Mobile data collection reports are beneficial to anyone who uses GeoAge's FAST data collection software. Once all of the separate surveys are complete, you have the ability to upload them to FASTxchange.net. Using this method of extended reporting allows me to compare all of my information obtained from the survey questions. I created my own survey to see just how easy it was to use the mobile data collection reports (I had no prior training with this program). It took me about twenty minutes to create a survey and to fill out it out a few times as if I was seeing it for the first time. I was then able to upload my survey responses to the web and view all of the information on the FASTxchange website. The extended reporting program allowed me to create graphs and charts to get a better understanding of the information I had obtained. I could even perform a search using my uploaded information. This "search" feature would allow me to upload hundreds or thousands of forms and I would easily be able to find what I was looking for.

Many organizations still rely on field data collection to be accomplished with paper and pencil notes. These notes have to be compiled and re-entered into on-site information systems. This method is both inefficient and increases the possibility for errors. With significant improvements in recent years in mobile hardware and software, automated mobile field data collection is now possible. Key considerations for an automated mobile data collection system include:

Flexibility of the data collection system to adapt to changing needs
Incorporation of input with photos, video, signatures, GPS, and codes
Intelligent form design with question branching and grouping 
Utilization of forms on a wide range of off-the-shelf mobile devices
Synchronization of information over multiple wireless protocols
Visualization of data with sophisticated searches, maps and charts
Integration with other systems through data import and export

Mobile forms allow data to be captured on mobile devices consistently and efficiently. Mobile forms are created using a wide range of question types such as free text, pick lists, dates, and numeric. Mobile forms can also contain controls to capture ancillary data such as GPS, photos, signatures, videos, and sketches. Mobile forms can be organized so that data is captured in a specific order to match a business process or series of events. Logic branching in mobile forms permits more efficient input of information. 

Mobile forms development can now be achieved without any programming knowledge using the GeoAge Field Adapted Survey Toolkit. This tookit contains a wide range of controls and branching capability to generate mobile forms in minutes.  Mobile forms can be created by literally dragging and dropping the question types onto the designer screen.  The forms can then  be deployed to a wide range of mobile devices immediately.

Mobile forms could previously only be created by programming for the appropriate mobile platform. Each mobile platform contained unique libraries with specific syntax.  Typically mobile programming capabilities were limited compared to desktop programming to accomodate the smaller memory footprint and screen real estate.  This resulted in the need to do additional programming to make up for the limitation of the environment.

MOBILE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Successful human enterprises of all kinds and in all ages have depended on effective knowledge sharing. The modern discipline of MIS (Management of Information Systems), built on an eclectic blend of science, math and sociological models, dates to the 1940s. It has evolved since then into a major field of management and a key resource for companies and agencies that require fast, reliable information to compete and prosper. In recent decades, a rapid acceleration of electronic information systems has altered the landscape for Information Managers. Increasingly, their job is to optimize the quality and relevance of information being shared (a plethora of data generated by computers can slow, rather than accelerate processes unless it can be effectively channeled), and to help their organizations move faster in a competitive global economy.

With MoIS (Mobile Information Systems), the new “mobility” component that is changing the face of MIS. In just a few years, three technology leaps –new and highly portable mobile hardware, better software, and improved cellular data connectivity via WiFi – have converged to catapult MoIS to a new position of relevance for groups that thrive on reliable, real-time information. With excellent cellular data connections available in most major cities and the transportation corridors that connect them, the brick-and-mortar boundaries that tie workers to the office are rapidly disappearing. Today, it is possible to perform many tasks just as efficiently in the field as in the office in all but the most remote rural areas. Soon, newly available broader spectrums will begin to open up those areas, as well.

Its potential to transform the workplace has made MoIS the new frontier for Information Managers. A caveat has been accessibility: like other pioneer technologies, the first mobile systems have been less than user-friendly. In the real world, where workforce members range widely in technical skills and time for training is limited, there is a need for hardware and interfaces built on familiar platforms. The fullness of the MoIS age will not be realized until this challenge has been met.

But when it is conquered, the potential is almost unlimited. Picture field workers with an entire suite of advanced technologies at their fingertips, able to communicate with each other, their home base office, the Web, satellite mapping resources, and every other kind of information technology – no matter where in the world they are operating. Better yet, imagine empowering even the non-techies of the modern workforce with tools that help them do their job on the fly. Suddenly, a virtual office concept seems viable and even requisite for teams involved in surveying (environmental studies teams, research and marketing, inspections and audits, emergency response, asset tracking, etc.) and related tasks that range from verifying locations to documentation to reporting.

As mobility technology progresses, almost every field will benefit. The fully mobilized group can dispatch workers where they are needed most, without downtime and wasted or duplicated effort. In an age of rapidly changing business markets, up-to-the-minute information is critical to good decision-making. This is true not only in the world of commerce; increasingly, government agencies, military units and utilities are challenged

by policy, compliance, and operational changes that make flexibility essential. Small workforce groups benefit when they can work faster and more efficiently. For a Fortune 500 company, the technology can be used to consolidate silos of information and to boost mobility. Studies have shown that there is always an improvement, usually more significant than five to ten percent. Imagine the impact of even a five percent on a large organization – truly a competitive edge!


FAST

New advances in mobility technologies were the impetus for FAST (Field Adapted Survey Toolkit), GeoAge’s breakthrough solution designed for any workforce team that can benefit from optimized field capabilities. FAST is multi-dimensional, offering functionality that has heretofore not been available in a single mobile delivery system. Using FAST, workers can capture and exchange data, receive instructions, create and complete forms that put everybody on the same page, document findings with photos and GPS locations, and add video and file attachments. Key advantages are in time saved and efficiency gained: FAST helps eliminate duplicated efforts and data re-entry errors that are common in typical field-to-office reporting. It facilitates real-time operations, integrating all the technologies that help staff do their best work.

Once in the field, FAST can dramatically speed the pace of information transfer. Because FAST-created survey forms replace paper, and because all relevant documents, GIS maps and digital photos included, can be attached to the form and transmitted directly back to home base to be collated, the process is lightning fast compared to pre-FAST days. In many situations – from emergency rescue missions to time-sensitive market research – the fact that processes happen faster and produce highly accurate results is the true value of this new technology.

Just as important, FAST offers an intuitive, easy-to-learn interface AND performs in a familiar setting: Windows Mobile handheld devices (PDAs), ultra micro PCs, laptop and tablet mobile PCs, and smartphones. Certified by the major wireless networks, it is fully operable on their nationwide networks. Partly because it operates from friendly environments, new adopters have an easy time relating to FAST. In fact, a typical team can be fully trained in less than a day and deployed immediately afterward.

For an MIS or MoIS manager, there is also the question of cost versus results, and this, too, is good news: FAST makes mobility easy to acquire. Consider the savings when workers can be dispatched where they are needed most, without downtime and wasted or duplicated effort. Unlike major technology upgrades, like swapping platforms from Oracle to SAP or PRP, the switch to FAST can happen quickly and at a fraction of the cost. In fact, FAST users realize significant return on investment from day one.


SUCCESS STORY

FAST’s effectiveness in emergency response situations was first demonstrated in 2005, when it reduced the time required to collect and report damage by at least 75% for personnel responding to Florida’s hurricanes. In the same year, GeoAge received Florida’s prestigious Governor’s New Product Award. This award honors new products, processes or materials that have made a significant impact.