Enterprise Mobile Application

Enterprise Mobile Application

NCN designs and develops an enterprise application to facilitate the regulation of  hunting and fishing licenses.

The Challenge

The Department of Natural Resource officers needed a fast and easy way to search and validate hunting and fishing licenses in the field,to ensure they are up to date.  Accessing the data on a mobile application was necessary and not available at the time.  Everything was being done on paper.  The mobile application needed to be a one-handed operation for the security of the officer and the sensitive data stored locally needed to be secure.  The additional challenge was that the officer may not always have internet access.

NCN was called upon to design and develop a tool that is easy to use, fast, with not a lot of glitz.   The team began by identifying the objective of the application and then defining the requirements documentation.  This process allowed for the designer and development team to ensure the application had the functionality to meet the business objectives.  Each user story was created with notes to explain in detail what the user should experience, the type of technology required when needed for the specific function, and the acceptance criteria for the user story.  These user stories were then mapped into a user journey which would provide the team with a clear understanding of how the mobile application needed to work.

Utilizing Current Technology Stack

Before deciding on the best technology stack to meet the product requirements, NCN had to take into consideration the technical solutions already at play. 

The client had an agreement with an enterprise mobile management (EMM) solution that needed to be integrated with the new app. The EMM solution allows administrators to manage and deploy the application remotely.  If the phone got lost, the administrator would be able to wipe the phone remotely, making it an important component of the stack that required seamless integration.

It was also required that the new app was a  native Android application, based on the hardware already in use by the organization.. NCN took all of these factors into consideration when creating the roadmap for providing a  cost effective product that would work well within the current technology stack.

Local Data Storage

NCN has experience delivering solutions that need to work when the internet is not available. This requires an application to have a local database that will provide and capture data in an offline mode. The data that is captured when the solution is offline would then need to be synchronized properly with the main web application to ensure data integrity.  For this particualr application, being able to search for data offline would be key for the officer to find information about licenses.

Enterprise Mobile App User Interface (UI)

A simple user interface would provide the warden with immediate information about the license, with color code reporting to maximize ease and efficiency for the user.. The app would have a “quick check” mode, which would save the warden and the customer time by providing an at-a-glance confirmation of if licenses were valid, in process or something had to be addressed in the individual’s licensing profile. NCN’s UI experts were thoughtful in designing and developing the application interface with all of these key use cases in mind. 

Bar Code Scanning

The application would also need to allow the warden to easily find a customer in the database by scanning their DNR license, driver’s license, or conservation card. This would again save both the officer and the customer a tremendous amount of time while also maintaining better data quality because of the reduced risk of tracking the wrong licensing details manually.

Data Search for Enterprise Mobile App

Finding the customers information quickly was necessary and NCN knew that meant the application would require  powerful search functionality. Creating a searchable database that would enable the officer to find information about an individual by name, license number, and other searchable criteria made for a faster encounter and process.  NCN ensured that key data as well as pictures could  easily be found in the search function by utilizing tagging.

Global Positioning System (GPS) & Time Stamp

NCN has effectively implemented GPS with many mobile applications.  In this case, GPS provided location information, when internet was available.  This enhanced reporting by providing  geolocation data in addition to the timestamp details for each incident.

Conclusion

In the end, NCN Technology provided the client with an easy to use mobile application that could work online or offline and that included bar code scanning,  GPS, and EMM that would enable this government agency to save time, money and regulate customer licenses more effectively.  

If you are considering building an enterprise mobile application, contact NCN for a free consultation.