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What CIOs Need To Understand About Apple’s Passbook Service
October 8, 2012
Introduction to my article published in Forbes – October 8, 2012. Read the full article here
Written by Mark Scott, CEO of Northern Pixels, a mobile app business consulting firm.
The CIOs of the world’s leading banks and credit card companies have to be getting a little anxious about the direction of their mobile strategy as the stakes grow ever higher. Gartner’s tracking of mobile payments is expected to surpass $171 Billion this year and exceed $600 billion within four years. Meanwhile, Apple’s recent Passbook feature, a simple way to manage gift cards, coupons and tickets, hints at a looming “iWallet” mobile payment feature that could have considerable impact on shifting consumer payments market share.
With billions of dollars at stake, the mobile payment market today is still muddled with multiple players but no clear, undisputed leader. There are two approaches in play. One uses embedded hardware in the form of a near-field communications chip (NFC) within smartphones, which requires an NFC-enabled merchant device to handle the transaction. The other is an app-based cloud transaction approach. The recent release of the iPhone 5, without an NFC chip, and the launch of iOS 6 with the new Passbook feature are signaling Apple’s preference for the cloud approach.
Three specific things about Apple are fueling banker CIO anxiety: existing user base, integrated convenience and consumer influence. With a reported 400 million active iTunes account and 315+ million mobile devices, Apple has major home field advantage to position itself ahead of virtually any upcoming solutions. To provide context, the U.S. as a whole has an estimated 176 million credit cardholders. As banks and credit card companies struggle to develop an adoptable mobile solution, Apple continues to build a powerful user base day over day.
Ultimately Passbook is designed to enhance the ease of transactions – which all merchants and brands like – and it’s an obvious precursor to connecting mobile payments. Apple controls the hardware and the mobile OS, and now with Passbook, it provides brand app developers the ability to link their products to a centralized and easy management of gift cards, coupons and tickets. It’s strategic multi-step approach, and connecting multiple brands to its loyalty management infrastructure will make it easier to move to the next step of connecting them to the transaction system.
Read the full article here
Our business app connects pilots to flight operations center to improve business efficiencies
September 15, 2012
The following is the introduction of an AT&T case study on how our mobile business app improves productivity for one of America’s largest fractional corporate private aircraft companies – Avantair. Download the full case study here
For Avantair, efficiencies soar with mobile applications
About Avantair
Founded in 2003, Avantair is a fractional ownership air travel company headquartered in Clearwater, Florida. The company provides clients on-demand flights for both business and personal travel across North America, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Avantair exclusively flies the Piaggio P.180 Avanti aircraft; its speed and fuel-efficiency allow Avantair to offer better service at lower cost.
Situation
With its leading fuel economy, fly-when-you want scheduling and convenient monthly billing, Avantair makes travel extraordinarily efficient. Yet the company’s internal operations were slowed by paper-based business processes. Pilots sifted through pages of travel charts and checklists to plan and conduct flights. Communication from cockpit to operations center by fax and phone could be inconsistent, causing a lag in data transmission. Submitting flight data and paper expense receipts for invoicing was inconvenient and imprecise. To keep up with its own high standards of operation, Avantair sought to update its processes and improve communication between pilots and office staff.
Solution
Avantair introduced tablet computers equipped with ProntoForms from AT&T for on-board document access and data entry. The company has quickly created dozens of electronic forms for pilots to use when they’re on the ground within this one environment. Tablets connect to back-end systems, enabling near real-time two-way transmission of flight information and operating updates, while MobileIron VSP from AT&T, a mobile device management application, helps to provide a high level of security for the data. The solution cuts out wasted time and bulky paper piles, and it reduces security risks of paper-based processes while trimming invoicing time by weeks.
ProntoForms from AT&T improves Facility Management practices and reporting
September 13, 2012
The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) looks at our mobile business App
Read the full story at the IFMA home page here
One of the biggest challenges in facility management is keeping on top of reporting from the field and managing documentation. Manual paper reports are time consuming and often include errors or missing information. And, too frequently, customer problems are not dealt with in a timely manner due to delays in reporting.
