Photo credit - Andy Kowalik/Flickr

John Lewis is set to become the latest company to join the cloud computing revolution with a new, nationwide booking appointment system, supplied by TOA Technologies.

The centralised cloud computing system will enable employees to view, schedule and manage customer appointments from anywhere, at any time. Furthermore, it will offer customers greater flexibility in making appointments with the department store chain.

With all 28 John Lewis stores using the new system, every customer appointment will be visible, regardless of which store it was booked through or which branch the appointment is with.

The solution is scheduled to be deployed by November 2011.

Adrian Riley, project manager for home furnishings measure and fit at John Lewis, said: “Our commitment to customer service means that we are constantly looking for ways to innovate the services we offer to our customers.

"We chose TOA because its cloud-based solution can be deployed within our existing project time frame."

This new appointment system is the first step John Lewis is taking as part of a drive to move a host of its computer systems to the cloud. The company plans to extend the system to support online bookings through its website and appointments arranged through John Lewis’ smaller format ‘at home’ shops. It also intends to implement a unified way of booking and scheduling its mobile workforce.

Yuval Brisker, President and CEO of TOA Technologies, said: “We are pleased to be supporting John Lewis in the UK and to introduce these innovations.

“We are increasingly finding that our solution resonates highly with companies that have strong service philosophies so it is no coincidence that we are now working with John Lewis, one of the UK's most forward thinking brands when it comes to customer service.”

Brisker founded TOA, which focusses on mobile man management systems, as a frustrated consumer seeking to improve the efficiency of call-out service engineers.