Field Force Management: A Real-Time GPS Tracking Solution

The business need

The company has a large field force of over 5,000 workers spread across New York. Field force team members were given a sheet every morning containing information about the customers they were required to contact and service. The sheets remained static, as it was impossible to make dynamic changes if a customer was unavailable or another high priority visit had to be scheduled. The company was also not able to track agent visits properly. This led to challenges in terms of agent productivity and client satisfaction.

The client was keen to mobile-enable services, and set requirements across three tiers:

• Mobile application — a GPS tracking app for GPS-enabled phones, tracking a salesperson's current location and location history on a near real-time basis, loaded on the client's smartphone in silent or hidden mode, with a database capturing the user's location and maintaining the history of past locations on the server.
• Web-based interface — track the current location of the sales team from a PC by visiting a web URL and logging into the account; an admin panel to administer the mobile app users; Google Maps integration to track the real-time location of all users on a map; and administrator access to all areas of the application, including data entry forms and user location tracking.
• Server-based backend — manage the data generated from monitoring the location and history of the user, restrict access to authorised people through a login, and track multiple users at the same time.

The challenges

Two key challenges in implementing the mobile solution were:

• The agents carried a diverse set of devices, so the mobile solution had to be made available on multiple platforms simultaneously.
• The solution had to require low maintenance and low upfront investment on the part of users, while still enabling future upgrades.

The Hire Programmers solution

Hire Programmers developed the field force management application in record time, and ensured that its look and feel is similar to a web application to boost adoption. The solution was made available on all smartphone devices, such as iPhone and Android, which support GPS capability.

The following key features were implemented:

• Location tracking — real-time GPS location-based tracking on a map, with tracking of users done by the phone's IMEI number or the user's mobile number.
• Hidden mode — the application runs in hidden mode on the smartphone, reducing the risk of accidentally uninstalling or disabling it.
• Track multiple — the application is designed to track multiple users at the same time.
• Check history — the history of all users' locations, with the server retaining at least 16 days of records. The last 24 hours are treated as recent data and the remainder as archived data.
• Searching — an administrator can search for a user by IMEI number and see a near real-time location on the map, and can search the location of multiple users at once.
• Web interface — track the current location of a user from a PC by visiting the web URL and logging into the account.
• Backup — the administrator can periodically back up all cell users' data from the server onto suitable media.
• Security — a message is sent automatically to the administrator if a user changes the SIM card.

Technology

Benefits

• Improved field force productivity, leading to a direct increase in the organization's revenue.
• Low total cost of ownership for operations and future upgrades.
• A mobile solution similar in look and feel to a web solution, leading to a short learning time for users and therefore higher adoption.
• Fast time to market — implementation completed from requirements through to delivery in three months.