ProntoForms from AT&T improves FM practices and reporting, helping to ensure a higher quality of management, improved performance, and increased customer satisfaction. ProntoForms takes your inspection, audit and other process forms and puts them onto your team’s smartphones or tablets. There’s no change to your work process – we eliminate wasted time.
The ProntoForms cloud based solution has three main components; a mobile app for the phone or tablet for capturing data from the field, an admin dashboard for easily creating an unlimited number of forms, dispatching jobs and monitoring your teams and export and connection services to easily generate reports, connect to cloud services, or integrate with your back office system.
Data Collection: Capture text, barcodes, images, signatures and even GPS locations of form submissions. Leverage ProntoForms’ skip logic to bypass fields based on input or look up tables to pre-populate common content. Use calculations to automate mathematical functions and ensure accuracy. Run ProntoForms over cellular or WiFi networks and ensure delivery with store and forward capability.
Management and Reporting: Easily build even complex forms with the intuitive interface. Customize teams’ access to specific forms, know where workers were when they submitted a form based on a Google Maps overlay. Dispatch single or multiple jobs via the web portal to eliminate unnecessary trips to the office to pick up paperwork. Free up IT support and resources with the cloud based software.
Export and Connection Services: Out of the box Sharepoint connectivity, cloud connectivity to most popular services such as Goole Docs, SkyDrive, Box.net, Evernote and Dropbox. Export to PDF, DOCx, CSV or XLS formats. Automate form submission notifications via email, facebook and twitter. Utilize REST APIs for custom integration with back office systems.
ProntoForms may be acquired from AT&T regardless of your wireless carrier. Sign up for a free 30 day trial and have ProntoForms build your first form for you for free! For more information or to sign up for your free trial visit www.prontoforms.com/att/IFMA
A white paper developed for Rogers on the topic of mobilizing field workers with smartphones and apps.
Read the full white here
About the white paper:
Any company with workers in the field has to be as agile and as real-time as possible when it comes to relaying data and information. Businesses in the Field Services industry must take advantage of the latest and greatest advances in mobile data capture and technology in order to stay ahead of the curve. This White Paper speaks to how applications like ProntoForms can seamlessly integrate into existing Field Services business workflows and really make a difference.
Rogers – Mobilizing Field Service Teams
September 11, 2012
AT&T Case Study – Advanced Digital Security Speeds Up Cash Flow with Real-Time Ticketing Solution
September 10, 2012
A business case study from AT&T on our mobile business app
– Read the full case study hereIndustry Focus
Digital closed circuit monitoring systems for business enterprises
Size
12 employees
Networking Solution
ProntoFormsTM from AT&T running on smartphones for real-time field ticket collection and processing over the AT&T wireless network
Business Value
Faster invoicing; improved cash flow; faster accounts receivable turnover; greater productivity
About Our Customer
Advanced Digital Security (ADS) provides digital closed circuit monitoring (CCTV) systems for its commercial, industrial and retail customers − from large, national chains to smaller, local stores. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio with another location in Roanoke, Virginia, the company’s technicians install and service CCTV systems that complement customers’ efforts to secure workplace environments such as offices, entry areas, parking lots and more.
Situation
ADS technicians completed paper tickets detailing work activities at the conclusion of customer installations and service calls. At the end of each week, they would submit all tickets to the office manager for invoicing. Since some tickets might be missing or delayed, this resulted in a slow invoicing process.
Solution
ADS has improved its invoicing process by taking its paper forms and making them mobile withProntoForms from AT&T running on smartphones and the AT&T wireless network. Technicians now complete and transmit electronic tickets back to headquarters immediately after finishing each installation or service call. ADS can invoice customers the same day as when the service is provided, resulting in improved cash flow and faster accounts receivable turnover by, on average, eight days. All tickets and information are captured easily and accurately when technicians use ProntoForms, thus, improving productivity and avoiding lost revenue.
Seeing Possibilities
So when his AT&T account manager introduced Disher to ProntoForms from AT&T, he was interested in learning more. A demonstration of the mobility application quickly showed how improvements could be made in the company’s installation and service processes – and, ultimately, in the productivity levels of technicians. “They demonstrated how we could design our own forms, and easily access any needed information from our field tickets,” said Disher. “I could immediately see the possibilities and benefits for our customers and technicians.”
