WhosonLocation

Are Mobile Apps a Want or a Need? ... Angry Birds

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:34:08 +1200

Who is killing birds when there are lives to be accounted for?

Applications or Apps. Everyone knows what they are, whether you have a smart phone or not. And those with Smartphones are likely to have downloaded or accessed at least one. But what makes apps so popular? Is it the novelty of having something new and different right there in your hand? Or is it to do with the fast paced nature in which we work?

Everything about life is fast paced, we eat on the go, we take phone calls on the go, email on the go, heck, we would sleep on the go if we could. So maybe it is the ability to have something at the tip of our fingertips that makes apps necessities. It’s no longer a want but a need!

There are applications of all kinds. Apps for fitness and apps for finances, the quirky iPhone apps which let you see what yourself or friends would look like as a red head, or with a few extra pounds. And please tell me you have heard of Angry Birds? Gaming apps are one of the most popular downloads with Angry Birds being easily the most popular. Angry Birds is played a whooping 1.2 billion hours a year; to put this in perspective Wikipedia has only been used 100 million hours in its entire life span.

But wait, before you rush to download Angry Birds let’s think; where else can we see this being a necessity? When is time most crucial and when do we need information at our fingertips? You got it, in an evacuation. How effective would it be to have an electronic list of all employees, visitors and contractors on your site accessible right from your Smartphone? Now here is an app which is needed, and wanted…..mobiEvac…check it out!

Native vs. Web App for mobiEvac?

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:36:22 +1200

HTML5 registered 7.1 on our Richter Scale

What does HTML5 have to do with earthquakes you ask? Well after the Christchurch earthquakes, tsunamis in Japan, floods in Australia, and a host of other disasters it became apparent to our users that their Evacuation Marshals | Wardens needed real-time information detailing who was on-site just prior to an evacuation.

The challenge was to figure out how to do this and of course the answer lay in the obvious; deliver this life-saving information to their mobile device.

Tom Peck, our Application Development Manager, and his team had a very clear brief for mobiEvac:

* Speed to Market: That mobiEvac could be developed quickly,
* Off-Line: Could work off-line,
* Accessibility: Would be easy to access (deploy) and would require no software downloads.
* Cross Platform: That mobiEvac could be used across multiple platforms (iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry),
* Upgrade Friendly: mobiEvac will evolve and upgrading of the app should not require testing across multiple source code libraries, one for each platform. A single release can be made for all platforms.
* Risk Management: mobiEvac should be developed in an open source framework allowing us to easily access additional developers in case Tom and his team go sky-diving.
* Cross Platform Syncing: mobiEvac users at a single site may be using a combination of iPhones, Windows Phones, Androids, and laptops and they must all be able to sync their people safety verifications between each other.

As many mobile developers will state – mobile forces you to focus on only the most important data and tasks. For example we thought long and hard about including rich graphics in mobiEvac but decided that when the user is trying to verify the safety of 1000+ employees only the key data matters.

The native iPhone or Android apps vs a web app debate did cause some considerable chest-beating amongst the team. But buckets of Mojo coffee later we had reached a decision; mobiEvac was to be built as a mobile web app.

Tom and the team advised that there were ways to deliver a native experience, or close to it, via a web app. To meet our business requirements Tom chose jQuery Mobile - a touch optimized, HTML5 and CSS3 framework. This, coupled with new mobile web browsers, such as those using WebKit, enabled Tom and the team to deliver - ‘as close to a native app experience’ without it being ‘native’ - as one could get and most importantly; meet all of our business needs.

Our decision was not based around any love for or against native or web app – although our team certainly has defenders of each faith. In the end we based our decision on what would work best for our users and what path offered the least resistance to uptake. For mobiEvac that was a mobile web app.

Darren Whitaker-Barnett
WhosOnLocation Team

Why Verifying that People are Evacuated can Save Lives!

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:41:07 +1200

Evacuating a site does not finish with a Head Count!

Every day around the world millions of people are evacuated from buildings and sites. Sometimes it’s an evacuation preparedness test run; sometimes it’s the real thing. Hundreds of thousands of Evacuation Marshalls, where feasible, clear areas, go outside, possibly do a head count, and then what? Assume people are accounted for? How does ‘assume’ sit with your conscience?

