DeKalb County School System
3770 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA 30032-1099
678-676-1200
www.dekalb.k12.ga.us
Letter of Reference -- September 20, 2005
This letter serves as my highest recommendation of the Ross Group Inc., a technology firm headquarted in Dayton, Ohio with a regional office headquarted in Douglasville, Georgia.
An exciting new software application called Facility Management has solved a significant workflow bottleneck at DeKalb County Schools. DeKalb County Schools contracted with Ross Group to determine ways to handle an average of two thousand work requests per week. These tasks ranged from fixing a leaky faucet to more complex requests such as resurfacing a parking lot. The school system needed to automate the work order process. This included work order submissions, approvals, assigning the project to a contractor or county personnel, getting it into the hands of the person performing the work, closing out the order, and providing a closed loop process back to the school that initiated the request.
Steve Brueck, Systems Engineer and other staff of the DeKalb County School System, along with the dedicated Ross Group team, developed a system that would alleviate the procedural logjam using conXons (pronounced "connections"), a Ross Group developed framework for designing and developing web-based applications. Because the Facility Management system is robust yet user-friendly it went into production at all DeKalb County schools with little user training required. Since the application was browser-based, no software needed to be installed at the schools; only an up-to-date web browser was required.
The result has been nothing short of superb. Every work order is electronically submitted eliminating paper forms. Work orders are assigned the same day so that work can begin the next day or as soon as possible based on scheduled workflow. The system tracks work orders older than fifteen days prioritizing the older ones. Facility Management for DeKalb County Public Schools also allows the county to track its costs directly to each project. Facility Management has made the life of my customers and school administrators much easier. However, I also like the fact that I have control of all the costs associated with all the projects.
"This is a significant operational improvement for the county, one that will allow us to save money over the long term."
"The Ross Group is a very highly qualified, respected, dependable and responsive team of professionals whose services I recommend to you without hesitation."
Dr. Stan Pritchett, Deputy Superintendent
Administration and Business Affairs
DeKalb County School System
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