Before using ProntoForms, a technician would complete a paper ticket at the conclusion of an installation or service call, providing work details for billing purposes. He kept his job tickets until the end of each week, and would then submit them all to the ADS office manager in Dayton for sorting, coding and invoicing. In the Virginia office, technicians would scan and fax tickets to the office manager. As back up for the faxed tickets, technicians mailed paper copies of all tickets at the end of each week.
“We process 40 to 50 tickets each week,” said Disher. “From our Virginia office, we were getting scans of most tickets, but some would be missing. We would have to take the additional step of comparing the hard copies with the scanned copies, which might be delayed since the hard copies would arrive about a week later. This obviously slowed our invoicing process. We were all spending too much time either scanning, mailing or reviewing tickets. It was a very onerous process, and I knew it would get worse as the company grew.”
Improving Cash Flow
Now ADS technicians use the ProntoForms mobile application on their smartphones to complete electronic tickets immediately after the work is completed. Transmitted over the AT&T wireless network, tickets are delivered to Disher and the office manager within minutes of each finished job. “With real-time mobile forms, we can now invoice our customers daily, which has significantly improved our cash flow and accounts receivable turnover by, on average, eight days,” said Disher.
Disher also finds that technicians more accurately report information about each job with ProntoForms. “Since the job’s details are ‘fresh’ in their minds, we now capture every ticket and every piece of information,” said Disher. “I’m more confident that we are not missing information for billing, which has certainly impacted our revenue.”
ADS technicians also appreciate the fact that they can complete their tickets immediately. “They can rest assured that all paperwork is in at the end of a long day or week,” said Disher. “While on the job, completing an electronic ticket takes about the same amount of time as completing a paper form. However, our technicians save time when they no longer need to do the back-end activities of scanning, mailing and filling in any information gaps for the office manager, when they occur.”
Empowering the Field
With training and help from AT&T and ProntoForms, Disher designed ADS forms to capture exactly what the company needed for invoicing and more. Processed tickets are now automatically archived in customer files on the ADS server for easy and quick access. “A technician can review past tickets for greater insight when servicing a customer. For example, he can examine how a customer’s system was installed and other details that may help him troubleshoot issues,” Disher explained.
And when one of its nationwide customers needed information for compliance with federal regulations, ADS could immediately respond by adding this required field to the customer’s form. Now ADS captures and reports this information to the customer. Disher added, “They were delighted that we could quickly accommodate their request. Using ProntoForms, we are able to provide the information they needed, thus enhancing our security solution for them.”
Since working with ProntoForms, ADS technicians now recommend new fields for ADS tickets that will capture information to help them on-the-job. “They call me from the field and say, ‘can we add this to the form?’” said Disher. “I bring up the ProntoForms application on my PC, add the field, tell him to refresh his device and it’s done within a couple of minutes.”
Disher believes most businesses with workers in the field can benefit from ProntoForms from AT&T. And for companies implementing the application, Disher has some specific ideas. “Using ProntoForms, companies have a powerful opportunity to benefit from automated processes and information. Sit down with your field workers and get their initial input about what information is needed when designing your forms. Then ask for their feedback as they use the forms to capture, transmit and mine the information. There is no substitute for getting feedback about the practical application of ProntoForms in the field. I consider all suggestions from my technicians since, 99 percent of the time, it’s great information to have and use for the benefit of our business and customers.”
Voice of the Customer
“With real-time mobile forms, we can now invoice our customers daily, which has significantly improved our cash flow and accounts receivable turnover by, on average, eight days.”
- David Disher, President, Advanced Digital Security
How Brand Apps Will Teach CMOs To Love (And Respect) The CIO
July 31, 2012
Introduction to my article published in Forbes – July, 2012. Read the full article here
Written by Mark Scott, CEO of Northern Pixels, a mobile app business consulting firm.
Companies managing brands are wisely betting consumers will use smartphones and apps as an interface to the brand experience. However, just as we’ve experienced with other major media shifts, old thinking suppresses the creative and innovative use of new technology until some trailblazers show the way. The current herd of brand apps is limited in function and value; however, when the next generation apps become truly brand-immersive experiences, they will make cash registers ring and remaining brands will follow. This shift will impact millions of marketing media dollars, which will be redirected to this powerful new medium.
