IT refresh helps support services cut costs

New NFC-based workforce management tool to be deployed by Real Life Options

Real Life Options, a not-for-profit provider of support services for people with learning difficulties is set to embark on a major IT update, which will enable it to redirect spending on back-office functions to frontline support.

It intends to deploy an NFC-based workforce management system that will reduce the cost of its billing activities and enable it to deploy staff more effectively, Tony Myers, the director of finance at RLO, told Computing.

The system, called iConnect, uses NFC-enabled readers in the homes of the people receiving support, which are connected to the internet. The readers will record when RLO staff come and go from a property.

RLO currently uses a paper-based system to record the activity of its 1,400 support staff. This data is collated monthly and used to generate bills for 30 local authorities across the UK, which use RLO's services to support people with learning difficulties and autism take control of their own lives.

The iConnect system, which is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2012, will help reduce the time and cost of billing, while also improving the organisation's ability to generate staff rotas, said Myers.

"The aim is to minimise the amount we spend on back-office functions, so that we can maximise what we spend on frontline services," said Myers.

The iConnect system will be deployed by IT services firm Advanced Computer Software. RLO will also migrate to a hosted suite of integrated accounting, HR, payroll and document management systems, which will be run by ACS.

RLO took a strategic decision to update its core IT systems last year, after senior managers concluded that its current systems were hindering its ability to grow, said Myers.