Mobile Applications Case Study

About CitiStorage

Since 1990, CitiStorage has delivered quality records management services to its corporate customers with offices in the New York metropolitan area. With records management centers in Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey, the company’s 175 employees serve approximately 3,000 companies of all sizes, and in different vertical markets, such as healthcare, legal, financial services, government and special interest organizations.

Situation

CitiStorage needed to know exactly where its drivers were at any time and enhance their productivity. When customers called with special requests or to confirm pick-ups and deliveries of records and files, CitiStorage would locate drivers by calling them on their cell phones. This would disrupt and slow their work, potentially distract the drivers, and delay responses to customers.

Solution

CitiStorage is now able to provide immediate answers to customers when they call with inquiries. The main office easily locates its drivers using Telenav TrackTM from AT&T – mobile workforce management software that is loaded on the drivers’ Samsung Rugby® cell phones and running over the AT&T wireless network.

Demanding Business and Market

It’s hard to find a more demanding business than records management. And it’s equally hard to find a more demanding market than New York.

Yet, for more than 22 years, CitiStorage has thrived in this business and market, providing corporations with secure storage and management of their documents. The company has grown from a start-up with 27 boxes to over four million boxes and counting, making it the largest, single market independent records-storage company in the U.S.

“Our growth has resulted from a variety of factors,” explained Brian Field, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The commitment to building high-quality teams and customer service are some of the major factors that drive this growth. We always look for opportunities to help our customers in any way possible.”

Max Waldrop, Vice President of Operations, agreed, “Records management has dramatically evolved over the years with the introduction of technologies like scanning and barcoding. Yet one thing has remained constant in our business: personalized, flexible service backed by security and integrity.”

Even with 22+ years of experience, Waldrop and Field haven’t run out of fresh ideas when it comes to CitiStorage and its operations. “Working in the New York market means being creative every day,” explained Waldrop. “It’s an unpredictable, fluid environment where anything can happen. We’re continuously investing in our business to improve our processes – anything that puts us in a position to better serve our customers.”

Each day, CitiStorage drivers work their schedules of deliveries and pick-ups, navigating the most crowded streets and highways in the U.S. “Our customers trust us to store and manage one of their most important assets – their records,” said Field. “Every day, we have an opportunity to reinforce this trust with on-time, secure handling of their highly sensitive documents.”

To do this, Waldrop and his team must know where their drivers are, at all times. “We need to be able to quickly respond to unexpected customer calls and special requests. And even a ‘typical’ day can quickly take a sudden turn when it comes to New York traffic. With our AT&T solution, we have more control of our hard-to-control environment.”

Getting More Control

Before working with AT&T, Waldrop would place numerous phone calls to drivers throughout the day to determine their locations and status of schedules. Customers would call with special requests or to simply confirm a driver’s arrival time. Waldrop’s team would either place the customer on-hold or call the customer back after locating the driver with the answer.

“When I considered the amount of calls we made each day and the time we spent, I realized how inefficient this process was for us. I started searching for a new technology or service that would help improve our responsiveness to customers.”

Today, all CitiStorage drivers are equipped with Samsung Rugby cell phones with Telenav Track from AT&T, which is mobile workforce management software running over the AT&T Wireless Network. Using a Web-based map, Waldrop and his team can easily pinpoint drivers’ GPS locations, making it a snap to answer customers’ questions about estimated arrival times.

Waldrop researched several companies and their technologies before deciding on AT&T and its mobility solution. “As big as AT&T is, they addressed our unique needs. Our account team really explored our situation, did the research and recommended a customized solution that helps us now deliver an even more unique, personalized service to our customers.”

Louis Weiner, President and CEO of CitiStorage, noted, “Much has changed in the 22 years we have been in business. However, the one constant has been our commitment to provide a quality service to our customers. The strategy of investing in technology has helped CitiStorage maintain a competitive advantage in delivering on this pledge. Telenav Track is a technology that helps us overcome many of the daily obstacles we encounter in our demanding marketplace.”

Responding Instantaneously

Whether walking or driving, a driver’s location is never in question. “We don’t have to call and disrupt his workflow. And we can say to a customer, ‘We see that he is two blocks away and will be there in a minute,’ which makes a great impression on our customers and makes us much more efficient,” said Waldrop.

The Telenav Track mobile application is also integrated with the CitiStorage system that is being updated in real-time throughout the day. “We can send new work to a driver and, at the same time, receive pick-up and delivery information from him. We understand exactly what work is completed and what is still pending. So if new requests come in, we can respond accordingly.”

The drivers have embraced the new AT&T solution since they no longer get multiple calls throughout the day. Waldrop recalled, “They were concerned about the change for about one day! They quickly realized the benefit of having the new cell phones with Telenav Track when we didn’t call them every few minutes.”

In fact, the new solution has helped CitiStorage address the biggest disruption in a driver’s day – New York City traffic. With Telenav Track maps, Waldrop’s team helps steer drivers away from congested areas before they are stuck sitting in traffic.

Waldrop credited having information at his fingertips as the game-changer for him and his operations. He’s able to better manage drivers on the street working, and advise or coach them about improvements in their routes.

“If a driver is at a particular stop for longer than planned, we can reschedule another driver to work his next pick-up, then send him on to the next stop,” Waldrop explained. Using the Telenav breadcrumb routes, we de-brief with drivers at the end of the day to point out better ways to drive from point-to-point. It also gives them an opportunity to examine their routes and suggest different, faster ones. The more positive things we do, the more productive we get.”

Another benefit has been a reduction in overtime expense. “We have had the AT&T solution in place for six months and have saved 20 percent in driver overtime expense – something that we didn’t expect but were delighted to achieve.”

Field summed up the business benefits: “We want to empower and enable our people. It’s our ongoing commitment to serve customers better and stay ahead of the competition.”