MIS Active Management Systems Limited

ActiveH Fully Integrated Housing Management Solution

MIS-Active Management Systems provide a fully integrated housing / asset management system, CRM, Asset Management, Mobile, Dashboards, Customer and Contractor portals software solutions to social landlords, property and estate management companies across the UK.

Features

• Relational SQL Database
• Housing Management System - CRM, Rent Accounting, Lettings, Case Management
• Housing Management System - Repairs, Asset Management, Workforce Management
• Contractor and Resident Portals
• Mobile application - works online and offline
• Real-time Updating - No data warehousing
• Real-time Reporting - No data warehousing
• Flexible workflow to implement your own business rules and processes
• User definable fields
• Open Web Services / API - XML or JSON

Benefits

• Information stored and updated in one place - no middleware
• One system for end- users to learn
• No interfaces with third parties - simpler to support
• Real-time integration across the product suite
• Complete 360° view of the customer / stakeholder or asset.
• Integration with omni channel contact centre systems
• Intelligent Workflow
• Highly flexible and customisable to an organisation's business processes
• Multi-platform - usable on desktop, tablet or mobile devices
• Inclusive upgrades

£24 a unit

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@mis-ams.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

738605197571906

Contact

Christopher McLaughlin
08453302325
tenders@mis-ams.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
• What software services is the service an extension to: Our application can be used stand-a-lone. We can also integrate with a number of third-party applications such as Finance,Document Management and Contractor systems.
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Community cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: Database platform is Microsoft SQL Server.; Web-based applications run on Microsoft IIS.; Mobile-based applications run on Android, iOS or Windows 10 Pro.
• System requirements:
  • MS Office
  • Libre Open Office
  • MS SQL Server

