In a small however attention-grabbing replace, Openreach (BT) has revealed that – as a part of their partnership with Apple – over 30,000 of their engineers now have the “newest” iPhone, which by greater than 40 customized apps has enabled them to finish 3,000 extra jobs a month than traditional (recorded during the last 6 months).
The put up on LinkedIn doesn’t point out the truth that the corporate has truly been utilizing Apple’s iPhones for a few years already, which we predict began someday round 2015. The gadgets have not too long ago been refreshed with the most recent mannequin, however the method being taken just isn’t basically new, though the advantages have solely hardly ever been mentioned exterior Openreach’s inside circle.
As Openreach’s Chief Expertise and Data Officer, Colin Lees, stated: “[The] iPhone has turn out to be the only most essential factor that our engineers carry, with apps that help them all through their day as they serve our prospects.”
The 40 or so apps cowl every little thing from workflow / schedule administration to mapping, communication, safety and security protocols. For instance, the ‘Pre-Climb’ app signifies that engineers don’t have to go looking a number of databases to verify that poles are secure to climb. Some apps, reminiscent of ‘SWAT’, are additionally used to assist their engineers discover one of the best place for community tools in your house (i.e. to enhance WiFi sign).
Apple has a case examine web page on all this, which features a abstract video (see beneath). The web page additionally mentions how over 30,000 of Openreach’s engineers are utilizing iPhones (the LinkedIn put up put it at 16,000+ however we’ve been informed that’s incorrect). All of that is simply an attention-grabbing little perception into how fashionable Smartphones are being tailored for engineering work.
UPDATE 11:23am
Openreach has confirmed to us that every one 30,000+ of their engineers now have the most recent iPhone fashions.