Property consultant company Vigers has found information technology to be a blessing.
Not only has it enabled its building consultancy department to improve internal operations and win lucrative contracts, but it has also helped provide customers with a better service.
An in-house application program based on Apple Newton Personal Digital Assistant enables the building consultancy department to conduct building valuations more efficiently. The company credits the system for helping it win contracts with the Hong Kong Government's housing department and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in the Philippines.
In the past, surveyors would record their reports on a dictaphone only to have them typed in later. Before the report reached its final stage, it would have to be amended several times and pasted with photos. Experts found themselves spending half their time doing clerical work.
The process was time consuming and inefficient, especially for large projects, such as when the company inspected buildings along railway lines in Kuala Lumpur.
'Now the technology is taking the dumb end of the job,' Shaun Eddleston, managing director of Vigers (Hong Kong), said.
Armed with a Newton PDA, surveyors can pull a pre-loaded form to check all the tasks for a building evaluation. Pull down menus give various check options and surveyors need only click the appropriate answer.