Technology Case Studies - Operations

Oil Company

Oil exploration - 67 employees - £45m turnover

The Challenge

Many firms have a mobile workforce, though few are as mobile as this company, who do exploration work for major oil companies. At any one time, up to 12 members of staff are in locations ranging from the North Sea to the Indian Ocean. The costs of voice and fax communication by satellite with head office were huge. Their seaborne workers were spending thousands of pounds a year on faxes alone.

The Answer

The solution was to install e-mail on existing computers to replace voice and fax calls. This slashed satellite time and cost.

The Benefits

There have been savings of around £100,000 on communication costs since ships can stay at sea longer without needing to dock for communications calls - and a 25% reduction in stationery costs.