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New TotalMobile survey reveals that user acceptance is key to success of mobile working initiatives

Belfast, UK – 26 November, 2013 – New research into UK local government’s use of mobile working solutions has revealed the main benefits to be better use of resources (80 per cent) and improvements to staff productivity (60 per cent).

The survey, conducted by TotalMobile at its user conference in September, sought to examine the drivers for mobile working adoption within UK local government, what the potential barriers might be and what benefits local government is seeing.

Just 40 per cent of respondents said that user adoption was a major barrier to mobile working project implementation, highlighting the increasing realisation that mobile solutions must be driven by the user experience.

“User buy-in is absolutely crucial for any mobile working implementation as is the ability to work offline – get these right and mobile working can be a huge success,” said Sarah Royles, Commissioning and Design Consultant, Nottinghamshire County Council. “We expect that this will be confirmed by our mobile working pilots in both Adult & Children’s Social Care.”

Other mobile working benefits highlighted in the survey were:

More accurate and up-to-date records – 63 per cent

Streamlined business process – 53 per cent

Increased efficiency savings – 47 per cent

The departments within local government that used mobile working most widely, were repairs and maintenance (63 per cent), adult services and housing officers (both 33 per cent) and gas servicing and highways (both 30 per cent).

“However good a technology purports to be and whatever benefits it promises to deliver, without user acceptance it will always struggle and mobile working is no different,” said Colin Reid, Chief Executive, TotalMobile. “Mobile working solutions must be designed with the end-user in mind, intuitive, easy-to-use and adding value from day one. If using the technology feels like a chore then people won’t use it, it’s a simple as that, no matter what the potential benefits to local government.”

When it came to measuring the success of mobile working implementations, the most widely-used method was Key Performance Indicator (KPI) analysis, which was used by 73 per cent of respondents. The next most commonly used way of gauging success was evaluation of jobs / visits, with 57 per cent using this method.

TotalMobile works with more than 50 local councils across England, Wales and Scotland, supplying mobile working software that allows council staff to work more effectively and deliver better services.

About TotalMobile

TotalMobile has been successfully developing and selling enterprise software for more than 25 years, initially as TASK Software, then since 2001 as Consilium Technologies and now as TotalMobile Ltd.

Its initial focus was providing the Financial Management system, TotalFinance, to Local Government in the UK. It then expanded by developing its Works Management system, TotalRepairs and started expanding in to the Housing and maintenance markets. With the launch of the TotalMobile App Platform it has also expanded in to the Health market.

Today, TotalMobile provides the TotalMobile App Platform to a range of Government, Private Sector and Healthcare customers in the US and Europe, as well as throughout the UK and Ireland.

www.totalmobile.co.uk

PR Contact

Sarum PR – PR for TotalMobile

+44 1722 322916.  Paul@sarumpr.com

Totalmobile

Totalmobile is a Field Service Management (FSM) provider passionate about making work and the lives of mobile workers better. An established market leader with 375 staff across the UK and Ireland, Totalmobile supports over 1,000 organisations and 500,000 workers to transform the delivery of field services and experience an exceptional return on investment.