We currently offer a range of products that cater for a number of different environments. Our Assist software can help you manage and automate the day-to-day running of your business, while our Ayana platform deals with the synchronisation and security of remotely gathered data.
Another of our products is based on the newly emerging digital pen and paper technology, which when combined with our Ayana product forms a very flexible mobile working solution.
Alternatively, if you have something more specialised in mind, why not contact us and find out about our bespoke software development services. Because the everyday running of an organisation is such time consuming affair, we have developed Assist, which can help you manage everything from paper work to people.
Assist can help manage customer relationships while taking care of invoice production tasks. When it comes to staff management Assist can cover aspects such as task assignment and timesheet control, and with integration into email clients and Microsoft Project available Assist can help to manage your projects too. If your business environment relies on data gathered from mobile sources, then you will no doubt recognise the importance of a secure platform in which to gather, transfer, manage and distribute that data.
Ayana represents an effective approach to this problem, resulting in a solution that can be customised to whatever requirements you may have. This product consists of two parts, an offline suite for mobile users and a server platform for managing and distributing data to where ever it needs to go. The whole point of mobile working is being able to perform your tasks from any location without any restrictions. Ayana’s Mobile Suite offers a comprehensive set of facilities that allow users to package up what ever information they need and take it offline. The offline data can be used while mobile and then synchronised either upon return or when mobile.
To make life even easier the Mobile Suite can be run from a mobile device of your choice, whether it is a laptop, tablet PC or PDA there is no need to change your current data collection hardware.
And there’s more! With Ayana your mobile device can be complimented with a Digital Pen and Paper solution. Gathering data is only half of the story, you still have the problem of how to store it, manage it and most importantly get it to the people who need it.
The Ayana Server Platform addresses this issue by allowing integration with many other applications enabling information sharing and dissemination across your organisation.
Of course this information is managed securely ensuring only relevant and complete information is available to authorised users. Security is a big concern for organisations, particularly when users are in possession of mobile devices. To ensure that data stays as safe as possible the Ayana system implements a number of security measures.
For example, the sign-in process can be configured to use the Windows credentials of the user logged-in, or an additional separate sign-in mechanism can be activated.
All data handled by Ayana is encrypted to reduce the possibility of privacy violations and is digitally signed to protect its integrity. Our team is experienced in many areas of security and understands its importance. As your business grows you should not have to worry about your user base exceeding your software’s capabilities. Likewise you should not have to worry about your software exceeding your hardware infrastructure.
With this in mind we have designed Ayana to be completely scalable allowing for an unlimited number of users to be added to the system. In addition Ayana’s server processes can be distributed across many machines allowing it to grow with your business. Gathering information digitally while out and about usually involves carrying around a computer of some sort. Of course you could just use a pen and paper, but then someone would need to process all that handwritten information. What if you could have the best of both worlds, a pen and paper solution that captures handwritten information digitally!
With digital pen and paper you can, and it is by far the most efficient way to gather data. Despite the fact that this is a digital solution, you still write using good old ink delivered through a ball-point refill. So there is minimal training required and no need to re-design any existing paper forms. The only difference is the pen digitally captures and stores what you have written. This data can then be uploaded to our PenServer product for processing.
The real beauty of this system is that users can stay mobile without having to return to base to upload the data they have collected. Each pen has a built in Bluetooth transmitter so data stored on the pen can be sent to a phone and then forwarded to the PenServer. Alternatively the pen can be docked to a PC and uploaded from there. Our PenServer product offers a wealth of functionality for processing data gathered by digital pens. Firstly it comes with an online PenViewer module, which allows authorised users to view and edit the information they have uploaded from anywhere with an internet connection.
There is no need to type-up all that handwriting, the PenServer’s handwriting recognition will convert pen data into editable text fields that match the paper forms that were originally written on. In addition users can validate this information and view stroke playback before exporting. Processed information can be exported in a number of formats, for example, Adobe PDF, XML, Image, MS Word, CSV etc. If you have a more specific problem that requires some creativity to solve, then we can help. Accelero’s experienced and qualified developers are able to write software solutions for whatever you have in mind.
We can build software for deployment on Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac or platform independent Web based solutions.
Our developers all have IT qualifications, mostly to Masters Degree level, and most are members of the British Computer Society. Each of our developers has a minimum of five years development experience, each with individual specialities covering all aspects of the development lifecycle.
