The new TOA Technologies system is part of a wider project aimed at offering customers greater flexibility, and will provide John Lewis with a unified way of booking and scheduling its mobile workforce.

Adrian Riley, project manager for home furnishings measure and fit at John Lewis, said, "We chose TOA because its cloud-based solution can be deployed within our existing project timeframe."

The TOA system will make it easier for John Lewis to schedule customer appointments with its mobile workforce, regardless of where the customer is located or which shop the appointment is booked through. The system deployed supports real-time changes to schedules.

The system will initially be used across all 28 John Lewis department stores to provide them with a nationwide view of appointments. It will eventually be extended to support online bookings on the company's website, and appointments arranged through John Lewis' smaller format 'at home' shops.

The platform is scheduled to be in place in all stores by November 2011.