Is an IRMS worth it?

AXLR8 provide special IRM systems for

  • Freedom of Information,
  • SARs (GDPR requests such as access or rectification) and
  • EIR (requests under Environmental Information Regulations)
  • Appeals
  • Complaints
  • Data Breaches
  • and many more information governance applications.

Productivity and saving public funds

All systems purchases need to be justified financially. This article and accompanying spreadsheet explain how one can measure the difference a system makes compared to manually updating spreadsheets. That means public sector buyers can calculate how much it costs their business every month that they do not have a system!

Maintenance App

Maintenance App

Check out the new version of our maintenance app for Android and Apple phones and tablets.

As you and the team walk around your facilities you can see-snap-send.

  • See: notice a fault and log a repair job
  • Snap: take a photo
  • Send: upload the details to the maintenance team

The maintenance team will have manager access and allocate the work to someone (internal or external if it requires specialist knowledge or equipment). Then you can see when it is repaired and also view and “AFTER” photo along side the “BEFORE” photo you had previously uploaded.

Watch the video.

Please see this article for more details

Duty of Care: Business Travel Safety

Duty of Care: Business Travel Safety

As a supplier of lone worker applications we were thinking about our own commuting to and from AXLR8 and business travel in general which is growing now in the UK as people in commerce are mostly back in the office. The employer has to take due care of workers. The law also stipulates1 that the staff must carry some responsibility for their own safety.

Every Monday morning we have our regular sales and management meetings. Yesterday, we added in a tyre check.

Lessons learned

  • Know what your pressures are. This will be in the glove compartment, door frame of door edge or in the owners manual. Failing that, try online and at a professional main dealer
  • Set an alarm every week (Sunday morning?) with you tyre pressures on it and the car. So Mine says Hyundai 36F&B and Toyota 33F 32B (B is back wheels and F is front wheels)
  • If you have a foot pump use that in the convenience of your home but check it monthly against the garage with a professional pump for peace of mind.
  • If you use a garage or supermarket petrol station please do not hog the machine and hold up the queue whist you take your valve caps off. Unscrew the caps whilst you wait in the queue. Then you will be able to pump your tyres up in less time and use less change in the machine. Once filled, immediately move your car forward a few yards to let the next person into the machine area to pump their tyres whilst you replace your caps. The quicker the queue, the less likely someone who joined it with the best of intentions will give up.
  • It is better to get you hands dirty than to have a crash.

Don’t forget oil, windscreen awash liquid, radiator, etc., as well!

Stay safe. Prepare for all trips and build in time to pause and allow others out of turnings and not have to speed. Planning is everything. Distractions are dangerous. If you get in a car tired and cause a crash, nobody will congratulate you on your work ethic.

1 If you are an employer or employee Health and Safety law needs professional advice. However, if you want to read up and acquire general knowledge, google The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999.

AXLR8 Checkpoints

AXLR8 Checkpoints

As well as many other forms of Proof of Attendance (Check in/ Check out) systems: Geolocation, continuous tracking, Intergation to leading biometric and other hardware such as Almas and Paxton, AXLR8 Checkpoints are proving themselves year after year in different locations.

We have some exciting new videos about the popular AXLR8Checkpoints product on our Specialist staffing website.

Click here to head over and check out the article.

Clear new AXLR8 Portal interfaces

Clear new AXLR8 Portal interfaces

AXLR8 has been spending the last three years updating and improving the AXLR8 User Experience (UX). Many parts of the system are now being systematically added and seamlessly replacing exisiting client systems.

Staffing Agencies

Field staffing apps have been evolving for a while and are now customised to your company and also have all the functionality you would expect from AXLR8’s comprehensive staffing agency systems.

Applicants for different job postings
AXLR8 Application Tracking System: effective recruitment metrics

The staffing systems internal HQ Admin wokflows are being improved, functon by function, starting with the recruitment team using AXLR8 applicant tracking systems.

Dashboards

AXLR8 Dashboards are built internally at clients with knowledgeable accredited AXLR8 Super Users now. They can be built and placed any where in the system but the most popular place is the opening page with a management overview.

