Integration of vWorkApp to complex office systems
Greatly improved management and control of field based teams and linking information flows to and from office systems. The vWorkApp system handles two way information exchange, and copes with with unreliable mobile communication links.
The Challenge
Our customer has many teams dealing with emergency repairs. Deciding which team is in the best position to handle a new and high priority repair is difficult to know. vWorkApp is a great system that allows jobs to be sent to and tracked using mobile devices held by the teams.
The issue that needed solving was how to get the information that was stored on other systems into the software that communicated with the mobile devices.
Solution
Springboard IT provided a solution for the client that automatically downloads jobs from an FTP. A web service was then created, that receives jobs and uploads them to SharePoint, (a powerful Microsoft cloud-based database) where they are displayed in a Gantt View. Once a job is added to SharePoint, the job is assigned to a gang type – through a calculation on the type of job.
Every time a job is added to SharePoint, an Event Receiver (sorry about the jargon!) is waiting and then sends the jobs to vWorkApp. These jobs can quickly be allocated to employees, scheduled on vWorkApp by simply dragging and dropping jobs onto an employee’s timeline. This is then sent directly to the employees’ iPad, where the operative can easily see where their next job is, and all of its job and location information.
Additional Benefits
As well as just handling the communication OUT to the mobile devices, information FROM the mobile devices was fed back to the originating systems. This ensured that the latest status is known by the central system and that completion triggered invoicing without further action.
For more information on vWorkApp link here: Mobile workforce management. SpringboardIT are the UK preferred partner for vWorkApp integration.