Hope for the Best but Prepare for the Worst.

A good principle for planning is to “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

When it comes to planning for the worst I often ask Health and Safety Managers, Evacuation Preparedness planners, and HR Managers what systems and procedures they have in place that enable them to ‘verify’ people safety after the evacuation. You know, when people are on the street, sitting and waiting in assembly areas. Some able-bodied. Some injured.

Most respond with “We clear floors” and we “do a head count”

My initial thoughts are always: Really? That works? But my polite response is “That’s great but what is the backup plan when the Evacuation Marshall (s) themselves are not accounted for? What if they can’t clear the floor because it’s not there anymore?

I ask again: “how does your Evacuation Marshall (s) actually verify who is safe and who is not accounted for?”

Do we have to Verify the Safety of People?

Employers and building owners, cruise ship operators, schools etc… must be able to account for their people in the event of an evacuation.

Articles and resources like FMLink's Evacuation Strategies for High-Rise Office Buildings provide invaluable insights for employers and building owners. However few cover off why or how to verify the safety of people post the evacuation. This is despite the fact that most countries around the world have regulations and guidelines detailing employer’s obligations in this regard. For example the California Emergency and Evacuation Planning Guide for Employers states that employers have a responsibility to:

* Have procedures to account for all employees after an emergency evacuation has been completed.
* Take a head count of employees to check person safety at designated meeting locations, and notify emergency personnel of any missing workers.

In Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and around the world there are many similar binding regulations.

Notwithstanding legal obligations, insurance claims, and resulting litigation from aggrieved relatives; surely it is just good practise and common sense to have a system or emergency plan in place to be able to quickly and effectively verify who is safe and who cannot be accounted for.

Why are People Checks so important after an Evacuation?

The golden hour, that short period immediately after a disaster, when life can hang in the balance, is a critical period in real emergencies. If you have a system that’s geared at safety for employees after the evacuation, and that system can help you identify who is missing, then that critical information may help save the lives of the missing.

If you can’t account for ‘Bob’ in Marketing and everyone knows he was at work today, then advising the Rescue team that Bob works on level 2 and cannot be accounted for in any of the assembly areas, may well save Bob’s life.

Conversely, if everybody is accounted for, then the Rescue team need not put their own personnel at risk trying to look for your people. They can focus on saving the assets; putting out fires, securing the structural integrity of the site, etc…

Darren Whitaker-Barnett
WhosOnLocation Team

Can using a Visitor Management system create a Headache?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:29:57 +1300

Use WhosOnLocation & tap into our expertise in the Visitor Management space!

Let’s be honest, visitor management may not be the most enthralling topic out there on the blogosphere. I’m sure we’d all much rather be checking out the latest sports or fashion blog, and basically be reading anything and everything else before casting our eyes over a visitor management blog. Be that as it may, it is however a topic that every health and safety conscious organisation has to consider at some point.

Every day organisations have employees, visitors and contractors coming into and out of their sites so, the decision-makers need to ask the question, “are they managing this effectively”? The word ‘effectively’ in itself is a whole other discussion….compliantly, culturally, financially?

Ultimately we find that most organisations are doing an 'OK' job of managing and reporting on people coming in and out of their buildings. But is 'OK' good enough? Just think of recent disasters in Christchurch, Japan, New South Wales, the East Coast of the US etc... In most situations 'OK' was not good enough when the acid test came.

Those responsible for ensuring the security and safety of people on-site such as the facilities managers, security managers, and health and safety people are bombarded every day with information and advice about regulations and obligations and the penalties for non-compliance. But on a day-to-day level the task of managing people presence often falls to the receptionist. Another pain-staking & time consuming task added to their agenda this month - how fair is that?

So whose job should it be to monitor and report on this area, and ensure visitor, staff, and contractor records are up to date in case an ‘emergency’ actually eventuates?

