Registration System for Dierenambulance

Animal Ambulance Gooi and Vechtstreek has been using its own Delphi system for more than fourteen years to plan journeys and register payments. “This system was built by our own IT expert, André,” says Paul. “Gradually the application started to show flaws. There were more and more malfunctions. We had to bother André during his holiday in Croatia. Very annoying. It is a big risk if only one person in an organisation understands the software. With the new custom-made application we know that Marco and his team are thinking about the system and watching. That is reassuring.”

Around the table with users

Many volunteers work with the animal ambulance. They answer the phone if someone finds an animal and put the information in the system. “Anyone can be an operator, so that includes retired people or those with little computer knowledge,” says Paul. “Introducing a new application can be very difficult. However, the process went smoothly. We sat down with the users to discuss their wishes. GDK also actively participated. How were certain tasks in the old system performed? How do we make that logical in the new application? Marco Geuze and his colleagues reacted quickly and also came to us regularly with ideas.”

Enthusiastically received by users

All the operators are happy with the new application. “Data entry in particular is very fast and causes less stress. The old system used to get stuck. If an operator received multiple calls one after another, this used to cause a lot of stress. There is also a lot more of an overview now. Previously I had to open a journey to see its details. Now I can see at a glance where the ambulance is and what the status of a particular journey is. We can search for the name of an animal more easily. The biggest gain is the linking of multiple journeys. Suppose we pick up an animal in Hilversum, which goes back to our base and then later is delivered to Weesp. Now we can link them together in one click. Previously we could not do that. With this change alone, we save several minutes per journey. That may not seem very much, but if the telephone is ringing continuously then thirty seconds makes a big difference.”

Easily export relevant data

Paul can easily extract data relevant to him from the application. “I make overviews for municipalities, such as the number of animals per area and where animals have been taken. These days I can easily export this data from the application. Other details, such as the workload per month, are just as easy to view. GDK has transferred part of the old data to the new system, so that we can see a part of the history.”

Your own animal archive

Perhaps the most beautiful feature of the new application is the animal book. The animal book contains all the rescued animals. An animal ambulance driver can immediately take a photo of an injured or deceased animal on location. “We create our own archive. We solve many cold cases this way,” says Paul. “It often happens that a runaway pet is later found in our archive, sometimes even months or years after the discovery. We can inform owners about what happened to their pet. This often gives a lot of comfort.”

Tailored suit

Currently each region works with their own software. “There is increasing contact between different animal ambulances, but everyone still does it in their own way,” continues Paul. “Some animal ambulances still write journeys in a book. Nothing is automated there yet.” Before choosing GDK, Paul and André compared other systems. “Those systems were four times more expensive than GDK’s solution. I always say: we now have a tailor-made suit, but one which is four times cheaper than a standard suit.”