INSIDE IMS: Meet Keighley McClements

Keighley started working at IMS in September 2008 as a call centre agent, and by the summer of 2009 was promoted to call centre team leader. As the company grew and that particular team was no longer needed, Keighley was re-allocated to a role that involved overseeing the installation of monitoring devices in a rollout to around 1,000 customer sites. 

‘Once that rollout was complete, I started being trained in first-line support, helping to maintain the refrigeration monitoring for our largest customer. This was a very customer service based role as we were the first port of call for any customer or engineer calls, making sure the stores were set up correctly to allow us to monitor them effectively. I was in this role for around 5 years, and was promoted to team leader during that time.’

Following the commencement of a large new customer project, Keighley had the opportunity to progress to a role coordinating the Configuration team and supporting a very large rollout to thousands of stores across North America in the space of a few months. This was a very intense project from start to finish and it was an all-hands-on-deck team effort; they even had a huge whiteboard that was updated daily with the total number of new stores online and, apparently, it was very satisfying to see that number increase and get closer to the final total each day.

‘Since the completion of the rollout, the team and I have been working to maintain the estate from a configuration perspective. There are several new opportunities on the horizon so once we are given the go-ahead, I will be required to lead and coordinate the team to make sure we smash each rollout like we did the last one!’

Asked to describe a typical day in her role, Keighley says: ‘I get into the office pretty early every day, and my first task is to run reports to check that everything is running as it should for all our customer sites. I will then appoint specific tasks to the rest of the team based on these reports, and highlight any specific configuration activities that they need to work on throughout the day. I will also take one of the reports to work on myself.’

Keighley also spends a lot of time being reactive to various new rollouts and test sites, checking them regularly to see if all required monitored points are visible before approving further rollout. 

‘On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have a call at 2pm with our US team to check in with them and make sure everything is running smoothly. We can then highlight any updates or changes that might be needed.’

Each team within IMS Evolve has a specific function that enables us to make life better for our customers, which, in turn, enables them to make life better for their customers. Keighley says, ‘Without the Config. team, no one would know if we are monitoring the customer stores correctly. We ensure that all the points we need to get are visible to us all day, every day. We also deal with support emails, and work with our customer’s internal teams to help resolve any issues they may have.’

As a long-standing member of the company, and progressing through different roles within the business during her career, Keighley particularly enjoys the pressures and rewards of being Configuration Coordinator: ‘I love the satisfaction that comes from completing a site, and I like feeling genuinely needed knowing that our team is crucial to a project during a major customer rollout. There is a lot of pressure that comes with large rollouts but I do love that side of it. What I like most about working at IMS is that you are trusted to do your job and do it well. We are given flexibility and responsibility to get the job done and you know there is always someone to help you if you need support.' 

During the large customer rollout last year, Keighley was asked to travel to the US to help assist our new team and train them in setting up and maintaining the controls and monitoring of the stores. ‘I hadn’t flown for 4 years before this trip and had never flown long-haul, so I was apprehensive about travelling, especially on my own. However, I received all the support and encouragement I needed from my colleagues and the company and ended up having an awesome time. I really enjoyed spending time with the new team and ended up learning a lot myself. I was able to do some exploring (and some serious shopping) during my downtime and came back feeling pretty proud of myself. I have already been back once since to deliver some more training and I am looking forward to going again whenever they might need me!’

If you would like to talk to us about our IoT solutions or careers at IMS Evolve contact us: +44 (0)1908 351000 or email: enquiries@ims-evolve.com