In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses are experiencing pressure to deliver better, more, and fast! For this reason, business owners have started looking for ways to make their processes more efficient, improve their quality, minimize errors, and most importantly, have ease of managing their field data, which is a big hassle these days.
Hopefully, you have landed over here looking for the same. Isn’t it? If so, you are in luck! This article will talk about the new generations’ mobile data collection method and how it benefits businesses. Continue reading!
What is mobile data collection?
Gone are the days when collecting data on the go used to be laborious. You had to do a lot of preparations, perform manual tasks, and needed a stable internet connection all the time, which was next to impossible.
Modern-day data collection solutions are designed to replace your paper or spreadsheet-based data gathering processes with digital forms which are accessible via smartphones online as well as offline.
Instead of collecting data manually in pen and paper mode, you have mobile applications that facilitate data collection and enable you to directly upload data to the platform server, store it in a database and further utilize it for analysis.
Benefits of mobile data collection for businesses
Saves time and money
Traditional data collection methods required ‘double data entry’ where two workers used to enter the same data, and there was to be a supervisor to identify the errors.
However, by eliminating the need for paperwork and collecting all the data digitally, you shorten the time taken by field workers to collect data and save a significant amount of money.
Improves quality of data
Collecting data in digital form allows you to implement many quality checking tools and have a large degree of customization. This means there will be a lesser possibility of errors, and you will be able to filter down the data with just a few clicks. Furthermore, you will have better visibility and transparency of the data to reduce the risk of data leaks.
Flexibility to the collection process
Unlike paper format, mobile forms allow you to make the necessary changes or corrections (if any) as and when required to reduce the chances of error.
Mobile devices can be updated anytime on the go. Even with limited or no internet connection, you will be able to correct minor issues like typos, phrased questions, or filter logic.
Safe storage and backup of data
Now, this is the most important advantage of collecting data digitally. As you know, papers can be lost, destroyed, or mishandled, leading to a costly affair for an organization. While on the other hand, digital data is inexpensively copied, stored, backed up, and encrypted (if required).
Access analytics
As discussed above, when using a data collection application, all your data is stored digitally in a centralized repository or database. This means the timeframe for data analysis and evaluation of the information is reduced significantly. Hence, the data collected can be used as primary data for conducting research and analysis.
Proactive decision making
Mobile data collection applications allow the managers to monitor the field data in real-time and make timely decisions. Insights from the data analysis help them identify bottlenecks and other pain point areas in a particular project allowing authorities to respond and adjust certain activities quickly.
So if you want to have cheaper and quicker access to your data and leverage the benefits of mobile devices, make a switch from paper forms to digital forms with the most suitable data collection application that best suits your organizations’ needs.
