The efficiency and effectiveness of your field workforce may be the single most important frontier of competitive advantage for your field service organization. Better performance in the field equals stronger business outcomes. Period. Considering the vital importance of workforce efficiency for your company’s success, I have to ask: are your field inspection processes still being performed using paper forms or disconnected spreadsheets? If the answer is yes, then we better get started; we have a lot of work to do!
With heightened competitive pressures and increasing compliance requirements, there has never been a better time to improve your safety inspection or site survey processes with a mobile inspection app. This post, the first of a four part inspection series, addresses the vital importance mobile field service software plays in improving inspections by adopting an inspection app.
In order to demonstrate the benefits of a mobile inspection app, I’ve illustrated below what it’s like to perform a standard inspection with and without mobile software.
Scenario 1: An Inspector without a Mobile Inspection App
In this scenario, we have a technician—let’s call him Jim—performing a safety inspection on a construction site. Jim has to perform several inspections manually, so it will probably take him a while. He’s been working all day and inspections aren’t the main part of his job, so he’s not exactly looking forward to performing all the extra steps needed to get an accurate survey of the job site.
Before he arrives on the construction site, Jim has to remember to pack all of the necessary forms for each inspection. While he’s at the back office, Jim chooses the appropriate forms, prints them off, packs them in his binder, and heads out for his daily work.
Once he arrives on the construction site, Jim pulls out the various inspection forms he needs–let’s say there are five–takes out his pen and clipboard, and begins scrawling his responses quickly and somewhat illegibly since he’s moving around and in a hurry. Because the forms are generic and not customized for the specific inspection at hand, he needs to take extra notes to accommodate for the various specificities of each inspection.
After finishing all of the required inspections, Jim still needs to return to the back office to record the results he took in the field. Luckily these inspections were taken at the end of the day, so it’s a little easier to remember to go back. With so many other things going on, paper inspections often get forgotten about or lost in the mix. Jim fights traffic to get back to the office, only to reenter the same data he already took in the field. He struggles to decipher his rushed handwriting, which leads to an error or two in the records. Finally, Jim submits the reentered inspection data, but he knows that what he’s submitted isn’t as timely or accurate as it could have been or should have been.
Here’s what could have happened…
Scenario 2: An Inspector Equipped with a Mobile Inspection App
Another technician down the road—we’ll call him Joe—is performing several inspections for an HVAC contractor. Joe’s company uses a mobile inspection app, so he doesn’t even need to report to the office to receive job information or inspection forms. He can see all of the inspections he needs to complete, where he needs to go, and any other information about the job, customer, or equipment through his mobile device.
Once he arrives on the job site, instead of downloading generic inspection forms, Joe customizes the forms on his mobile device to correspond to the specific details of each inspection at hand. Each customized form contains a series of questions that are specific enough to provide accurate data without wasting time taking lengthy, written notes. And even if he does need to take one or two detailed notes, he types or uses voice recognition technology, which is much easier to read than Jim’s handwriting.
Joe quickly completes the inspection, going down the list and answering each question in the form (if he accidentally skips a question, the device won’t let him complete the form until it’s answered). Then—and this is the best part, so you’ll want to pay attention—he submits the inspection and sends it to the back office, making the results instantly accessible to company stakeholders like managers or customers. And that’s it! Joe’s done.
Joe’s inspection not only took less time to perform than Jim’s, it is also more accurate, and saves Joe the hassle of returning to the office at the end of the day, wasting his time reentering the data he already took.
Choosing a Mobile Inspection App
Now that you’ve seen how much easier Joe’s day turned out than Jim’s, it’s hopefully clear how life with a mobile inspection app can make your organization more efficient by decreasing time spent and resources used to perform inspections.
Not all applications are created equal though. It’s important to arm yourself with the right information to make the most informed decision possible. Be prepared with answers to following questions to ensure you’re investing in an app that is best for you:
Does the mobile field service app work on multiple mobile operating platforms?
With the demand for a variety of devices and operating systems, it’s important to invest in software that can run on multiple platforms. When your software isn’t limited by a company or operating system, you have more flexibility about how to run your application and can choose the most efficient and cost-effective option for you.
Can technicians still use the app when they’re not in a connected environment?
When techs are working in the field, they’re often in areas that don’t get Wi-Fi or cellular service, like the middle of a field or the depths of a basement. It’s still important that they collect data even when they’re in these uncovered areas, which is why it’s important to know your application can run natively, or offline. Make sure the app you choose has store and forward functionality to allow techs to work wherever they are.
What happens when my business evolves and I need updates for my mobile solution?
As an evolving business, it’s important that your software is flexible enough to adapt as you do. With this in mind, you’ll want to be sure that the application you choose is supported by a company that’s constantly working on updates and is willing to custom make changes to fit your business processes
How will we measure ROI for something like inspections?
In order to justify your investment in a mobile inspection application, it’s important to see tangible returns. Use your potential vendors to help you determine whether they have analytics in place to help you measure ROI. Determine whether they understand what will give your company the biggest returns when performing inspections in the field and rely on them to help you execute and measure those returns.
Free Yourself to Perform More Efficient Inspections
It’s time to liberate your field safety inspection personnel from the shackles of paper. Invest in a mobile inspection app that can automate mundane, productivity-sapping safety inspection tasks and runs on whatever platform you choose. With your technicians freed from the labor-intensive and error-prone process of manual inspections, your whole company will experience the thrill of improved productivity.
7 Best Practices for Choosing a New Field Service App
Take the first steps toward improving inspection processes and eliminating paper in the field. Use these tried and true methods for organizing the field service software buying process. Eliminate the unexpected and increase your chances of success with your new software.
via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/liberate-inspections-shackles-paper-mobile-field-service-app-0692872?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=liberate-inspections-shackles-paper-mobile-field-service-app
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