Liverpool Hope University

The month was June 2004. The mission was to have Kinetic Solutions' KxStudent Accommodation software up and running for the September student intake. While it wasn't Mission Impossible, it was an extremely tight deadline.

Having decided to upgrade its finance software, Liverpool Hope University's conferencing and student accommodation departments looked for a system that would be both compatible with the new Finance software, and offer greatly enhanced functionality. Kx from Kinetic Solutions fulfilled all Hope's criteria.

In just four months, Kx went live in Liverpool Hope for both conferencing and student accommodation. Going from in-house designed programs, with limited functionality, to a custom-designed software package was a "Road to Damascus" experience.

Carol Crawford, Accommodation Manager at Liverpool Hope, only arrived after the new software was in place, but her staff have told her just how many improvements they've seen. She says, "We've seen huge benefits. The functionality is great, and it's very user friendly. We can easily bring up reports and it's easy to move to one part of the system to another."

"One of the best parts from our point of view, though, is that we can alter credits and debits to ensure they're correct before information ever reaches the central finance system."

Of course, installing a system from scratch in such a short time left no margin for error and no time for full system testing. Carol explained that there have been some minor problems, but that these are being resolved. In fact, she's been pleased with the customer service Kinetic offers. "I'm generally positive about the service we receive from Kinetic. They're always professional and we get on very well with them," she says. "The team's attitude to customer service is good and their response is always very positive."

Liverpool Hope has around 1,100 students in halls of residence and houses, and is in the process of building more accommodation. As the term progresses, Carol and her team are finding that Kx is providing them with a tool that's not just practical; it has become an integral part of their working lives.

Carol says, "We use Kx every day, either for hours at a time, or dipping in and out. It's a bit like learning Word – once you know how to use it, you use it all the time."

And Carol's verdict on Kx? "The situation is hugely better than before and we've seen huge benefits. It was a good decision to have bought it and we have no regrets at all. I've not heard a single person say that they wished we had the previous system back."