It allows them to launch their own app and make it available to their customers on the Apple app store or Android market. The apps can be fully customised - including colours, corporate identity and content. Users of Masternaut’s solutions can choose exactly what to include in their app (from a range of available modules), with the aim of providing useful information for end-users.
Custom apps can include maps showing the live location of vehicles, assets and mobile workers or even pushpins showing ‘today’s jobs’. End-users of the apps can report problems quickly and easily - such as pot-holes, faulty street lamps or broken pavements (in the case of a local authority). To report a problem, users can enter contact details, select the type of problem, add a description, take a photo and even pinpoint the actual location on the map (or use the phone’s built-in GPS). This empowers users of the app to quickly and easily report problems. A scheduling module allows app users to see an estimated time of arrival to a particular location on the map and additionally, apps can include links to external web-pages, twitter feeds and service updates.
The apps take a live feed from Masternaut’s tracking and mobile solutions, meaning that the live location of vehicles, assets and mobile workers can be shared with users of the app. For example, during the winter months residents in Buckinghamshire are able to see the live location and route taken by gritting vehicles, creating a new level of transparency and giving people a real insight into their council’s operational standards.
For coach company The King’s Ferry, which is owned by National Express, Masternaut created ‘CoachTrac’ an app that let’s commuters find their nearest Kings Ferry stop, view the live location of coaches on their route and also view estimated time of arrival compared against the scheduled time.
Producing apps can be cost prohibitive for service providers - due to the specialist programming skills required and the time involved in writing code and beta testing. Third party companies can produce apps - with the cost potentially running into £thousands. Masternaut has opened up apps to its customers at a lower cost by creating a range of ‘ready to go modules’ that customers can combine to make their app. They also get to choose the colours, insert their company logo and choose the icons. Their own app is ready to go in a matter of days, rather than the months involved in developing from scratch.
Johann Levy, R&D Manager for Masternaut said: “The market for apps has exploded - and with our new apps, we’re giving our customers the means to add serious value for their end-users - giving them a way to differentiate their service, offer real-time information and encouraging them to get involved by interacting; such as reporting problems quickly, accurately and very easily. Also by offering apps for both Android and iPhone, we’ve got the market covered, as nearly two thirds of all new phone contracts are on these platforms.”
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