Safe and easy-to-handle communication with service technicians

Magnusson Hiss design and manufacture elevators and do supervision and service on both their own and other brands of elevators. Magnusson Hiss is a subsidiary to OTIS and they do about 15000 service assignments a year.

The Necessity
After being rationalizing the management of the internal administration with a newly installed business system, Magnusson also wanted to computerize and make the field more efficient for the mobile service technician out in the field. They realized that the key to the whole mobile solution was controlled by how you would solve the communication to and from the service technician out in the field in a safe, easy-to -handle and simple way.

They wanted above all to minimize the time it took from the point when a service report was received in the central helpdesk to the point when the service technician out in the field received it, as well as to rationalize and make the administration of when the work was ready and done more efficient. With the rationalization they also realized that a natural result would be that you eliminated errors and shortened the time between the conclusion of the work and the invoice to the customer.

Unlike the manual systems they used, a computerization of the service technician out in the field would not only shorten the lead-times but also give a new platform for both higher service level towards the customer as well as a better and more careful registration of all service for more efficient control of the cost.

The Solution
The solution was, as Thomas Andersson, IT manager at Magnusson Hiss short and concise expressed it, SMS (Short Message Service). By installing a SMS Router from the company SMS Nordic and equipping the service technicians out on the field with handheld computers they had, with a very low investment fulfilled all needs. The SMS Router was integrated with the existing business system through a fast and simple adjustment.

"This unique solution makes it possible for the service technician out on the field to receive the serviceorder in 10 seconds after the report of the error is registrated in the helpdesk".

After the work is completed he connects the GSM phone with his handheld computer, and transmit a service report back to the company, containing number of hours, used material and a describing text over what has been done and the invoice can be mailed the same day or at latest the day after we've done the service. Previously it took a couple of days before a service report came in for manual registration and two more days further before the invoice was send to the customer.

The service report is send directly in to the servicemodule in the business system.

"This gives new possibilities for us out in the field", says Lasse, that was one of the first to use the system. "Now I get time over to do more service works and I don’t have to spend my spare time to fill in all the service reports by hand".

The Profits
By using a controlled form in the handheld computer with control over that the right information has been fed into the computer, we have eliminated the errors in our whole chain,and together with the time we make up in all the other links we can count of the SMS investment in the same time as we increase the level of service for our customers says Rolf Magnusson, CEO on Magnusson Hiss. Previously we put down time here in the office on every report of error, now it only takes about 30 seconds.

The Future
Magnusson Hiss will consecutively build functions with SMS, like for example question possibilities for the personnel out in the field towards repair history on every elevator as confirmation to the customer that the elevator is running again by transmitting a SMS to the caretaker.

Summary
By using the company SMS Nordic's Router for integration by SMS towards the network together with the transmission possibilities out to the personnel out on the field "mobile to mobile" Magnusson Hiss has further made the administration more efficient which will strengthen their position in the market for elevator service.