14 Ways Data Collection Apps Can Increase Your Productivity

Jayesh Kitukale
Nov 7 · 9 min read
Data collection app analytic Dashboard
Data collection app analytic Dashboard

“Data is more valuable than oil” — a famous quote in today’s technology-driven world. Every business, irrespective of the sector it belongs to, is dependent on data for growth. Companies collect data to understand their customers’ pain points and requirements, to improve engagement and retention, and to extract insights to build useful services and products. This urgent need for quick data collection and analysis is driving the popularity of data collection apps.

Although data is crucial, the methods of data collection have remained traditional. Consider healthcare facilities, on-site workers, hotel receptions, office meetings, HR interviews, focus group surveys, etc. Data collection in most cases happens with the help of pen and paper. Using paper for data collection is not only a bad idea but also a completely unnecessary one in today’s technology-oriented world.

Data collection apps are the solution to this unprecedented problem. A mobile data collection app allows you to create customized forms with situation-specific fields and lets you deploy it to multiple mobile devices instantly. They are available as offline data collection apps and can work seamlessly on any device — Android or iOS. It also streamlines the entire process of data collection and eliminates the use of multiple paper forms.

What are Data Collection Applications?

A mobile data collection application allows you to build, access, view, fill out, sort, share, and organize all the data in one place. They can be used online and offline, which is an essential feature for data collection activities. These apps allow you to create forms with different custom fields and deploy them to mobile phones and accumulate and store all data into one secure database. Data collection applications also provide useful analytics based on collected data.

With an easy to use form builder, these forms can be built to be as simple as requiring just two form fields like name and number or can be made more extensive with features like QR code scanning, OTP authentication, rich data collection, etc. while still providing a brilliant user experience. Forms can be easily modified, updated on the fly, and distributed to team members seamlessly, giving businesses complete control and flexibility.

Here are some features of a mobile data collection app:

  • Easy drag and drop creation.
  • Fast and easy to deploy.
  • Works online and offline.
  • Image, audio and video capture capability.
  • QR code and barcode scanning options.
  • Notification alerts.
  • Location capture through GPS.
  • Kiosk mode.
  • Analytics and performance insights.

Some domains which use data collection apps to improve productivity:

  • Product and warehouse inspection.
  • Incident and safety management.
  • Installation and maintenance processes.
  • Field operations.
  • Fleet management.
  • Enterprise asset management.
  • Accounting and invoicing.
  • Automation.
  • Risk management and quality compliance.
  • Audit and reporting.

14 Benefits of a Data Collection App

Why to choose Data collection app?
Why to choose Data collection app?

1. Cost-Effective

There are a lot of direct and hidden costs involved in using paper forms — the cost of paper, printing, storage, transportation, and human resources. You also need to put in place separate teams to record data digitally, analyze it, and interpret information. Comparatively, the only expenditure organizations incur with mobile data collection apps is for the app itself. Most mobile data apps, like Axonator, for example, even allow users a free trial period.

The forms are easy to create, deploy and use, and can be done without the need for any extensive training. These apps also analyze the collected data to provide useful, actionable insights in real-time. They work on almost all the latest devices, which makes it easy to deploy these forms on employee-owned smartphones.

2. Saves Operation Time

A significant issue with using paper forms is that they take time to create and print, and if modifications are needed, the entire process of creation and printing has to be repeated. These forms then need to be distributed, manually filled out, collected, stored, and later recorded and analyzed one by one.

A data collection mobile app is much more crisp and efficient. You create forms easily through drag and drop methods and then deploy it to remote mobile phones instantly. Modifications to forms can be done on the go and pushed out to targeted devices. Data is collected, stored, and analyzed by the application seamlessly, saving organizations a lot of operational time. The process ultimately boosts productivity and deliverability.

3. Eliminates Human-Prone Errors

Paper forms require manual work — in printing, filling, collecting, and analyzing, and each of these processes is vulnerable to human errors. Digitizing the process of data collection through a field data collection app eliminates human errors, making data and analysis more accurate. Data collected is always precise and devoid of mistakes, false information, and duplicates.

Mobile data collection apps have in-built filters to check for duplicates, and also provide digital authentication options like OTP verification which helps prevent the collection of redundant data. Organizations can further eliminate errors by automating repetitive tasks and reducing the need for manual intervention.

4. Provides Data Security

Paper forms are susceptible to damage and theft. Healthcare data, for example, is confidential and should not be privy to any member external to the patient’s healthcare team. When users manually fill out forms, data can be lost easily. Paper forms are also vulnerable to damage or loss during transit, storage, or a natural calamity. Data collection apps collect and store data digitally on the cloud, with cybersecurity, backup, and disaster recovery solutions in place. The process ensures your data is safe and always available.

5. Ensures Immediate Availability of Data

Finding specific information via data collected from paper-based forms can be tedious. Although paper forms are usually (but not always) categorized and indexed, searching through them is still a manual process that consumes time and effort. If you need data immediately, this is a problematic process.

Data availability is a significant benefit of using a mobile data collection app. Availability involves both the ease of finding data and the up-time of data storage systems. Simple filters make it easy to extract specific information quickly, and cloud backup and disaster recovery systems ensure the up-time of storage systems.