Ta da…..well that’s our job, and managing people presence is what we live & breathe every day. So feel free to pass us the buck, flick us an email, tweet us your concerns & questions. We thrive in this area – our hearts are in it. Let us worry about the next best thing in delivering a leading visitor management system that is ‘effective’ across the board. Free up your time and energy and focus on the stuff you thrive on in your job.

Olivia Cramond
WhosOnLocation Team

Why you should appreciate the work of a Receptionist

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:23:33 +1300

As a receptionist I do so much more than greet visitors!

We have great fun seeing the official titles of receptionists when deploying WhosOnLocation around the world. Given these amazing multi-tasking, ‘front of house’ gate-keepers are often the first contact that customers, visitors, suppliers, and contractors have with organizations. It is great to see that businesses are starting to really appreciate the role they play. An example of this is evidenced in the plaques and titles we see on reception counters around the world.

Whilst many of you may argue that they do not necessarily reflect ‘appreciation’ of the role of reception, here are 5 of the more creative examples of reception counter plaques and titles we have seen:

1: I make a Wicked Coffee – just ask me (Sarah)
2: Mother to 500+ Staff
3: In this Company – I am Google (and boy she did know everything).
4: Director of Lasting Impressions (better than the cliché ‘First Impressions’).
5: Visitor Appreciation Cheerleader

Staying on a lighter note, we would like to share with you the top 10 gripes, pains, issues shared with us by the many receptionists we have engaged:

1: I wish staff would let me know where they are if they leave the building.
2: It would be nice to know which visitors are coming here a day or two in advance.
3: I wish our IT people took us seriously.
4: I wish the phone directory was up to date.
5: Why doesn’t the HR team let us know when a staff member is on leave so we don’t spend all day looking for them to patch a call through?
6: Why do visitors just leave without letting me know?
7: Why do staff members use the last item in stationary and not tell me?
8: Who stole my stapler?
9: Why does my password have to change every 5 seconds?
10: Could the phone not ring for just for 5 minutes?

What we have found with reception teams over the years is how technology is playing an increasing role in their jobs. Many are now having to be conversant in using Visitor Management, Dymo Label Printers, Reception Management, Online Staff Directories, Intranet Portals, Asset Management, Online Stationary Ordering, ID Card Management, Online Travel Booking, and other software tools in order to manage the daily tasks of their role.

Reception has come a long way from Lucile Ball and the old type-writer.

So next time you pass by your reception give them a shout out – and say thank you. We visit thousands of receptionists each year and seldom, if ever, are they not going 100 miles an hour.

What are the Top 10 Problems Facilities and Security Managers want to Solve?

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:53:34 +1300

Safety and Security starts with knowing where your people are!

With over 1.5 million visitor and contractor movements through government, health, education, construction, utilities, corporate, and manufacturing sites in the last 12 months - we understand some of the key issues facing today’s facilities managers and security managers when it comes to managing the safety and security of people, assets, and IP.

Whilst asset, contractor, induction, and visitor management, facilities monitoring, BMS, access control, cctv, and alarm monitoring etc… are tools used by Facilities and Security Managers, overwhelmingly our security and facilities management users have told us their no 1 pain on a daily basis is knowing where people are:

* Where is that contractor?
* How long was the electrician on-site for?
* How many visitors are on-site now?
* How many employees are in the building when the evacuation alarm went off?
* Has that person been authorised to be on-site?

...you get the picture!

We know there are a lot of other pains and problems associated with knowing where people are; but here the top 10 we have found (in no particular order),that facilities and security managers are looking to solve:

1: Knowing when visitors or contractors have arrived on-site.

2: Communicating to visitors and contractors our rules for being on-site.

3: Being able to clearly identify and verify approved contractors, and visiting employees from other offices when they arrive on-site.

4: Emergency preparedness; therefore having quick access to a list of all people that are on-site when the evacuation alarm sounds (employees, contractors, and visitors).

5: Being able to create organisation reports, contractor report or visitor report. Who’s been on-site in the past?

6: Knowing which visitors and contractors are in which area of our site right now.

7: Managing contractor safety inductions that did not involve us having to spend so much time doing it.

8: Being able to identify which people are visitors, which are contractors, and which are employees.

