WorkApps, the Indian Enterprise Collaboration Startup that launched last year, has released an update for their Chat Product which is integrated with Google Maps APIs, and helps companies manage large and distributed teams.
Most Enterprise Collaboration Products focus more on employees that work from offices, and not so much on the field teams. WorkApps has been successful in connecting teams across the board.
WorkApps which has already gained substantial traction with large Indian enterprises like HDFC Ltd, Edelweiss, Piramal Healthcare, UTI Mutual Funds, Future Group, HDFC Sales etc, had raised its first round of Investment from US based Angel Investor Sashi Reddi of Sri Capital in July last year.
WorkApps endeavors to not only get employees, but also partners, clients, service providers of an organization onto a single collaboration platform, which can be accessed on Mobile as well as on the web.
Commenting on the same M.V.S Murthy, Co-Founder & COO WorkApps Inc said; “People were looking for a secure and efficient way to communicate with coworkers, clients and partners. By continually updating our service, we have been able to give companies exactly what they want. WorkApps will continue to develop products taking into consideration the wants and needs of the market.”
WorkApps understands that chat is about mobility and their new chat version allows one to do more than chat in a fluid and efficient manner while on the move. The current product update with Google Maps API, has 3 Major Features for Distributed Field Teams.
First, the GPS Tracker helps know the exact location of a sales or service personnel, making it easier to pass customer leads and service requests, second Moving Maps where one can view all on-felid personnel on a live map.
The real time distance between a Customer and any on-field resource is visible on this moving map, allowing the closest person to be connected to the Customer.
The third major feature is Memo, which is a simple service using which a message can be broadcasted to a selected set of employees or the complete organization.
Apart from these the application can manage Automation of Travel Claims, which facilitates field personnel to manage travel tracking and subsequent claims, Employee Attendance, which records attendance with exact location with and a time stamp, Women Security, enables women employees to keep their families and friends informed of their location and travel routes, Adding Off Payroll Staff, like distributors, DSA’s, agents, channel partners, pickup & delivery boys, floor staff, technicians who do not have access to Emails ID or official communication channels using just their Mobile Numbers. People can be added in the same group or different groups can be made.
“We understand that technology is always on the move,” added Murthy. “For this reason, we never sit still when it comes to product development. In the months and years to come, we have plenty of updates to add, all of which will make for a better overall user experience.”
Detailed Product Features
GPS Tracker helps teams know the exact location of each other, making it easier to pass customer leads and service requests. The complete journey of a map of an employee can also be mapped using the GPS Tracker.
Moving Maps
This is a powerful enabler for the customer facing sales and service teams. One can view all them on-felid personnel on a live map. The real time distance between a Customer and an on-field resource is visible on a moving map. The nearest person can be connected to the Customer and collapse response times. In an era of product parity, this a customer experience that will be of immense value. Most CRM tools fall short of these unique real time features.
Memo:
Memo is a simple service using which a message can be broadcasted to a selected set of employees or the complete organization. Timely Communication itself is a very critical piece for most organizations. Sending Product offers, schemes, important notes or even regular messages to large teams spread across the country can be done in seconds using Memo
Automation of Travel Claims:
Field teams, battle with multiple issues when it comes to processing travel claims. Employees never submit them on time, cross checking travel routes and distances is not possible, reason for travel does not get recorded in process and so on. The Trip Manager feature of WorkApps Chat enables an employee to record the complete distance travelled for a trip with just a Start and Stop feature. All the data is available digitally to share with seniors and finance team in simple reports and excel downloads.
Employee Attendance:
With the WorkApps Chat Attendance Register, an employee can just click a button and the exact location with its time stamp is recorded on the Server. This is very useful for field teams and can save companies the cost of putting access card readers. Retail companies can also use this to record the time spent by employees in branches and shops, with a time in and time out mechanism.
Enhancing Women Employee Security:
WorkApps Chat enables women employees to keep their families and friends informed of their location and travel routes. When travelling outstation, it becomes difficult to keep people back home updated of your whereabouts regularly. In case of emergencies also, it is very important to know the exact or last known location of a person. This feature of WorkApps Chat can help one know it accurately.
Off Payroll Staff:
For many large scale organisations, there are more people off payroll who do not have access to Emails ID or official communication channels. Distributors, DSAs, Agents, Channel Partners, Pickup boys, Delivery Executives, Floor Staff, Technicians.
WorkApps Chat enables organizations to add Off Payroll Staff using just their Mobile Numbers. People can be added in the same group or different groups can be made.