How to boost productivity with Company Apps
Nokia Lumia devices have a huge number of built-in tools to help you mobilize your business and work smarter. Still, each company also has their unique business processes that can’t always be mobilized with standard solutions. That’s where the Company Apps concept for Nokia Lumia with Windows Phone 8 devices comes in.
Exactly what you want
With Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone 8, you’ll get the ability to develop apps for employees that are custom made for your company’s needs. Even better, these company line of business apps can be integrated with the Nokia Lumia devices’ features, such as camera and navigation, as well as enabled to connect directly to your company’s back-end systems like SAP, Salesforce.com, or SQL. To ensure they fulfill their purpose and can be further improved, they come with the same rating and review options as any apps in the Store.
So, how do you get your apps to the employees? You have a few options: they can be made available at the Windows Phone Store (there’s an option to put them there as exclusive, private apps for your company only), or you can distribute them using a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution or a custom delivery system.
Company Hub as your members’ club
The easiest, most user-friendly and secure way to deliver your Company Apps is the Company Hub, a central apps portal that’s part of an MDM solution and unique to Windows Phone 8 devices. A welcome (and a lot more useful) option to the age-old, cumbersome ways to access corporate intranets, it can be used to share not just private Company Apps but also news, notifications, and links to apps in the Windows Phone Store.
For the employee with a Nokia Lumia device, subscribing to Company Apps is super easy. By entering the company email address and password, they’ll get quick and easy access to crucial business tools. Admission to these private company apps and services, running in their separate and secure location on the phone, is exclusive to the employees with a valid company account… it’s like a members’ club with a truly professional bouncer.
Nokia leads the way
Nokia IT has taken advantage of the Company Apps concept and delivers apps and services to Nokia employees worldwide over the air with the AirWatch MDM solution. These internally developed apps used within Nokia are a great practical example of how versatile bespoke Company Apps can be. Among the myriad of apps, there’s Nokia Approve for managers to handle HR or Travel approvals on the go, Nokia Meet for arranging meetings and booking meeting rooms, and Nokia Report for getting accurate info on everything from production figures to device sales. For the sales force, there’ll be Nokia Sell, which keeps track on sales leads and tasks to make the most of any opportunities. Talk about effective mobile working!
Happy customers, happy employees
But it’s not just Nokia who have embraced and enjoyed Company Apps. Take German healthcare services provider MediFox, whose employees’ custom-made CareMobile app has transformed home care. The app shows nurses their next appointments (with an integrated navigation function), provides lists of tasks and activities, as well as enables them to access patient data and send information back to the head office in real time. It also integrates with Nokia Lumia devices’ camera functions. “CareMobile is a big advantage and makes many processes much easier,” says Marc Schlottig, MediFox’s Product Manager. “The average increase in productivity is about 20%.”
Dan Rafferty, IT Director of London estate agent Foxtons, is equally overjoyed. “We’ve developed an app integrating our personnel system with our active directory and phone system so all the information is accurate and can be accessed directly from our agents’ Nokia Lumia 820s. It’s a great timesaver and asset for the team,” he says.
Join the merry band
Do you want Company Apps to revolutionize your company’s mobile working ways, too? If the answer is yes, just register to Nokia Expert Centre and check out the Company Apps Resource Hub. You’ll find all the information from development to deployment in one place, including a recent webinar on Company Apps for Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8. And, if you’re already using Company Apps, we’d be oh-so-keen to hear all you have to say about it. Please indulge us in the comments below.