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1st Touch Partners with Octavia

Enterprise-mobile technology group 1st Touch has signed a reciprocal partnership agreement with Octavia Software Solutions, enabling both companies to sell the other's products. Under the terms of the agreement, 1st Touch has integrated its market leading mobile workforce solution with the new .Net based version of OSKA; Octavia's Supporting People application. Both companies are planning a wide range of joint marketing activities to generate awareness of the integration targeted at the Supporting People sector.

Currently, many organisations delivering Supporting People services use paper based processes. This diverts considerable resource into unnecessary administration; as details are re-keyed from the handwritten documents. By combining with OSKA, 1st Touch Mobile technology enables field based Supporting People workers, equipped with PDA devices, to receive client details in the field and send back completed electronic forms whilst on site.

1st Touch delivers a complete mobile workforce management solution managing, supporting and controlling all aspects of the Supporting People mix. Organisations responsible for delivering support services can now track where their workers are, when, where and how many clients have been visited and view in-depth details of the services provided to each individual. Data sent electronically from the field automatically updates the client record and support plan. This ensures increased accuracy, reduced administration time and the maintenance of time-stamped evidence of the support delivered. Audits and spot checks on service delivery are made significantly easier because the information is always up to date and easily accessible.

1st Touch Mobile utilises low-airtime usage, "Smart Client" technology that automates the links between the field-based support worker's PDA and the Supporting People organisation's back-office systems. In marked contrast to other costly "always on" mobile solutions, 1st Touch Mobile Workforce can work with or without a signal; transmitting encrypted, secure data in periodic small bursts. This innovative approach, it is claimed, reduces typical communication costs by up to 75%.

1st Touch Mobile Workforce also supports adherence to the wide range of best practice, compliance and legislative pressures currently faced by Supporting People organisations striving to meet government standards.

The resilient but flexible system also enables easy, programming-free, user-customisable solutions to be created; designed to simplify handheld form design and data capture applications. Any type of electronic form can be generated, replicating closely all current working practices without the need for Business Process Mapping. It also ensures that any future changes or updates required by the organisation can be incorporated without any need for code changes to the applications. This reduces any potential ongoing costs for the customer as requirements will inevitably change and grow over time.

Octavia's OSKA application reflects the current government drive to replace standalone databases with integrated enterprise-wide systems and supports many of those areas traditionally ignored by Housing Management Systems. The system provides process driven functionality, which can be tailored to suit specific departmental needs and seamlessly integrate with existing housing management and finance systems. Amongst the business areas already developed are: Complaints Management, Anti-Social Behaviour Management, Contact Management, Supporting People, Contract and Document Management.



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