Leading mobile software company 1st Touch (www.1sttouch.com) has joined Motorola Solutions, as a PartnerSelect Authorised ISV. Working alongside Motorola Solutions resellers, who will supply handheld devices, 1st Touch will advise its social housing and local authority clients on sustainable mobile workforce solutions utilising the Motorola ES400 running Microsoft Windows Embedded technology. 1st Touch was recently appointed a partner for this technology by Microsoft.

Whilst vendor independent, the partnership reflects 1st Touch’s recognition that social housing and local authority organisations, running field based workforces, need to keep their mobile operatives working in the field. The lost productivity and extra costs of units awaiting repair or maintenance impacts not just on the operative but also on those they are helping. The solutions offered by Motorola Solutions, recognise this problem and place the emphasis on longevity with ongoing support and maintenance commitments to avoid such downtime. This includes the ability to “swap out” units requiring servicing and repair and to replace them with new preloaded devices. This greatly reduces the likelihood of lost productivity.

With this solution in place, users, such as ALMOs and local authorities, do not need to support a wide range of devices as new models appear. This overcomes the all too common problem of a supporting broad range of off the shelf, cheap handhelds that frequently fail to stand up to the heavy demands placed upon them.

1st Touch applications, utilising devices such as Motorola Solutions’ ES 400, can bring significant efficiencies and increases in productivity to any service application provided by field-based operatives. The system manages and controls all aspects of mobile operatives’ activities, enabling easy, programming-free, user-customisable PDA-based solutions to be created through its easy to use graphical interface. The software is specifically designed to simplify handheld form design and data capture. Any type of electronic form can be generated without the need for Business Process Mapping. 1st Touch has also developed high quality integrations with the majority of leading housing management systems used by social housing providers and local authorities.

According to Robert Dent CEO of 1st Touch, “Whilst we are vendor independent, we are keen to support sustainable solutions that utilise the latest Microsoft Windows Embedded Handheld, line-of-business operating system. Motorola Solutions has chosen this operating system for the ES400 and is committed to delivering sustainable packages that keep operatives working in the field.

“We welcome this and look forward to advising our users on this cost-effective, sustainable alternative. With this new approach delivering a far more productive business case overall, we believe that the days of lost productivity resulting from cheap, throw away, consumable devices are thankfully over.”

For his part James Pemberton of Application Program & Strategy, Motorola Solutions EMEA said, “In social housing and local government in the United-Kingdom, 1st Touch delivers class-leading mobile workforce solutions that drive efficiency and productivity. Their clients require durable and sustainable solutions that support their work in the field. The ES400 shines in this environment and this PartnerSelect ISV membership means that these sectors will now be able to use the best handheld solution combined with the best mobile workforce software. We are delighted to have 1st Touch on board and will work closely with them on fine-tuning solutions to the needs of their customers.”