Web and Mobile Apps to Streamline Building Inspections

Customer

The Customer is an Irish municipal authority who deals with inspections of buildings after maintenance.

Challenge

The Customer needed a software solution that would allow them to manage inspections of buildings after maintenance and accumulate reports automatically.

Solution

Being an experienced application developer, ScienceSoft implemented a solution that consists of two parts: a web app and a mobile app.

The web app is used by client support specialists. When they get a request for an inspection from a client, they create an entry in the database and assign an inspector. It is possible to:

• Configure request settings.
• Manage inspectors.
• Manage necessary inspection procedures.
• Rate the quality of completed inspections
• Monitor inspection statistics.

The Android application is used by inspectors, who are vising clients' premises. The target device is Samsung Galaxy Note 2. With the app, each inspector can:

• View the list of inspections assigned to them.
• Assign or change set time of inspection.
• Cancel an inspection (if the facility isn't accessible).
• View additional information for each inspection, including the address of the building and a client's contact details.
• Call clients via the app.
• Use detailed custom field forms for faster reporting.
• Take photos from the app and attach them to reports.
• Edit photos to highlight certain areas.
• E-sign the report and get a client's e-signature using a stylus.

To ensure app's better performance in offline conditions, ScienceSoft applied asynchronous loading for images and automatic cashing.

The reports are sent to the back end when the app is online. Until then, the collected information is stored locally, on a device, and is encrypted. Synchronization with the back end is performed at the end of each inspection and at the end of the working day.

Results

With the help of the solution, developed by ScienceSoft, the Customer was able to streamline their business processes and improve the quality of the services they offer.

Technologies and Tools

Web app: WCF Services, ASP.NET Web Forms, Entity Framework, DevExpress, C#, Microsoft SQL Server, LINQ.

Android application: Eclipse Juno IDE, Android Tools, Memory Analyzer Tool, Logcat, Lint, Tortoise SVN, Android API 13+, Java , SQLite, JSON, XML.