Based in Scotland, Palmaris is a facilities management services company with security, cleaning and technical arms. Its 300 employees manage private and public properties and service industrial units, shopping centres, corporate premises and Scottish Government sites.
The company is run by a head office with 21 staff based in Coatbridge. A 24 hour operations centre and helpdesk serve all contracts. From this facility, work is contracted out to a wider team of 300 field-based staff that service more than 200 properties from Inverness to Newcastle.
The challenge
To deliver service, around the clock, mobile communication is crucial; to enable the 24 hour operations centre to reach those key staff on standby to attend incidents. By the nature of their work, security staff are at risk from intruders, so providing them with reliable mobile communications is a critical part of ensuring they remain safe at all times. David Hardy, Security Divisions Manager at Palmaris Security, says: “Continuous communication and the safety of our staff are the chief considerations for us. Our previous plan did not provide us with the level of flexibility we required to add SIMs and devices to our package at a reasonable cost. We also found it hard to predict our bills from month to month so we decided to look for a more flexible, transparent deal.”
Solution
In January 2010, Palmaris Services selected the T-Mobile Business 1-Plan, which offers companies a tailored allowance of minutes, text and data across a number of users. This enabled Palmaris to have what the telcoms company calls a transparent package. The FM firm’s aim: to rein in costs and eliminate ‘bill shock’. On this plan, 15 BlackBerry Curve smart phones were provided to senior managers, who are mainly based at head office, with operational staff, who work on sites or in the field in a mobile role. Seven 6303 classic Nokia phones were provided to supervisors (in the security and cleaning arms), mobile cleaners and security drivers so they could be contactable out in the field. Jenna Pollock, Marketing Manager, is responsible for monitoring the account online: “We have been with T-Mobile now for six months and have seen a dramatic difference in both cost and customer service. We have cut our bills by 50 per cent, which we believe is testament to the transparency of costs delivered from the outset. T-Mobile has remained flexible and responsive to our requests throughout, allowing us in turn to offer our customers the consistently high levels of service they expect.”
Customer service
Supplying management with BlackBerry smartphones means jobs can now be emailed directly to operational staff in the field. This improves efficiency and customer service by providing access to all the info necessary to deal with any issue. The speed of this approach was particularly useful recently when a flood threatened to damage an industrial site. The help desk was able to email the local operational staff member, who got there in ten minutes, reducing the potential damage.
The cameras combined with email access also aiding operational staff, who are able to document issues and email images back to head office with ease. A recent break-in, for example, at one of its facilities was captured by the designated staff member’s BlackBerry. Not only were these pictures used by Palmaris to record the incident, but they were also requested for the police report. “Dealing with any issues that arise at a facility swiftly is key to maintaining a high level of customer service. Our management and operational teams have welcomed the increased efficiency offered by the BlackBerry,” says Jenna.
Network coverage
Palmaris has staff across Scotland and northern England, including rural areas, so it needs to ensure network coverage in all locations. Not only is this important to facilitate continuous contact with operational staff out in the field and on call but also for staff safety. Palmaris provides staff with Identicoms. These are small one-way communication devices that offer a discreet way to flag an issue such as verbal abuse, physical assault or other duress situations in progress on the premises. Identicoms require SIM cards for network coverage. If coverage is unavailable, the Identicoms will not work, ultimately affecting the safety of staff. Since January, multiple T-Mobile SIM cards have been purchased for these existing Identicoms. Since this switch over, Palmaris Services has enjoyed full network coverage across all premises, allowing staff to communicate at all times.
“The Identicoms are a great piece of kit but will only work alongside a reliable mobile network. These types of new technologies rely on staff having confidence that they will always work. T-Mobile’s network coverage has proved excellent and staff confidence in these devices has grown as a result,” says David.
Future
Palmaris is investigating the possibility of upgrading the Identicoms to include GPS tracking so that it can pinpoint the exact location of staff members should an issue occur. This would help improve response times and also further enhance staff safety. Palmaris say that they find T-Mobile open to discussing new ideas and improvements thus far and is confident that should they require any changes, T-Mobile can facilitate this.
“We’ve been really impressed with T-Mobile both in terms of service and the cost savings we have made. As we grow and expand as a business we will continually be looking at how we can strengthen our mobile communications and we’re confident T-Mobile can really help us here. Our customers have also recognised a difference and one has even switched over to T-Mobile themselves on our recommendation. All in all, we are happy customers!” says David.
Case study at a glance
Industry: Facilities Management
Number of employees: 300
Number of locations/offices: three
Devices: 15 BlackBerry Curve smartphones, 7 Nokia 6303 classic phones, multiple T-Mobile SIM cards for Identicoms
Fore more on Palmaris: http://www.palmaris-services.com
