How can mobile forms help during natural disasters?

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Natural disasters can hit at any time leaving neighborhoods devastated and isolated from rescue or emergency healthcare services. The recovery process can be long and exhausting, you don’t only need to worry about implementing a recovery plan; but also need to protect your data in case forms have been damaged. When you are trying to decide a plan for repairs after natural catastrophes, mobile forms can come in handy when evaluating and carrying out site assessments to conclude the extent of the damages.

Responding to natural disasters

In those circumstances, being able to gather all the relevant information quickly can be a matter of life and death. Creating a response plan after a natural disaster is an important first step to getting operations back to normal, and mobile forms can help you assess the damage and understand the magnitude of the problem, so you can decide the following actions.
Here we have listed a few reasons why mobile forms could become essential tools in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Offline functionality

Mobile forms are fully functional offline, so even if cell towers or energy lines have been affected, you can still keep collecting data and doing site assessments processes. All data entered in offline mode will be synchronized automatically with the central data platform as soon as the Internet connection is available again. You can rest easy knowing that no information will be missed, which is such a relief while working with time restrictions and limited resources.

Get real-time data

Mobile forms deliver insights in real-time, so once the data has been submitted, it will immediately be available, which means that workflows and processes can move forward and the recovery efforts can be scheduled quickly in order to get things back on track as soon as possible. These can also allow managers and supervisors to receive reports in real-time so they can understand faster the magnitude of the damages at each location.

Collect rich data

When you’re evaluating a natural disaster damage or preparing a plan for repairs, you need to have all the information to make the right decisions. Mobile forms let you to collect signatures, pictures, barcodes and add context to photos to illustrate what’s going on. They also make it fast and simple to send post-disaster summary reports or repairs for customer or stakeholders, which can help managers get a clearer picture of the circumstances, so they can make better decisions and implement an efficient strategy.

GPS locations

Capturing GPS locations allows you to record the location, date and time of when a form was completed. This feature allows managers to know which site has been affected after a natural disaster, in real-time, facilitating the following strategy and making it easier to monitor tasks at different locations.

Improve data quality

After a major incident, it is essential to try to get accurate and reliable data from the field. There’s no time to waste on paperwork or manual processes. Using mobile forms can help you get better data quality because there are in-depth checks on data entry quality as the survey is being carried out.

Facilitate data analysis

With mobile forms, data analysis is much easier because there is no need to transfer information and all that has been collected can get stored in the cloud. Inspection forms and reports can be completed on a smartphone without any effort.

Download the DataScope app for free and complete your reports from your phone now! 

DataScope is a platform which allows various industries to streamline, organize and evaluate the work of their field staffs thanks to online forms which provide real time indicators, 100% adaptable to any field

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About the author

Sandra Melo
Sandra Melo

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