SPCA Auckland goes digital

The SPCA has teamed up with tech firm Fronde to make pet adoptions more straightforward.

Fronde will help the SPCA with a custom-built app that is designed to modernise the organisation's current paper-based adoption system.

Fronde is working with the animal welfare organisation at no cost. SPCA Auckland helps around 15,000 animals in need each year.

According to the SPCA, the current system can take up to 30 minutes per customer and can result in lines out the door at the SPCA Auckland Animal Village in Mangere.

Andrea Midgen, CEO of SPCA Auckland, says her team is excited about the project as it will save both staff and customers large amounts of time, and is much more environmentally friendly.

"What this project is going to do is allow our customers to take home their new family members faster," Midgen says.

"The new app will mean people can fill out the adoption forms instantly online, rather than our current system where they fill them out manually and staff re-enter the data onto a computer.

"Fronde is also donating four laptops to us so we can implement this app straight away, as we don't currently have the hardware to run this project on," Midgen explains.

"SPCA Auckland receives no government funding so we're thankful for Fronde's generosity and are really enjoying working with them," she adds.

James Valentine, CTO at Fronde, says the company is committed to helping not-for-profit organisations where they can.

"We're really proud to be associated with an upstanding organisation [SPCA] that does great work, and we're thrilled that we can do our bit to help animals in need and help make the adoption process run more smoothly," Valentine says.

"The app will digitise the adoption process, using the Salesforce platform to replace the paper application forms with digital forms," he says.

"Managing the applications digitally will make the adoption process faster and more efficient, creating an improved customer experience for the public," Valentine explains.

"Having adoption information being managed and stored electronically will also mean a significant reduction in administration time for SPCA staff processing adoptions," he says.