9: Being able to track which access cards, keys or other assets we pass to contractors and visitors.

10: Having a single solution for visitor management, contractor management, inductions and evacuations, for issuing ID Cards and reporting; all instead of multiple ‘manual’ solutions.

We don’t profess that our experience is the definite list of pains facilities managers and security managers have when it comes to protecting people, assets, and IP, but every day we are approached by organizations looking to solve these issues effectively, quickly, and with as little cost as possible; and it is clear to us that safety and security starts with knowing where your people are!

Join our webinar on Contractor Management for Faciltites and Security Managers!

In this webinar, you’ll discover how Facilities Managers and Security Managers can use Contractor Management solution, WhosOnLocation, to solve:

1: Contractors Contracts and Insurance
2: Contractor Presence
3: Contractor Identification
4: SLA Management

.. across multiple buildings and sites - anywhere in the world!

Webinar 1: Monday, March 19th, 2012 at 11am (New Zealand Time), 9am Sydney Time Register here.

Webinar 2: Monday, March 19th, 2012 at 10am (London Time) Register here.

Can a Cloud based Visitor Management System Save Lives in an Emergency?

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:38:49 +1300

Crisis Management is easier with access to real-time Information

“Who is on-site?” - As Dr. Alfred Lanning said to Will Smith’s character in I’ Robot “That, Detective, is the right question. Program terminated”.

In real emergencies where ceilings and weight-bearing walls are collapsing, half the building is on fire, the stairwell is destroyed, and there are multiple casualties … why did the clearing of floors and areas of a building by floor wardens’ minutes after the event not work like the evacuation or crisis management dry runs did?

Key questions every Safety Manager should answer!

* Why can no one tell the emergency services how many people they need to search for, recover, and hopefully save?

* Why should the emergency services put their lives at risk looking for Bob in Marketing when Bob is 4 blocks away at Starbucks with a client?

* How many visitors and contractors are on-site? Did the receptionist have time, while thinking about saving their own life, to grab the visitor sign-in book or have the time to refill the printer with paper so they could print off a visitor report from the visitor management system?

As more organizations shift their visitor systems, management of contractors, human resources systems, and even access control to the cloud, a benefit has emerged that can help organizations answer these questions, and save lives.

Emergency preparedness is being able to access information on employees, visitors, and contractors currently onsite from your iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Samsung Galaxy, or other smart device. And it can save precious minutes in a real emergency. The ROI business case for shifting some of your key visitor management systems to Cloud based services should not be calculated solely on the savings in hardware and database licenses, and staff reductions in the IT department. The Cloud can also help you save lives. And that is priceless.

Why Merge Visitor, Contractor, & Induction Management?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +1300

Add ID Card Management and you have Money in the Bank!

Historically most organizations have used a mix of non-integrated visitor management, contractor management, induction management, and ID card management solutions. The means multiple vendors and software licenses, multiple training costs, and expensive technology to make each system talk to each other if an all-in-one solution is needed.

Many organizations have the following non-integrated systems deployed concurrently:

* Visitor sign-in books like Kalamzoo products
* Visitor management label printers like Dymo
* Client-side Visitor Management software like Brother VM100
* Contractor sign-in books with Health and Safety Procedures
* Contractor management software
* Induction Power Points
* Induction Manuals
* ID Card software like Web ID from Datacard

So it begs the question: “Are there any solutions that address all of the above, in a single system, cost effectively?”

The answer is yes and you need look no further than to the plethora of new solutions delivered through the Cloud by both established vendors like Oracle Cloud, SAP, and IBM and new players like WhosOnLocation.com.

The convergence of visitor management, contractor management, induction management, and ID card management makes sense. Why deal with multiple vendors to address effectively the same 4 questions:

* Who is allowed on-site?
* Who is coming on-site?
* Who is on-site now?
* Who was on-site?

Whether you want to reduce the number of vendors you deal with, the need for users to access and manage different systems, or you want to improve productivity across the enterprise by having a single solution where staff, visitor, and contractor information is in a single system, reducing duplication of information – it all leads to a common outcome; money in the bank!

Posted by: Darren Whitaker-Barnett