WorkMobile Blog

Posts Tagged ‘mobile users’

WorkMobile™ for iPad

Part of our team has recently been working on a version of WorkMobile™ that specifically targets Apple’s iPad. In Apple’s terms, we’ve made WorkMobile™ “Universal”. This means that a single application can be downloaded from the App Store to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad and it will work on any of the platforms. More importantly perhaps, it means that we get to take advantage of the large screen size when we’re running on an iPad.

At the start of the development cycle, I’ll admit that I was somewhat sceptical about the ease, according to the documentation at least, in which iPhone targeted apps could be converted to Universal. The documentation always says it’s easy, but as a developer I know we’ll usually find 101 tiny little annoyances. All of those niggles need to be hunted down and given a stern talking to, and that’s a time consuming process.

After changing the relevant build settings, we set about building our new iPad sized screens and wiring them up to the code behind the scenes that makes things tick. That task in itself was far less laborious than it would have been in days of yore, largely thanks to the (long overdue, but most definitely welcome) ability to wire up the code to your user interface visually in the relatively new and completely re-vamped XCode 4 (the software used to build applications for Apple’s platforms).

After building and wiring up the new screens, the next step was to get our hands dirty with the actual code and inner workings of WorkMobile™ on the iPad, and see if things go horribly wrong when you flip WorkMobile™ sideways, or upside down. This is where I expected all the dreaded niggles to start appearing. In reality, there were relatively few. For the most part we had to just switch on the ability of the application to rotate when the user spins the iPad around, making sure that WorkMobile™ was always the right way up so we can live up to the “There is no right way or wrong way” of Apple’s marketing campaign. It just worked.

Sure we had to make some changes to the actual inner workings of WorkMobile™ for the iPad version, but far, far fewer than expected.

I guess I’m going to have to eat humble pie (or maybe humble apple pie), and admit that my scepticism was misplaced.

Simon (Senior Developer)

WorkMobile™ for iPad hit the App Store on Monday 19th September and should now be available for download.

Earn while you sleep

The latest issue of Mobile News features an article about the WorkMobile™ Business Partner Forum and an interview with Keith Curran.

“As Keith Curran unveils the “revolutionary” WorkMobile™ to the dealer channel, Michael Garwood talks exclusively to him about the product that captures form data on a mobile.

When former Yes Telecom CEO Keith Curran was asked to speak at a venture capital event last year, he was asked to describe his ideal business. His response was simple: to offer something every business in the world needs and can save money using, and would make him money while he slept……”

Click to read more.

Full article in Mobile News issue 493 (July 4, 2011).

Learn more by using our YouTube Channel…

The WorkMobile™ YouTube Channel is a helpful resource to assist you with WorkMobile™. We have created a number of step-by-step videos that will provide you with the perfect guide to help you through the various different aspects of the WorkMobile™ service.

In addition to the WorkMobile™ support team, (who are available during the hours of 08.00-18.00 Monday to Friday either via email wmsupport@esay-mobile.co.uk or by phone 0161 743 3716) the WorkMobile™ YouTube Channel offers 24 hour assistance through easy to understand tutorial videos.

The videos can help you to get started by explaining the website registration process, as well as describing how to create a form in easy to follow, simple steps. You will also be able to view videos that can help you to use the advanced features of WorkMobile™, such as applying Skip Logic to your forms, inserting sub forms and creating reports. Tutorial videos explaining how to use WorkMobile™ on a mobile device are also available to assist the users in your mobile workforce.

Tutorial videos currently available on the WorkMobile™ YouTube Channel:

How to Register
How to Create a New Mobile User
How to Create a Form
How to View Completed From Data
How to Create a Job Type
How to Create a New Job
How to Create Subforms
How to use Skip Logic
Completing a Job on A Mobile Device
How to Reject a Job on A Mobile Device
How to Save As Draft on a mobile Device
How to Create a Report

WorkMobile™ is a unique, simple to use product and the tutorial videos will provide the extra support that you may need to get started or to assist you with a particular feature or process. All of the videos have text captions to ensure that the viewer understands each step.

Visit the WorkMobile youTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/W0rkM0bile

Curran heralds a new dawn for Business Partner Forums

Ask any dealer whether they remember Keith Curran’s Business Partner Forums from four years ago and you’re likely to get a wry smile. These full day events often with an overnight thrown in for good measure were renowned throughout the industry for a combination of great networking, industry knowledge-sharing and, above all, a focused spotlight on income generation tools that meant everyone walked away with business ideas coursing through their blood. Keith, the consummate host, made sure the events spoke to the dealers in the language they understood and on topics that resonated with their world.

On Thursday 16^th June, Keith is re-launching the Business Partner Forums in association with WorkMobile^TM and Mobile News Magazine. Undoubtedly, the events will be a tad more streamlined than before – a half-day and Networking Lunch rather than an all-nighter but nevertheless the premise of getting the good and the great of the industry together for high level discussion and learning will still hold true as will the key aim of giving potential business partners something new to work with courtesy of the revolutionary new business-to-business App, WorkMobile.^TM

Free to attend – the event is taking place at the Telford Hotel and Golf Resort in Shropshire.

