From tracking bank transactions to keeping up-to-date with the latest news and football transfers, ordering fast-food deliveries, monitoring fitness levels, getting in the weekly shop or switching on the central heating from miles away - there’s a Smartphone App to organise every aspect of life at just the push of a button.
Smartphones are the greatest technical revolution since the dawn of the internet which have become the go-to portal to access the internet and keep personal and professional lives in order for more than half of the population.
And - with figures showing that the App industry will be worth an estimated $77 billion by next year as the number of Smartphone users continue to rise - it is no surprise that businesses from all walks of life are turning to Smartphone technology to improve efficiency and keep them at the forefront of their fields.
With the British Standard currently being redrawn to include recognition of the power and ease of App technology, and therefore being more sympathetic towards smartphone use, there is no question that Smartphones are the future and companies from every industry should take note.
As companies reap the benefits of utilising the Smartphone to better engage with workers, clients and consumers to provide easy-to-access services with just a click, the impact Smartphones have had - and will continue to have - in the world of lone worker protection is also significant.
Outside of LONEALERT’s wide range of alarms and devices, Smartphones have cemented their status as an efficient and effective tool for the H&S industry and can really open up users from a wide range of industries to a whole new world of simple-but-effective health & safety protection.
With LONEALERT’s parent company, Advance IT Group already well established as the creator of Smartphone Apps and as the number of people turning to Smartphones continues to rise (Latest figures show that 93% of the population are mobile users - with a huge 66% of those choosing Smartphones) this easy-to-use and cost-effective solution for keeping workers safe in their line of duty is one which looks set to grow and expand for the foreseeable future.
The initial costs associated with adopting Smartphones are relatively small - particularly when weighed up against the money it will save in the long-run in business efficiencies - and so the choice of sticking with the old or embracing the new is a no-brainer.
Sometimes businesses make the mistake of investing heavily in software that could make the acquisition of knowledge from data as efficient and effective as possible - and then handle the entry of data into the software multiple times, inefficiently.
Forms are completed on site, sent back to the office for entry by an admin or by entry by the employee when they get online next, sales guys scribble on pads and then transfer these to Customer Relationship Management when they get to their hotel or home, or call them into the office, costing the time of two people.
Reports are written, photographic evidence captured all to be downloaded to a laptop later and combined together and distributed to stake holders while service organisations spend time and money checking and ensuring that employees are at the sites they should be at, and when.
All of the above, and many more examples require more work than is needed, and indeed the more hands that touch something the more chance there is for error.
A smartphone/tablet/phablet put into the hands of an employee can be one step that negates all of the above inefficiencies - and often for only a few pounds per month per employee.
When combined with a suitable business level App, it allows all of the data to be captured at source, in one go, and then fed directly into the software that facilitates the acquisition of knowledge.
The effective use of Smartphone technology can open up a world of opportunities and efficient working practices for every person in the workforce, wherever they sit in the corporate ladder. For example, it can allow:
- Forms to be created and tagged to a site, user or client so all relevant details entered and then fed directly into the software, where manager actions can be added to bring it to attention if certain details are entered.
- HGV drivers to complete their circle checks on a phone before sending the information immediately to the software along with requests for items.
- Sales reps to complete visit sheets directly with the client and push them straight back into the Customer Relationship Management, complete with follow on actions, so nothing is forgotten or delayed.
- Reports to be completed immediately on site and automatically distributed to stakeholders based on criteria entered.
- Managers access to real-time information from workers.
- Engineer readings to be tagged and submitted straight away with automatic alarms raised if immediate action is needed.
- Lone workers to access Apps (such as LONEALERT) so they can call for help immediately if threatened and log on to GPS to pinpoint their location.
So, you can see that smartphones really can streamline the flow of data into information, in a quick, controlled and effective fashion.
And then... once employees are equipped with smartphones, more benefits can be gained using the same technology. The options and opportunities ate unlimited.
We live in a technology-driven era and smartphones are not going away. Their influence on all aspects of our lives is going to continue to grow.
As the famous saying goes: “Knowledge is power”. And the key to ensuring your organisation is empowered lies in the sensible adoption of smartphone technology and associated, relevant business Apps.
