Issue link: https://construction.trimble.com/en/resources/i/1520088
KEY MOBILE CAPABILITIES • Data Access • Data Collection • Data Analysis 2. Data collection in the field is key to ensuring that managers have the information needed to make the right decisions to ensure projects adhere to budget and schedule, all while minimizing risk due to safety and quality requirements. Today this data is often collected with paper processes that result in data that is unstructured, error-prone and untimely. Additionally, the time it takes to collect this information distracts employees from their primary responsibility – getting work done. Moving to mobile technology based processes has the following benefits… • Real-time. When the field is equipped with the right mobile software they are able to rapidly capture data that can be accessed by all stakeholders shortly after submission. Mobile solutions are easy to use and very portable, so whenever an issue arises, data is captured with a formal process that effectively turns your field staff into a crowd-sourced big data provider. Gone are the days when a foreman sees an issue, makes a note on scrap paper because the proper form is back in the truck, and puts the note in his pocket, where it will eventually make its way back to an admin in the office for data entry (if it can be deciphered). • Structured. Mobile solutions present the user with a digital form that organizes the way information is collected. The base expectation is a digitized paper form, but because the information is collected digitally, mobile solutions can drive data entry consistency and accuracy. Reports and forms can automatically be augmented with metadata including location, project, time of day, user, process, etc. Field data becomes smart and gets linked directly to a structured database for easy retrieval and analysis. This expands beyond the written note, sketch or photo – it can include digital notation, structured lists, linked media, electronic signatures, sensor feed data, etc. "We receive more accurate and timely information to adjust our operations. The real-time data provides us the ability to adjust work items anytime and have the field personnel review and react to situations before it's too late," Turner state, Dave Turner, C.A. Hull (2015) 4