ElectriCom is an independently owned utility construction contracting company, located in Paoli, Indiana with regional offices located across the Midwest, South, Southwest, and Southeast. They offer a wide range of services through their five major operating divisions, which include power and telecommunications construction, gas line distribution and right-of-way services. Their company motto “Our Work Sells Our Work” is exemplified in the accuracy and quality in the services they provide. When the company decided to modernize their field operations and how they captured data, they turned to MobileFrame for a solid foundation for their field service application strategy.

A Unique Inventory Challenge

The deployment of cabling and wiring is a significant business for ElectriCom, one that also requires accurate inventory management to ensure that line of business is driving maximum value for both the company and customers. These products are measured in granular detail and it’s up to the field service technicians to accurately measure the quantities deployed in the field so the customer is billed accurately. The techs also need to report what materials are returned to the warehouse after a project is completed, which is critical for capacity planning and future job bids.  The field force was collecting this data on paper and spreadsheets, then turning it over to the office staff to manually enter the data into their business systems. Management knew that this process wasted too much time and added too much complexity into the equation. The cost of labor and the fact that management didn’t have visibility into the data in a timely manner sent ElectriCom looking for a better way.

ElectriCom wanted a solution that could effectively handle the capture of this data real-time in the field, while at the same time seamlessly work with systems at the corporate office to process that data for actionable business decisions.  ElectriCom had a clear vision for their field service strategy, and part of that vision was to ensure that the company could grow rapidly and scale easily as new jobs were scheduled.

The company knew that they needed a single platform where they could deploy an unlimited number of apps with no coding required.  It was important for them to be able to quickly create new applications without spending months in custom coding projects. They also knew that they would want to change the apps over time as business needs changed and they wanted to be able to do all of this without being forced to pay the vendor for every change. Continue reading →

In this article we’re going to cover the answer to this question and more, including how your organization can eliminate these obstacles and jumpstart your mobile project today.

Here is the deal.

Organizations that are interested in buying custom software are looking for a solution that is tailor made to meet their business requirements, and hence give them a competitive advantage, right?

The challenge is that because the solution needs to be built to your specific requirements, during the engagement process your team will likely run into a problem.

Taking the leap.

The reason is simple; when a solution has not yet been developed it is likely that your team will have a hard time agreeing on the requirements and envisioning what the final product will look like. Hence the perception is that it is easier, and less risky to maintain the status quo, or go with a canned (off the shelf) application. The problem is that canned apps typically don’t meet a customer’s unique requirements.

In order to address these issues, we offer our clients a custom application demo.
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Los Gatos, CA (April 26, 2013) – MobileFrame LLC, the industry leading cross platform mobile application development platform,  announces  that Sightpath Medical has standardized on MobileFrame’s Configurable Mobile Application^TM platform for a wide variety of mobile applications across the enterprise.

Sightpath Medical is the leading U.S. provider of on-demand equipment and services for cataract and refractive surgery. More than 200 Sightpath employees serve hundreds of surgeons and facilities in both rural and urban communities across the country. Continue reading →

Los Gatos, CA (September 25, 2012) – MobileFrame LLC, provider of the only cross-device mobile application development platform that requires no custom coding to develop custom enterprise mobile apps, announces that Corpac Steel has selected their Inventory Tracking Application.

Corpac is a global supplier and trader of pipe and steel products and services, specializing in line pipe, standard pipe, OCTG, Conduit and structural products. They receive pipe from their fabricators and need to know what pipe was received and the associated information about that pipe. Prior to implementing MobileFrame, Corpac was collecting this inventory data with pen and paper. Corpac Steel knew that keeping track of assets and inventory is necessary to ensure timely maintenance and proper supply, but tracking so many varied assets and items on paper presented a lot of challenges. With a paper-based system, the data error rate is high due to the amount of data collected on a variety of paper forms. They found this process to be time consuming and inefficient, and knew it was time for a change. Continue reading →

Regulatory Compliance…..it’s a big issue that can’t be ignored. No matter what kind of utility company you are, from nuclear power to gas distribution, electric or water you all share some common challenges. The nature of the business calls for large teams of mobile employees who conduct inspections, maintenance and repairs in the field.  Most companies are still collecting that data on clipboards and paper, which means the office staff has to manually enter the data into your business systems. This manual process is error prone, requires excessive labor costs and even worse, it causes delays in getting access to the data needed to stay in compliance.

The key to solving this problem is to go paperless with a mobile app solution. When evaluating solutions, look for a platform approach that can be used for all apps across all departments instead of trying to manage a variety of different vendors.  Another high priority should be to select a vendor that offers apps that are integrated tightly together. For example, consider this:

• An issue is found during a routine inspection. From the inspection app, a repair order is automatically opened
• Repair Order is then dispatched to a tech in real-time
• From a web portal, the status of the repair can be tracked and updated daily

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Are you ready to get rid of the inefficiencies of paper work orders in the field? If so, join us to see a demo of MobileFrame’s Field Service Solution.

Spots are limited so REGISTER NOW!

April 18th, 2012 at 1:00 pm PST or April 25th at 10:30 am PST

Automate your entire team from dispatch and work order prioritizing to parts used and labor costs. MobileFrame will deliver the data to your technicians when they need it most, on-site with the customer.
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At MobileFrame we have thought for a long time that our mobile solutions could track anything.  We have provided tracking applications for everything from parts and labor to maintenance records and hazardous waste containers.

We figure that we have tracked just about everything – from the cradle to the grave.  And now two customers are putting that to the test!

MobileFrame was recently deployed as the application for Paternity Declaration at Contra Costa County, California.  This application captures vital information and parent signatures at the time of birth.  With over 2500 clerks at over 700 birthing centers across California, MobileFrame’s integration into the county’s Vital Records is saving time, sometimes months, and increasing accuracy.
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For the past 20 years organizations that have implemented mobile software solutions have found that in order to be successful they had to become subject matter experts in mobile computing. This is in addition to figuring out how to cobble together software components from different vendors in order to ensure a successful deployment.

In fact during a recent meeting with a prospective client we discussed this very topic. During our discussion he said that when his team was implementing their legacy mobile solution in 2003, they had to learn about a variety of technologies related to mobile computing.
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Contra Costa County, the ninth most populated county in the state of California, has chosen MobileFrame’s Configurable Mobile Application^TM Platform to automate California’s Paternity Declaration Application which collects the signatures of unwed parents at the time of a new born child’s birth. Prior to implementing MobileFrame, when a baby was born to an unwed mother, Contra Costa County had to have a form completed that listed both parents. The data on that form is completed by an estimated 2500 birthing clerks in over 700 birthing centers around California. Contra Costa County found this manual entry process to be timely and inefficient. In many cases, it would take the County months to get these completed forms back. MobileFrame’s 100% Code-Free Platform will implement these records into the County’s Vital Records (SQL) database.

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We had a tremendous turnout for our Facilities Management Webinar with over 100 attendees, spread over 3 different continents. Thank you for your participation!  During this hour long education session our panel of experts discussed the latest trends in facilities management, building operations and mobile business process optimization. Registrants were exposed to the benefits of mobile computing, some of the common challenges associated with going mobile and were introduced to technologies that bridge the gap between the office and the field.

In this webinar we showed our prebuilt work order management solution that’s fully integrated into Archibus, but the same set of apps could easily be integrated to any backend system you have.

Here’s a recap of what was covered:

Operations Managers, Facilities Managers, and Property Managers are charged with collecting and reporting on a wide variety of different types of data. This data needs to be collected out in the field, returned to the office, and entered into the primary back office business application. This manual collection process always creates significant operational challenges.
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