The Plumbing Doctor
"Fixed lines and other mobile services were out of action, but the Telstra Next G™ network kept going and we kept working. Thanks to the Next G™ network, we did not miss a beat."
– Joe Evers, The Plumbing Doctor
The Plumbing Doctor makes more house calls thanks to the Telstra Next G™ network
The Plumbing Doctor's plumbers wasted large parts of their day in administration and paperwork. To free up their time, the managing director gave them each a personal digital assistant (PDA) connected to the Telstra Next G™ network. Improved communications and digital transactions enabled the field staff to do more plumbing in the same time and increased business turnover by $1,000 per day.
Manual labour
Newcastle-based plumbing business The Plumbing Doctor was struggling with old-fashioned manual business processes. Its 10 skilled field staff had to fill out handwritten job sheets, parts inventories and customer receipts. The handwritten reports would be collected at the company's head office and re-keyed into the accounts system by the office manager – a daily three-hour task.
In addition, keeping in touch with field staff about job progress and the assignment of new or urgent jobs required constant mobile calls. According to Managing Director Joe Evers, the time spent writing out reports and re-keying them as well as trying to stay in touch with field staff added up to one big headache.
The company also needed to improve its parts inventory, ordering and management. With some parts costing more than $100 per item, tracking parts use and ordering and keeping vans stocked with the right equipment were critical for the company.
"For the company to grow to the next level, we knew we had to change," said Evers. "We spent 18 months developing systems to solve these problems, and the Next G™ network came along at just the right time for us."
Getting the boys on board
The Plumbing Doctor now uses the Telstra Next G™ high-speed mobile network to automatically dispatch new jobs to field staff, who each have an i-mate™ JASJAM PDA.
The plumbers use their handsets to confirm job completion back into the office system. They can also print a receipt for the customer on site using a wireless printer.
"It saves at least an hour a day in productivity for each plumber," said Evers. "That's 10 hours a day for the business, and 50 hours a week of paperwork the boys don't have to worry about, and they love it. It allows them to each fit in another job and that adds up to about a $1,000 per day turnover for the business overall."
The Plumbing Doctor's tradespeople also use the Next G™ network to record and send details of parts and equipment used as each job is completed, which ensures accurate inventory and timely ordering and re-stocking.
"At this rate I will recover my costs within six months," said Evers. "I don’t know anyone running their company like this with the Next G™ network, but people would be mad if they didn't – everyone will do it this way in a few years."
Camera consultation
In addition, the video calling capabilities of the Next G™ network provide The Plumbing Doctor team with a new competitive advantage: on-the-spot technical troubleshooting.
The plumbers use their handsets to transmit live images of difficult repair or installation tasks, allowing other team members to see, comment and make suggestions.
"The Next G™ network works really well in the field if you have a tricky situation," explained Evers. "We use the video calling capabilities to have a look at what might be causing problems on a particular job. It allows us to share technical experience.
"We had one the other day with a hot water system. One of the boys showed it to us on a Next G™ handset video call and we were able to tell him what he needed to do to get the system going – which he did and the customer was very pleased and very impressed."
Trial by water
A major test of the new job dispatch system came in the aftermath of the Newcastle floods in June 2007. Evers said when the pressure was on, the Next G™ network worked flawlessly.
"Fixed lines and other mobile services were out of action, but the Telstra Next G™ network kept going and we kept working," he said. "Thanks to the Next G™ network, we did not miss a beat."
Key contacts
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Things you need to know
Like any other mobile network, Next G™ mobile telephone coverage depends in part on where you are, what particular handset you are using and whether your handset has an external antenna attached.
These case studies set out the experiences of specific customers in relation to the products featured. The results customers experience from using these products vary from business to business. Call us for further details of whether these products may be right for your needs.
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