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Online ticketing support available 24/7 for raising tickets via Customer Portal.; The Service desk is manned Monday to Friday (excluding England's bank holidays). ; Priorities are assigned as follows:-; P1 (Urgent, system unusable) - target response of immediate - target resolve in 1 business day.; P2 (Important, hampering system operation) - target response of within 4 hours - target resolve in 3 business days.; P3 (Non-Urgent, not affecting system operation) - target response of within 48 hours - target resolve in 7 business days.; P5 (Advice/Guidance only) - target response of 1 hour - target resolve in 24 hours.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Service Desk -; Our ITIL aligned Service desk is manned Monday to Friday (excluding England's bank holidays).; P1 (Urgent, system unusable) - target response immediate - target resolve in 1 business day. ; P2 (Important, hampering system operation) - target response within 4 hours - target resolve in 3 business days. ; P3 (Non-Urgent, not affecting system operation) - target response within 48 hours - target resolve in 7 business days. ; P5 (Advice/Guidance only) - target response of 1 hour - target resolve in 24 hours.; Software upgrade releases are issued twice a year. These are supplemented by service packs.; For SaaS we anticipate 99.99% availability.; MIS-AMS can provide a technical account manager and cloud support engineer.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: The MIS-AMS training covers all aspects of user and technical training required to ensure that the customer will have the knowledge and skills to leverage maximum benefit from the ActiveH system both during implementation, and post go-live. The applications training covers every module of the system to be implemented, including training on the range of reporting tools supplied with ActiveH. The technical training covers all of the skills required to support the customer’s administration and management of the SQL database.; This can be provided by our consultants onsite if required or delivered online via audio and visual conferencing tools such as Cisco WebEx / MS Teams and Skype. In addition to this, standard user documentation and materials will be made available in electronic format which can be saved locally by the user.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats: CHM
• End-of-contract data extraction: Upon the expiration of the contract MIS-AMS can offer an additional service as a read-only license to the application. However, should the customer wish the data to be extracted then consultancy would be required, which would need to be quoted for.
• End-of-contract process: The MIS Active Management Systems Contract can be for one of two things:; • MIS ActiveH solution and Hosting; • MIS ActiveH solution only; Upon notice to terminate the contract, MIS-Active Management Systems require an exit plan from our customer, and we will quote accordingly for any professional or alternative services.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems:
  • Android
  • IOS
  • Linux or Unix
  • MacOS
  • Windows
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Mobile service is task driven and optimised for users to complete work assigned to them in the most efficient way for the platform. Data is cached on the mobile device for use offline.; ; The desktop system, although can be used on a mobile device via a responsive layout engine, is a general purpose system and allows access to the full features of the housing management system.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Description of service interface: A user interface is provided to undertake activity in the housing management system.; Desktop System: Via a Web Browser (ActiveH Web) or a remote desktop connection (ActiveH).; Mobile System: A mobile device running iOS, Android or Windows.; Customer / Contractors Portal: Via a Web Browser.
• Accessibility standards: None or don’t know
• Description of accessibility: The user interface has been designed using large, scaling controls, aiming for a low cognitive load. Controls are decorated with metadata to describe their purpose, and the system has been tested with high contrast and BrowseAloud technology.
• Accessibility testing: ActiveH Web has been tested for compatibility with various browser accessibility add-ons such as Google Accessibility and BrowseAloud. Google Accessibility provides a "High Contrast" setting which changes the theme of the browser display to assist users with colour blindness. BrowseAloud provides speech, reading, and translation to facilitate access and participation for people with Dyslexia, Low Literacy, English as a Second Language, and those with mild visual impairments.; ActiveH Mobile has configurable font sizes to assist with mild visual impairment.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: A web services API is provided to read and write data from the housing management systems. This includes (but is not limited to) the ability to:; - Create, read and update contact and household information;; - Get information on vacant properties and apply for those properties;; - Access data on tenancies and perform actions such as commencement and termination;; - Create, read and update repair requests and works orders;; - Create and update supplier invoices;; - Read asset information;; - Run custom workflow processes.; ; New APIs are being developed all the time as the system is enhanced to encompass new features.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • PDF
  • Other
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: The Housing Management System can be heavily customised, including (but not limited to):; - Asset Attributes and Contact Characteristics (i.e. the data the buyer wants to hold against a property, household or individual);; - User-defined fields and customisable mandatory fields;; - Customisable deliverables (email, SMS, Word Document attachments, etc.);; - Business processes implemented via workflow to incorporate buyer-specific business logic or automation;; - Dashboards, snapshots and reports;; - Look and feel of portals, custom pages and forms, etc.; ; Depending on the nature of the customisation, this is normally done through the software itself.; ; Customisation can be undertaken by the buyer or by an MIS-AMS consultant, depending on the skills/resources available to the buyer.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Our cloud services are based on the requirements provided by our customers. We reserve the capacity required for each customer for the various components, e.g. application and database servers.; ; If a 99.99% uptime SLA (or similar) is required we can build across multiple cloud datacentres in an active-active architecture to ensure available and provide an RTO of minutes.; ; Cloud Bursting can also be used to handle peaks, we can provide this as a PAYG model to avoid a customer paying for compute power which is not utilised.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Usage metrics are available in the ActiveH Customer Portal. Depending on the customer's requirements, we can offer our own built-in metrics, which records page visits, browser types, geographical data, etc. Alternatively, we can integrate with Google Analytics to provide more detailed analysis.
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Staff screening not performed
• Government security clearance: Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Exports can be created using either the ActiveH Listview Exports, the ActiveH Smart Browser, or ActiveH Workflow, to allow users to extract their data.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats:
  • MS Excel
  • MS Word
  • XML
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats:
  • Fixed field width txt
  • XML

