Christchurch Financial Management


Wireless enabled PDAs and mobile phones help Christchurch's financial advisers keep up-to-date with the latest financial information.

Best practice in: Technology
Sector: Finance
Size of firm: 20
Technologies: Wireless, PDAs, SMS
Location: London
Website: www.christchurch-financial.com


Objectives

Christchurch is a small investment management business, operating in a highly competitive market. "In a crowded marketplace for financial services, Christchurch aims to be innovative and provide a high quality service to our clients," says Director, Keith Perry. In order to give the best financial advice, it's crucial for Christchurch's advisers to have 
up-to-date information. 

Initially, Christchurch met this challenge by appointing a team of assistants to support advisers, either with research or by fielding questions, mostly by telephone. But this soon proved to be a time consuming, expensive and sometimes unreliable solution. "Apart from the opportunities for costly errors, the expense of using mobile phones for voice communication was escalating out of control," recalls Keith. The company needed a system that would allow advisers to access the latest information through e-mail, organise their diary and receive immediate notification of any sudden changes in the market. They also needed to be able to do all of this remotely.


Solution

Christchurch contacted ICT specialists, Peramon who analysed the communication problem and decided that Peramon's 'Mobilizer' system could provide the solution. This system worked with the Microsoft Outlook and Exchange software that Christchurch was already using. By simply adding mobile internet infrastructure products and applications, it gave the software wireless functionality. This meant that with the 'Mobilizer' connected to the Microsoft Exchange server, hand-held devices, like mobile phones and PDAs could access e-mail and calendar facilities. Effectively it transforms mobile phones and PDAs into sophisticated business appliances, enabling users 
to access all of their information and applications wherever they are. It also incorporates SMS alerts for company wide, time sensitive news about changes in the marketplace. The Mobilizer SMS Alert Server enabled applications to send and receive SMS messages over HTTP, using a simple text protocol. The SMS Server allows text to be entered via a conventional PC keyboard and the server does all the work. Information is downloaded either to a mobile phone or to a PDA, depending on the choice of the individual adviser.









Results

The roll out of the new system has been popular with both the staff, who find it convenient and practical, and the clients, who appreciate a fast response. "Since the system went live, Christchurch's service quality has definitely improved," says Keith Perry. "We believe that our initial outlay of £5,000 saves us, conservatively, over £30,000 per year." This is based on the saved cost of at least one administrative person as well as the savings from reduced phone charges. In addition to all this is the unquantifiable improvement in what Christchurch can offer to clients.  


The last word

Marketing has improved along with client service as the advisers are kept up to speed with all changes in the markets and up-to-date information.The client is able to deal with those changes in a meaningful and timely manner. High quality service for clients is the bedrock for Christchurch's success and the use of wireless technology allows them to maintain their high standards.

"Christchurch's service quality has improved and we believe that our initial outlay of £5,000 saves us over £30,000 per year."
   

Keith Perry - DIRECTOR