Motion F5's Help Housing Dept. Improve Productivity & Go Green

21st December 2009

“It takes a lot of time and effort to inspect a building and when you’ve got 20 a day to do it can really add up. We’ve realized a 10 percent increase in inspections since we adopted the Motion F5 and with 750,000 units in our jurisdiction that 10 percent is going to help us a lot.”

Chief Inspector, Municipal Housing Department

Industry

Municipal Housing Department

Customer Profile

The Municipal Housing Department’s Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP) is a Harvard award-winning multi-family residential rental housing inspection program that is helping to improve rental housing inventories while remaining sensitive to budget concerns.

Business Situation

Withover 750,000 multi-family rental properties in their district and new inspection procedures that took additional time, the Housing Department needed a technology solution that would enable faster, more efficient inspections coupled withthe ability to function as a full out-of-office desktop replacement

Solution

The Housing Department chose the Motion F5 Tablet PC for its portability and power. The tablet has become the cornerstone in their efforts to go green as well.

Benefits

• Enabled reduced emissions and carbon footprint

• Increased numberof inspections

• Lowered travel costs

• Eliminated office space

After refining its multi-family rental property inspection program, the Housing Department discovered the need for a new technology solution to aid them in theiryearly inspections numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

To inspect nearly 200,000 multi-family units a year the Housing Department was going to need a solution that would be powerful enoughto run its proprietary inspection software as well as function as a desktop replacement for out-of-office updates. Additionally the Housing Department wanted a solution that would provide them withthe means of going environmentally green by reducing office space, travel time and paper waste.

The Housing Department chose the F5 for its powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processorrunning full Windows software, large screen, portability and functionality which enabled it to function as a complete desktop replacement solution.

Technology Improves Award-Winning Inspection Program

A large Municipal Housing Department’s Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP) is a Harvard award-winning multi-family residential rental housing inspection program that is helping to improve rental housing inventories while remaining sensitive to budget concerns.

The goal of SCEP is to achieve code compliance, to ensure that state health and safety codes are enforced, that all residents, including the City's poorest, live in safe housing, and prevent the City's housing stock from sliding into irreversible disrepair. After several program changes and technology enhancements, the Housing Department has transformed its SCEP program to more efficiently meet these goals, and the program is now receiving recognition across the country.

Most recently, the Housing Department adopted the F5 Tablet PC from Motion Computing. The F5s, in combination withthe organization’s software application, have enabled the program to adopt more environmentally friendly processes – reducing drive times and the use of paper, as well as conserving energy by eliminating the need to provide office space forits 150 field inspectors.

A Resource Intensive Program that Requires Mobility

The SCEP has changed the way multi-family property owners conduct business within the City. After initiating the SCEP program in 2000, the City completed Cycle One by inspecting all 750,000 multi-family rental units, for the first time in history. A significant reduction in building deficiencies identified during Cycle Two follow up inspections is testament to the overall effectiveness of SCEP’s first inspection cycle.

The SCEP program inspects approximately 187,000 units peryear. The Housing Department has moved from traditional code enforcement that focuses solely on individual violations to a housing preservation program by inspecting the entire building and property, which has helped stabilize the habitability of the City’s multi-family properties and prevented the majority of the City’s rental stock from decline.

The Housing Department has also integrated theircomplaint-based inspection component withSCEP and has substantially increased inbound complaints, which is evidence of outreachefforts, growing public awareness and acceptance of the complaint-reporting system. The Housing Department strives to provide a high level of service, and is committed to responding to 90 percent of inbound complaints within 72 hours.

Technology Drives Improved Productivity and Helps Reduce Carbon Footprint

In order to manage this resource intensive program, the Housing Department worked to build its own software application, the Code Compliance Rent Information System (CCRIS), to help manage inspection cycles and view case status throughout the inspection, enforcement and legal processes. Through the CCRIS system employees can schedule inspections through Microsoft Outlook, collect field data througha wireless device, link the photos to the Orders to Comply, capture electronic signatures, track cases for both staff and customers, as well as generate reports and invoices.

However, the program is only as good as its usability by field inspectors, and the Housing Department has remained committed to seeking out new technologies to help support its mobility needs. But, until recently, they were unable to find a device that would fully support the documentation needs of its field inspectors, while also freeing them to spend more time away from the office, reduce paperuse or fully utilize all the capabilities of their software program from the field.

F5s Allow Inspectors More Time in the Field, Less Time Commuting

The CCRIS provides a cellularinterface that allows field staff to transferinspection schedules, violations and photographs via a wireless connection. And, during an emergency, the system can upload and download important property information from ownership throughinspection activity.

However, it was important for the Housing Department to find a computing device that would equip their field personnel with all of the information they would need to conduct inspections throughout the day, without having to return to the office which decreases the numberof daily inspections that can be completed. With the high volume of rental units needing inspections, having data accessible in the field and the ability to leverage the software remotely is a critical component of the program’s success.

Moti on Computing's F5 Semi-Rugged Tablet PC is now available from Box Technologies, to find out more please visit www.boxtechnologies.com or call a member of our dedicated sales team on 01844 264000