Deliveries costing UK 1.4m work days by Andrew Yeoman of Trimble on 28-Sep-2011

M ore than 1.4 million British workers admit to taking a work day as sick leave so that they can wait at home for deliveries and service providers, according to a survey for leading field service technology provider Trimble.

"Our survey shows that waiting for deliveries and service providers is not only a genuine issue for people in Britain, it is also a headache for their employers," said Andrew Yeoman, MD of Trimble Fleet Solutions.

The survey, conducted by market research firm OnePoll, shows that Londoners are most likely to use sick leave as an excuse to stay at home, whereas fewer than 1 in 100 admit to doing so in the South West.

"Modern field service management solutions enable companies to plan their delivery and schedule in-home appointments so that they can provide customers with a specific or shorter time window, making it easier to fit in around their lives."

&quiot;Companies we work with are always looking at ways to improve their customer service so the ability to offer more convenient appointment times is certainly an area that many consumers see as incredibly beneficial."

The survey also revealed that three in ten people (31%) ask neighbours and family to help when they are expecting a delivery or service providers, three in ten (28%) take a day off work as holiday and two in ten (20%) work from home.

"If more companies were to make use of technology, perhaps people would not have to take such desperate measures to take time off work," concludes Andrew.

Trimble recently launched GeoManager Work Management, a new cloud-based solution for field service companies, which provides on-demand visibility into how field operations are running. It allows organisations to view a work schedule in real time and monitor progress against the plan. It also provides alerts when it recognises that the schedule may be in jeopardy and then advises immediate amendments which help resolve problems such as unexpected worker sickness, fitting in emergency jobs and route overruns to optimise the day’s work and provide better customer service.

For more information, please visit:
www.trimble.com

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