New feature rich system for ParentMail will help busy parents plan for school trips, clubs and parties via mobile, web and tablet

A revamp of web functionality and introduction of tablet and mobile support for ParentMail, the UK’s leading parent and school community, is complete as part of a
£2 million project by mobile technology strategists, Answer. 

Over the last decade, ParentMail has gained a community of 3.5 million registered parents from 5000 schools to simplify all the details of school life such as when dinner money payment is required, when sports day is taking place and when swimming kit is needed.  Its email and text update formula has helped parents avoid forgotten paper letters languishing in the bottom of school bags. 

Now, busy parents will gain even more information, even when on the move, from their mobile devices.  A Cloud App for iPhone and iPad has been created, together with a brand new web App that will help with planning and tracking activities at school, nursery or clubs.  The Cloud platform makes it ready to grow with demand, stores and backs-up content securely and provides a highly flexible structure that can incorporate new services and functionality easily into the future.

The new Alert System will ensure that no concert will go un-heard, no sports day un-cheered and no cake un-baked, with details on all children, even those at different schools or nurseries, automatically placed in one central electronic calendar for parents to follow.  Communication between schools and parents has become two-way, so parents can make dinner money or school trip payments automatically online and easily provide absence consent without having to print, sign and return slips.

“As all parents know, it’s difficult keeping track of all the schools and club activities that children take part in alongside busy working lives.  ParentMail’s success over the last ten years has been to streamline and simplify communication of all information in an easy to digest and manage format,” states Paul Hughes, Managing Director at ParentMail. 

“Answer Consulting opened our eyes and inspired us with what more we could deliver to schools and parents by implementing new web and mobile device technology.  This made them the perfect match to overhaul ParentMail’s design, operation and structure so that we can expand our services beyond just schools, into nurseries and clubs.  The Cloud-based software platform makes our offering scalable and resilient to drive future growth,” Paul continues.

Steve Dobson, Head of Design and Innovation at Answer states, “The scale of the ParentMail project has taken 12 months of planning and project management, drawing on our pedigree of the design, development and testing of software solutions for web and mobile devices.  ParentMail is an exciting concept that is growing in uptake by schools and families.  A single account delivers all the information people need to keep in tune with their families school, sports and social lives – helping parents to be a little less frazzled.”

For schools, the advantages of the service being rolled out onto mobile and tablet devices is that parents can be instantly reached anytime, anywhere.  The new functionality will also enable greater depth of engagement with every individual parent or specific groups of parents.  This will also help to reduce paper-based communication methods that in turn yield material cost savings to schools plus assist with the reduction of staff workload.

Cloud-based business app developed by Answer delivers real-time information
to field based workers, saving time and admin costs

DBi Prismo, a leading contractor of road marking products and road safety solutions, has rolled out an iPhone application strategy to ensure seamless communication between its 'in the field' workforce and office based departments. The app, developed by mobile technology strategists Answer, allows real-time reporting and communication, cutting DBi Prismo's reliance on paperwork and driving annual savings of over £300,000 in administration costs.

The Cloud-hosted mobile workforce management system named "Yesterday's Internal Knowledge (YIK)" by DBi Prismo, facilitates real-time reporting both to and from the workforce and to the customer. It provides instant updates for any type of weather, travel or job specification changes and rapid evidential reporting using the device's camera. Previously documentation would be couriered between sites or information would be transmitted via a vehicle-based system.

At the beginning of each day, mandatory vehicle checks are managed by the system as part of extensive health and safety requirements built into the system's processes. Once approved, teams are instantly provided with the day's schedule, dimensions / specifications, location and route via the bespoke iPhone app, creating significant time and cost-savings. The system also allows teams to directly report on stock requirements, condition of the location and confirmation of job completion before being sent details of the next task.

In addition to streamlined job workflow, DBi Prismo has seen a noticeable improvement in customer invoicing, down from 7/8 weeks to next day and invoice disputes dropping from over 50% to only 5%. An employee survey also revealed a boost in workforce morale due to the system's ease-of-use and ability to track wages via an e-timesheet. The smartphones have proven to be robust, given the difficult environments the teams work in, but also bring a range of communication options including phone, text, e-mail and intranet access as opposed to the previous vehicle-based units.

"As a leading Contractor of road marking products and road safety solutions, we felt it was time to lead the sector into a new phase of technological innovation. We knew that Answer's mobile solution would streamline business processes and help the workforce operate efficiently," said Rosie Shanks, Director at DBi Prismo. "The system has led to significant cost savings over the previous paper-based system and provides us with a new level of visibility of cost and productivity on any chosen day. With the app's intuitive picture-based dashboard, human error has also been greatly reduced."

"DBi Prismo's needs were very specific due to the unique nature of the work they do and the wide variety of locations in which they operate," states Steve Dobson, Head of Design and Innovation at Answer. "The integrated, tailored solution we developed has enabled office-based procedures and field operations to run in perfect synergy. When operating in a challenging environment, waiting for information is expensive, time-consuming and a drain on resources – our business application has changed that."

