Tag Archive for: Contractor Apps

Mobile App Development Questions: 5 Things You Should Be Asking Before Partnering

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

It may seem like a technical matter to ask a professional studio several crucial mobile app development questions. But this is the essential first step that will help you assess whether or not they would make a good development partner. After all, you have specific needs for your upcoming app project and want to know if the studio can complete your project according to spec.

The studio’s portfolio of completed projects will undoubtedly play a role in your decision-making process. Another aspect that will likely affect your decision is the studio’s reputation and accolades. 

For example, NS804 has consistently ranked as one of the top app developers (2018-2022) and B2B companies — according to Clutch. And according to the Manifest, we’re also one of the most reviewed app developers in Denver. Furthermore, we’ve gained the trust of prestigious brands such as Dominion Energy, Luck Stone, and Wells Fargo Advisors, to name a few.

While that may seem like we’re tooting our own horn, we intend to pinpoint what you should look for early on. Does the studio you’re talking to have the ability, reputation, and track record to complete your project satisfactorily? Or are you dealing with freelancers or a fly-by-night studio that may not see your project through to the end? We’re hoping it’s the former scenario and not the latter.

But even if it seems that you’ve found the studio right for you, don’t sign on the dotted line just yet. Ask them the following mobile app development questions before making your decision.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WITH AN APP DEVELOPMENT EXPERT TO GET A CUSTOMIZED QUOTE!

1. Which Of Your Apps On The App Stores Can I Download?

It’s all well for the studio to show you their portfolio, but that’s not enough. And that’s because you’re never sure if those apps shown in the portfolio function properly. You’ll only see several screenshots with hardly a hint of app functionality. However, more savvy developers will use motion graphics or make demos available.

While that’s a significant improvement from static app screenshots, it’s wise to ask for more. And we recommend that you ask the studio to provide you with download links to their apps in both the App Store and Google Play. Then, take the time to download and install these apps to try them out. Put yourself in the position of a user to see if these apps make good on their promises.

Furthermore, we advise you to read user reviews, view the ratings, and check if these apps receive regular updates. If these apps receive mostly positive reviews with high ratings, it’s already a good sign. But it’s also crucial that these apps aren’t outdated and are still supported, as that shows that the studio is still involved in maintaining them. 

You may also ask to see the studio’s Android apps in other stores (if available), such as the Amazon Appstore, Huawei AppGallery, and Samsung Galaxy Store. Quite often, users will leave reviews and ratings at these stores too. And you can also cross-check to see if the apps on these stores are on the current versions as those on Google Play.

2. Do You Specialize In Native Mobile App Development? 

Undoubtedly, this is one of the most important mobile app development questions you should be asking. But why is native app development so important, especially with the growing popularity of cross-platform frameworks nowadays? While these cross-platform frameworks and tools make development easier when targeting Android, iOS, and other platforms, they come with a performance penalty. 

Whether we like it or not, native app development is the only way to create the most performant apps. That means the studio should use Apple’s development tools and the Swift or Objective-C programming languages for developing iOS apps. And Google’s development tools and the Kotlin or Java programming language for making Android apps. 

Another benefit of native app development is that the studio will follow the best practices and implement user interfaces (UIs) native to the target platforms. Ultimately, your users will appreciate the high performance of your app and that it looks and feels similar to other apps on their respective platforms.

3. Can You Help Me With My App’s Monetization Strategy? 

If you want to develop a B2B or internal business application, you probably don’t want to monetize it. But if you’re targeting ordinary iOS and Android users, you’ll want the studio to help you with your monetization strategy. 

Since this will impact an app’s success, you need to know if the studio has the relevant experience to advise you every step of the way. Moreover, it must know as early as the planning stage if you’ll need to implement ads, in-app purchases, pursue a subscription model, or release a paid app.  

But the studio should also have the foresight to propose monetization strategies as you scale your app. For example, you may release a freemium app early on, but once you gain enough users, you’ll need to choose the correct monetization model. 

The studio will have already determined that in-app purchases will be the best way to monetize your app instead of ads. Thus, you’ll have designed your app for this eventuality at an early stage. So you won’t have to waste valuable resources trying different strategies to figure out what works best.

4. Have You Developed Apps For Devices Besides Smartphones And Tablets? 

You likely want to target smartphones, tablets, and possibly desktops. Most studios have the experience to develop apps for these platforms, but little beyond this point. However, you should ask if the studio can bring your app to other platforms, such as Android Auto, smart watches, smart TVs, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) devices.

