Oxford City Homes

Oxford City Homes is a Service Area of Oxford City Council which services approximately 8,000 homes, 650 leasehold homes and nearly 2,500 garages. They are responsible for the collection of rent and service charges, tenancy and estate management, property repair and improvement services and tenant participation for all Council homes. The organisation provides a housing repairs service for Council tenants and are also responsible for maintaining the Council's housing stock and achieving the government's Decent Homes Standard. They operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure compliance with the government's Right to Repairs legislation.

Oxford City Homes implements SupaTrak to increase productivity and reduce costs On Board Oxford City Homes operates a large fleet of council vehicles which are driven by the general maintenance teams who are on call at all times. They respond to emergency incidents as well as undertaking planned maintenance. In total, the team services over 8,000 homes across Oxford. 116 Oxford City Homes fleet vehicles have recently had the SupaTrak vehicle tracking system installed.

Sean Fry, Operations Support Manager for Oxford City Homes explains that by being able to determine the precise location of each vehicle, the SupaTrak system is helping to efficiently deploy appropriate resources. "We are able to allocate the job to the maintenance engineer that is geographically closest." This reduces the time taken for an engineer to arrive on site and ensures fuel efficiency by deploying the engineer who will use the least amount of fuel to reach the destination. Sean explains that "we needed a robust management tool that would help us to respond to the needs of our customers, whilst providing value for money".

SupaTrak's ability to facilitate efficient job scheduling is also helping Oxford City Homes to reduce their carbon footprint. Oxford City Council is committed to reducing its 2005 emissions figure by 25% by 2010 and the introduction of SupaTrak will contribute to the organisation meeting this target.

By introducing SupaTrak vehicle tracking, Oxford City Homes are also protecting their vehicles from theft, as they are able to locate any vehicle at any given time using the web-based system. After only 3 months, Oxford City Homes have already begun to realise cost savings through their reduced fuel consumption and these savings are anticipated to grow over time. Increased productivity has also been recorded throughout the fleet.

The SupaTrak vehicle tracking system enables employers to comply with their duty of care obligations towards their employees. In addition, Oxford City Homes is also in the process of trialling lone working solutions; PDA devices that are tracked and feature an emergency panic switch which can be discretely activated at the touch of a button.

Increasing numbers of people work alone, either some or all of the time. Working alone can create extra health and safety risks and Oxford City Homes is taking extra steps to protect their employees. Although panic alarms are often activated using a PDA, CMS SupaTrak can also locate the alarm inside the vehicle. This may be suitable for drivers who visit unsafe areas, or who regularly encounter adverse situations.

A panic switch can be discreetly activated and the necessary help deployed. Commenting on his experience with CMS SupaTrak, Sean says that "CMS SupaTrak is receptive to bespoke requirements. They have provided Oxford City Homes with a customised approach which meets our needs."