Keeping your mobile field workers safe, informed and connected is a challenge faced by an increasing number of organisations.
Whether you’re managing teams of winemakers, nurses or engineers, being able to effectively monitor and clearly communicate with your staff is vital to ensuring employee safety, productivity and trust.
A recent report from Strategy Analytics forecasts that the global mobile workforce will reach 1.75 billion by 2020 – accounting for 42 per cent of the total workforce.
To address the challenges that will come with this growth, MapData Services has recently launched the FieldWorker Suite for ArcGIS, providing essentials tools for managing your remote teams in ArcGIS Online.
FieldWorker Suite for ArcGIS is formed of three smartphone apps that are designed to be used either independently or together.
FieldCollect offers a streamlined user experience for rapidly capturing location-based information from the field; FieldAlert notifies your staff when they are close to locations of interest; and, FieldTrack provides a continuous stream of GPS location updates collected from your mobile workers.
Each app has been built from the ground up, and are all designed off the back of client feedback so as to meet the demands of modern organisations.
FieldCollect provides workers such as posties or parking inspectors with the means to collect information about dangerous animals, graffiti, dumped rubbish or pavement conditions in a few taps of their phone.
Another user example would be a winemaker out in the vineyard, who can use the app to capture geotagged condition reports and instantly communicate these to their office for action.
In addition to aggressive dogs and bad grapes, there are many other perils for fieldworkers as they go about their day – things like accident blackspots, dangerous properties and recalcitrant home owners.
FieldAlert notifies your staff when they are near these locations – providing them with real-time advice on the best action to take.
FieldTrack, meanwhile, sits in the background sharing your workers’ current location as they go about their day. When driving long distances, your employees can feel safe knowing you are monitoring progress along their route.
The data collected from your team members is invaluable for enhancing the productivity of your workforce. Analysing the information reveals insights into the routes being driven between jobs and the amount of time being spent on productive activities – allowing you to more optimally assign work across your mobile team.
Faced with the challenges of keeping your team safe, connected and productive, these apps are proving indispensable for the mobile workforce manager.
The FieldWorker Suite for ArcGIS is currently available to trial or purchase from the ArcGIS Marketplace – the destination for discovering apps and data built to work with your ArcGIS Online organisation.
MapData Services Tech Blog 