Angela Bennett

When you've been using the same software for 20 years, change feels scary. But for Diamond Systems in Belfast, switching to Uptick turned out to be the best business decision they'd made in years. Here's how they did it and what happened next.

About Diamond Systems

Diamond Systems isn't your typical fire safety company. Started in the 1980s as a family business in Belfast, they've grown into something special, the kind of company that tackles the biggest, most complex projects across the UK and Ireland.

What makes them different? They see themselves as a technology company that happens to work in fire and security. They're NSI Gold certified, FIA members, and absolutely obsessed with keeping buildings safe.

Angela, who's been with the company for 17 years, puts it best: "The bigger and more complex the project, the more we excel."

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The Problem: When your software becomes your biggest headache

Picture this: you're running a growing fire safety business, but your software is older than some of your engineers. That was Diamond Systems' reality. For 20 years, they'd been using the same system, and it was holding them back.

Angela from Diamond Systems puts it simply: "We were having to bolt on other software, which meant duplicating things and increasing the risk of errors. It just wasn't delivering what we needed."

The old system couldn't handle quotes properly, had zero reporting capabilities, and definitely wasn't cloud-based. Every day felt like swimming upstream.

Why they chose Uptick 

Angela didn't just pick Uptick on a whim. She'd just finished a master's degree in business improvement and was determined to find the right solution. Here's what sealed the deal:

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It's built for fire safety companies, not plumbers

Most field service software tries to be everything to everyone. Uptick doesn't. "When I looked at Uptick, I thought, 'Yeah, it ticks all the boxes.' It minimizes all that duplication, waste of time and effort, and risk of error," Angela says.

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Everyone in the industry was raving about it

Angela didn't just take our word for it. She spoke to fire safety companies across the UK, Ireland, and even Australia. She got "glowing reports" from everyone who'd made the switch.

They even flew to Scotland to see Uptick in action at another company. "We went across for the day and came back and said, 'Yeah, we're definitely going with this.'"

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It felt like a partnership, not just another vendor

"I was attracted to Uptick because we share similar values," Angela explains. "Your mission and our mission is the same: to keep people safe."

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The switch: Easier than expected 

Migrating from a 20-year-old system was a significant undertaking, but Uptick’s structured onboarding and dedicated support made the process smooth and reassuring.

Let's be honest, switching software after 20 years is terrifying. Angela admits: "There's a lot of nervousness there whenever you first say, 'Right, we're going to move across.'"

But here's what happened: their onboarding manager was "very reassuring; nothing was too much trouble." The whole team knew the software inside and out. And crucially, "at no stage did we feel like we were asking too much."

12 months later, Angela still raves about the support: "It's always felt like a very personal level of service."

The first few weeks were tough, but that's normal when you're changing something you've used for two decades. The difference was having people who actually cared about getting them through it.
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What actually made the difference

Here's the thing about software features: they only matter if they actually solve real problems. For Diamond Systems, four things made all the difference:
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1. Defect quoting that doesn't disappear into email black holes
   This was the game-changer. Before, defect recommendations got buried in customer inboxes. Now, everything's visual, tracked, and impossible to ignore. "I'm absolutely certain that has been transformed through using Uptick."
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2. Asset management that leaves no room for guesswork
   "Now there's absolutely no margin for error because all of the assets are listed, and they have to go around and physically pass each one." No more relying on what's in an engineer's head.
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3. Reports that actually impress clients
   Clean, color-coded reports instead of boring Word documents. "We've had new maintenance clients coming on board because we've been able to showcase the portal."
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4. Data that actually helps you run the business
   Real-time dashboards instead of spending hours trying to extract useful information. "I feel like we're really primed now to move forward with that three-year plan and really scale the business."

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The results: more than just happy customers

The move to Uptick has delivered significant and measurable benefits for Diamond Systems in a short period.

Let's talk numbers. Angela doesn't hold back: "Our revenue is up this year, and I think a large part of that has been driven by the defect quoting being more effective."

But it's not just about revenue. Here's what really changed:

Defect quotes that actually get approved

Before Uptick, defect recommendations got lost in email inboxes. Now? "I can even go in and see the turnaround from quote approval to when the work's carried out, which is like lightning speed."

The impact has been felt across the business:

• Revenue is up: Better defect quoting means more jobs get approved and completed faster.
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• Time saved everywhere: No more duplicate data entry. No more chasing engineers for details. Information gets captured once and works everywhere.
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• Clients actually trust the quotes: When you can show photos and detailed asset lists, clients stop questioning your recommendations.
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• The team loves it: Even the engineers (who usually hate change) embraced the mobile app. The office team went from nightmare first weeks to "flying through" their work.

Now Diamond Systems has the foundation they need to execute their three-year growth plan. They've got the data, the efficiency, and the client satisfaction to scale properly.

"It's easy to stay the same, but you have to be courageous and say, 'Is there something better out there?' If we can enhance the safety of the service we're delivering by partnering with Uptick, then it's a benefit to everyone."

— Angela, Diamond Systems
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