Said Keith,

“This event is set to inspire and interest all potential business partners regardless of size of business or customer profile. It will turn the industry on its head and re-ignite the current stagnant market place as well as providing a revolutionary new product that will kick-start a sustainable new revenue stream.”

To register simply complete the online booking form at www.esay-mobile.co.uk/forum

or call 0845 6501010

Are you getting the most out of your mobile IT expenditure?

It’s a simple question that not enough companies ask themselves seriously. But think about it. Can you lay your hands on up-to-date information, from wherever your staff may be as quickly as you’d like, or do you have to ask someone else to compile the information you need and then wait for them to get round to it?

When you get the figures are you sure they’re right or could they contain mistakes from being retyped or perhaps they were right two weeks ago when the basic data was collected (on a tatty piece of paper) but things have changed in the time it took for that data to be summarised and to reach your desk?

If you have to wait to get the information you need, what about your staff? Are they also being frustrated by not having accurate or timely information available to support their decisions? And, without accurate and timely information are you sure the decisions being made are the right ones or are you just not making decisions because you don’t have the right information to hand?

One way around this is to invest in a mobile data capture solution, but this is often an expensive purchase; as devices and software aren’t cheap. With WorkMobile™ you don’t have to invest in new devices, as it’s likely that your staff already own smartphones that this truly superb business app can be downloaded onto.

With WorkMobile™ you will get faster, more accurate information to help you and your staff make the right decisions at the right time – winning and retaining customers, reducing costs increasing turnover and profit. The best bit is the free trial – FREE software (100 Credits)! Give it a go and see how business-changing it could be for you.

Near field payment technology to feature at MWC 2011

According to research firm Juniper Research, smartphone payments will rise exponentially this year, as retailers, mobile phone operators and consumers start to embrace mobiles offering near field communications (NFC) technology, which will be featured at the Mobile World Congress next week.

NFC will allow consumers to pay for low cost goods such as coffee or train tickets, up to a value of £15 by passing their mobile phones over a proximity reader. In the UK, O2 has plans to offer mobile phones with a built-in wallet, Everything Everywhere (T-Mobile and Orange), is working with MasterCard to roll out a commercial NFC service by the second quarter.

About 40,000 stores in the UK have NFC readers, capable of reading from mobile phones, and contactless debit and credit cards. They include Pret a Manger, and Little Chef. The Co-Op and McDonalds also plan to make the service available across their UK outlets.

NFC can be used in other applications, for example to verify the identity of a person entering a building or logging on to a computer, or to allow a customer to use their mobile phone as a hotel room key, in addition to mobile payments.

Outside the UK, France is developing the technology rapidly. There are plans to introduce it in the US, and the technology is already widespread in Japan.

How to make your WorkMobile forms even easier to use…

One of the great features of the WorkMobile toolbox that often gets overlooked is the page break tool. It’s really there to be used when the form you are building gets longer than the display area on your smartphone.

All you need to do is drag and drop the page break tool onto the form where you would like to create the next page, and your mobile users won’t have to scroll down a long form, but just hit the ‘next’ button for the next page!

Cash-strapped schools will use pupils’ mobile phones

Mobile phones and iPods will become part of the teaching tool-kit, according to a survey of education professionals from industry body Intellect. More than 50% said pupils’ personal devices will be incorporated into lessons over the next five years and used as much in school as at home. However, 60% said their schools had nowhere near enough technology, or could benefit from additional technology, while more than half said they needed more training in the use of technology.

Phil Hemmings, chair of the Intellect Education Group, said, “Education professionals view ICT as a key teaching tool and an important way of communicating with pupils and parents. However, there is still much work to be done. Many professionals would like more training and the results of our sample indicate that further investment in technology is still required.”

Strapped schools really need look no further than multi-platform apps like WorkMobile, a truly versatile tool that could revolutionise communication in and around the classroom on already present technology.

Prediction: mobile broadband subscriptions will hit 1bn this year

Mobile broadband subscriptions are set to hit a major milestone this year, if device manufacturer Ericsson’s prediction comes true. Ericsson has claimed it expected to see subscriptions hit the one billion mark in 2011, doubling the half billion milestone achieved in 2010.

The company put the expected acceleration of subscriptions down to the increasing growth of smartphone ownership, along with more and more connected laptops and tablets using mobile broadband to connect to the internet.

Although the company claimed there would be significant growth in Western Europe – with connections reaching 200 million this year – the biggest adoption was set for the Asia Pacific region. Ericsson predicted this part of the world would see a massive 400 million connections by the end of 2011.

Turkey dinner followed by the yuletide log on…

It won’t be the Queen’s speech that occupies employees’ time after Christmas dinner this year, but checking email. According to a survey by ISP Demon, office staff plan to work at least 10 hours over the holiday period and one in six will be logging on from home even on Christmas Day via smartphones and laptops.

The extended break from 25 December to 4 January, boosted by three extra public holidays caused by Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day all falling on weekend days, means that many senior managers cannot afford to be out of touch with their businesses for so long a period of time.

The vast majority (95%) of respondents working from home will be sending and receiving work emails and over two thirds (68%) will be accessing documents on the corporate network through VPN or similar. A small number (4%) admitted they will be working, on average for longer than normal – over eight hours each time.

Fourteen percent of respondents said that the only reason they wouldn’t be working from home on Christmas Day was because they did not have the technology available.