Project summary

Virgin’s FileMaker app which is used to manage requests for contractors to work over the Christmas period was limited to a single team within the business. Our FileMaker and Web Development Team worked with Virgin’s in-house team to help them expand the use of the system across the entirety of Virgin Media. We created a web tool which connects to their existing Claris FileMaker app. This system allowed managers of contractors to request that their team continue working and to track the request’s progress.  

The problems we aimed to solve   

Managing furlough can be very complicated for a business.  When Virgin approached us there was no efficient system in place that could scale across the whole business. Much of the communication was labour intensive and over email.

When Virgin decided to extend this beyond the original team a licensing issue was encountered. This issue would have meant a significant amount of money for a very small function in the business. 

Virgin also needed a specialist FileMaker company to help their in-house team use FileMaker from Claris’ new data api. 

The solution   

We worked with Virgin’s in-house developer to create a new Furlough system that could be used across the whole business.  

Working with Virgin’s in-house team allowed us to be very efficient and affordable. We were able to develop the functionality they needed for a quarter of the first year’s cost from the original quote.  

Thanks to FileMaker’s ability to easily exchange data with other web services and applications using REST APIs we were able to securely integrate our web portal with Virgin’s existing internal FileMaker system 

Virgin’s favourite system functions 

There are a few functions of the finished system that Virgin were particularly happy with.  

• We integrated with Virgin’s central authentication system so VM line managers can login without any extra credentials.  
• The new system connects to Virgin’s main database for easy access to employee look-up data 
• When a request is created it is saved against the user’s account for viewing. This means the progress of the request can be tracked. 
• If a request is rejected users can view the details for why it was rejected, and then easily edit and resubmit. 
• Contractors can be searched for as part of the request creation process. This fills in most of the form for the Line Manager saving them time. 

The results

 All of Virgin’s PMs used this successfully with their contractors in the run up to xmas. 

Timescales 

Our team completed this work within approx 10 days.