UAE-based total facilities management service provider Emrill has developed and launched an app to drive operational efficiencies in the delivery of cleaning services within vertical communities.

Utilising the efficiency-enhancing app, Emrill has increased operational efficiency by 25 per cent across manpower optimisation and task completion.

In 2018, Emrill, in collaboration with tracking solutions provider, TechnoPurple Tracking, launched its efficiency-enhancing app for horizontal communities, achieving a 20 per cent increase in manpower optimisation and a 10 per cent reduction in manual task supervision. Building on the success of the award-winning app, Emrill has shifted its focus to vertical communities, which make up a large proportion of the facilities management services provider's portfolio of contracts.

Emrill has rolled out the reimagined efficiency-enhancing app across four vertical communities comprising 178 buildings. The digital monitoring solution, developed to increase workforce efficiency through transparent tracking and automation, is accessible by housekeeping attendants via their mobile devices. Using the app, cleaning attendants receive daily task schedules, including customisable routes. Additionally, supervisors can easily monitor the performance and adherence to the schedule using the web admin portal, precisely tracking how many staff are present in each building, which floor team members are on, and task completion by floor or person.

"Vertical communities present a unique set of challenges," said Gopalakrishnan, operations director at Emrill. "Detecting the real-time location of staff in horizontal communities comprising villas and duplexes is possible by utilising signals from GPS satellites, which are omnipresent. However, tracking becomes far more complex in high-rise towers, where it is possible for staff to effectively be stood on top of each other across multiple floors under cover of the building's roof and upper levels."

Partnering once again with TechnoPurple Tracking, Emrill enhanced the existing app for horizontal communities to utilise location technologies other than GPS, including Wi-Fi access points and the deployment of low-power, battery-operated Bluetooth beacons.

A unique feature of the new implementation is that tasks can be completed via the efficiency-enhancing app only if the assigned employee is on the right floor at the right time and signals task completion with the upload of photographic proof against a checklist. To complete an assigned task, housekeeping attendants must be physically present in the location associated with the task, verified via the app through Bluetooth beacons or Wi-Fi access points. For ease of use and efficiency, tasks only become visible when attendants are in the correct location on the right floor.

To facilitate a timely response to emergencies, site supervisors can allocate additional urgent tasks directly through the app to the closest person. Upon allocation of an urgent task, the app on the attendant's mobile device provides a clear visualisation of the route and the required task.

Gopalakrishnan said, "With this enhanced app, we have achieved something that has never been seen before in this region—a granular level of visibility that enables the real-time tracking of staff and task completion in vertical communities using technology that cannot be tampered with or compromised."

Over the coming months, Emrill will roll out its new efficiency-enhancing app across more vertical communities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to enhance the delivery of cleaning services, further optimise manpower and increase cost and time efficiencies – benefits that can be passed onto Emrill's clients.