With a portfolio of over 25,000 properties, Islington Council provides essential services to its residents. In 2012, the council brought the majority of its work in-house after relying on contractors. However, the systems and processes left behind by the previous contractor were not sufficient to meet their needs. This led the council to look for a software solution to simplify their processes, increase efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction.
We generate hundreds of planned jobs every month, which are automatically scheduled by Oneserve without the need for any human interaction.
Project Manager
Islington Council
The Challenge
When Islington Council brought works back in-house, they found themselves working with the systems and processes established by their former principal contractor. While these systems were capable of maintaining services, the council recognised that there was room for improvement in terms of simplifying processes and reducing inefficiencies.
The inflexibility of these systems also prevented the council’s field service practices from evolving in line with their expanding objectives and ambitions. This lack of flexibility was particularly detrimental to their out-of-hours first-time fix rates.
To address these challenges, the council launched a project to implement a software solution that could effectively manage their service delivery needs.
The Solution
Our experience of working with social housing providers and Local Authorities, particularly those with a DLO (Direct Labour Organisation), meant we were able to work very closely with Islington to ensure their service management solution perfectly supported their growing needs.
The Council has been operating with a fully insourced workforce since 2014 (Oneserve has been by their side since 2017). All of their processes are now automated through the use of software. Oneserve schedules and manages every job, enabling all 190 operatives to access and record their jobs via their mobile device.
Meanwhile, their 340 desktop users have complete visibility of the entire service delivery process, enabling them to easily schedule jobs and answer customer queries.
The Result
The implementation of Oneserve has led to several significant improvements for Islington Council:
Increased Efficiency
The council was able to completely eliminate paperwork and improve job management, resulting in fewer inefficiencies. This also led to an improvement in first-time fix rates, with their out-of-hours first-time-fix rate reaching 97%.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
The council’s focus on tenant satisfaction was rewarded with a 91% satisfaction rate, surpassing their target of 88%.
Greater Adaptability
Oneserve’s flexibility allowed the council to quickly make changes to its processes, ensuring its service management solution met its needs.
Simpler Scheduling
The scheduling of over 125,000 jobs per year was made easier with Oneserve, which automatically generated hundreds of planned jobs every month without the need for manual intervention.
Easy Adoption
New staff members were able to quickly get up and running, thanks to Oneserve’s user-friendly interface.
Ongoing Partnership
As a software as a service product, Oneserve is continually being developed and updated, and the council is involved in the process to ensure its needs and requirements are met moving forward.
In conclusion, the partnership between Islington Council and Oneserve has led to significant improvements in efficiency, customer satisfaction, and adaptability. The council’s staff can now manage jobs with ease, and the council has been able to help shape Oneserve to meet its evolving needs.
Being involved in future software developments is very valuable to us. We are able to help shape Oneserve to ensure our service management solution delivers what we need.
Project Manager
Islington Council