Managing one or more office buildings involves a varied and intensive set of tasks. Well-supporting software is crucial in order to plan and deal systematically with the increasing flow of different operations, bookings, disruptions, and inquiries. How do you achieve that? DXC Technology provides the answer with Ask James, The Facility Master. Ask James is a complete Facility Management application, developed by DXC Technology on the flexible and powerful ServiceNow platform. Ask James contains all the functionality to professionally support the FM department in the management of one or more buildings, all facilities, reservations (of rooms and other items) and more.
Ease of use, a clear overview, and intuitive self-service for end-users are important requirements in the development of Ask James. The solution offers maximum transparency in the flow of orders, sub-orders, bookings, building maintenance and reports and makes them much easier to manage.
Order management
The core of Ask James is order management. Orders, bookings, disruption reports etc. can be sent to FM via the user portal, mobile interfaces or the Facility Management helpdesk. The automated workflow will make sure it ends up at the correct group or vendor. Vendors can manage their work via our Vendor portal or the Agent mobile application.
Space management
Ask James also offers extensive building management features for space allocation and the recharging of costs. Employees can book a meeting room, including catering and devices such as a projector, laptops or flipchart via the FM portal. Space bookings can be made via a calendar view or a floor plan, that will show the available spaces. The digital planning board and the floor view always show which rooms have been booked by whom while bookings can easily be moved.
Product management
Vendors have the capability to efficiently manage and upload their banqueting maps into Ask James. For end users engaging in catering orders, this functionality ensures a streamlined process, as they are presented exclusively with products applicable to their location and chosen date. Furthermore, end users are empowered to filter products based on allergens, facilitating a personalized and safe catering experience.
Visitor registration and parking management
Ask James offers the possibility of registering visitors and requesting access passes and parking spaces. Ask James works seamlessly with third party security sofware to enable security checks and access to buildings and/or parking lots.
Asset and preventive maintenance
In Ask James, you have the capability to track and document the lifecycle of your assets, with their financial and maintenance details. Utilizing multi-year maintenance plans, Ask James generates facility orders with associated costs, ensuring proactive maintenance of your assets. Moreover, the platform facilitates the generation of comprehensive financial reports, filterable by building, cost center, or facility order category. This feature enables users to analyze financial data over specific timeframes, offering insights into past expenditures and anticipated future costs for effective budget planning.
Sustainability
Track and analyze your CO2 consumption effectively using the Environmental Footprint module within Ask James. This module offers an intuitive input form accessible via the portal, dynamically presenting relevant questions tailored to your needs. Once inputs are provided, you have the ability to review and approve them, enabling comprehensive reporting on your environmental impact.
Project management
Ask James provides efficient facility project management with the comprehensive project management module. Spanning meticulous budgeting, stringent cost control, and diligent financial oversight, each facet is seamlessly integrated. Your team is empowered with efficient work planning through facility orders and a dynamic GANTT interface.
Event management
Event management simplifies the organization of an event by streamlining the process through a unified interface, enabling seamless room reservations, catering arrangements, reservation of supplementary facilities such as laptops, projectors, or flipcharts, and bulk visitor registrations.
Art management
Ask James offers comprehensive support for the management of your art collection. Whether you seek to add or remove pieces, schedule conservation efforts or appraisals, Ask James stands ready to facilitate every aspect of maintaining and enhancing your collection.
Art information is readily accessible to both employees and visitors through the Ask James portal or a QR code.
Customized work environment
Ask James offers unparalleled functionality and flexibility. In order to maintain control and a comprehensive overview of relevant matters, each user can create his own environment, geared to his specific role. Screens, reports and favourites can easily be configured. That is one of the strengths of Ask James: maximum flexibility and ease of use.
Benefits of Ask James at a glance
- Excellent service for end-users thanks to smooth, transparent order flow
- Less pressure on FM coordinators thanks to automated processes
- User-friendly FM portal for employees and vendors
- SaaS solution facilitates smooth cooperation with service providers and suppliers
- Easy visitor registration and parking management
- Flexible setup for specific roles in FM or suppliers
- Advanced, graphic space planning and management
- Easy integration with IT service desk and IT portal
DXC Technology continues improving functionality on Ask James. Twice a year a release will be done with new and improved functionality, like improvements on the customer experience (UX) and new modules.
Added new features to the following topics:
- Space planner
- Allow to hide/show layers of the floor plan.
- Included color legends when printing the floor plan.
- Export list on tabs.
- Exchange integration
- Allow to sync meetings of selected spaces to/from Exchange.
- Order management
- Show Facility order variables on the Facility suborders.
- Floor plans
- When selecting an object on a floor plan the tooltip is always visible by default.
Not applicable