GeoDispatching tool for SMEs

Alastair Otter

Alastair Otter is a senior journalist at MyBroadband, and focuses on software and hardware. He has a particular love for Open Source Software (OSS)...

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Location based services company AfriGIS has developed a location-enabled dispatching tool for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using the tool, small businesses such as plumbers, electricians and security companies, can manage staff that are on the road using their mobile phones.

Magnus Rademeyer, AfriGIS MD, says the solution closes the customer relationship management (CRM) gap experienced by many SMEs, particularly in the services industry.

The Web-based software gives SMEs a tool for managing jobs and staff. When a call comes in from a client  the details of the job and the client’s location are captured. Addresses are matched against AfriGIS’ national address database to ensure the company has the exact location. The client is SMSed to notify them that their job has been captured and a reference number is given to them.

"All pending service calls are displayed to the company on a map along with all the estimated locations of the work force (vehicles are located through the cellular network). From there, the company can match the appropriate resource with a job closest to them," says Rademeyer.

When one of the work force is matched to a job, they receive an SMS with a WAP link. Clicking on it brings up a page with the client’s name, location and details of the job. If the employee has a Nokia GPS-enabled mobile phone, they can click on a link which opens up their navigator on their phone and directs them to the address. Additional GPS-enabled phones and AfriGIS’ own mobile maps application will be made available on Java and Symbian devices at the end of this quarter, Rademeyer says.