The Evolution of Technology

The story of ‘The Producers‘ really makes me :-) Not the plot, the concept of creating something so bad it manages to transcend even its own waste basket destiny actually makes me ROFL but the story of the story; the movie that was so successful it was adapted into a hugely successful stage musical that became so successful it was adapted into an exceptionally successful ... errr ... movie.


It's a ‘Circle of Life‘ (yes, another movie reference) situation that we are witnessing in various guises with the development of more and more forms of entertainment. It's a fact - Pop Culture will definitely Eat Itself.

So, the Producers thing has tickled me for a while, but what actually got me thinking about the cannibalistic nature of our industry was the recent launch of an actual 3D, real life, yes you can touch it, Angry Birds game! It comes in a box and everything and you have to build the sets with your own hands like some primitive toy from the dark ages! For me it was perhaps one of the most significant developments in entertainment evolution; the equivalent of an emu taking up flying again or Elton John deciding that bald is best.

A long time ago, well, the late seventies I guess, inspiration for what would become the first computer games was found in things we already enjoyed doing. Tennis became Pong, Solitaire became less of a game for one and more of a collaboration between man and machine (great that the computer would always do the dealing) and I'm not saying that Star Wars was a direct influence on the developers of Space Invaders but I certainly felt like Han Solo when I was kicking alien butt!

As our technical abilities improved so did the games, graphics and controls. The playing arena became more sophisticated but inspiration was still, in the main but not exclusively by this stage, coming from outside sources and experiences. Driving games, shoot 'em ups, alien invasion, board games, skill and dexterity challenges; many of them completely original concepts but with the spark of an idea formed from things we already knew and understood.

So what I'm saying really, as an old man of the industry, is there used to be something of a chronological order to the development of these things that now seems to be getting turned on its head! Computer games are no longer the by-product of another great idea or invention, they are generating their own progeny in the wake of higher demand for entertainment on a myriad of devices. A great game can lead to even greater things and Angry Birds is perhaps the best example of this. Soft toys are already available, there's clothing and other associated merchandise, rumours of a film and now the physical version of the digital game has arrived; priceless!!

It makes you wonder how prepared the designers and programmers are for this type of business development. If a £2.99 game from the App Store can become such a global phenomenon surely it could happen to any neat, quirky, original idea be it a game or not. Is the lesson to be learned here that we all need to be prepared to replicate what we put online in other areas of society; on the high street, at the cinema, in schools, board rooms or on the shop floor. Any spark of App genius has the potential to change the world and the way it operates; we can now legitimately be the cause and not just the action of society's needs and desires. In the words of another great film, "If you build it, he will come" (and yes, I know it was a book first!). Never has this saying been more appropriate for our industry.

Answer appointed to unlock knowledge for cost and process efficiencies

Capita Financial Group has appointed technology strategists Answer Consulting to spearhead a structured knowledge transfer programme for its IT team. The anticipated benefits of the Mindswap® programme are to reduce the business risk, realise cost efficiencies by managing down contractors and provide further motivation to the in-house teams through improved learning.


Through a series of workshop sessions over nine months, members of the Capita Financial Group IT team will mind-swap' to extract and share critical understanding. The process, recognised by the Institute of IT Training for the way it addresses business risk and competitive agility, will also ensure that new team members are fully immersed in departmental know-how to maximise value. Mindswap will also help Capita Financial Group reduce the use of contract staff realising cost efficiencies.

"The process of mind-swapping seems obvious to ensure knowledge is shared, but busy teams and post merger organisations often need a fresh pair of eyes to steer them," states Lindy Wainwright, Programme Manager for Knowledge Transfer and Principal Consultant at Answer Consulting. "Mindswap was founded in IT and formalises an active learning approach building technical and system knowledge without adding workload to in-house experts. With structured learning and a specialist knowledge transfer programme in place, a more confident team can be built to support business objectives."

A by-product of the Mindswap programme will be the creation of a knowledge repository that will provide an ongoing reference point for future incident resolution or for new joiner induction.

The French Connection App has been purposely designed by Answer to encourage browsing, revel in the brand and share with friends. Whether perusing the rails for the latest dresses or tops, viewing collections that inspire the whole outfit or sharing a favourite with your best friend, the French Connection brand warrants time to enjoy…. without being stood at the door or queuing at the till!

"Another exciting move from Apple with the usual speculation and hype leading up to the announcement! The extra processing power of the iPad 2 allows for more flexibility in the business application world keeping hardware and maintenance cost to a minimum, even with bespoke enterprise Apps. At work, Apps can deliver benefits such as streamlining day-to-day processes and speeding up administration or reporting. The delivery of another mobile tool will further fuel the need for content to fulfil the enthusiasm of mobile savvy consumers. Innovative mobile App strategies breathe life into brands and help inject personality into shopping for fashion or other lifestyle purchases."

We are delighted to announce that we have moved into The City. Our southern office is now situated in the centre of London and we are all very excited by the move. After 3 years in our Woking office we have made the decision to move to pastures new. Gary Parlett Joint Managing Director for Answer claims "We've always wanted to be nearer to our clients and now we've found the ideal location." Moving into London is an exciting time for Answer and we look forward to building and maintaining business relationships within The City.