International SOS Assistance has installed a "live" financial analysis environment that will calculate the costs of procedures and rescue operations before they are carried out.
"For an organisation such as ours, this has significant value," says Tjaart van Stryp, Financial Controller for International SOS Assistance. "It means that in the case of an emergency evacuation, for example, which is logistically an operation of immense scope, we are able to calculate costs upfront and inform the families of those concerned at once."
The SunSystems financial suite was installed by iLanga Systems, a company in the Business Unusual group. The company specialises in high-level financial solutions that provide companies with realtime financial intelligence.
A realtime financial transaction environment is becoming indispensable to companies wanting to be more flexible and responsive in their product offerings. "In the case of International SOS, month-old data is of no use when calculating the cost of a major rescue that must take place immediately," says Business Unusual MD, Dion Retief. "While the financial systems of a company provide the data upon which product decisions are made, this information is almost always historical, meaning that product decisions are always made based on "dead" data," says Retief. "SunSystems provides data "on the fly", which means that it can provide up-to-the-minute business intelligence. This is the type of information that can be used to calculate the cost of an international rescue before it takes place."
The installation was part of a global implementation for International SOS Assistance. It is the world`s largest medical assistance company, and provides emergency assistance and remote site medical services, as well as managing the delivery of healthcare to its clients in 37 countries. Clients include thousands of multinational organisations - including 376 of the Fortune 500 companies, corporate travellers and expatriates. The organisation employs over 2 500 staff members who provide medical and technical support services to people living and travelling outside their home countries. Its 24-hour alarm centres offer pre-travel health recommendations, co-ordinate medical care and arrange emergency evacuations. International SOS clinics give clients access to healthcare of an international standard, even in the remotest regions of the world.
The organisation has a network of air ambulance providers allowing for quick response to mass casualty situations and large scale security evacuations. The South African office also handles calls to Vodacom`s 112 emergency line.
"The information and reporting functions offered by SunSystems will also enable the company to analyse profits per case, per client or per product," says Van Stryp. "This not only improves management reporting, but also helps to facilitate and streamline our operations generally."
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