LINKfire gains huge operational efficiencies

LINKfire began as a small business, a one-person operation which grew into a leader in the fire asset maintenance industry, now servicing over 7000 properties across Victoria and employing over 70 staff.

Alistair has been in the fire protection business for over 20 years and knows first-hand that there are limited technology solutions designed specifically for the fire safety industry. There are many fire protection companies still using pen and paper to manage fire protection assets of complex commercial and residential buildings; it's a scary thought. LINKfire realised early on that this needed to change.

"Gone are the days of everything having to be processed manually. We now have a completely paperless system that makes it easy for our clients and field staff to get ahead of the game," - Alistair Nicoll, Chief Executive Officer

Increasing the efficiency and accuracy of field service technicians

LINKfire digitised their operations early on using a generic job management software, Pronto. Although the software automated some manual process, it didn't drive the efficiencies that the business needed to continue to grow. It was creating inefficiencies that were costing the business money. Field Staff were not getting the information they need to get the job done, resulting in productivity roadblocks and technicians wasting time on non-revenue generating activities.

"This was also having a domino effect on our client servicing efforts. We were very good at our technical job, but we were falling short of communicating with our customers. We were at risk of losing business, we had to up our customer service game," - Alistair Nicoll, Chief Executive Officer

LINKfire needed something that automated large parts of their back office and didn't need days of training for new employees to get up to speed.

Connecting field and office staff with the right information

LINKfire aimed to improve the productivity of field technicians and enhance the customer experience. To deliver on this goal, it needed accurate, comprehensive data available in the technicians' hands at all time. It also required a holistic view of business operations and transparency of technicians behaviour to reveal pockets of inefficiencies and drive change.

Uptick gave LINKfire access to specialised software that is designed for the fire protection industry, helping staff and technicians deliver a better service at every touchpoint. Uptick enabled technicians to manage assets and jobs effortlessly on any device. It also enabled office staff to assign the right technician to the right job with real-time GPS tracking and mapping information. Uptick smart schedulers were used to assign technicians based on their availability, location and skill set.

"Uptick has become part of our day to day life, it made a huge difference in helping us remove productivity roadblocks and frustrations, and it has given us the tools that we need to successfully collaborate with field staff." - Jennifer Darbyshire, Operations Support

Connecting customers with their data

The use of the Uptick Customer Portal gave LINKfire customers access to their building data, reducing the number of touchpoints needed for customers to get an update on jobs, invoices or assets. It also enabled LINKfire to have meaningful conversations with clients about long terms goals, asset lifecycle forecasts, and value-led interactions as opposed to transactional communications about pending or upcoming jobs.

"Uptick gives us access to the best technology and resources to help us deliver exceptional customer experience and exponential commercial growth". - Keith Morrissey, General Manager

Sustaining success and transitioning to a lifestyle business

Not only technicians and office staff needed better information, so did the Director of LINKfire. Like many business owners, Alistair wanted his business to run and grow without him. He wanted to spend more time enjoying the success that he has achieved and less time doing.

Alistair needed deeper insights into every part of the business to make the right decisions across recruitment, training, operations, service delivery and packaging and revenue models. Uptick’s powerful business reporting tools and integrations gave Alistair a better understand how field technician time is utilised, measure overheads like production and accounts, plan your monthly rounds to allocate resources efficiently.

The change involved people, process and technology. Uptick helped across all these areas, not just technology. LINKfire started to see improved efficiency in the field and the office in less than three months.

"The journey of migrating our data and process to Uptick was amazingly smooth. Uptick implementation consultants worked closely with us listened to what we needed," - Alistair Nicoll, Chief Executive Officer