’.
Other succes stories: DRU, 365zon and United Care
The Result
Wilco especially notices a time saving of 8 hours per week. When a mechanic visits a customer, FieldBuddy allows him to create and link a work order at the system unit level. This allows Telecom to build more history of the work orders and system units. Wilco explains: “If we’ve been to a customer’s site ten times, we can indicate that. Then we can give the advice to overhaul or update the system for example. The history building ensures that we have something to present. In the old situation, we would have had to review all the handwritten work orders. Now we can just click on a system unit, attach all the work orders to it and immediately see the status.”
Linked to the time savings, Wilco notices that FieldBuddy ensures that various processes are shortened. The system allows for greater insight.Gelinkt aan de tijdsbesparing, merkt Wilco dat FieldBuddy ervoor zorgt dat verschillende processen worden ingekort. Het systeem zorgt ervoor dat er meer inzicht ontstaat.
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