Helping Hands are a leading social enterprise based in Salford, providing household maintenance and disabled access installations free to low-income households and disabled people.
The challenge
Resources were focused on service rather than IT. A job sheet created in Microsoft Office was filled in by hand in the field and typed back into the document — multiplied by 500 sheets a week, then entered again into a local-authority management report.
There was no live view of the day’s progress, and every re-entry of data created opportunities for mistakes. Affordable systems were too basic; systems that met their needs asked for £25,000 and up front.
The solution
Pro Pal offered the features they needed with no up-front cost. “It was an easy decision to make. The trial was low cost and very well supported; we paid nothing up-front and made no commitment to a minimum term. The software did everything we needed and the PDA and data are included.”
The result
A live view of where mobile workers are — geographically and in job progress — enables a faster response to clients and simpler schedule planning. Data is entered once. Pro Pal auto-generates the management report that was previously a major admin burden.
“We’re less rushed, more relaxed, we can spend more time on the phone with each client and build a better relationship. We’ve found more time to provide training and work on our strategy. We even find that we’re getting to go home on time!”
“Helping Hands has moved from paper overload to a paperless system, this has been achieved with a minimum of fuss and well-supported by the team at Field Force.”