Read the full article here
Integrate Twitter into your Mobile Enterprise Workflow in three steps
July 12, 2012
Not just a marketing tool – Data Tweets accelerate mobile business.
When you think of Twitter and business, most people think social media marketing, few would guess that it’s helping rent heavy construction equipment in Texas. The power of Twitter is a real-time communications network available on any smart device. Now consider replacing marketing tweets with “data tweets”, and you have a sophisticated infrastructure for improving the speed of business.
Clever CIOs are marrying mobile devices, business Apps and social media services, including Twitter, to share time-sensitive data with direct and measurable impacts on profits. One example, ROMCO Equipment, a company that rents trucks as big as a house, is using a dynamic mobile workflow with data tweets – helping them to turn around equipment for rental as much as six days faster.
“Companies involved in heavy construction and mining are being very judicious on large capital expenditures – they’re looking more and more to rent. We have a very extensive fleet of heavy equipment we rent for large projects. Some of these include heavy highway construction, oil and gas infrastructure, and mining. Having multiple offices across Texas, it was crucial for us to know the exact availability of every piece of equipment in real-time. In today’s competitive environment, the old style paper process was too slow for us. Our Operations and IT team made a recommendation to move us away from paper and fax machines, to Samsung Galaxy Tablets and a Business App from AT&T called ProntoForms. Data collected from the field is shared via a private Twitter network to all of our operations and sales people across Texas in real-time. We run a traditional distribution business, but we use cutting edge mobile technologies to get the most from our people, and better serve our customers,” explained Charlie Clarkson, President of ROMCO Equipment Co.
The three integration steps
So how do businesses leverage this powerful real-time communications network? It’s plug and play, if you have the right tools.
One: Create your Private Twitter network
The administrator can create a Twitter account that allows only approved followers to see Tweets – this keeps all your company data tweets private from prying eyes. The administrator can also manage registered followers, they can be blocked or removed – crucial for handling an employee who changes departments, or who is no longer with the company.
Two: Identify Strategic Data to be shared and automate your Twitter Feed
Remember, Twitter allows only 140 characters – so you’re never going to Tweet all of the data you collect in the field. The key is identifying what is the most crucial data that needs to be extracted and shared. Of all the data that’s collected on a daily basis – there are crucial nuggets of data that can mean a major difference on productivity and profits. So once you have identified those nuggets, how do you extract them and connect them to Twitter? You’ll need an enterprise-grade business App that manages data workflow and connects to Twitter. Read on…
Three: Choose an Enterprise-grade Mobile Business App with Twitter connectivity
Accessing real-time data can transform your information workflow, but Twitter itself is not an enterprise data solution, it’s a communications tool. Your business will require a Business App for smartphones and tablets that can interconnect with Twitter.
A quick rule of thumb, here’s what you should look for in your business App:
- Multi-mobile OS support – in an era of BYOD, you will likely have iOS, Android and Windows Phone users in the field
- Data moving from the office to the field. The Business App plays the crucial role of accessing back office data (price lists, inventory, resource availability…), or receiving dispatches from field managers in the office, or working remotely
- Data moving from the Field to Office. The enterprise App should be adept at submitting field data back to the office, and allow for connectivity of that data to the back office
- Consider multiple input options. Maximize the power of new smartphones and tablets. Not all data will be input through typing, consider whether or not the enterprise App handles barcode scanning, voice-to-text input, photos and even GPS stamping aggregated with data collected
- Administrator management of field users and preferences for inbound and outbound data routing in your workflow
Now, how do we extract the data nuggets? Enterprise grade solutions that can deliver on the above should also have the ability to quickly integrate and play with Twitter in a sophisticated way. The objective is to automate data extraction and sharing once the data is available – you don’t want your teams in the field involved in an extra step of sending tweets and being aggravated by character limitations. Here’s what you should look for:
- The administrator should be able to identify which employees, or which data collected (or a mix of both) will be tweeted, and set preferences without needing to physically handle the employee device
- Where multiple amounts of data are collected in one data submission, the Enterprise App should be able to extract specific fields to be tweeted
- Consider how the App handles different types of content. Photos, barcode scans, and how can these be integrated into tweets
Accelerate information sharing – accelerate opportunity
Considering the competitive advantage of empowering your employees with real-time data, CIOs need to explore where to start integrating this solution into their mobile workflow. Like any new workflow deployment, we recommend starting small with one team in the field, 100 users or less, and then growing the solution across multiple departments. This way, you can test ROI and iron out the bugs for a larger enterprise roll out.
