CSO Ltd

The Challenges

Due to the nature of the business CSO Ltd required tighter internal processes for locating their 24 hour mobile security and alarm response officers.

As no telematics solution was currently in place management were relying on manually calling each employee on their mobile to determine their whereabouts and understand who could get to a location in the quickest possible time. This process was proving insufficient and management required a solution which would increase efficiencies in order to ensure critical response times were being met.

CSO Ltd also faced a more recent challenge when an employee was involved in a collision with a cyclist. Unfortunately the standalone dash cams the company implemented failed to capture the incident due to SD card formatting issues. This raised frustrations and concerns with the camera technology urging them to source a more reliable means of capturing accidents.

The Solution

After close consideration of the vehicle tracking market and a demo from a number of suppliers, CSO Ltd selected Crystal Ball to be their tracking provider; this decision was solely based on Crystal Ball’s superior functionality.

Crystal Ball’s well-established FleetTracker solution was implemented initially, offering 24/7 real-time location mapping plus much more.  This enables the business to efficiently provide customers with confirmation that the officers are on site when they should be along with ensuring response times are being met by having around-the-clock visibility of their locations.

Utilising the historical snail-trail data provided by the system, management can also ensure the quickest, most efficient routes are taken at all times enabling them to address circumstances where this may not have been the case.

Furthermore, the system also makes job allocation effortless as driver and site locations can be immediately pin-pointed and therefore the closest driver can be identified instantly – something which has proven critical when working against response times.

Although FleetTracker was proving its effectiveness in addressing the businesses key challenges, CSO Ltd most recently implemented Crystal Ball’s award-winning SmartCam solution; integrated fleet tracking with 3G HD video to replace the dashcams that had previously been in place.

With SmartCam now in situ management have the ability to immediately review any videos generated via Crystal Ball’s online portal and Manager App. This functionality allows the business to provide their insurance company with FNOL (first notification of loss) should a vehicle be involved in an incident. It also allows management to assess and improve any poor driver behaviour which may be identified.

Furthermore, with paperless vehicle checks, speeding alerts and road speed data plus much more, the business can ensure they are not only 100% compliant but also help to enhance driver safety.

The Outcome

Crystal Ball has undoubtedly enabled CSO Ltd to provide an enhanced level of customer service by now being able to provide proof of work and live and historical locations to customers.

As a result of implementing Crystal Ball the business has also noticed considerably faster response times. With the ease of the Manager App, directors are able to efficiently determine the officer’s locations via their smartphone and immediately phone the appropriate driver.

Darren Weston, MD at CSO Ltd explains further:

“I find the snail –trail data to be extremely useful, there have been numerous occasions where I have noticed drivers taking indirect routes to a job, sometimes involving a 5 or 6 mile detour! Being able to identify this has allowed me to address it and ensure the quickest, most efficient routes are taken at all times to a) ensure response times are met and b) to ensure as a business we are operating as efficiently as possible.”

Darren comments on how Crystal Ball has recently proven to be invaluable when involved in an insurance scam:

“Crystal Ball recently proved to be invaluable when we were unfortunately involved in an incident which turned out to be fraudulent. One of our drivers was involved in a collision which after thorough investigation and the utilisation of the data provided by Crystal Ball turned out to be a deliberate and staged car accident. Thanks to Crystal Ball, the data which we were able to provide to the investigators proved that the accident was set up, saving the company a huge pay out on our insurance! Thankfully the drivers were prosecuted, however had we not had Crystal Ball in place the result would have been very different!”

SmartCam is also demonstrating its benefits within the business, Darren says:

“SmartCam was initially installed as a means of capturing incidents on the road after the standalone dashcam failed to obtain footage when one of our drivers was involved in an incident with a cyclist. However, although this is a fantastic feature there is also other functionality available which we are also finding very useful. With SmartCam’s paperless vehicle checks we no longer have to rely on paperwork to conduct daily vehicle checks. This has sped up the process of conducting the checks and allows us to review defects immediately and therefore act upon these straight away – ensuring we are 100% compliant and meeting health and safety legislation. The audible speeding alerts and road speed data are also very useful; the drivers can no longer use the excuse of not realising what the speed limit was or not knowing they were exceeding the speed limit should we receive a speeding fine!”

Additional Comments

“Crystal Ball is now an integral part of our business, we are pleased to see they are working hard to expand the solutions they offer and would definitely and always do, recommend their services.”