We have created software for use by some of the World’s largest companies using our controlled methodology and application framework. In this section you can view our press releases and read about some of our products that are currently operational. We will also publish information about industry events that we will be attending. Founded in 1879, The Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Company Limited (TMF) is recognised as Japan's oldest and largest commercial property, casualty and marine insurer.
Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Limited (TMEI) was established as a controlling company for the European operations of Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Limited, with a network of offices and agency representation throughout Europe.
Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Limited’s aim is to protect their clients’ businesses by providing effective, tailored solutions of a high calibre and reliable nature. The priority and focus at Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Limited is client satisfaction, whilst building lasting relationships through better risk solutions.
The risk engineering division is staffed by highly qualified engineers who have wide expertise in a wide variety industries distributed across Europe. During site visits these engineers gather a large amount of data and supporting evidence for use by underwriters.
The information is also used to help their customers better understand their potential exposures to loss and to help facilitate risk improvement by presenting practical, cost effective recommendations to address these exposures. To replace the existing risk engineering backoffice system
To provide engineers with an effective mechanism for working offline
To allow engineers to gather and link supporting evidence such as photographs and electronic documents
To improve the integration between the offline processes and the back-office system
To reduce the overall time spent producing engineering reports
To improve the consistency of reports produced by the engineers across Europe
To deliver a consistent interface to all of the end users, whether they are working offline or online
To provide TMEI personnel and customers with a system to view and action pertinent information
To reduce the degree of manual intervention required
To provide a multi-lingual system for rollout across a number of European countries Accelero Digital Solutions had experience working with TMEI on the previous version of RiskNet and were asked to work on the new version. The previous version of RiskNet used an Excel spreadsheet and Word document for the offline data gathering for each visit. During development of the new version it was identified that the offline functionality could be significantly improved by incorporating the Ayana product.
Three interface versions of the Risknet application were developed; 1) the internal application used primarily by the underwriters and engineers, 2) the offline application which is embedded within the Ayana Container used primarily by engineers and 3) the customer application. These all use common data structures and underlying business logic.
The Ayana product is made up of two distinct components, the server and client.
The ‘server’ component stores information relating to visits and co-ordinates the offline activity. The users of the online application identify sites that require a visit and export the data to Ayana.
The engineer is informed by the system that a visit is required and is then required to download this visit to the offline ‘client’ application
The ‘client’ application manages the synchronisation with the server and provides the functionality to attach supporting evidence such as photographs, videos, electronic documents and scanned images.
The application brings together all of the offline functionality needed by the engineers and eliminates the need for the engineers to use Word and Excel to complete reports.
To complete a report the engineer loads the visit via the container application and completes the fields using the embedded RiskNet offline system.
Once the engineer has completed the report the data is sent back to the Ayana server. The server processes the incoming message and forwards the completed data to the RiskNet database; making it available for both the online and the customer applications.
A key element of the development was the introduction of automated document production into the system. Document templates are created using a typesetting system. Output is of high quality in terms of consistency, thereby, satisfying one of the project goals.
Analytical reports are available within the system providing underwriters and engineers with the required information seamlessly and quickly. The combined RiskNet applications provide the following general benefits:
Faster application
Greater scalability
Improved customer access via internet
Greater security of information and documents
The ability to interface more easily with other in-house systems such as data warehouse.
The new internal application offers some additional features compared to the old application namely:
Storage of loss investigation survey reports
Storage of property prospect appraisals and survey reports
Additional data fields and enhanced user functionality including reports.
The new offline application provides the following specific benefits:
Single application for writing of reports rather than switching between Word and Excel
In built logic of forms is included
Spreadsheet version and corruption problems eliminated
Word document format corruption eliminated
Eliminates time required for compressing and resizing of photographs in word document
Improved management of attachments e.g. sketches Accelero is now working on modifications to the system to include additional features that were de-scoped during the first phase. In addition to the enhancements, the Underwriting Assessment Tool is being integrated into the system. It is believed that the additional functionality will provide significant process improvement and eliminate a significant amount of data double entry. Lastly, some further enhancements to the system are planned for later in 2008 / early2009 to make the survey process even more efficient.
