Mobile technology has already created massive scale change in consumer markets, giving people new ways to communicate, shop, research and more.

In the business realm, mobile technology has increased productivity in many ways:

• ‘Always on’ communication has speed up the pace of doing business organisation wide

• Faster information sharing and accessibility means less bottlenecks and time wasted waiting for delivery of information

• The sales force has benefited with greater flexibility; with presentations on the go, invoicing and orders done on the road

• Teams can collaboration on projects (such as responses to tender) while travelling or working remotely

• Plus much more

With all these business benefits, you might be wondering how mobile technology can help you manage compliance and reduce risk. Here are the top questions we get for using mobile technology in compliance:

Q1. How can mobile technology help me prove compliance in the event of an incident?

A. Using a mobile phone or tablet, compliance audits (or Observation Checklists) can be conducted on-the-job, where real skills evaluations occur. For example, with the Observation Checklist in xapiapps, your auditors can capture image or video evidence of an individual’s training and skills compliance audits. This data is synced to the cloud and immediately available to compliance officers to prove compliance when it’s needed.

Q2. Does mobile technology make managing compliance quicker?

A. Yes, if you are still using paper-based audits out in-the-field, you’ll save a massive amount of time processing. Instead of having to type up results (prone to human error), or double handle documents, you’ll have data sent securely to the cloud instantly. To see a real example of how much time (and cost) you can expect to save, download the business case guide at the bottom of this post.

Q3. What is the process of rolling out new compliance initiatives?

A. Responding to new compliance requirements (such as changes to regulation, or business strategy) is easy if you have a mobile technology enabled audit team. For example, with xapiapps, you can program new Observation Checklists from head office, then push them out to your teams around the country with the click of a button. If the device is Internet enabled, auditors will receive an update in real-time, otherwise their app will be updated when they next connect to WIFI.

Q4. Can mobile technology help me identify skills gaps and risk?

A. Yes, when you use a cloud-based system such as xapiapps, you are able to quickly assess compliance audit results from across your organisation. This enables a real-time view of employee skills (and skills gaps) so you can see where you are vulnerable to risk. This can help you preempt problems and set-up additional training requirements to mitigate the risk.  

Q5. Will I be able to conduct compliance assessments in the field without access to the Internet?  

A. You will if you are using xapiapps. 'xapiaps' on mobile phone and tablet can be used in offline mode (if the device is not Internet enabled) to complete Observation Checklists in the field. Data captured will be stored on locally on the device, until it is connected to WIFI, then it will be synced to the cloud.

Q6. Can mobile technology help my business cut costs?

A. Yes, using mobile technology will save your business time and money. You will completely eliminate labour costs associated with processing paperwork. And you’ll save on printing, paper and distribution costs of paper-based checklists. Download our business case guide below for a full breakdown of the savings you can expect to achieve.

Q6. Which mobile devices are best suited to compliance management?

A. You can use both smart phones and tablets. Smart phones afford flexibility and portability, while tablets provide more screen ‘real estate’ that make larger, more complicated audits easier to conduct. With TES, we have both IOS and Android apps that run on smart phone and tablet devices.

Want to see how one of our customers saved $81,000 p.a. on just one site audit? Download our business case guide that proves how mobile technology will lower your risk while saving your business time and money:

Bullet-proof Compliance: Building a Business Case for Mobile Technology Enabled Compliance Risk Management.