As a Director of Customer Support, I have a keen interest in collating subject matter blog posts that are relevant to our customers.

For our second series of frequently asked questions, we delve into how the Mobile Worker capability as part of the My Council Services platform works.

1.Can an office-based manager or a field manager allocate a service request or task to a mobile worker from the My Council Services platform?

The answer is yes.

The mobile working platform capability allows managers to have a 360-degree view of the status of all tasks and service requests.  From a native mobile device, managers can view all tasks and service requests either in the office or in the field. They can then allocate or re-allocate work to those workers who come under their supervision. This allows a manager to make operational real-time decisions based upon the resources and skills available at that particular time.

2. If a mobile worker completes a task, can the customer sign a confirmation that the work has been carried out to their satisfaction?

When a mobile worker is allocated a task, a form can be included within the task which can then allow for the signature of the customer. It also allows the completed work to be photographed.

The mobile worker can then synchronise the form into the back office of the platform by scrolling down the page. Both signature and photographs are then recorded against the task.

A very quick method in which the mobile worker can also achieve this is by simply adding a photograph and signature to the task or service request via the menu tab on the app. Once again through synchronisation, the content is then immediately added to the task or service request in the back office.

3. Do I have to continually create a new task if the task is re-occurring?

Our Mobile Worker capability allows users to configure re-occurring tasks. These can be set to re-occur over a period of days, weeks, months and even years. The information can be sent to a mobile worker or a group of mobile workers. The dates can be added to the mobile worker’s job calendar. Users can also configure when a task will appear on the app of the mobile worker.

4. If an anonymous user submits a report, can they be updated on the status of their report?

Report rules can automatically trigger numerous actions that do not require any manual intervention on behalf of admin staff. One such rule can ensure that any anonymous customer is updated, by adding two text fields on the form of the report. This requirement should include the first name and the email address to which the update can be sent. If such information is provided, the report rule will trigger an update to the anonymous customer.

5. How do report rules work?

Report rules are triggered by Events, Conditions and Actions. An event is when something occurs for example when a service request has been submitted or the status of a report has been changed. These events are not limited to service requests but also are triggered by certain criteria in functionality such as contracts, tasks, assets etc.

Once an event is configured, it needs to be applied to the report rule. Conditions allow us to allocate certain types of actions against different functionality. For example, in the event of a service request being submitted a condition would need to be mapped against the report rule. When this condition is met it will trigger an action that the user will specify. If a rule was set for when a service request is submitted, and no conditions were set, then no action would be taken.

Actions are the outcome when the condition is met. Once again there are numerous types of actions such as informing owners, changing statuses, closing off reports, allocating work etc. For the action to work then the event and conditions must be in place.

The Mobile Worker capability is applicable for any team that is required to access, manage and complete an assigned set of tasks or activities. This could be anything from dealing with ad-hoc fly-tip reports, completing a round of scheduled inspections of equipment or facilities through to the completion of a series of home or property visits.

It can be applied to any council service function where operatives are working in the field. We have many examples of successful mobile working being applied by street scene, open spaces, public protection, and waste and recycling teams. To take a look at some recent case studies – Allerdale Borough Council  and Stafford Borough Council .

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To find out how you can save on time, money and resources through an automated workflow, please email me on phil@abavus.co.uk.