Accelero are continuing to enhance their Ayana product line including integration of its PC Pen functionality into the Mobile Container application. Further development has been completed to integrate the digital pen server with the Ayana server. This functionality allows mobile users to complete forms that incorporate the Digital pen functionality and forward the data via a mobile telephone to a central server for validation and dissemination. Kelvin Jones – Managing Director, Accelero Digital Solutions Limited
+44 (0) 1656 648200
+44 (0) 7811 260984
kelvin.jones@accelero-digital.com
Iain Wright - Deputy General Manager - Risk Engineering, Tokio Marine Europe Limited
+44(0)207 398 3149
+44(0)7734 113706
IWright@tokiomarine.co.uk • To use Digital Pen technology to deliver a mobile working pilot for front line staff to collect information during visits to clients
• To evaluate how effective using Digital Pen technology for mobile health and social care staff is in practice
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the technology and to compare with other mobile solutions, such as laptops communicating via GPRS / 3G Torbay Care Trust chose to implement the PC Pen application developed by Accelero Digital Solutions Ltd. This application incorporates Anoto technology for the digital pen and paper along with handwriting recognition from Vision Objects.
The application allows the user to: gather information using the digital pen; to transfer the data to a PC; to validate the handwriting recognition and make necessary corrections; to publish the validated data in a number of formats. The pilot was to last for three months and was delivered in a number of phases:
• The first phase was quite basic, there was little handwriting recognition and the prime goal was to establish if the health and social care staff could use the pens easily. Once the pen was docked, the requirement was to produce a simple pdf output and publish this to a shared area. For this phase a ‘copy’ digital paper pattern was used, i.e. the pen user needed to complete the whole form before moving to the next one. It quickly became apparent that a ‘unique’ pattern was more suited to the way that data was gathered, i.e. the pen user was able to return to previously started forms to complete at a later date. The forms were converted to the unique pattern which proved much more useful and usable. Form design was limited and existing forms were used, no changes were introduced as the goal was to prove the usability.
• The second phase introduced more functionality, one of the forms was totally redesigned to include handwriting recognition and output to an Excel spreadsheet. The goals of this phase were very different from phase one; primarily, to evaluate the handwriting recognition technology and establish the ease of extracting data for potential integration. The users were able to validate the information once the data had been processed and were provided with the ability to make amendments where necessary.
Use of the original forms created in phase one continued alongside the new form to allow the users to compare the enhanced functionality provided with the handwriting recognition. The pilot proved successful and the original goals were achieved. The Trust was able to establish that the technology worked for their mobile staff, and offered a more favourable option for some staff groups when compared to the other mobile technologies being considered.
A key benefit for the end users was the minimal disruption to the method of working. As they were currently using pen and paper very little changed; the key difference being the need to dock the pen to upload the data.
Implementing the handwriting recognition functionality was a pivotal point in the project. The benefits with regard to efficiency gains were far more apparent. It then became clear how the data could easily be integrated with the back-end systems. A considerable amount of time would be saved on re-entry of data if the integration with the back-end system had been part of the pilot. This was proven with the output to Excel for the statistics. Whilst there was some element of manual intervention required to correct the data the time spent was considerably less than retyping the whole form.
Some of the users decided that the pen technology was not of real benefit to them. This was partly due to the way that the pilot was run in that it allowed limited service redesign. However, from the perspective of the pilot itself, this was judged to have been successful since it provided valuable feedback sufficient to enable definition of the requirements and adoption model to be employed in the wider rollout
Some of the team members involved in the pilot had a dedicated administration resource for performing the validation and publishing tasks. This proved to be the optimal situation allowing the health workers to focus on providing health care and their administration staff to focus on the associated data processing.
The Project Manager for the Digital Pen Pilot, and the IT Manager at the Care Trust both felt that the pilot was useful and successful, in terms of the goals of the project. As a result of the success of the pilot, Torbay Care Trust decided to convert more of the forms to include Handwriting Recognition and to extend use of the software and forms for a further six months.
This provides continued saving as a result of the investment and opportunity to continue providing feedback before a wider rollout of mobile technology by the Trust. Accelero Digital Solutions based in Coychurch, Bridgend is a software house dedicated to providing high quality IT solutions to customers throughout the UK and Europe. The company which was established in 2006 and employs 6 full-time staff specialises in providing complete solutions for effective mobile working, including mobile applications and a full supporting infrastructure for application integration into many business domains.