These options will allow you to bring your app to a massive and diverse audience. And while it’s always challenging targeting multiple platforms concurrently, it’s worthwhile for the long-term sustainability of your app. Also, it’s not uncommon for apps to have a lackluster reception on one platform but enjoy phenomenal success on another.

Obviously, practice due diligence and investigate whether a target platform is feasible for your app. Budgetary bottlenecks may prevent you from pushing your app onto multiple platforms. But if the studio has the ability to port your app later on, you may adopt a staggered release schedule instead. This approach will allow you to stay within budget and limit the stress associated with multi-platform releases. 

USE OUR APP COST CALCULATOR TO ESTIMATE THE COST TO BUILD YOUR APP!

5. How Well-Rounded Is Your Team? 

Your list of mobile app development questions should always include questions about the studio’s staff. And you’ll want to know if they have a well-rounded team that can handle all aspects of app development. You don’t want to deal with a studio that will build your app but leave you high and dry when you require App Store Optimization (ASO).  

So, you’ll want to know if they have at least one Android developer, iOS developer, backend developer, mobile app tester, project manager, quality assurance engineer, and UI/UX designer on the team. If the studio is doing work for several clients, then they should have enough staff available to handle multiple projects. Be cautious of partnering with an understaffed studio, as it’s unlikely they’ll complete your project on time or at all.

Asking The Right Mobile App Development Questions Will Yield Favorable Results

Never be afraid to ask a succession of tough questions to any studio competing for your app project. Always remember that you’re in the driver’s seat and intend to partner with a studio that can deliver and not offer hollow promises. 

If you’re undecided or are unconvinced that the studios you’ve already contacted can bring your app to fruition, give NS804 a call today! With our long experience in app development and list of achievements, we’re sure we can develop the phenomenal app you’ve always wanted.  

4 Ways Service-Based Contractors Can Benefit from a Mobile App

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

In industrialized economies, service-based contractors grease the wheels in the market segments in which they compete. They allow enterprises, large and small, to outsource vital business processes to function more smoothly and cost-effectively. And that’s great, but how do contractors reduce their costs while increasing efficiency?

A way to change gears and turbo charge any service-based business is with a mobile app. And why that’s the case is because a mobile app helps automate various crucial tasks. Thus, reducing or cutting out staffing overheads almost entirely. Furthermore, a mobile app never sleeps and provides service around the clock.

And if you’re a contractor, all this may sound very enticing. But a mobile app doesn’t only help automate things, as it’s also capable of so much more. Below, we’ll go into greater detail about what mobile apps can do for service-based contractors.

1. Reporting Tools For Contractors Working Out In The Field

Let’s consider for a minute that you run a data center maintenance service in your area. And you have several technicians that drive out to these data centers, many of which are out of town. Now, you want all these technicians to keep you informed and report on all the maintenance work done at these sites. Preferably, you’ll want to have all reports submitted as quickly as possible to inform the client of any issues that will impact business.

But how do you do this without having your technicians come to the office or engage in costly phone calls?

Well, the most efficient way is by implementing powerful reporting tools in a mobile app, which may run on a tablet or smartphone. And this app may also include a checklist, which technicians need to check off to show that they’re working within established maintenance protocols. Furthermore, technicians can conduct security audits and report any breaches and discrepancies.

Once they input this information, the app will immediately send it to your servers and update the client’s maintenance report in real-time. In case of a breach, you can respond immediately by sending out a cyber security specialist and notifying your client. The quicker you respond, the higher your chances of dealing with a security breach and keeping your client’s data safe.

2. Enhance Collaboration With A Project Management App

It matters not if you’re running a data center maintenance or a packing service, as you’ll be dealing with customer demands, deadlines, and staff management issues. So, you’ll need tools that make collaboration a breeze, regardless of whether your staff comes to the office, works remotely or both.

A well-designed custom project management app will empower you and your staff to make the right moves. It should have an easy-to-understand user interface (UI) that your non-tech-savvy employees can navigate easily. But user-friendliness isn’t what this app is all about, as it will also need several vital features.

It should have a task tracker that can handle multiple projects, even thousands, if necessary. Moreover, it should accurately track and record the following: assigned staff, client information, due dates, project status, task descriptions, and task priorities. To better organize tasks, use a Kanban board combined with advanced filtering features to sort through multiple projects quickly.

And it’s necessary to implement a timer that accurately tracks the duration of all tasks. You may record this information and make it available in a timesheet. It will also help you determine the completion of projects, bill clients, and pay staff. Furthermore, you can integrate multiple payment processing platforms such as PayPal and Stripe for all digital transactions.