6. Real-Time Analytics

Data without information is useless. The whole purpose of collecting data is to derive meaningful insights from it. With paper-based forms, collected data has to be manually transferred to a digital storage system (like an excel sheet) and then analyzed manually. The entire process is time-consuming, expensive, and prone to human errors. Mobile data collection apps come with built-in analytics solutions that provide reports and insights based on data collected. Businesses use this extracted information to execute profitable actions.

7. Custom Reporting Capabilities

Presenting data as reports is a crucial process of data collection. Just like data analysis, when you collect data on paper, it needs to be manually transferred to a digital spreadsheet, and then reports need to be manually created based on the extracted information. It is a time-consuming process that requires a workforce (hence increasing costs) and can be prone to mistakes. Built-in reporting capabilities of data collection apps lets you create and share custom reports with desired fields.

8. Allows for Automation of Processes

All tasks performed about paper-based forms are manual. With mobile-based data collection apps, however, almost every process can be automated to increase efficiency and reduce operation time. Data analysis, report generation, email notification, or task allocation can all be automated to streamline processes with a requirement of little to no manual intervention.

With the growth in automation fields like robotic process automation and machine learning, day-to-day redundant processes are being automated to increase efficiency and reduce execution time. And these mobile-based data collection apps help you leverage these automation tools.

9. Prevents Data Duplication and Manipulation

Data entered manually through paper-based forms is susceptible to manipulation and forgery. Since there is no real method of data validation, implementing manual ID checks is a feasible option. However, it increases operation time and reduces efficiency. Manipulated data can prove harmful for both the survey and the brand image. Survey results can end up being redundant because of data provided by fake users, which renders the entire process of data collection useless.

With digital data collection, companies are assured of authentic data through validation methods like OTP generation, live location check, QR code scanning, etc. that are built into the data collection application. The app also checks for data duplication preventing storage space wastage and analysis time wastage.

10. Rich Data Capture Capabilities

Paper-based forms are only capable of collecting textual data. While the mobile-based data collection apps provide precious data capture capabilities. Data like photos, audio, videos, fingerprints, etc. can be seamlessly collected through one custom form and are collected for analysis. This data is readily available whenever required and allows organizations to build a more expansive and robust database that can provide immense user insights.

11. Makes Data Collection User-Friendly

While paper-based forms solely contain questions, mobile data collection applications can help the user easily navigate through the entire data collection process. The ability to re-visit fields and modify answers gives interviewees the freedom to concentrate on the survey questions, reducing errors. Mobile-based forms also have features like adding notes and pop-ups that make the survey process user-friendly.

12. Improves Field Work Processes

Paper-based survey activities require a lot of pre-planning and have little scope for real-time adjustment. If survey questions need modification or addition, or there are typos in the form, little to nothing can be done to remedy the situation. With mobile-based data collection apps, you can modify forms on the fly. You have the option to quickly, easily, and remotely change form content and fields, and push it to the mobile devices of field workers immediately. It creates an open and useful communication thread between onsite and offsite workers.

13. Easy Integration With Third-Party Apps

Businesses that use data processing solutions, like Salesforce CRM, for example, rely on manual uploaded data from paper-based forms. A mobile data collection application, on the other hand, can be seamlessly integrated with third-party systems like a CRM. Data collection apps collect and smoothly push data to the CRM tools. With mobile data collection applications, data fields are easily customizable to suit the third party system.

Online forms often require manual programming and tweaking to be in sync with CRM fields. Mobile data collection apps solve this issue by allowing you to customize form fields with drag and drop methods. Every form can be created to sync with the CRM, so data flows through without any manual intervention.

14. Better for the Environment

Data collection through paper-forms is not environmentally-friendly. It is not just the paper that goes to waste, but other factors come into play when performing paper-based surveys. One paper-based survey costs fuel, water, trees, and ink. Mobile data collection apps reduce carbon footprint and also lean down the entire process and the size of the data collection activity.

Increase & Optimize Productivity With Data Collection Apps

Increase & Optimize Productivity With Data Collection Apps
Increase & Optimize Productivity With Data Collection Apps

Using paper for data collection has a lot of drawbacks — all processes are manual and time-consuming. The data is not safe, and the collected samples are susceptible to damage and loss. It is easy to manipulate, fake, or steal data. Most importantly, paper wastage is exceptionally harmful to the environment. Mobile data applications provide a simple and cheaper, yet more efficient solution.

There are over 3 billion smartphones (source: Statista) in use today, with over 8 in 10 professionals carrying a smartphone to work. A study by Samsung in 2017, which surveyed over 1000 people who spent at least one-third of their day working remotely showed that 93% of these remote workers carried a smartphone with them. This data proves that using mobile data collection apps makes data and forms easily accessible to both the data collectors and data providers, via smartphones. The bridge between field workers and offsite employees primarily streamlines the entire data collection activity.

If you’re looking to boost productivity and data collection process efficiency, ditch paper forms and move towards smart mobile data collection applications today.

Jayesh Kitukale

Written by

Jayesh Kitukale is a first generation technology entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience. He is the founder and CEO of WhiteSnow.com and Axonator.com

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