AXLR8 Dashboards
AXLR8 Dashboards give a real time overview of business health

Finance

AXLR8 are growing in the commercial finance and loan management systems markets as a direct result of improving user interfaces.

AXLR8 LoanMatrix
AXLR8 Loan Management Systems

Government

AXLR8 is updating the Information Request Management and Information Asset Register systems in use across central and local government and NHS.

AXLR8 IAR
Information Asset Register keeps data sources inventory maintained

Apps

AXLR8 have been delivering Apps on all major operating environments for seeral years for our clients to replace and complement our web apps and web portals.

App Screens
Simple to use fault reporting and service logging app

The above maintenance app is a simple “see snap send” reporting mechanism as well as containing all the information requied for service, installation and other equipment management tasks for an engineer.

The comprehensive AXLR8 Staffing App is simpl for the staff member to use for shift information, work planning availability calendar, pay, expenses, field reporting and surveys (on and off line) updating personal details, Chat mechanism, proof of attendance and so much more. It is used by tens of thousands of staff every day.

Staff App Screens
Staffing App with client customised content and functionality

Please email sales@axlr8.com or call us about your business systems requirement 01344 776500

AXLR8 SMS Pricing 2020

AXLR8 have reduced the prices again for 2020. 

Text messaging is ever more used by companies to remind or alert people and organise activities quickly. It is more effective and faster than email.

The reason for this price reduction is the multi-million volumes now purchased by the AXLR8’s “buying club” of clients. Also, to a lesser extent, we reduced administration with small price rises for buyers of lower volumes that cause proportionately more admin. Prices now start at under 2p/unit for our very high volume clients. Very low volume clients buying 1000 occasionally for example pay more than four times that cost per unit but have a low entry point, a low MoQ (1000 for £85 plus VAT to cover admin) and “pay as you go” preference.

AXLR8 SMS Price List

Most commonly, staffing agencies or businesses that need to alert clients or others to events, buy 10k units as “stock” for their AXLR8 Text Tank. The price for 10k texts if you are a buying club subscriber is £294 plus VAT from 1st December 2019 (instead of £323 plus VAT till end November 2019). Partly this is achieved by reducing admin costs. The minimum order quantity (MOQ) is 10k for these prices.  This has a couple of implications.  First, you are less likely to run out and secondly, we suggest  you change your low units alert levels to 3000 and 1000 minimum reminder level so you have enough time to order a top up.  You can log in to https://sms.axlr8.com to change these parameters and see the level of texts in your tank as well as many other facilities.

Hopefully , you will join other clients who are using AXLR8 apps for iPhones and Android devices so that AXLR8 Chat to reduce messaging conversation costs further.

Use cases

  • Appointment reminders
  • Tactical instructions for mobile workers
  • Tracked assets moved to unexpected locations (usually outside geofence)
  • Security alerts for night guarding
  • Stock replenishment in FMCG, warehouses or medical supplies
  • Informing BSL translators of work opportuities
  • Power cut alert as UPS kicks in
  • Refrigerated goods below a pre-set temperature
  • Alerting staff to new work shifts you need to fill
  • Staff booking confirmations
  • Surveys for clients and staff
  • work completion or pre-ordered item availability
  • and may more

AXLR8 Checkpoints Rev 4

AXLR8 Checkpoints Rev 4

We are delighted with the field testing of revision 4.0 of this device following client feedback – mostly from the security and retail field marketing industries. More information on the dedicated AXLR8 Event Staffing website.

All weather

AXLR8 Checkpoints are weather resisitant even in a very rainy country like the UK. We will also test them in cold countries soon to see if they can get through minus 30 cold snaps in Canada or Scandanavia. Not sure we will bother testing at 10m under the sea – even if it would make a good picture! The AXLR8 Checkpoint would survive in high pressure salt water for around a year, we believe. We would need to research sealants for longer than that. However, if you had mobile guards or countercover staff down there, then the scanning device would also need military specification sealing. We think about these things so you don’t have to.

