Saxon Hot Water Systems

The Digital Toolbox Arrives

As installers and repairers of household water systems, service agents for Saxon Hot Water Systems carry an array of traditional plumbing and electrical tools.

But increasingly, alongside the spanners, hammers, drills, pipe cutters and pressure testers in their toolboxes, there’s a new tool that is helping them to service their customers. Highly functional, durable, portable and simple to use, this tool is revolutionising the way they do their jobs.

It’s the hand-held BlackBerry® – the ‘always on’ email solution from a mobile phone. BlackBerry is fast becoming a tool of the trade for Saxon’s field service people and a genuine business tool for the company. It’s the ideal communications solution for people on the move, combining phone, email, internet, business data, messaging and organiser features – all from the one handheld unit.

Available on both Telstra’s GSM and CDMA networks, BlackBerry is a personal diary, a contact book, an email box and a mobile phone. No modems to attach. No dialling-in or logging-on required. No second mail address or inbox to manage. Users can send and receive emails and attachments in the palm of their hand. It’s secure and easy to use, with a full QWERTY keyboard. And, one of the most welcome benefits for people working out of the office - no more email backlog to wade through on returning to the office.

New software named METAmessage®, by Onset Technology, is now adding more functionality to the BlackBerry. As Earl Schonberger, Sales Director for Solutions On Hand, the Sydney dealer which supplies the software package, puts it: “METAmessage means you can squeeze more out of your BlackBerry.”

Automate paper-based activities and connect to your enterprise data sources.

Access files and documents from the company network. Print documents to any network printer. Fax documents to any fax machine. Spell check emails before sending them. Assign custom message alerts. Preview your emails.

METAmessage makes all these functions easy via the BlackBerry.

Having been first picked up by large corporations and essentially white collar staff, the BlackBerry is being increasingly used by small business people, field personnel and tradespeople who need office support while on the move and on the job. And with the extra grunt that METAmessage provides, this new tool is adding real value to their business.

Saxon evaluated the suitability of both palm pilot-type devices and the BlackBerry. The BlackBerry was found to be the more robust solution, both physically for wear, tear and knocks, as well as being more user friendly and secure.

They then looked at the METAmessage software package. Solutions On Hand was able to show it could provide the ability for the service agents to conduct serial number and job inquiries as well as service call reports.

METAmessage is a unique suite of software that gives users access to virtually any data on their company network, from back office to front of house, using BlackBerry handhelds from Research in Motion Ltd (RIM). Saxon uses the METAmessage Data product, which is all about connectivity to the company’s applications and databases. It’s the connection between messaging and the company’s business information systems. This puts Head Office in touch with field personnel, and vice versa, quickly and seamlessly.

Michael Sachs, Saxon’s IT Director, is impressed with the speed and reliability of the encrypted email message flows to and from the BlackBerry. “ Queries issued to the Saxon database return within an average of 20 seconds.” he says. “A service agent will first obtain a serial number from the customer and send the enquiry before continuing on to qualify the call. By the time the customer has described the problem, the service agent will have the data at their fingertips.”
Time is critical. “These hot water specialists understand that the customer doesn't want any delay if they have a broken water heater on a two degrees morning,” Michael says.

With the service agents now using BlackBerry and METAmessage, Saxon’s Head Office can quickly send job tickets to them. The status of jobs can be tracked wirelessly. Head Office has an instant snapshot of where the field workforce is. On site, service agents can check product serial numbers and the warranty status of equipment being repaired.

Saxon currently has four BlackBerry/METAmessage devices in use and has plans to roll out more over coming months.

®METAmessage is a registered trademark of Onset Technology