Aviva rolls out BlackBerry PlayBook to staff

Commercial property surveyors get tablets to work in the field...

Aviva is to roll out the BlackBerry PlayBook to 120 staffPhoto: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com

Insurance company Aviva is to roll out the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to surveyors to allow them to update records from outside the office.

Aviva commercial property surveyors who carry out risk assessments on UK premises are being issued with PlayBooks to record commercial risk. The devices are currently being used by 10 commercial property surveyors and will be issued to 120 staff over a six-month period from early 2012.

Aviva, which estimates it will spend £30,000 on the rollout, is using a bespoke application, built by collaboration software developer Formicary Collaboration Group. The app will allow staff to update risk assessments stored in the company's central database while they are out in the field and avoids the need for them to return to the office to record information.

Ted Kenrick, technical and risk solutions manager for Aviva Risk Management Solutions, said the new app will save the organisation considerable time."Completing assessments digitally on site eliminates the duplication of effort needed when transferring hand-written site notes onto computer for processing, " he said in a statement.

"Customer service times improve and our team can focus on helping customers reduce the risks to their business."

An increasing number of businesses, including British Airways and InterContinental Hotels, are choosing to issue tablets to staff alongside PCs and smartphones.