So, you can effectively turn your project management app into a central hub for handling the most crucial business processes. And when you grow your service-based business and need additional features, you have options. You can either add these to your project management app or develop another app that integrates with your existing systems.

3. AI Chatbots Apps Make Contractors Available 24/7

Clients hate it when they can’t reach their contractors on the phone or have to wait for an email response. They expect to speak to a company representative immediately to help them with any issues they may encounter. But as we all know, that’s not always possible, especially if the contractor is small in size without enough staff on hand. Or can’t afford to hire a call center to handle all incoming calls.

However, neither is a good excuse as to why contractors of any size can’t respond to their clients. Not only is this unprofessional, but it will also cause clients to reconsider working with contractors that don’t seem helpful.

So how do we solve this problem and provide clients with a 24/7 response channel? Well, a mobile app can act as a viable communications channel. And if we implement AI chatbots within the app’s messaging service, clients can have their queries answered by these chatbots immediately. In fact, AI-powered chatbots will seem so convincing that many clients won’t even realize that they’re not conversing with actual humans.

Furthermore, the beauty of chatbots is that they’re incredibly versatile. You can make them conversational so that they can be more engaging. Alternatively, they can operate as virtual assistants and be very informative to help clients with deeply technical issues.

And from a development standpoint, all the major technology companies have a chatbot or virtual assistant platform. Apple has Siri, Google has Dialogflow, and Microsoft has Azure Bot Service.

4. AR & VR For Interactive Training Sessions

Perhaps your company offers online and offline training services to clients. But you want to stand out by providing them an interactive and meaningful experience they won’t get anywhere else. And the best way to do this is with augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) mobile apps.

You’ll opt for an AR app if your training sessions require interaction and representation of the real world. For example, you may be training a client’s employees to detect and repair gas leaks on actual gas pipes. The AR app will aid them in correctly identifying the fittings, piping, and tubing as they pass the smartphone camera over these. And on the smartphone display, a description of the part with a visualization of the tooling and repair methodology will pop up.

But you may opt for a VR app if you need to simulate various dangerous scenarios related to gas leaks. Perhaps, you need these employees to fix gas pipes located in areas with highly combustible materials nearby. But you don’t want to put these employees in harm’s way, so it’s preferable for them to receive training in a virtual environment that’s completely safe.

The VR app will show a realistic 3D representation of the test environment with the pipe fittings. And each employee will wear a VR headset made exclusively for smartphones, such as the Samsung Gear VR. Then, the app will use a smartphone’s accelerometer to track head movements and the VR device’s controller to execute actions. For most employees, the experience won’t seem much different from playing a game from a first-person perspective.

The Bottom Line

Service-based contractors have become indispensable in modern economies. They help businesses of all sizes achieve their goals by providing services that are beyond the capabilities and scope of these businesses. And with the right kind of mobile apps, contractors can meet and surpass the expectations of even their most demanding clients.

Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you create outstanding mobile apps for your service-based contract business!

10 Mobile Apps Contractors Use To Boost Business

/0 Comments/in /by

The proliferation of the Internet and mobile technology is driving the current “on-demand” economy. Customers in this type of economy expect to receive a high-quality product or service as soon as they need it.

Uber was one of the first businesses to successfully provide on-demand services, and is best known as a personal transportation services. But, Uber also allows customers to outsource basic life tasks such as buying groceries and laundry. This was accomplished in part by providing Uber drivers and customers access to the same mobile website and also providing both with unique interfaces.

Today’s on-demand economy has also changed the business operations of independent contractors, also known as freelancers in some industries. Contractors are more likely to compete for projects that are beyond their normal scope by outsourcing work to a third-party.

A Mobile App development can be a highly effective way for contractors to eliminate these middlemen, allowing contractors to connect with potential clients more directly, complete recurring tasks more efficiently and much more. This strategy generally increases the quality of service and return on investment.

How Contractors Are Starting To Use Apps

Uber’s early success in an on-demand economy also gave rise to similar businesses such as Taskrabbit, which provides household services. Heal is a similarly run company that allows healthcare providers to make house calls to patients. The success of these businesses makes it clear that on-demand services are useful for both general and specialized industries.

For example, Amazon Home Services was launched in 2015, and currently shows listings for over 900 professional services. Users simply specify the search criteria for a particular service to obtain a list of contractors offering that service.

These middlemen can be beneficial to both contractors and clients, but they also have some disadvantages. For example, home repair contractors often fail to acquire a significant portion of their business from these services, since their customers tend to choose a contractor based only on price.