The company has recently completed work on a major contract to design and implement a bespoke software program for Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Ltd. (TMEI), which enables engineers to collect data that is utilised to assess the risks in providing insurance for corporate customers throughout Europe.
Last year Accelero successfully secured funding from the Bridgend Economic Development Unit in the form of a Flexible grant which they used to enable development of their PC Pen software. A ‘digital pen’ is used to write on paper carrying a unique pattern and the pen is able to capture each handwritten stroke as the user writes. The PC Pen software performs handwriting recognition on the captured data, matches the data to the paper form and outputs the result in a machine readable form specific to the application.
Wynne Crompton, one of the company’s founders said, “The Digital Pen is an excellent tool for anyone working remotely. It allows continued use of paper forms and automated interpretation of the data. This can offer significant benefits for services such as Housing Associations, Health Authorities, Police, Fire and Rescue as well as private sector organisations such as finance and insurance”.
“We have already carried out a number of successful pilot schemes with Torbay NHS Care Trust to trial the pen technology. The latest of these, supporting District Nurses as they gather client information, has been extended in order to provide continued saving and opportunity to further evaluate the system before a wider rollout of mobile technology by the Trust. “
Commenting on the grant application process, Wynne Crompton said, “It was a very straightforward process. We already had a business plan in place and officers at the EDU were very approachable and helpful with regard to the paperwork. Obtaining funding such as this is crucial in the early stages of setting up a business; without this financial assistance it would have taken a lot longer to get the business up and running.”
When asked about the future direction of the company, Wynne said “We are keen to develop applications for data processing and specifically tailor our products to company requirements. We are in the process of developing an online equivalent to the PC Pen software with associated applications to broaden the range of application areas we can support. Our aim is to work with clients to offer high quality complete software solutions tailored to meet their needs.”
For further information visit www.accelero-digital.com or telephone: 01656 648200. Wynne and Kelvin are contactable by email: wynne.crompton@accelero-digital.com, kelvin.jones@accelero-digital.com . Enquiries: enquiries@accelero-digital.com
Kelvin Jones - Managing Director
Mobile +44 (0)7811 260984
E-mail kelvin.jones@accelero-digital.com
Wynne Crompton - Director
Mobile +44 (0)7968 945741
E-mail wynne.crompton@accelero-digital.com
Richard Gaze - Technical Director
Mobile +44(0)7989 691708
E-mail richard.gaze@accelero-digital.com
The Old Mill
Abbey Road
Ewenny
Bridgend CF35 5BN Take M4 junction 35 (Pencoed)
Take the first exit towards Bridgend (A473)
Go straight on at the following two roundabouts staying on the A473 towards Bridgend
At the third roundabout (you will see a Toby Carvery on your right) take the second exit (A48)
Go straight on at the next roundabout
Turn left at the next roundabout towards Ewenny (B4265)
Follow this road until you cross over the river, after which take the next left into Wick Road towards Corntown (B4524)
Take the first left off Wick Road into Abbey Road
Take the first left again into The Old Mill car park
Our main entrance is the door on the left Take M4 junction 37 (Pyle)
Take the first exit towards Pyle (A4229)
At the next roundabout take the third exit towards Bridgend (A48)
Go straight on at the following three roundabout staying on the A48 towards Bridgend
At the next roundabout turn right towards Ewenny (B4265)
Follow this road until you cross over the river, after which take the next left into Wick Road towards Corntown (B4524)
Take the first left off Wick Road into Abbey Road
Take the first left again into The Old Mill car park
Our main entrance is the door on the left If you are thinking of enlisting our services or you just want to know more about our company, look no further. This section will give you an insight into Accelero, where the company came from and why.
You can also read about some of the people who make Accelero tick and how they got involved in the industry. Accelero Digital Solutions is a software house dedicated to providing high quality software solutions. We are based in South Wales but our customers operate throughout the UK and Europe.
Our specialities and current products provide complete solutions for effective mobile working. This includes the mobile applications and a full supporting infrastructure for application integration into many business domains.
Our own product range is complimented by bespoke application development and sub-contract services. Our services include process improvement, security and project management consultancy in addition to performing systems administration activities for small businesses.
