BlackBerries Make a Fruitful Investment

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An Excellence Gateway case study
This case study was produced by JISC RSC (Regional Support Centres) Northern on behalf of the Excellence Gateway.

Summary

Zodiac has been investing in BlackBerries for the majority of their staff for over four years. Because of the nature of their job, Zodiac trainers are often out of the office for long periods of time. The use of BlackBerries has improved staff productivity, training efficiency and made internal communications a lot easier. Mobile phone and travel costs have also been substantially reduced.

About Zodiac Training Ltd

Zodiac Training Ltd was established in 1996 and is an award winning training organisation with offices throughout the Northeast of England. Zodiac is at the forefront of innovation and training technology and has delivered training to over 12,000 learners and supports a customer base of over a 1,000 organisations. The owners of Zodiac – Lilian Mains and Jacqui McQueen, have recently won The North East Entrepreneur Innovation and Technology awarded by WIN.

The challenge

Zodiac has a very mobile workforce whose roles require regular travel and staff can be out of the office for up to three weeks. As a result, paperwork would pile up and the management information system was not in ‘real time’. When back in the office, staff would often find themselves inundated with emails and other information which would lead to an information overload.

The activity

Zodiac supplies BlackBerries to 70% of their workforce. BlackBerries are wireless email and mobile phone devices. Zodiac’s BlackBerries have customised software installed on them, so staff can update the management information system held at the head office, access data and submit expenses, while away from the office. They can also check emails and diaries, make phone calls and browse the Internet wherever they are. To make sure all staff can make optimal use of the BlackBerries, Zodiac’s IT team are creating an e-learning package for new staff. The e-learning package can be taken at any time and explains how to make best use of the BlackBerry. The LIG funding is provided by the Learning and Skills council (LSC) and administered by the Association of Learning Providers (ALP). LIG funding supports the innovative development and application of ICT technologies and e-learning within the work-based learning (WBL)/skills sector. As at June 2008 LIG funding has supported 224 projects across a wide range of geographical and occupational areas.

The outcomes

Since Zodiac introduced BlackBerries:

• the management information system is up to date;
• the communication between head office and staff has improved;
• the amount of paperwork has been significantly reduced;
• expenses claims are dealt with more efficiently;
• mobile phone and travel costs have reduced; and
• staff are happier!

The impact

The e-learning BlackBerry training package will give new staff the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their BlackBerry at their own speed.