Surface Attachment

AXLR8CheckPointV4
AXLR8CheckPointV4

It seems that small seemingly insignificant changes are more expensive than you would imagine but also more satisfying for us when done. If your client does not allow you to attach your proof of attendance check in and check out devices on to the walls with screws (the original designs) then we have 100% back surface for adhesive or double sided tape or velcro. Too many options to list. The AXLR8 Checkpoints may be customer installed. Obviously, do a “patch test” on a single device first if you use glue with chemicals that may contain acids or other corrosive chemicals. This caveat applies to the client’s wall or other surfaces too, of course. Some of these devices are under counters and several are in cupboards.

No power or network cabling

These devices are passive and so they do not need electricity or any network cabling. Staff checking in, out or about, just need a BYOD device (reasonably up-to-date iPhone or Android device) which virtually all of your staff carry with them, anyway.

Low deployment costs

Live powered networked intelligent scanning devices are expnsive to install and maintain. Where you need an intelligent networked device internet and electric suply plus battery back up and plenty of local memory, the costs are normally £1000 minimum to purchase, install, wire up and connect to the net. They are then vulnerable to weather, power and internet interruption, vandalism, etc. So insurance and maintenance are necessary. They do help if you have hundreds of staff with swipe cards as the cost per staff check in is low. We have relationships with Paxton and Almas Industries if you need this sort of swipe/ biometric device installed and we keep up-to-date on new products on the market all the time. However, AXLR8 Checkpoints are around £150-£300 installed and maintenance is basically occasional replacement due to landlords or clients restrictions on adesion methods on their walls or other surfaces. There are also cheaper share survices where AXLR8 have identified, for example, that three countercover agencies and one security firm all have staff working at the same location and all need the same check in, out and about recording functionality when their staff are working.

AXLR8 Dashboard functions

AXLR8 Dashboard functions

We recently launched a new set of functions for building dashboards.

The functionality is being provided to beta clients and some new clients now.  It will soon become widespread.

AXLR8 Dashboards will address two key UI issues we have been working through in the last four years.

Cx Dashboard

The CEO and Cx suite (board, VPs, etc.)  will want different dashbards to the functional dashboards we have as standard in the project. A staff booker will log in to an overview of campaigns and a sales person may log in to their active deals. Howver, a CEO or COO may need a couple of graphs and two buttons to take them to some areas of P&L detail or other KPIs for the business such as client feedback scores.  Previously, we have built these as custom developments and they have been expensive and mostly only applicable to one specific customer.  Now AXLR8 can quickly model and deploy different dashboards for different directors/executive officers.

Functional Dashboards

These are the dashboards that would be used by specific staff and managers to achieve their job objectives on a daily basis.  For example a warehouse manager may need to know tools availability and testing schedules for the purposes of kitting out vans during each week with safe, servicable tools.  A talent manager may wish to see how many applicants came in over night and how the talent pool stands including whose SIA licence paperwork or work visas are coming up for renewal.

We will follow up with an article with some Use Cases in different industries.

AXLR8 Dashboards

AXLR8 has been working on a broad UI improvement strategy over the last four years.  AXLR8 Dashboards are one of the main planks of that strategy.   Apart from developer team alignment, creative new look and feel approaches and UI standards, the main UI development areas include:

  • Operational Apps which interact with the AXLR8 enterprise data in your company  – built for
    • Android tablets and smartphones
    • iPhones and iPads running Apple iOS
  • Specialist portals for field staff
  • Simplified vertical market portals for specific job roles including finance brokers, request managers and asset/warehouse, transport and maintenance staff
  • AXLR8 Report Builder UI evolution
  • AXLR8 e-Learning
  • APIs to other systems extending access for users (e.g. integrated credit check searches for sales people or integrated proposal entry for finance brokers)
  • AXLR8 Dashboards

AXLR8 Dashboards are customisable by AXLR8 Support Consultants.  In Q4 2019 we plan to add the skills into the AXLR8 Super User training course deliverables.  Many AXLR8 SuperUsers will be able to customise these AXLR8 Dashboards for their board directors to see their KPIs and metrics as well as for operational and field staff in specific professional areas such as broking, job tracking, government information request management, talent management (including  Applicant tracking, vetting and and staff bookings), sales, maintenance, and many more.

What is an AXLR8 Dashboard?

