A Changing Workspace

I park, I affix my mask, I enter the storefront and I stop – behind the polka dot on the floor letting me know I’m six-feet-away from the closest human. It’s how we shop, pickup food, how we’ll vote and how we … how we do almost anything as the pandemic has brought about the need to comply for health and welfare of consumers and vendors.

Recently I was in a “nationally recognized” shipping center. I wait at my spot, then made my way up to the next, and the next. Once I got to the front of the line the clerk asked where I wanted to ship my package to, what was my mailing address, what was my account number – or for whatever form of payment I wished to use. A few more blanks filled in, I tapped the “go” on the pad (nothing sanitary about that), and my shipment would be off.

What a fail.

It was all okay until I had to touch the button. In a flash, as a mobile app developer I occurred to me that, rather than stand in line, rather than chat through the queries, rather than push the communal checkout pad or be in a building for 15 minutes or more waiting on those before me, my entire transaction could have been done in a flash – without any contact.

As much as I (don’t really) miss some of the parcel stop banter that used to occur, I could have let my fingers do the walking, twenty-first century style, and opened an app. In a blink I could have auto-loaded the shipping address, the return address, shipping requirements and the how-to and then pay for it.

The mobile app could use my location data from my phone to know which store I was in or I could have scanned a QR code. Prior to leaving my office I could have printed a mailing label. In-store, or better curbside, a scale could read the label for destination and to determine pricing and I could scan my phone for the other details. A receipt would have been sent by text, email or in-app. Done and gone – my package and me.

The shipper I visited is a huge company and no doubt they have many mobile app developers working on solutions to improve customer interaction and customer satisfaction. Surely, they have a grand marketing division with input that might have suggested that an app of this type is not only needed, for the company’s own cost-effective time-saving management, which would likely also be appreciated by consumers – even before Covid-19.

Why doesn’t this app exist? Most likely because an outside mobile developer has not approached them about how implementing this functionality would benefit their organization. With the vast amount of technologies that mobile apps have introduced in recent years it is incredible how many new products could be created that would provide great efficiency and would be appreciated by customers.

Do you own a restaurant or retail store that could provide ordering and the paying for product and services through a mobile app? Do you work in real estate and want to handle more transactions via mobile app instead of dealing with paper checks? Do you work in the health care field and want to offer check-in, follow up and payment of care and services via a mobile app? Mobile applications for business are varied and the cost of implementation may not be high in comparison to the increased revenue and productivity your company may experience.

Semaphore Mobile is seeing a dramatic increase in mobile app development requirements for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Semaphore Mobile is seeing a dramatic increase in mobile app development requirements for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The App Store has been open for twelve years, and the need and appetite for mobile development technology has never been greater.

With a greater number of employees working from home, and friends and family socially distancing, mobile applications are providing a way to stay connected. I recently heard that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex leads the nation in companies reopening and employees going back to their on-site locations. Perhaps there is a parallel between this increase in commerce and the need for companies in the Dallas area to invest in mobile development technology.

Think about how, within your own organization, you might employ the use of apps to better serve your own bottom line, your own efficiency, the support of your team and your customer base all at once.

Believe me, there IS an app for THAT, whatever your “that” is, and Semaphore Mobile, with more than 800 mobile apps created for iOs and android is ready to support you.

For more information or to contact Semaphore Mobile, call 972.679.7165, email [email protected] or visit SemaphoreMobile.com