Photo documentation is essential in field oriented businesses.
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IN construction – as built conditions, quality and safety control, progress reports to owners
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IN property management – move-in/out, landscaping, home, mortgage, pest, safety
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IN real estate – listing, marketing, MLS, staging photos and information
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IN insurance – filing, adjusting, controlling claims for lost, damaged or stolen property
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IN merchandising – end caps, planograms, displays, contract compliance, quality of field work
Information and photo capture in the field is cumbersome.
Capturing field information and photos and creating reports turns out to be a very cumbersome and challenging process. It’s time consuming to accurately capture field conditions, transfer, file, manage and organize all the data and photos, while traveling from the field, to the office and back. To capture photo documentation today, field supervisors and inspectors:
- Handwrite all notes on paper or spreadsheets on-site
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Use a digital camera to capture photos of the property, damages and work that still needs completion
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Manually manage data and photo archives, including Excel spreadsheets, notes and comments
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Manually format the data and convert photos to PDF files once they’re in the office
To capture photos, mobile workers use a myriad of equipment (digital cameras, memory cards, tripods, lenses, flash) and often waste time and energy on maintenance and repair, along with the effort associated with bringing the equipment to the site. According to ASHI (American society of home inspectors) 83% of property managers use a digital camera during their property inspections – unaware of a better solution.
Is there a better, smarter way?
According to the Google Mobile Planet Survey, 67% of people use their smart phone every day - in stores, at home, work, schools airports, etc. Why not use a smartphone or a tablet to capture and speed up photo documentation?
Come back for the second part of the series to learn more about the benefits of mobile photo documentation, cloud storage and filing and other useful tools for documenting your field work.