Familiehulp uses smartphones as a service
Published on 10/08/2021 in Customer Stories
Caregivers at Familiehulp always have a smartphone to hand. This means not only that they can be more easily contacted, but they also use it to manage their own schedule and consult via Teams.
Familiehulp is the largest organization delivering home care and support in Flanders and Brussels. Digitization is high on the agenda and that includes investing in new customer and workforce management tools. “Digitization is everywhere, even outside our organization,” says Griselda Symons, ICT policy director at Familiehulp. “So obviously we have to adapt our way of working.” In this context Familiehulp created a plan to provide its nine thousand field workers with a smartphone, equipped with the necessary apps.
The smartphone helps us digitize a lot of our operational paper processes.
Griselda Symons, director of ICT policy at Familiehulp
“Our goal is to digitize a lot of the classic information flows on paper in this way,” Griselda explained. Work planning is one of the digitized processes. Field workers can now immediately view and adjust their planning via their smartphone. Familiehulp no longer has to send the work plan on paper. “Moreover, there is communication in two directions. With the smartphone, the field workers can now exchange information with their manager much more easily and, among other things, provide feedback concerning the care needs of their clients. Consultation often takes place via Teams.”
Smooth logistics
The successful rollout of nine thousand smartphones naturally requires a tightly managed logistics plan. For this, Familiehulp relied on the combination of Proximus and partner A&M. “We helped Familiehulp choose a suitable device”, says Herwig Deckers, account manager at A&M, “so that the employees can enjoy the best possible solution within the available budget.” The choice was a Samsung device, which A&M personally delivers to the field workers at Familiehulp.
Each employee received an e-mail with the necessary instructions and a link to the A&M portal. There, the employee could indicate when and where – at home or at a collection point – they wanted to receive the device. “The field workers at Familiehulp received a ready-to-use device”, Herwig continued. “They just had to take it out of the box and turn it on. After that, the commissioning was fully automatic.”
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Confidential data
Behind the scenes, Proximus manages the fleet of smartphones. “We do that with Microsoft Intune and Samsung KNOX,” says Stephan Van Dyck, cybersecurity consultant at Proximus. “With Intune, we manage policies about what users can and cannot do with the device. That's important because we’re dealing with confidential client data.”
In addition, the field workers at Familiehulp can contact Proximus with questions about the smartphone. “Our helpdesk processes about a thousand calls per month,” Stephan explained. “Familiehulp has made a very conscious decision not to entrust this task to its own IT department.”
We consciously opt for smartphones as a service. At Familiehulp we focus on what we do with our hearts. Smartphone management is not part of that.
Griselda Symons, director of ICT policy at Familiehulp
Business continuity
To guarantee business continuity, A&M has set up a so-called swap pool for Familiehulp. If a device is broken or defective, the employee reports this via the portal and receives a new smartphone within eight hours. The courier takes the broken or faulty device, after which A&M repairs it and adds it to the swap pool.
“We have made a conscious decision to purchase the entire management of the smartphones as a service from Proximus and A&M,” Griselda concluded. “In this way we can be sure that our field workers can always do their job, assisted by a properly working device. At the same time, our IT department can focus on supporting the business.”
A new way of working at Familiehulp
Familiehulp is a home care organization offering support to everyone in Flanders and Brussels. More than 77,950 people rely on care from Familiehulp.
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