BURLINGTON, Massachusetts,
February 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NasdaqGS: CKSW), the leading
provider of automated workforce management and optimization
solutions for the service industry, today announced that Stedin's
meter replacement subsidiary, Stedin Measuring Company, has gone
live with ClickSoftware's workforce management and enterprise
mobility solutions in order to facilitate the rollout of smart
meters to two million homes in the
Netherlands. Stedin, which will be increasing its field
activities tenfold for the project, will use the solutions to align
its workforce to the successful delivery of the objectives set out
by the regulator and to meet its own high customer service
levels.
Stedin and its field engineers are responsible for the rollout
of smart meters to residential customers; the project begins in
2012, quickly gathering momentum over the next few years.
ClickSoftware's workforce management solution will effectively
schedule a large part of Stedin's rapidly growing workforce during
a time of rapid growth and intense activity. Enterprise mobility
will allow the company to deliver and collect crucial field data
relating to the smart meter deployment so that better informed
decisions can be made about the rollout and future maintenance of
the infrastructure.
The government, and ultimately taxpayers, in the Netherlands are making a considerable
investment in smart meters in order to meet European directives and
climate change targets on energy use. With considerable political
and economic focus on the project it is critical that the rollout
of smart meters is managed in the most effective manner
possible.
"There is considerable focus on this project, it is critical to
get it right," said Arjan Donker,
General Manager at Stedin Measuring Company. "We chose
ClickSoftware because it is a proven solution that will reduce the
potential risks associated with such a large scale project. It will
also allow us to rapidly grow the size of our workforce and deploy
resources by the most effective means to meet regulatory
targets."
When creating the schedule for Stedin's engineers, the solution
optimally factors regulatory commitments, engineer availability,
skills and location to help deploy the right individual to the
right property at the right time. This, combined with enterprise
mobility, will make it easier to get important customer service
details right which is essential given the high profile of the
project.
"Mobility will eliminate the errors that paper based systems are
prone to," added Donker. "So for instance engineers will, via
workflow on their mobile devices, have to record and match the
right meter serial number to the right property. This is a vital
customer service issue because energy use will be collected via
meters remotely and you don't want to send the wrong bill to the
wrong customer."
ClickSoftware is currently helping many utilities companies
around the world that are seeking to monitor and reduce the
consumption of energy with major smart meter rollouts.
"Stedin is planning the rollout in the
Netherlands with meticulous precision and we are delighted
to be a part of the project," said Dr. Moshe BenBassat, Chairman and CEO of
ClickSoftware. "Smart meter deployments are being monitored
closely by governments and the public. Under such close scrutiny
workforce management and mobility has an important role to play by
giving utilities greater certainty of a successful smart meter
project. "
About ClickSoftware
ClickSoftware is the leading provider of automated workforce
management and optimization solutions for every size of service
business. Our portfolio of solutions, available on demand and on
premises, create business value through higher levels of
productivity, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Our
patented concept of 'continuous planning and scheduling'
incorporates customer demand forecasting, long and short term
capacity planning, shift planning, real-time scheduling, mobility
and location-based services, as well as on-going communication with
the consumer on the expected arrival time of the service
resource.
As the pioneers of the 'W6' concept more than 30 years ago, we
have perfected solutions for solving a wide variety of problems on
Who does What, for Whom, with What, Where and When. The combination
of proven technology with educational services helps businesses
find the right balance between reducing costs, increasing customer
satisfaction, employee preferences and industry
regulations/legislation. ClickSoftware's solutions manage hundreds
of thousands of resources in service businesses across a variety of
industries and geographies. Our flexible deployment approach,
breadth and depth of solutions and strong partnerships with leading
CRM/ERP vendors and system integrators makes us the number
one choice to deliver superb business performance to any
organization. The company is headquartered in the United States and Israel, with offices across Europe, and Asia
Pacific. For more information, please visit
http://www.clicksoftware.com. Follow us on Twitter.
Safe Harbor
Statement
This press release contains express or implied forward-looking
statements within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 and other U.S Federal securities laws. These forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, those statements
regarding expected benefits to Stedin and its customers from using
ClickSoftware's solutions. Such "forward-looking statements"
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially
from those projected, including those discussed in the "Risk
Factors" section and elsewhere in ClickSoftware's annual report on
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31,
2010 and in subsequent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Except as otherwise required by law,
ClickSoftware is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims
any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
ClickSoftware Media Contact
Kristin Amico
ClickSoftware
kristin.amico@clicksoftware.com
+1-781-272-5903 Ext: 2364
SOURCE ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd