First Choice Homes Oldham
implements ROCC’s Uniclass
Social Housing system
ROCC Computers Ltd
Stanford Gate
South Road
Brighton BN1 6SB
Tel: 01273 274716
Email: info@rocc.co.uk
©ROCC Computers Ltd
First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) has recently taken
on ROCC Uniclass (combined with Kirona DRS, Web
Booking Manager and Kirona mobile) to manage its
comprehensive repairs and works responsibilities.
FCHO manages a busy operational depot in the town
and runs a repairs service (called Property Care) which
delivers a number of contracts currently utilising 105
operatives – but which it has plans to increase. In
total, it carries about around 33,000 responsive repairs
a year and void repairs to around 1,300 properties a
year. The contracts include:
• Responsive repairs to all of FCHO’s housing stock
(around 11,800 residential properties, 800 garages and
70 commercial properties).
• Void re-let works to all of FCHO’s properties.
• Major and minor disabled adaptations for FCHO
properties.
• One-off kitchen and bathroom replacements to
FCHO properties to meet the ‘Oldham Standard’.
The Property Care team at FCHO needed an effective way of co-ordinating all these contracts and
operatives efficiently as there was a lack of information regarding job costing and control over jobs
being delivered by operatives.
ROCC was among nine companies which initially showed an interest in the contract. FCHO shortlisted five firms and received full tenders from four of them.
“We had a number of objectives to fulfil. We were, for instance, looking for full visibility, we
wanted to manage our income and workload efficiently, we wanted to reduce travel time for
our operatives and we wanted to understand more about our costs and save money where we
could. We were also keen to get more repairs right first time and improve customer
satisfaction.”
Siobhan McCoy
Property Care General Manager at FCHO
©ROCC Computers Ltd
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She continues: “Along with the other three companies which sent tenders, ROCC went through a
comprehensive evaluation process. We visited one of their current customers to see Uniclass in
action and received some really positive feedback. They said it was easy to use and the support the
company provided was excellent.”
ROCC won the contract and the implementation phase took ten months, with the system going live
on Monday 9 June.
Working closely with FCHO, ROCC led the project to install ROCC’s Uniclass job costing system and
Kirona’s DRS Scheduling and Mobile DRS. ROCC tailored the Uniclass system to FCHO’s needs. The
highly configurable software allowed features such as the purchase ordering mandate rules to be
applied, enforcing approval limits for managers raising orders.
“Even on the first day, ROCC Uniclass had identified areas where we could improve our service.
Our staff reported that it was very user-friendly and we were particularly impressed that
operatives who had never received jobs on a mobile device before got to grips with the system
on day one. We noticed improvements in productivity straight away.”
Siobhan McCoy
Property Care General Manager at FCHO
Representatives from the ROCC team spent two days in Oldham supporting the team and then
provided comprehensive support.
“The whole implementation phase has gone much more smoothly than I ever imagined it
would. But we’ve only got here so successfully due to the commitment to the project shown by
both ROCC and Kirona.
We have been impressed by the ROCC system. I have received positive comments from across
our whole organisation – not just from the operatives on the road, but from our office-based
team as well. ”
Siobhan McCoy
Property Care General Manager at FCHO
To find out more:
Call 01273 274716
Email info@rocc.com
©ROCC Computers Ltd
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