Dispatch App Case Study

Company Moves from Paper Forms to Mobile Field App and Transforms Processes

Business Challenge

GBS badly needed to modernize its systems because of the sheer size of its business. The Company has a team of 200 operators receiving and logging customer requests, initiating work orders and dispatching field service workers responding to furniture warranty claims. Some days the Company needs to initiate, log and track over 300 work orders — and then make sure all the data from every call gets captured and sent through to the Company’s backend systems.

Work orders had previously been filled out on paper, leading to wasted time and potential errors. Similarly, data was captured by field workers at remote locations, and needed to be input later into the company’s systems by a second back-office worker. The data that was captured was very limited and included little backup material for service calls, such as photos of the furniture damage or issue. Also, having a second worker capture all that information by keyboard further slowed the process of fielding claims and assigning repair orders.

Solution

With customers that include many of the Top 200 furniture and bedding retailers throughout the United States, capturing accurate information and integrating data collection with its back-office systems was critical for GBS Enterprises. They also sought to speed field work and claims processing, while saving time and costs on back-office data entry. As a result, GBS Enterprises chose the Alpha Anywhere platform and  Alpha Transform to mobilize the company’s business, including building front office and back office systems, a complete call center and service dispatch application, and mobile apps.

GBS Enterprises has mobilized its field work by building mobile service dispatch apps using Alpha TransForm. Work orders that were previously on paper are now created with workers' smartphones. Technicians using the dispatch app are improving the data collection accuracy and depth, capturing images and scanning bar codes to initiate and process claims. The new mobile app capability is integrated with GBS Enterprises' dispatch system so that when work orders are sent to the field technicians they already contain pertinent contact address info, as well as information about the work to be performed.

Results/Benefits

GBS Enterprises realized an 80 percent increase in productivity in the field. Those benefits flow through the entire company because the mobile apps integrate with the business’s front office and back office system. The end result: An overall improvement in the company’s operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction.