Hawaiian Telcom has seen an uptick in appointments met since implementing a cloud-based app service to coordinate its field crews, the company told Pacific Business News this week.
Previously, the telecommunications company's asset teams and technicians on the ground used multiple platforms to coordinate jobs, they are now all accessed using a single service supplied by California-based KloudGin Inc.
KloudGin, which uses a subscription-based business model charging based on the amount of data used by clients, offers a Field Management Suite designed for utilities and other companies with remotely working crews.
Since adopting it for both asset work such as fiber cable installation, as well as customer needs, Hawaiian Telcom saw its rate of appointments met climb to almost 95% in 2020 from 89% in 2018, the company told PBN.
Before implementing the app, changes in workloads and schedules during the day would require crews to call in to dispatch to get new assignments. Technicians now use the app to find the next available job in their vicinity with the most optimum route, taking into account traffic and road closures.
"[The app] has helped Hawaiian Telcom improve its customer experience in terms of meeting expectations," Kerry Won, the company's director of field operations, told PBN in an email. "[KloudGin's] automated system that assigns work to the next available technician has helped us improve completion of work on the due date."
KloudGin founder and CEO Vikram Takru said in an interview with PBN that he built the app thinking to the not-so-distant future when all employees and devices are connected, specifically focusing on "the last mile," meaning crews on the ground being willing and able to use the service effectively.
"If they cannot use the system, people who do a lot of complex work, then it really doesn’t matter which system you want," Takru said.
KloudGin and Hawaiian Telcom declined to disclose their pricing arrangement, but Takru said the company falls in the middle range of clients.
PBN asked Hawaiian Telcom about House Bill 1253, which was written in the recent Legislative session to prevent employers from mandating employees to download apps to their personal devices. The bill, which awaits Gov. David Ige's signature, would not affect Hawaiian Telcom as the company does not require employees to download apps to their own devices, a spokesman told PBN.
Takru, a former Oracle employee who now oversees about 150 people, said Sony is one of KloudGin's largest and most prominent clients; in Hawaii their portfolio also includes Hawaii Water Service.
"We see growth potential in Hawaii, because we have some local references, which are key. And we have a track record for a couple years," Takru said.
