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Consistently ranked as one of the world’s top engineering fi rms by World Architecture magazine, Flack + Kurtz Inc. is a leading provider of multi-faceted building engineering services. The company works closely with internationally acclaimed architects and designers to engineer some of the most high-profi le building projects in the world. Flack + Kurtz employs more than 600 people with offi ces in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, Houston, Washington D.C., London, and Paris, with two permanent affi liate locations in Hong Kong and Sydney.
A Good Choice
As a company with major clients and projects around the world, Flack + Kurtz engineers, design teams, and management travel extensively. “We’re almost always on the road, yet our customers like to know they can reach us anytime, anywhere,” said Clark Bisel, Senior Vice President for Flack + Kurtz. “It is also important that our highly specialized workforce is as productive as possible while they travel.” To keep Flack + Kurtz road warriors accessible and productive, they had to carry numerous devices, typically a phone, laptop, and a wireless e-mail/paging system. This made staying in touch a complicated process of getting connected, logging in and syncing up.
Flack + Kurtz started using RIM® BlackBerry® devices to improve the situation. While the remote e-mail capability was a benefi t, it did not replace the need to carry a cell phone or laptop. According to Mario Ornelas, manager of IT services for the company, “it actually added to the burden because the RIM 950 devices required employees to carry the hotsync cradle as well.”
Flack + Kurtz wanted a centrally-managed wireless communications solution, delivered over an integrated device that did not rely on the end user to login or synchronize to stay current. The new solution also had to function in Europe, Asia, and other places employees traveled.
The Solution
When Ornelas heard about Good Mobile Messaging running on multiple devices, he was intrigued. “Once we realized we could eliminate the cradle by using Good’s push synchronization to a single, converged device, we were all over it.” After a thorough evaluation, Flack + Kurtz selected Good Mobile Messaging and AT&T for its mobile communications solution. The Good solution gives the company a fully synchronized desktop-like user environment. “BlackBerry couldn’t synch with our desktop calendaring and e-mail functions,” says Bisel, “so we spent valuable time at the office wading through e-mails we had already read on the road.”
Flack + Kurtz’s mobile staff can also manage their calendar and contact information over the same device that delivers real-time e-mail and cellular phone capabilities. Good’s push synchronization means all their information is completely current without the bother of fi nding an Internet connection, logging in, or synching up. “Wherever I go, I can see what’s happening in real time,” says Bisel. “I can refer to archived e-mails, I can verify contact information, I can manage my calendar, and I can use Palm® applications like the world clock and metric units converter to help me get my job done as I travel around the world.”
With international roaming on AT&T, engineers and senior staff are using Good Mobile Messaging in China, Australia and Europe to stay in touch with customers and eliminate the stress and time-consuming process of logging in during off-hours to catch up on e-mail. The built-in cameras now available on many mobile devices also enable engineers to snap photos of building sites to share with other teams. “Good Mobile Messaging helps me push more information out to the organization, where it can be used to inform business decisions and make things happen more efficiently,” says Bisel.
From a support standpoint, Good Mobile Messaging’s over-the-air feature makes device administration fast and easy. Previously, it took about an hour to set up a device over the wire. With Good’s Over-the-Air (OTA) feature, it takes only 20 minutes. “Device management used to consume a lot of my time each day,” said Ornelas. “Now, I can set up the devices I want to manage in the console, push a button and let the system do the work. This one feature has made my job much easier, giving me more time to focus on other important tasks.”
The Results
Flack + Kurtz’s mobile workers are instantly available and responsive at all times, something their customers rely on. According to Bisel, “Good Technology makes us more valuable to our customers because we’re more available. Our regional and international project work has expanded as we’ve adopted more effi cient technology.” Ornelas says the Good solution has also allowed his IT team to be more responsive and that the success of the Good installation is having a direct impact on the success of the entire business. Because of these results, Flack + Kurtz is phasing out its RIM BlackBerry devices and moving completely to Good’s Palm Treo solution. “We expect to be a 100-percent Good Mobile Messaging shop by the end of the year,” said Ornelas.
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