The company was formed in January 2006 by Kelvin Jones and Wynne Crompton with a view to producing high quality, well engineered software along with the requisite services to support the products.
With joint experience in excess of 40 years of software development experience from a variety of perspectives we believe that we understand what makes software projects successful, and more importantly are aware of the pitfalls that cause many projects to fail.
Our blend of experiences provides a balanced approach to delivery and innovation. Accelero is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company and participates in regular BSI management system assessments.
We firmly believe that quality management procedures will yield quality project results.
To this end we have always taken a very methodical approach to every project undertaken, and will continue to do so for every project in the future. MSc, CEng, MBCS, CITP, MIAP
Kelvin has an MSc in Software Engineering from Oxford University and started his career in IT as a developer in a local health trust. His development input in this position was fundamental in the delivery of a system that managed the GP fundholding budget and its financial implications.
Upon leaving the NHS, Kelvin worked as Technical Director for a software house in South Wales developing systems for financial institutions. In this post he was responsible for a team of software developers delivering projects to a number of blue chip customers. He left this post to follow his own personal ambitions, ultimately leading to the formation of Accelero Digital Solutions, which was created specifically to develop solutions for use with the digital pen.
For the last ten years, Kelvin’s primary responsibility has been for the architectural design and implementation on a variety of systems. Over the last five years he has worked on some high profile projects for public bodies and large multi-national organisations, e.g. W.S Atkins, Tokio Marine Europe Insurance, the UK Passport Service and BAA. Kelvin has also been involved with workflow management and process improvement for end user organisations and in a consultancy role for software development companies. His speciality is in systems architecture and security.
Kelvin is a keen technologist who understands the implications and risks associated with large-scale software developments and a believer that good systems should be engineered by good process and repeatable methodologies. A key factor to the success of software development is knowledge. Kelvin believes that continual education is important to improving the quality of software and the success rates of software project. As well as his role at Accelero Kelvin is currently a part-time PhD research student at Cardiff University working on Software Security in Distributed Systems. BSc, MSc, MBCS, MACM
Software Engineering: Full software lifecycle, primarily on embedded real-time systems for consumer electronics products. Much of the work has been completed on systems with globally spread teams. Wynne is a strong advocate of developing software in a controlled and planned manner, believing that this results in better quality, more resilient software. This approach is essential for the real time software that Wynne has been developing.
Education: The experience that Wynne gained over his period in teaching is very broad, not least because of the changes in technology that occurred over that time period. He taught at many levels and for different institutions to MSc level. Physics, Mathematics and Electronics were the subjects taught during the first half of this career period. The second half was spent teaching various Software Engineering topic areas, both as part of standard academic courses and bespoke consultancy for local industry.
Systems Management: Wynne has managed a network for a local SME for more than 9 years, with responsibility for overall management of the IT system. The system centres on Linux and FreeBSD servers with a variety of workstations running other OS (PCs (W2k/XP), Sun (Solaris), SGI (IRIX), VAX (VMS)). The overall system is a WAN between the two sites and also has direct connections to some customer sites.
Publications: Wynne has a number of academic publications to his name based on Genetic Algorithms for mathematical problems. BSc, MSc, MBCS
Richard has a BSc in Computer Science from Swansea University together with an MSc in New Generation Computing from Exeter University. He has a wide range of skills as a result of working on all aspects of the product lifecycle – from design, development, implementation through to maintenance.
Richard worked for over ten years for a software house in South Wales developing systems for financial institutions. He was responsible key aspects of customer infrastructure and process management as well as internal systems management. A significant project included liaising with a blue chip international customer on the specification for SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliant customer change management processes and procedures. Together with the responsibility for ensuring that these processes were then implemented and followed internally.
Since joining Accelero Digital Solutions Richard has been responsible for Quality Management and has responsibility for the companies ISO 9001 accreditation status, along with managing the customer installations. He has focused on introducing internal processes to improve developer productivity and increase the consistency and quality of the delivered product. This has lead to improved product reliability and reduced support which has in turn driven an increase in customer satisfaction.
He has a life long passion for IT which has developed into a career focused on bringing the benefits from IT solutions to the end users, with a clear focus on the cost / benefit ratio. His speciality is in systems infrastructure and security, both at a systems level and within the context of the whole environment.