The benefits of mobile technology in the traditional workplace have become widely recognised, as more businesses are increasingly required to work on the go and from home.
It is also interesting to see how the use of mobile technology has grown out in the field, for organisations such as housing associations and social housing providers.
Mobile technology has the potential to deliver significant benefits in the housing sector such as the ability to increase tenant satisfaction levels, quicker response time for repairs, increasing efficiency and productivity of workers and reducing time properties are vacant for.
We caught up with Nayer Sultana, our Housing Communications Specialist, to find out her expert opinions on what the future holds for mobile working in the social housing sector.
What are the latest developments in mobile working?
The mobile workforce revolution really started back in 2001. Today, a huge number of us are able to work from almost anywhere with the right device and systems provided by employers or even functionality available on our personal devices. Most organisations have a mobility roadmap and this includes looking at things like mobile platform selection, device and operating system, backend integration and app development. Technology is increasing at a very fast pace with powerful smartphones and tablets, which include capabilities for GPS, NFC, front and back camera, compass, higher connectivity bandwidth with 3G and now 4G. These are just some of the functionality that is making us work flexibly, effectively and allows us to multitask, enabling us to work from anywhere without the need for office space and desks.
What will mobile working look like in, say, five years’ time?
At the rate technology is moving there will be a major change in how organisations operate. With a greater mobile workforce fewer desks will be needed, which will mean smaller office space and will therefore save overhead costs. The increase of video calling through using Skype or similar applications will reduce the need for face to face meetings and allow businesses to save on travel costs. The rate in which we exchange information and complete transactions and tasks will be much faster. It will be a much more flexible approach as “work” will be something we do, rather than somewhere we go.
Which new areas of a housing provider’s operations could benefit from the next generation of mobile working?
Technologies that enable presence will continue to evolve onto mobile and wearable tech and that could lead to field workers being able to engage with more information than currently possible. For instance, rather than calling for urgent assistance and having to wait for an expert to arrive, a first line support worker could video conference the expert in via a mobile device to diagnose any issues remotely and guide the people on the ground to resolve issues rather than having to travel there themselves, which saves time and money.
There is also the possibility to improve areas such as payment processing. Technology already exists that turns mobile devices into mobile POS but this development will accelerate over the next five years and mobile payment capabilities will be at the forefront of these developments.
Are there any important differences between Android, iOS and Windows for the future of mobile working?
The operating system selection for mobile working isn’t really an issue they are all fairly secure and similar in what they do. The key is to have additional solutions to secure the devices such as Mobile Device Management (MDM) software. In my experience with working in the housing sector I see organisations using all of the operating systems and there is no one preferred system. There has been an increased demand for MDM software as more and more organisations see the importance of securing their data
Can housing providers ‘leap-frog’ straight to mobile 2.0 or do they need to have a basic mobile solution first?
Most organisations have the basic mobile solution in place and have continued to update. Together with training and managing change most organisations have already made the transition. As individuals we interact with the social web when using personal devices, so adapting to a device provided by your employer for work based purposes is a fairly easy transition.
If you want to learn more about the new wave of mobile working in the housing sector, read Nayer’s recent interview with Housing Technology. Nayer, Intercity’s Housing Communications Specialist, provides her expert opinions on choosing the right platform and the importance of securing data in the sector.
Read the full interview published in Housing Technology Magazine
Do you want to find out more about how mobile working could benefit your organisation? Contact us today
