Getting Connected

Web-based technology provides new ways for cleaning contractors to store, organize and share information and simplify business operations

In some ways, the drain-cleaning business hasn’t changed in years. Drains and pipes still get blocked. Lines get inspected with push cameras and cleaned with spinning cables or high-pressure water. The equipment gets better by increments every year, but the mechanics of it are largely the same.

But the business has changed greatly in other ways. In a relatively few years, the world has gone electronic in wholesale fashion. Contractors use more digital tools to collect information, like job site photos and video pipe inspections.

And customers increasingly communicate with businesses digitally: They use Web sites and e-mail instead of phone calls and postal mail, and they expect information to be delivered quickly and clearly.

Contractors therefore face a two-sided challenge: How to store, organize and share digital information efficiently, and how to communicate with customers in ways that meet their higher expectations.

One leading-edge solution is a secure, subscription-based online service that lets contractors manage pictures, inspection videos, customer lists and job information; prepare and send quotes, job reports and invoices; and essentially organize and conduct all basic business functions in a single online location.

Digital world

Over the past three years, RIDGID, a manufacturer of drain- and pipe-cleaning and maintenance equipment, has tracked trends among plumbing and other service contractors in their use of digital tools and devices. Among the latest findings:

• 51 percent use laptop computers as an integral part of their business.

• 16 percent carry mobile printers to produce invoices or quotes on site.

• 80 percent carry a digital camera into the field.

• 98 percent have mobile phones.

• 28 percent carry smart phones (BlackBerry, iPhone) – twice as many as did so just one year ago.

It all adds up to a great deal of information, says Jay Gatz, vice president of strategic planning and development with RIDGID, which offers the RIDGIDConnect online business tool. “Even if you just think of taking pictures with a digital camera and with a cell phone, that’s a lot of information,” he says.

“A week or two weeks later, going back to reference all that can be difficult. You don’t know where to find it. You have to go searching for it. It’s not referenced. Even without considering data from a drain-inspection camera or a handheld inspection device, you’re creating a digital dilemma, just from the capability you have in multiple devices used each day on the job site.”

Now consider a contractor not just dealing with all that information inside the company but also communicating to customers, and in some cases to third parties like insurance agents, as well.

A contractor may need to search a file or drawer to locate the video information that documents a pipe or drain’s condition, then edit the video, burn one or more copies of the information to DVDs, look in a file cabinet or on a computer for notes on the customer and job, access another program to complete a report, make copies, then deliver or mail the reports. It all costs money and takes time better spent in the field solving more customers’ problems, Gatz maintains.

Changing standards

The emergence of digital cameras and digital video makes it relatively easy to take information online and virtually eliminate the handling of hard-copy reports and physical media. An online service can accommodate any information created in digital form: Pictures, video, diagrams, drawings, word-processor documents, work orders, invoices, parts lists and much more.

The service is subscription based; a tiered rate structure lets smaller and larger businesses choose plans that suit them. Data is managed and backed up regularly in a highly secure third-party data center of the same type that hosts popular Web sites. Once subscribed, users register their business and can immediately begin using the system.

Customer lists, such as files in Microsoft Outlook, can be uploaded. The lists are then fully searchable and can be used to generate driving directions to customer locations or to populate the address book of a GPS navigation device.

Pictures and video can be uploaded to a media file from any device – inspection camera, laptop computer, digital camera, mobile phone. Then individual items can be given file names and assigned to customers or specific jobs.

Getting to work

Gatz says the system greatly streamlines and simplifies a number of basic business functions. Capabilities include:

Creating reports. Contractors can build detailed reports from a simple template. The template includes fields for information that the customer will see (problems found, work completed, price quote, recommended follow-ups). It also has spaces for information about the customer or job for contractor use only (dog in yard, location of cleanout, special tools needed). Public and private sections have color-coded headings to make it easy to keep the two straight.

Editing and annotating video. Instead of sending a customer raw video from an inspection, the contractor can bookmark specific areas of interest so that the customer can go straight to them with a mouse-click. In addition, the contractor can capture any video frame as a still image, highlight the area of interest and describe the problem with text.

Sending reports. Pictures, documents and videos can be attached to reports in essentially the same manner as making e-mail attachments. The contractor then sends the report via e-mail. The customer gets an e-mail message with a link to a page on the Web site. There the customer can open and read the report and view any visual media.

Because nothing downloads to the recipient’s computer, the contractor can limit how long the customer can view the information – either by length of time or number of viewings. “This helps prevent customers from taking the video that contractor created and shopping it to other companies to underbid the quote provided,” Gatz says.

Receiving responses. The report template provides a space for the customer to respond, such as by authorizing work to proceed. The contractor gets notification in the system and via e-mail that the customer has responded. Contractors who use the system say they receive customer orders to complete work about 30 percent faster than before, Gatz says.

Communicating from the field. The contractor can access the system around the clock from any computer with a Web browser or from a mobile phone. In addition, a mobile application lets users upload video or pictures from devices such as a wireless-enabled inspection system, laptop computer, or smart phone, and even create job reports while in the field.

Benefits to users

Gatz says the system enables contractors to create “an electronic medical record of all the work they do.” In particular, it lets them capture and retain information about customers and jobs otherwise stored only in the minds of technicians.

“If you talk to business owners, one thing they’re afraid of is having their technicians leave without the company having institutionalized their insights,” Gatz says. “This online service is a great way to get in the practice of capturing that information, so that it stays with the company.” Other advantages include:

Time and cost savings. RIDGID surveys show that the service can reduce by 25 percent the time to finish a video inspection, from acquiring the video to completing and distributing the report. It also eliminates the need to duplicate DVDs or print and deliver reports.

Better communication. The system makes it easier to share information with customers and across the organization.

Enhanced professionalism. Job and customer histories help technicians arrive at job sites well prepared and with the proper tools. Customers received professional-looking reports in the electronic form they increasingly prefer and can react to quickly.

“Contractors can interface with customers in the way we all basically live our lives now, but without having to invest in IT infrastructure,” Gatz says. “Customers feel the reports provide a personal touch and help them understand the work that was done. They perceive greater value than if they only received an invoice or a slip of paper with handwriting on it.”

Gatz acknowledges that moving online puts contractors on a learning curve. “They have to adopt a new approach into their business process,” he says. “But once they do, it can become just as much of a daily tool as a pipe wrench.”



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