About Retriever Communications

Retriever Communications (Retriever) is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), operating in Australia for over 20 years who offer Field Services Management (FSM) software which automates the processes of field based service professionals. In both mobile and desktop applications Retriever can connect field workers with the office they report to and provide visibility for both the service person and the office team. The majority of Retriever clientele are enterprise clients, with large fleets and teams, some totalling many hundreds of technicians. One of the customers processed more than 40,000 jobs in the month or over 2000 jobs per day.

Next Mile Location Technology (Next Mile) were able to assist Retriever Communications in better serving their clients wants and needs, through the provision and licensing of HERE Maps and Fleet Management APIs. As maps are an inherent part of all the solutions that Retriever provides, it remains critical that they are able to facilitate the very best maps for their clients. Compared to other competitors in the market, they prefer HERE Maps because of the capabilities they can offer, including customisation and fit-for purpose solutions, built upon the HERE base map.

Why work with Next Mile?

With the rise of popularity in smartphones 10 years ago, Retriever quickly realised they needed to adapt their business operations to suit the growing demand of clients that were beginning to use those devices with in-built GPS systems. With that they were able to leverage location technology to better serve client needs in tracking the location of field workers. This required the assistance of an application integrated map that could allow for customisability, add ons and layering so that over time, Retriever could continue to provide clients the solutions they asked for.

Improving efficiency

Retriever are utilising the HERE Technologies APIs in their field management applications to enable companies to improve their job efficiency through job scheduling. This has resulted in applications that enable fleet supervisors to organise and schedule jobs, inventory and vehicles in an efficient manner, optimising efficiency and saving both time and money.   

HERE Technologies was recently recognised as the top ranked location platform by industry analysts at Strategy Analytics. The annual report benchmarks the world’s largest location companies and ranks HERE, Google, Mapbox and TomTom across seven categories, recognising HERE Technologies as a world-leader in highly accurate maps and location intelligence.

Ben Hartman, Retriever’s National Sales Manager was pleased with the options and customer satisfaction that HERE Maps opened up in their applications.

Enhancing customer satisfaction

Over time, consumer demands continued to grow in line with market trends and competitors. Retriever, armed with the capabilities and customisation that HERE provides, can offer their clients a device agnostic solution fit for purpose. For example, by providing a solution to track technicians similar to an Uber-like experience for the FSM industry, whereby technicians can give callouts an accurate estimated time of arrival (ETA), visible on a map for the customer and teams working in the office. This enhanced visibility brings benefits to the business, the technician and the customer. In addition to the obvious communication issues this solves, it helps to ensure technicians on the road are protected, with visibility on their location.

Occupational health and safety

Through working with Next Mile, Retriever have used HERE Technologies API’s to develop customised mobile field crew management technology that equips the technician with a device to plan their day’s jobs with the added benefits of form completion and recording plus location tracking. This feature enables those in the office to keep track of the technicians in the field, ensuring that each team member can complete their jobs in a timely and efficient manner, whilst remaining safe through location visibility shared with office teams.  

Retriever’s ‘lone worker’ feature uses HERE Maps to display the location of a technician who is operating alone in the field. The GPS location of the technician, in combination with the address helps to locate that lone worker.  This feature allows the office staff to monitor the technician if they are operating in a remote area or places where there is a safety concern. Additionally, the ‘lone worker’ feature is built to send an alert if the worker doesn't pick up the phone or make an action within the device. Emergency services are on alert straight away in this instance, in the case that there might have been a medical episode or other incident.

Cost savings

Top of mind for those operating in the field services industry is efficiency and cost. With the addition of HERE Maps, Retriever can offer their clients optimised routing, job scheduling and precise ETA’s, which lead to critical savings in both time and distance. In fact, their website has an inbuilt return on investment calculator, which serves to demonstrate how you can save significantly in both money and time, through fitting in just one extra job per day—possible with the benefit of optimised job scheduling and accurate mobile field crew management.

Benefits of working with Next Mile

With Next Mile, Retriever have been able to harness the power of location technology—an incredibly important aspect of their business—enabling them to deliver the best solutions to clients and remain competitive in the marketplace.

If you are interested in working with Next Mile to improve your fleet management, contact us today!