Nokia Data Gathering

Collecting field data the old-fashioned way – filling in paper forms, transporting them to a central location, and transcribing them – is slow and cumbersome. Data collection with a mobile phone can dramatically improve the speed and quality of information obtained from the field. The more time-critical the need for data and the more remote the location, the more organizations can benefit from a mobile phone based solution. Nokia Data Gathering is a comprehensive solution that allows organizations to collect rich field data using mobile phones instead of paper forms, PDAs or laptops. Because mobile phones can transmit data even from remote locations, the information collected can become available for analysis in near-real time. Nokia Data Gathering consists of two modules: a server and a mobile phone client. The server is used to create and send surveys to mobile phones, receive survey results, administer users, devices, questionnaires and responses, map data using GPS coordinates, and export data. The mobile phone client is the only part of the system that is visible to the field personnel. It is the application that appears on their mobile phone, presented as an easy-to-fill questionnaire. The process begins with the creation of a tailored questionnaire on the server. The questionnaire can then be delivered to the field workforce wirelessly using a mobile telecommunications network. Having received the questionnaire on their mobile phones, the field workforce can then use their phones to enter and store the responses to questions. The system also allows the user to geo-tag data with GPS coordinates, providing an additional layer of information and helping to validate data. Once the data is collected, the user can send responses back to the server, again via a mobile network. The data received by the server can be exported for further analysis, or can be reviewed as selected graphics.