Samsung Mobility White Paper – Mobilize your paper business process
June 27, 2012
Preface:
My team and I, (thanks Matthew Ross and Antoine Jothy), produced this business mobility White Paper with Samsung to document how business challenges are being resolved by mobile devices, Apps & cloud services. It also documents how businesses are now creatively intertwining Social Media into their business workflow for real-time data sharing.
Excerpt from the White Paper – read the full White Paper here:
With Facebook reaching a billion users in August 2012 (iCrossing) and Twitter surpassing 500 million users in February 2012 (Media Bistro), it’s clear that the majority of the workforce is very comfortable utilizing these two social media platforms.
As it pertains to the use of social media, mobile business solutions are now incorporating more connectivity options with these platforms. In the case of ProntoForms, the mobile solution lets users rely on Facebook and Twitter (as well as conventional email) as a team notification service for various field updates and data submissions, right to and from any mobile device.
“Twitter is a part of our team notification process and it has really enabled us to turn around and rent out our equipment faster, sometimes as much as seven days quicker,” says J.P. MClain, Product Sales and Support Manager for the half-century old ROMCO Equipment Company in Texas.
After undergoing an audit of its processes, ROMCO, sellers and renters of heavy construction equipment, decided to implement ProtoForms and deployed Samsung Galaxy tablets at each of its eight locations.
“We used a few other tablets when we started with ProntoForms. There is no comparison to what we currently use the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The speed is second to none.”
MClain and his team are using the Samsung Tab with ProntoForms to inspect heavy machines and have also been impressed by the Tab’s ability to easily connect and report.
Using a private Twitter setup and ProntoForms together has seen an in- crease in the speed and quality of communication between all eight ROMCO sites. Collectively, all locations have never been on the same page as effectively as they are today.
Read the full White Paper here
A Five-Point Checklist For CIOs Looking For A Mobile App
June 13, 2012
Introduction to my article published in Forbes – June, 2012. Read the full article here
Written by Mark Scott, CEO of Northern Pixels, a mobile app business consulting firm.
Mobile. It’s the word that keeps CIOs and IT managers up at night. How do they better mobilize their company’s workforce? How will they integrate mobile solutions within the current infrastructure? Can they make it work on budget? While these are all legitimate concerns and considerations, it has never been simpler or more affordable to employ a mobile strategy.
To avoid the pitfalls of business mobilization, we’ve put together this all important business mobile application checklist for company decision-makers.
Read the full article here
Mobilizing business with Apple – Powerful applications that improve field reporting
June 11, 2012
Excerpt from the White Paper – read the full white paper here
Applications are changing the game
Mobile applications must either serve a specific business purpose or be high performance in order to make the grade with any business team. Firms can certainly make use of an Apple App such as Find My iPhone, ensuring that companies safeguard their mobile assets and always know their whereabouts.
But for high business performance, an App must be user-friendly, process information and tasks in a speedy fashion, and have two-way connectivity with the office.
Such are the characteristics of ProntoForms, a mobile application known for the variety of tasks it can accomplish. While its name suggests a concentration on efficient form usage, it’s the robust nature of these customizable forms that makes the mobile business solution unique.
An important non-profit organization in Des Moines, Iowa, the transportation services of Link Associates are a vital part of the everyday lives of the families that it serves. With roughly 1,200 individuals that count heavily on Link associates, Fleet and Facilities Director Jim Wilkie wanted to tighten up its processes and better serve its clientele. He instituted ProntoForms on iPhone devices in the field and it has been a tremendous upgrade in how the organization goes about its business.
“We have roughly 7,000 trips a month to document and invoice on, so we were looking to simplify the process. ProntoForms has saved us up to 40 hours in labor a month. Before using ProntoForms, we were employing additional office staff to go through paper billing and enter the data electronically.”
Excerpt from the White Paper – read the full white paper here
