Every company that enquires about a mobile application wants to know the ROI. Last week, we covered “ROI – There’s an App for That, Part One: Apps That Generate Revenue.” We explained that there’s much more to mobile apps than generating revenue, and that’s where Part Two comes in! Mobile applications for employees can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. There are a number of ways a mobile app can achieve this, including:
• Enhancing internal communication
• Reducing travel costs
• Decreasing paper costs
• Shifting workloads
Imagine if employees sent videos, photos, audio, or text messages instead of just making a phone call. These solutions can reduce miscommunication frequency and severity, or simply improve communication efficiency.
Like many things in life, it’s sometimes easier to simply explain or report something using photos or videos. For example, explaining the location of a tree branch that is to be trimmed. Take a picture, annotate it, and send it off!
Another possible use of a mobile app is a push-to-talk (PTT) system. PTT allows users to use smartphones like walkie-talkies, eliminating the need to dial, redial, or wait on the line. In some businesses, employees just need an immediate response.
The appeal of a smartphone is that it’s essentially a computer without the bulk. Employees can send and receive information at the source rather than at a desk, decreasing travel time, travel costs, and/or paper costs, while giving employees the time to do bigger and better tasks. After all, no one really likes driving somewhere to drop off paper forms or typing paper forms into the computer.
These are just a few of the ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs using a mobile app. As you can see, mobile apps can do more than bring in money!
Tune in 2 weeks when we discuss “ROI – There’s an App for That, Part Three: Apps for Marketing and Customer Service” – an interesting topic about mobile apps that neither generate revenue from the app itself, nor reduce costs. Rather, the return will be knowledgeable, happy, and returning customers.