Challenge
Hive (a Centrica product) offers smart home technologies and has over 1 million customers globally, helping them to control their heating, hot water, lights and plug in devices remotely from any device. Hive creates smart home devices and services, all controlled with a simple to use app.
Customer experience is fundamentally important to Hive, not only for day to day use of existing customers but also to promote increased take up of devices and the wider adoption of services. In early 2017, Hive recognised the need to re-engineer their mobile app and website to improve the customer experience.
Solution
Centrica contracted DCSL GuideSmiths, a bespoke software development agency, as their software development partner.
The team – consisting of a Lead Architect, three Software Developers and a Project Manager – worked directly with the product owner and created a Front Line Support Tool (FLST) for engineers and the customer management team to maintain the connected devices, and backend tasks for the smart home systems. A further application, called Boiler IQ, has been developed to connect a device that monitors the user’s boiler and reports the company when it stops working.
The initial design met the requirements and accelerated the move to a truly digital and device agnostic platform, allowing room for expansion. The application was developed using React Native, in their AWS environment. DCSL GuideSmiths incorporated continuous development, testing and deployment components, making progress transparent to Hive at all times.
The smart devices (security, lighting, heating devices etc.) in the customers homes are connected through Bluetooth and wi-fi to a Hub in the user’s home. The team have created a desktop client management system, where the engineers can record and track the users and devices which are connected through their “Hub”. The devices send user information to the Hive Home database. The team has also created an embedded internal application for British Gas, Global Engineering app boiler installation system, called Boiler IQ.
Outcome
DCSL GuideSmiths delivered a cross-platform Client Relationship Manager application and desktop support tool, which enables the connection and operation of smart home devices. It allows engineers and technical support to interact, and provide a real time view of the smart devices. The application offers remote connection, for internal use for engineers in case of malfunction.
DCSL GuideSmiths delivered the two mission critical MVPs (a business critical Web Application and a Mobile Application) ahead of schedule.
The DCSL GuideSmiths team don’t just talk the agile concept, they live and breathe it. Their attitude, their business ethics, their technical excellence and grasp of continuous integration and deployment make them a perfect strategic partner for any organisation with digital transformation ambitions.