AXLR8 Dashboards are overview screens making access to your information quicker and easier.  The AXLR8 Dashboards Manager allows the Super User or Consultant to:

  • customise a view (e.g. an opening view after login) of the system with only the buttons, graphs, etc. that a user or group of users needs
  • cascade more reports and dashboards when that user clicks through to them

This is best illustrated with examples of how dashboards are used.

Who needs AXLR8 Dashboards?

Use case: CEO dash

CEOs often identify 5-10 key metrics they need to run the business and identify trends.  Most great CEOs also want to dig into the detail.  So an opening screen with these key metrics and buttons leading to reports and data on the main functional areas of their business: sales forecast, sales league table, customer satisfaction survey feedback, delayed projects, bookings, etc. can easily be made for the Cx who would normally not engage with systems.

Use case: Warehouse Operations dash

In this specific area, the people in the warehouse are agents for any business critical processes and for change and evolution.  To make a system easy for them to use, it must be built with their vocabulary and each function must be accessible from a simple menu or set of buttons:  Book goods in, what equipment needs a PAT  or PUWER test, what items are in repair, how many of those drills are available, which vehicles need an MOT (TuV, etc.), how many perishable items are three months from disposal.

Use case: Talent Manager dash

In one company this could mean a dashboard of applicant tracking data, in another it might be extended to vetting, staff surveys, staff work metrics and discipline.  Yet another manager may be using AXLR8 e-Learning to develop staff and needs to make sure goals on staff numbers with certain qualifications are achieved.  Talent managers will have differing goals from company to company and AXLR8 Talent Managment and ATS, Vetting and other functions need to be customised for each company’s needs.

Use case: Customer Support dash

The Support Manager, or Operations Manager will be measured by the Cx level managers on many critical metrics.  This dashboard can be customised so that buttons and graphs on the opening page may show graphs of or allow access to such items as:

  • Map of where my maintenance staff are today
  • Current customer satisfaction feedback scores from AXLR8 Surveys and similar AXLR8 functions
  • Any tickets or requests that have taken longer than target response or resolution times

 

AXLR8 time and attendance integrated with Almas Industries biometric access control and Check-in/out systems


AXLR8 now have a fully developed interface using the leading Almas Industries systems and devices for biometric attendance and access control. Not only does it record attendance but also proves identity.
It allows you to use physical Almas Industries fingerprint and other biometric devices to check that the correct staff have arrived for their shifts on time and can record check in time, check out time, break time and other times such as tour locations and breaks. It also controls access into restricted areas.

Who does it help?
The systems are being deployed to check staff in and out and to record security and other tour paths in:

  • building sites
  • football stadia
  • large secure residences and estates
  • shopping arcades
  • factories
  • warehouses
  • hospitals
    and other large sites where staff attendance needs to be recorded. The physical Almas Industries hardware is installed at critical places on site This could be for, e.g. a fingerprint or facial recognition scan.

Please click to enlarge images

It is important to perform proof of identity for access control and T&A on site where your requirements include:

  • Only qualified staff
  • Only vetted staff
  • Only the staff who have understood the brief or done the induction training for that site
  • Only specific people may enter certain restricted rooms and areas

This is popular with staffing agencies and full time employed staff in:

  • security
  • stewarding
  • inspection
  • cleaning
  • medical
  • and many other areas.

How does this compare with the AXLR8 Proof of Location smartphone app?
Where you have staff attending sites just once or on an occasional basis – e.g. field marketing or once-off experiential or other services, naturally, you will still require the AXLR8 Proof of Location system using the staff’s BYOD smartphone and or web apps. This is based upon a selfie on site and the satellite geo data proving that:

  • the specific employee you booked and trained for that job
  • was actually there at or before the shift time and, if necessary
  • standing in a prescribed uniform
  • with (e.g.) their demonstration kit set up.

As they may be in any town, at another site on any day, you cannot install hardware for a fingerprint or RFID scan. Many of our clients have staff rotas at locations where they cannot or may not install or use T&M hardware for other reasons.

So the AXLR8 BYOD PoL solution for dynamic staffing locations is complementary to the Biometric T&M solution for permanent work places.