Using Smartphone capabilities

These days the smartphone is growing to take over a wide range of our consumer habits and daily uses.  In essence it has become a commonplace product available in everyone’s back pocket.  Most of you have probably been exposed to the endless amount of applications developed for the smartphone and you are probably using many them in major parts of your daily life.  This is a result of the multiple uses and processing power of a smartphone which allows for the creation of almost any application, including the Patrol-IT system.

The Patrol-IT system uses the smartphone as a reporting tool for field workers, unlike older field worker supervision systems which employed their own specific hardware for managing and supervising field workers.

Simply using the smartphone as a reporting tool for the Patrol-IT system holds many advantages:

• Using a (computer) screen and keyboard to monitor routes and introduce deviations or unusual events
• Built-in NFC technology:  a reliable technology based on proximity and not physical touch
• Real-time data communication for reporting tasks and special events
• Ability to change routes and send new tasks in real-time by the field worker supervisor
• Emergency calls (panic button) – speed dialing function to the service center and calling at any given time
• Using the built-in camera to record unusual events related to checkpoints
• Sharing and using third-party software within the application, WAZE for navigation, etc.
• Using GPS to track the precise location reports or the nearest location in cases of low signal
• Using the camera flash as a flashlight when needed
• Using the smartphone’s sensors to record falls (of the device or employee)
• Low costs

Using a proprietary hardware as a field worker reporting tool severely limits the functionality of the systems and its effectiveness for the following reasons:

• Working off-line, without connection to the server during work (sending and receiving data)
• The data from the device is uploaded only at the end of the shift; afterward we can know what is happening in the field
• The device only saves tag data and reading times only. It cannot report, photograph and record or notify about unusual events
• Planned routes cannot be reviewed due to the lack of a screen and keyboard
• It cannot provide real-time responses to unforeseen events in the field
• Complete isolation between the field worker and the service center or management staff
• Requires physical contact between the device and the button installed at the checkpoint
• The data uploading and downloading process is unwieldy, requires the physical presence of the device and its connection to the communication basket
• High system cost