FMJ.CO.UK INTERVIEW FOCUS
NOVEMBER 2020 41
Any piece of tech is only as good as its
usability so how do front-line operatives tend
to cope with new mobile solutions?
“The user interface is essential as we live
or die by user adoption”, says Darragh.
“Because the tools are designed for the
mobile user, and are adapted to work with
Apple and Google we’re ensuring someone
can pick it up and almost instinctively
navigate their way round the system. It’s not
designed to fox people, it’s designed to help
them.”
He cites cleaning as one example.
Totalmobile equipped Mitie cleaning sta
with smart watches that alerted them with
a buzz when a room needed to be cleaned.
By double tapping the app, the cleaners
indicated they were on their way, and a triple
tap meant that the job had been done. Both
basic but useful.
BACK OFFICE BENEFITS
A solution that links seamlessly to the back
o ice is obviously crucial, so the tech must
be designed for this more complex piece
of the puzzle, i.e. ‘how do I get the right
information so that person can do the job
first time, every time?’
Explains Darragh: “When you look at hard
FM and big infrastructure and assets that
need to be maintained you need contextual
information. We’re pulling that from di erent
back o ice systems that are connected to a
particular job, so that when you do a job of a
more technical nature you have everything
to hand. Basically, it’s the same platform but
the complexity can vary, from quite simple
cleaning tools to using our so ware on the
project to build Hinkley Point nuclear power
station.”
The firm is already working closely with
some of the big FM providers, including
Interserve, Mitie, Compass and Graham,
which use its solutions for a variety of
di erent tasks, from health and safety
tracking all the way through to a range of
field service management solutions. He adds
that some of the leading FM supplier systems
are looking to the firm to help enhance their
CAFM systems; for example, making the
so ware interact better with end users and
be more adaptable to back o ice changes.
He says: “We’re not working in direct
cooperation with the CAFM systems suppliers
yet, but we do integrate with them where
ever we go, within healthcare, government,
transport, etc.
“What we o en find though is that there
is a gap between the information they have
and making it mobile ready. They might hold
the contract information but not the asset
data, or hold the asset information but not
the service record.
“We can supplement this information in
order to make a field worker capable of
doing the job by helping to manipulate
and store the data. For example, where a
security guard is on a site where there is
a regular checkpoint, the system would
record every checkpoint time, and the
location of the person as they do their
rounds. Alongside proof of attendance,
you can calculate how much time each
round should take. This means for FM
you can price contracts more accurately by
interrogating the huge amounts of data you
gather across the system.”
“At the front end, there is an increase in
e iciency, the ability to allocate work better
and have more time to actually do the
work. If a mobile solution can o er speed,
e iciency, proof, consistency, these are
the elements which remove the need for
discussion or error and make sure a task is
done in the same way all the time.”
He argues that for the FM market and
particularly large-scale repeatable tasks
such as security and cleaning that is a big
deal.
“I heard from a large brand in the FM
space, which believes there is a 40 per
cent e iciency gain in using IoT sensors
to organise on-demand cleaning. With
the FM market having such tight margins,
why would you not take advantage of that
as the tech investments are miniscule
compared to the gains? The worker spends
less time doing admin or paperwork and
the suppliers are more e icient, with jobs
all traced and tracked.”
COVID CARE
Like many digital suppliers,
Totalmobile has
responded to the
COVID-19 outbreak,
with new or
amended products
such as Remote
Assist, a solution to
help organisations
provide remote
support to their
customer base.
Instead of having to
send field engineers
out to fix an asset, the
technology provides video
diagnostic technology that reduces
the number of unnecessary site visits.
The solution creates a shared live video
stream that can be viewed by the support
team or engineers who can then walk
through the problem virtually with the
customer, discuss potential solutions and
if possible, assist the customer to remedy
the problem.
Explains Darragh: “This also has a longterm
gain because if you can cut down on
physical visits you can reduce your costs. If
you do send a worker who doesn’t recognise
the tech they can connect to someone else
in the back o ice who knows the system.
This helps improve first time fix rates by
delivering a new layer of e iciency, and with
the COVID situation by reducing the need for
multiple visits.”
Another solution is a lone workers device
that equips a field worker with a device that
allows emergency access to support via an
alarm call centre.
FUTURE INNOVATION
The FM sector isn’t renowned for the
early adoption of the latest tech, and one
of the reasons has been a suspicion by
stakeholders, from boardrooms to occupiers
who are concerned about a ‘big brother’ use
of AI in managing people and buildings.
“I would like to demystify AI” says Darragh.
“It’s really just about computers making
intelligent decisions. Our scheduling tech
learns that one route is faster than another,
that one job takes so long, and in the
background assesses the time taken to
adjust it next time if necessary. It’s the ‘see it
learn it’ approach and there is no reason to
be nervous, we’re just tuning the system to
be better.”
He says a sensor may monitor a meeting
room and by attaching rules that automate
the restocking or cleaning process creates
a job.
“It’s the flow of create the work, do the
work, finish the work. That’s just a more
e icient way of all of us going about our
job and doing what needs doing, not
because the contract states that it
does.”
Future innovations include
developing a range of
new wearable tools such
as googles which could
recognise an asset (such
as a boiler) - bring up its
service history and enable
the engineer to access more
information using hand
gestures.
Within FM he explains; “Some
I heard from a large brand in the FM
space, which believes there is a 40 per
cent effi ciency gain in using IoT sensors
to organise on-demand cleaning. With the
FM market having such tight margins, why
would you not take advantage of that as
the tech investments are miniscule
thought-provoking conversations are
going on already looking at wearables
and IoT. COVID may accelerate the process
as the FM sector looks to rethink how it does
things. There will always be a focus on how
cost and technology can be utilised to deliver
more demand-based services which will be
more e icient and help operators rebuild
some margin. So, I believe within the next
couple of years, there will be real thrust for
the adoption of the latest technologies by FM
providers, both hard and so .”
compared to the gains?”