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The emergence of COVID-19, in 2020 changed the way various industries worked. Many business organizations changed their working style as they did not want to face the same problem as they faced during COVID-19. That is how the use of software came into the picture. Many sectors have been able to adopt the software-based program for various operations. The field inspection sector is one of them.
However, some companies still prefer to conduct on-site inspections on high-priority cases. It is widely accepted by local government authorities. For example, the permits and inspection department of the city of Norfolk performs its gas-line inspections, and electrical inspections by doing on-site inspections. But that does not change the fact that it is quite troublesome and it may become problematic for those organizations that have not transformed their processes.
Since a third-party inspection carrier can perform the field inspection on any medium-level complexity case, they also require some technical assistance. That is why alternative field inspection requires advanced planning so as not to develop any problems in the future.
By incorporating the software-based programs, the inspection software can perform on-site inspections by maintaining a social distance. Since local authorities and governments are prone to apply software-based programs to perform any field inspection, more trends based on software development are evolving with time in the field inspection sector. If a company decides to install inspection software, it needs to follow the top five below-mentioned trends:
1. Self-servicing
The government put a lot of pressure on social distancing with the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020. Automatically the business organizations were closed, and no live contact between people happened. That is when inspection agencies became keener to turn to the self-servicing module.
Though this was the very first step toward digitalizing the public sector organizations, the self-servicing portals helped people to submit their complaints online without being in contact with any outsiders. As the first step, self-servicing portals became popular, making it a trend that shaped the entire working style of the field inspection sectors.
2. Automated inspection reporting
Without a proper field inspection result, the field inspection makes no sense. So, the results must be accurate and readable. By introducing automated reporting, digital checklists, or mobile devices, inspection reports’ quality can improve.
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But why not follow the old tradition of paper-based inspection? While everything is changing, clinging to pen and paper-based field inspections can not produce any positive results. As various inspection carriers can produce various results, the report provided by the field inspection agency can be inaccurate most of the time. Moreover, sometimes the reports are not readable, demanding corrections multiple times. At the same time, the result produced by the inspection management software is efficient and creates no further confusion.
3. Usage of AI
Self-servicing portal and generating inspection reports are nothing if your inspection management software cannot read the data properly. To use the gathered data correctly, the field inspection sectors need to take the help of an AI system.
Let’s use an example. You watch the shows or videos recommended by the algorithm on any social media platform or YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. The same thing happens when an inspection agency installs any good-quality inspection software. AI in the software can help the agency access the most valuable information by clicking a few buttons and nothing more. Besides providing the right data, AI also saves people time and energy.
4. Cloud-based SAAS
Since COVID-19 hit the world, cloud-based software has stormed the world with new promises. It has occupied at least 45% of all the software options, forcing the business owners to focus on three things: resiliency, support and secure remote workforce, preserve cash and optimize the IT cost. By adopting cloud-based software, the companies could handle all priorities well. The same thing happened to the field inspection sectors. By installing the smart software, these sectors could generate reports while maintaining the remote workforce.
Not only that, During covid field inspection has become more difficult than we can imagine. So, the companies had to think of a way to run the field inspection process without coming to close contact with people. That was when tools like Microsoft teams, Skype, and FaceTime came to the rescue. Since then, they have become one of the tools of field inspection, securing the safety of the people.
5. Workflow integration
We have discussed all the trends and possibilities of installing any software on a business. By providing self-servicing modules, a digital checklist, outcome reporting, and risk scoring, the installation of the software has made the business organization more hopeful. As a result, the business owners have started asking various questions. One of them is why invest in software that can offer only one module? Why cannot one platform offer the full package?
However, any digital transformation takes time, and it cannot be accelerated for a few days or weeks. It becomes even more difficult for sectors like field inspection agencies. So, various field inspection agencies and other organizations have been trying to figure out a solution that can be implemented individually while maintaining a healthy workflow.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things. But the most noticeable changes are visible in various industries. Various company owners, with their money at stake, had brought several changes to the public sector. We can see the reflection of those in the field inspection as well. By installing good-quality software, the companies and field inspection sectors could produce better results, proving their efficiency in their respective work fields.
The new changes forced the local government authorities to spend a large amount of money on cloud-based software, which means that the trends will be practiced more and will evolve with time. It will also bring new technologies to the market, simplifying the workflow of every sector, especially the field inspection sectors.