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: We use AWS and Azure for provision of our cloud infrastructure services, each cloud service has an individual SLA which is dependent on the configuration of individual service. As part of any contract we would clearly define and set out the expected SLAs for each component of the service based on the customer requirements. ; ; All claims concerning SLA guarantees must be made in writing by the Customer within seven days following the end of the month in question and will be shown as a credit (once agreed by MIS-AMS) on the next service charge invoice.; ; Our approach is to design a service for the customer to ensure uptime SLAs are achieved, if an uptime SLA requires multiple 99.99% uptime servers this is what we will provide.
• Approach to resilience: We use Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS global Infrastructures and datacentres. Every component of the infrastructure and our solutions are designed and built for redundancy, reliability and uptime. All data is stored in UK regions and data centres by default (unless otherwise agreed) on highly durable and redundant infrastructure which can span geolocations for DR/BC purposes, data will also be encrypted at rest. Network load balancing and redundant routing is also configured where appropriate including the facility to use direct connections. Our preferred approach is to design a hosting solution and application layout that supports an active-active approach across multiple datacentres. This is a standard approach in AWS via availability zones, which allow applications to run across 2+ datacentres concurrently. This approach has the advantage that a datacentre failure results in near zero downtime and data loss, it also significantly reduces the cost and impact to the business of regular DR tests.
• Outage reporting: We provide Customers with a service desk which will receive automated alerts from our proactive monitoring.; ; Where possible the automated alerts will invoke automated corrective actions.; ; We can configure email alerts via the service desk if required.; APIs can be exposed via our service desk at additional charge.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Both AWS and Azure have Identity and Access Management controls built-in as standard that offer a very granular level of control and permissions. These permissions can be granted at the user or group level including policy and role based. ; Each resource on the cloud platform can be individually secured.; The ActiveH application includes a role and task-based security model, in which the software can be configured to give specific users access to areas of the system.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: Alcumus ISOQARLtd
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 06/03/2022
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Application development, which is covered by ISO9001. Note the services are provided by our sister company InclineIT
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: No
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: We will endeavour to achieve ISO27001 for our SaaS solution in 2021
• Information security policies and processes: We are Cyber Essentials accredited and also follow ISO9001 for Business Processes / Software Development, and ISO27001 for the cloud environment. In order to ensure that our policies are followed, we are externally audited on an annual basis for our ISO9001 accreditation.; ; ISO Processes are followed throughout the organisation. The reporting structure is as follows:-; ; Developers / Consultants > Team Leaders > Manager > Director.; ; Overall control and management of our ISO Processes is overseen by Andrew McLaughlin (MIS Group Managing Director).

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Source code is controlled via Azure DevOps. When used with MIS-AMS' internal processes, this ensures:; Only one developer can work on any component at one time; All code changes are checked in/out of the master database; All code changes are recorded throughout the lifetime of the component; Any previous version can be compared/restored; All components are version controlled; Every software modification requires an Amendment number and reason for change.; All modifications are subject to our QA procedure. Changes, installations and designs are assessed for potential security impact considering GDPR, encryption, implementation of security layers and preventing possible SQL Injection attack.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We will provide a service to manage vulnerabilities and potential threats which reports to the Customer and also the hosting provider.; ; Our service extends beyond patching into vulnerability management which is a key requirement for GDPR, PCI-DSS and ISO27001. ; ; This will result in reports of missing patches and details on un-patchable vulnerabilities which cannot be patched and may require workarounds until a patch is available from a vendor. ; ; The patching service follows a standard approach of delivering OS patches into Development and Test environments to allow application vendors to run automated tests before patches are deployed to production.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: Our service uses server based IPS/IDS capabilities as this provides a more granular approach to network inspection rather than a monolithic and expensive firewall at the edge. ; ; The service also includes automated checks to ensure firewall rules are compliant with best practice and can be evidenced against ISO27001, GDPR and PCI-DSS.; ; Findings are presented as (low, medium, or high), accompanied by detailed evidence and recommendations for remediation. The findings are also available as functions enabling automatic remediation of specific types of issues. Otherwise any high or medium alert will be quickly assessed by a cloud engineer.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: We offer an incident management approach based around ITIL and GDPR standard processes for incident events. These include identification, logging, investigation and diagnostics, assignment and escalation, resolution, closure and satisfaction survey. All support is regulated via our ISO 9001 quality system. Our Service desk performance is monitored and reviewed on a regular basis. Incident and SLA reports can be produced on request.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  "At MIS:AMS we are implementing plans to reduce internal carbon emissions. We have dramatically reduced our carbon emissions by actively encouraging online client meetings, where possible. We have successfully reduced our Carbon Dioxide levels, for example, year-end September 2022 our overall company 7.36 - tCO2e (tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e)) with a reduction of 0.61 tCO2e in year-end September 2023. We are also reducing our electricity usage and have evidenced a 0.20 tCO2e reduction.; Our housing management system, ActiveH is made up of modules which are designed to eliminate waste in a multitude of areas. For example, maintenance. Clients are enjoying more economical and effective site visits and even a reduction in them. Our products ensure more effective communication with their customers / residents and therefore often eliminate the need to physical site visits. Additionally, their Director Labour Organisations and external Contractors utilise our Mobile product which includes a van-stock tracking tool. This automatically reorders stock, meaning an engineer won’t have to leave jobs to restock at suppliers. "

