The speed and accuracy of quotes produced by our engineers, equipped with the mobile tablet PCs, brings benefits all the way down the line.
Andy Johnson
LARC Managing Director
Lichfield provide both speed and accuracy with Duo-Touch II...
One of the world's smallest, lightest and most intuitive rugged tablet PCs, the General Dynamics Itronix Duo-Touch® II has proven its flexibility, simplicity and reliability in a wide range of applications from education establishments to security forces. Now, it is coming into its own for motor insurers by giving all parties involved after an accident the required information more quickly and accurately than ever before.
The Lichfield Accident Repair Centre (LARC) is the largest automobile repair shop in Staffordshire with 30 skilled engineers handling up to 300 repairs a month through its 32,000 square foot facility near Birmingham, UK. It is approved and used by all leading insurance companies to assess damage and complete post-accident repairs – a task made more efficient since the acquisition of several hand-held Duo-Touch II tablet PCs.
LARC's qualified assessors use the global web-based Audatex estimating system to produce quotes for insurance companies.
The mobile Duo-Touch II units, each of which weighs less than 2 kilogrammes, are able to host not just the Audatex system – with its graphic display and comprehensive library of parts prices and availability – but also a ‘BMS' management system that gives a snap-shot of progress, displaying how much time is allocated to a job and how long it has taken at any given point, and flagging any factors that are stopping the job.
Assessors are able to walk around the vehicle and input information on the spot, detailing damage, checking parts availability and arriving at an estimate without having to handwrite notes and leaving the scene to find a desktop computer on which to input the data. This saves a lot of time – particularly if the assessor needs to view the damaged vehicle more than once or even travel to visit the scene of an accident.
Once an estimate has been generated by the engineer, it can be sent immediately over the internet, as an e-mail, to the customer's insurance company. This whole process is highly visual and can now take a matter minutes rather than hours – and allows the insurance company to make a quick decision. Parts can then also be ordered online.
Engineer and assessor Adam Faulkner set the system up at LARC and saw immediate benefits: "I soon realised that virtually all information needed by us to complete a job, and the systems supporting that data, can be loaded onto the tablet and is there right in front of us to use real-time."
"As well as Audatex and BMS, we can also display images and Excel spreadsheets through the wi-fi communication link to our own server. All this enables us to track progress real-time and keep our own networks, insurers and individual customers fully up to speed."
LARC Managing Director Andy Johnson added: "The speed and accuracy of quotes produced by our engineers, equipped with the mobile tablet PCs, brings benefits all the way down the line. A precise quote will bring a quicker decision, which means we can – as appropriate – launch repairs in our workshop more quickly, limit the amount of time a courtesy car is required and get customers back on the road."
"If our positive experience is anything to go by, the Duo-Touch II tablets can save a lot of time and bring huge benefits across the motor insurance industry – and result in a lot more satisfied customers."
Get more information on the General Dynamics Itronix Duo-Touch® II
Lichfield Accident Repair Centre is located on Crossfield Road, Lichfield; for more information, visit www.larcuk.com