This hiring behavior can reduce the quality of work and increase upsells of additional services to increase profit. These contractor “matchmaking” sites also standardize competition, making it more difficult for contractors to distinguish themselves from their competitors. For example, the contractor profiles on Angie’s List must all fit the same general parameters.

How Contractors Can Gain A Competitive Advantage With Mobile Apps

Mobile apps provide a promising option for allowing independent contractors to gain a competitive advantage while ensuring that customers receive high-quality work. These apps can save customers time and money, and increase the value of individual brands for a range of professional services.

Mobile apps can also create another channel for local contractors to contact new customers when they’re combined with a company website. This benefit is particularly useful for local contractors, who often rely on referrals and word-of-mouth.

Mobile apps provide contractors with a single platform for broadcasting their brand and integrating communications with their customers such as email, newsletters, and social media. Contractors can even use a mobile app’s push notification to immediately contact loyal customers with incentives.

Other features such as calendars can prevent missed appointments and double bookings, in addition to facilitating the coordination of team members. Mobile apps can also include a payment system to invoice customers and help ensure they pay on time. These features are particularly helpful for independent contractors, who are routinely paid late.

Apps That Contractors Are Using Today

1. SiteMax

SiteMax is a cloud-based site management system that increases a contractor’s accountability and transparency, thus establishing trust with clients. Features include custom site reports, digital timecards, digital purchase orders, progress photos and 24-hour weather reports. These capabilities allow contractors to incorporate their current paper processes into a single electronic process.

2. Snappii Mobile Apps

Snappii offers a collection of mobile construction apps. These apps can optimize the workflow between the office and field, which reduces paperwork and increases operational efficiency. The most popular of these apps include Change Management, Daily Logs, Equipment and Inventory, Project Management and Safety Inspection. Contractors can also convert existing paper forms into a digital format and customize them to meet specific needs.

3. FACS

FACS is a cloud-based software suite that includes several project management solutions for construction projects. It also allows users to customize their workflow for their particular needs. FACS is primarily intended for project managers, but it’s also useful for contractors, owners and employees who need to eliminate project delays caused by outdated document management systems.

4. CommittedCost

CommittedCost is an online software solution that manages project costs. It uses committed field costs and daily progress reports to estimate the project’s final costs. CommittedCost tracks all of the costs for a project, including procurement, engineering and on-site costs. Contractors can begin using CommittedCost very quickly since it doesn’t require installation or IT expertise.

5. Knowify

Knowify is a suite of tools for dispatch management and contract jobs that are specifically designed for residential remodelers. It helps users to operate in a paperless environment and improves their insights into job performance. Knowify’s many capabilities include contract management, project management, project estimates, invoicing, scheduling and time tracking. It also synchronizes with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online.

6. Lessons Learned Database

Lessons Learned Database helps contractors learn and apply the lessons learned from an after action review or similar event. It provides a repository for information captured during a review and maintains it for future use. This capability is valuable because such information is often lost after a review or never used for future projects.

7. ControlBoard

ControlBoard is designed to solve problems in commercial construction such as the scheduling, dispatching and tracking of resources. It directly addresses resource allocation for a specific project and time period, rather than simply planning project activities. Contractors can begin using ControlBoard within 30 minutes to improve their resource scheduling.

8. dapulse

dapulse is a project management solution that helps team members collaborate more effectively. It increases productivity by helping users to focus on a project’s most critical tasks. dapulse also shows users the status of each task at a glance. Additional benefits of dapulse include improving operational efficiency by reducing meetings and emails.

9. Bridgit Closeout

Bridgit Closeout provides construction contractors with a punch list, allowing them to complete projects on time and on budget. It’s typically used by general contractors on commercial, multi-family, education and hospitality projects. Bridgit Closeout includes a mobile app that lets contractors use photos to quickly log tasks, which can greatly reduce the time spent tracking critical issues. This mobile app also automates the communication between contractors and subcontractors, keeping team members accountable and in sync with each other.

10. CoConstruct

CoConstruct is intended for builders and remodelers who need to design custom projects. It’s an all-in-one tool that allows them to estimate the project’s cost by entering data only once. This data can then move through the various phases of a project’s workflow, including specifications, proposals, bids, change orders and budgeting. CoConstruct can also move project data to and from QuickBooks.

Finding The Right Mobile App For Your Business

Many contractors will be able to find a helpful mobile app in the list above. Just remember that just like every business is unique, so is every app. If you want to optimize the way your business operates and find the perfect app for your business, contact NS804 to learn about customized mobile apps for contractors.