Life as a pest just got tougher
August 1st 2006

Rentokil says pestconnect, an e-monitoring system and PestNetOnline, an e-reporting system, make it much easier to detect, monitor and deal with infestations early on, before they become a major problem. Sales & marketing director Scott Fairhurst explains

Finding pests on any site can cause huge problems for businesses both from a practical and legal point of view. However, keeping one step ahead of pest activity has just got that little bit easier with two new innovations from Rentokil Pest Control.

"Potential customers were telling us that they looked for three important things when appointing a pest management company. One, an extremely rapid response to any pest activity on their site. Two, a complete pest risk management approach designed to prevent pests, educate staff, promote best practice. And three, the ability to track what had been done on their site and what they should be doing to prevent future infestations" commented Scott Fairhurst, sales & marketing director at Rentokil Pest Control.

The company took this on board and developed pestconnect, an emonitoring system and PestNetOnline, an e-reporting system, which make it much easier to detect, monitor and deal with infestations early on, before they become a major problem for businesses.

PestConnect is a highly sophisticated early warning system for detecting the presence of rodents and insects. The system is so sensitive that even the tiny Rogers Ant, which measures on average just 2mm, cannot escape notice.

It works by using highly receptive pressure pad technology inside each of its units. When a pest triggers the pad, it alerts a central control panel, which then sends emails to the customer, the Rentokil branch and an SMS message to the site's dedicated service technician.

Action can then take place immediately to eradicate the pests, efficiently and thoroughly, and the site is made safe for business again.

Each rodent and insect monitoring point is able to deliver over 52,560 checks per year via pestconnect. This is a major advantage over relying on traditional service technicians to monitor a site as it means there is a 24/7 continual presence at a company's premises. When you realise that a pair of mice can generate up to 2000 mice in one year, having such a presence is second to none.

Indeed, pestconnect can often have a huge impact on the bottom line for many companies, which may otherwise suffer problems such as damaged stock and chewed power cables, and at worst may face fines and prosecution by falling foul of legislation.

PestNetOnline provides even greater control over the pest management system. At the touch of a button, companies are able to monitor all Rentokil Pest Control activity on their site, within minutes of it taking place.

Every Rentokil technician is allocated a hand held PDA with an integral barcode scanner to capture precise information on all monitoring activity carried out and the preventative action taken.

This information is then transferred to a secure website where it can be viewed and interacted with by companies and Rentokil staff. The website provides an easy-to-access historical record of where pests have been found and what has been done to treat them. This makes it much easier to spot if there are recurring trends where pests are concerned.

One Rentokil client commented, "We introduced PestNetOnline because there seemed to be certain peaks and troughs when pests could, potentially, become a problem in our building. Once we analysed the data presented to us, we, together with Rentokil, were able to implement some really simple measures which made it harder for pests to gain access to our premises."

Rentokil's approach to pest control has always been in favour of prevention, rather than cure and so recommendations on PestNetOnline often focus on simple measures like sweeping up spillages, keeping entry points closed and ensuring consumable products are not stored on the floor. These recommendations are visible on the site whether a pest has been found or not.

All recommendations are allocated a status, red, amber or green, according to their urgency and it is easy to see what process or method is being used to treat or prevent each different type of pest essential for businesses in areas such as food production, where there must be no risk of contamination. PestNetOnline is another reflection of Rentokil's commitment to the environment as it is a truly paperless system. In today's digital age, it provides a genuinely transparent and simplified report for all those involved in the pest control process.

Life as a pest just got tougher.

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