Mobile Computing has become a commonly used term among software developers and consumers, business owners and their customers. But what, exactly, does it mean for you?
If you have a business to run, chances are it does not all happen inside the walls of your office. At one point or another, part of your team is out and about, working with your current customers or getting new ones. You may even be that team member. But being away from the offfice can feel like being unglued from your support system, unless you are able to get the answers you need and share critical, real-time information with the people back at home base. This is where mobile has a chance to really shine.
And what about the other part of all this: the customer, newly acquired or long-term, whom you want to serve with lightning efficiency. Imagine pulling out a simple iPad or other mobile device, and with a few swipes, designing a wall display or sketching out a plan for a fence or concrete installation, all within FileMaker or even a mobile web browser. Now, imagine that you enter the corresponding measurements, produce an estimate, get sign-off from your customer, and send it all back to the office to be scheduled and provisioned before you even make it to the parking lot. That is the power of mobile!
FileMaker Go and WebDirect give us the ability to do all of this and so very much more. By adding in the use of third-party custom tools, we can give you the ability to do almost anything in the field. A few examples might be charging a credit card using a card swiper, printing or emailing an invoice, or drawing complex diagrams. Add to that the native capabilities of FileMaker, like bringing up an interactive map with driving directions from an address, capturing photos straight from the device’s camera, or simply taking an order, and you have one powerful set of tools at your fingertips.
Busy execs on the go can also have the best of all worlds. Want to keep an eye on your production chain without being chained to the office? How about a dashboard that gives you answers to questions like, “how are we doing this month, compared to last?” or “who’s our top performing sales associate this quarter?” We can give you that and more. Here at our Alchemy Consulting Group offices, we have implemented variations on all of the above. Give us a call to brainstorm a bit, and we’ll lasso the moon for you!