  Covid-19 recovery

  "During the coronavirus pandemic. MIS recognised that due to the pandemic causing redundancies and uncertainty there was an 81% increase in demand for food parcels, and most worryingly of all, the number of parcels given to children increased by 122%. As a result of this frightening statistic, MIS decided to launch the Food for All campaign, a campaign which would see MIS donate £20,000 to foodbanks across the UK & Ireland and forging good links with the Trussell Trust in various regions in the process.; ; MIS have customers from all over the UK & Ireland, so as part of the Food for All campaign we took it upon ourselves to donate £1,000 to two foodbanks, every week, for ten weeks. Each week would be dedicated to a different region. We started in our heartland of the Northwest and then moved onto Scotland, Yorkshire and the Humber, North East of England, East and West Midlands, Wales and the South West, South East England, East of England, Greater London and Northern Ireland. However, we didn’t just select foodbanks from these locations on our own accord. As there is so many excellent and well-deserving foodbanks across the UK, we required our customers’ assistance. We asked our customers to provide the foodbank that they feel is most deserving in their region, and why, to help with our selection."

  Tackling economic inequality

  "We are a local living wage organisation. All of our 170+ employees are paid at the local living wage or higher. Working in housing, we understand that large portion of the population of the UK is struggling financially. We are also aware that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for young people to get into work and particularly careers that they enjoy. A a leading software services company, we are in a great position to offer young people and graduates real-life, hands on and practicle experience in the industry. We offer fulfill an annual commitment of two placement for young people. We are keen to see the industry benefit from the continual employment of the next generations. ; ; In 2023, MIS started working closely with Keele University and following its long-standing work in Social Housing and Emergency Services, MIS created the Stewart Mclaughlin Scholarship program at Keele for disadvantaged students in the Paramedic degree course. This awards a student with a donation covering one year of their accommodation fees. ; ; In addition to the above, MIS has supported; customers awards, ‘Give and Gain’ days, estate walkabouts and have attended a number of CIH research trips over the years to help drive efficiency within the industry. One of the social areas MIS is most proud of is our Student Placement program. The MIS Student Placement program has been in place since 2014 and involves MIS taking between 1 and 3 student placements each year as part of their IT University placement year course. Although this is an excellent way of providing real life experience within a business, what MIS are most proud of, is the fact that every single placement student has managed to secure a job once they have finished their course due to the level of training they had received."

  Equal opportunity

  "We achieve equal opportunity from the start of our employment by implementing rigid recruitment processes. Recruitment, promotion and other selection exercises is conducted on the basis of merit, against objective criteria that avoid discrimination. Shortlisting is done by more than one person possible and at least two interviews are carried out before employment. Vacancies are generally advertised to a diverse section of the labour market. ; Advertisements avoid stereotyping or using wording that may discourage particular groups from applying. Job applicants do not ask questions which might suggest an intention to discriminate on grounds of a Protected Characteristic. For example, applicants are not asked whether they are pregnant or planning to have children. Job applicants are not asked about health or disability before a job offer is made, except in the very limited circumstances allowed by law: for example, to check that the applicant could perform an intrinsic part of the job (taking account of any reasonable adjustments), or to see if any adjustments might be needed at interview because of a disability. ; Once in employment at MIS, staff training will be identified through regular staff appraisals. All workers will are given appropriate access to training to enable them to progress within the organisation. All promotion decisions will be made based on merit. Where appropriate, steps will be taken to identify and remove unnecessary or unjustifiable barriers and to provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the special needs of disadvantaged or under-represented groups. "

  Wellbeing

  "One of our products, ActiveC, an omni-channel contact centre tool, contains 'sentient analytics' technology, which identifies, in real-time, if a caller shows signs of distress, which is flagged and the appropriate mitigation can be actioned and the situation monitored. ; ; In relation to MIS employees, we have built a family-run, open, honest and friendly atmosphere, which is evidenced by our high staff retention levels. We do, however understand that it takes individuals to make a team and all staff members partake in very regular one to one meetings with their line manager, where wellbeing is discussed as a priority. Additionally, we have trained four staff members on mental health awareness and mentoring.

Pricing

• Price: £24 a unit
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@mis-ams.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.