NZ calling iPhone enterprise, Reverse Maze and Snoop Dogg

iMobee uses GPS data to track and record staff and job locations.

One of the complaints about the iPhone is that it doesn't suit enterprise. This may have been true of the first model, but since then Apple has done much to engage business users.

Apart from system changes to support more networking protocols, Apple has also posted pages to promote the iPhone in business environments and even made a downloadable PDF Enterprise Deployment Guide available.

But you know how it is – you hear one bad thing, and that's all you can remember.

Despite that (now mis-) conception, with the OS changes and the increasing acceptance of iPhone in business environments, for my 200th Mac Planet blog I was fascinated to talk to the guys who created GeoOp, a NZ-developed mobile workforce management system that fully leverages the power of the iPhone platform with an iPhone app.

The iPhone app, called iMobee, uses GPS data to track and record people and job locations. Even more interesting, perhaps, is that the GeoOp system also works with any cell phone on any network, although you get more functionality with iPhone.

You can use GeoOp on Mac or PC, as it uses a browser-based interface, and access it from any web-capable smartphone.

SaaSilia, based in Auckland, created GeoOP as a mobile workforce management system so organisations can manage jobs and their staff requirements in real time, but in a scalable, cheap and fast-to-deploy manner for small-to-medium businesses.

There are other mobile workforce management products out there, but many take ages to set up, require the purchase of additional hardware and the installation of software, and so can't be trialled ... unlike GeoOp, which currently supports Apple iPhone, Google Android, Blackberry, the Opera mobile browser and most Nokia and Samsung phones, and some Windows mobile phones. The browser interface for back at the office is for adding jobs, clients and tracking work status for general despatch and management.

SaaSilia reckons total set up time for a 10-person company is about 20 minutes – take an online tour and see for yourself.

The whole point of GeoOp is to make technology otherwise reserved for the big firms affordable and easy to use for small to medium businesses – from plumbers to IT staff.

Nicolas Bartlett of SaaSilia says most GeoOp customers have between two and 40 staff across a huge variety of industries, from dog grooming to trades people to insurance assessors.

That's worldwide, as the system is not limited, by any means, to New Zealand.

With your GeoOp login, you access GeoOp online from your computer, or via GeoOP Mobee on web-enabled smart phones and/or using the iMobee iPhone app.

GeoOp uses a central database accessible by browser or mobile browser. For iPhone, the iMobee app costs $1.29 per user and it adds more functionality.

The iPhone app has more advanced mapping capabilities and instant call-in buttons – press one to notify your firm you're sick, for example, so tasks don't get assigned to absent workers.

The costs depend on how much you use it. GeoOp scales according to needs. Jobs start at US35c each (about NZ50c) but get cheaper as you buy larger quantities.

SMS messages sent through the GeoOp system cost US15c – GeoOp uses prepaid ticketing available for purchase with MasterCard or Visa. (Note that 20 job and 20 SMS credits are included with every new account, to allow customers to trial the system at no cost.)

When staff members open up GeoOp Mobee on their smart phones, their locations are automatically sent back to GeoOp to become viewable via any web browser, so despatch staff can see where everyone is. Depending on the type of phone used, locations are refreshed every time a new page is loaded on GeoOp, and every five minutes.

There is no cost to add new users, and no setup costs, or monthly or yearly costs. To set up more mobile workers, you just log in to GeoOp.com using your administration account and add new users via the Admin menu.

GeoOp supports CSV file imports, so if you can get your customer database into a spreadsheet, it only takes a few minutes to get them into GeoOp.

On your iPhone, GeoOp jobs are colour coded – jobs in red are on hold, green means new and orange means In Progress. The jobs have start dates and priorities and it hooks straight into the default Maps app on every iPhone already. A quick button-press shows you where you are in relation to the job in Maps, for example, to help you get there in the first place.

Updating your job status on your phone instantly updates it on the site, so your workplace can see your job status. This has ramifications for streamlining and efficiency, although the iPhone won't tell your work where you actually are.

For example, if you say you are at the garden centre, your work won't be able to tell you're actually sitting in a café by looking at your GPS location. (This function is currently disallowed by Apple, although it's not barred on Android; an Android app is currently in development too.)

Another advantage to the iPhone app is that you can use it like the browser-based admin at work, to coordinate and organise your entire work flow and work force.

Nick Bartlett of SaaSilia says they're looking at the possibility of workers simply speaking into a phone to send a voice messages to base, for those reluctant to type into a smart phone, although this would presumably have to be interpreted by a receptionist or dispatcher and added into the tracking page. Also on the roadmap: an iPad version with even more sophisticated mapping capabilities.

The iPhone app will soon also allow photos, audio and video in addition to the existing text based note system – this should happen within the next month.

Nick Bartlett says "Our near term development is integrating with Xero, Capsule CRM and Commit CRM. The iPad version will be tailored to suit an Operations Manager so they can manage their workforce from the coffee shop".

Team an iPad, iMobee and GeoOp with a rugged case and imagine the usefulness for, geologists, drillers, farm managers, resource managers ... as long as they're in cellphone reception.

Backwards is backwards in maze game

In additional NZ app developer news, Ironshod is a two-man iPhone/iPod touch game development team from Hamilton.

Ironshod's game Reverse Maze is a puzzler in which your goal is to get from the starting point to the exit without touching any walls or objects. Ironshod's David Leaver describes it as "frustrating yet fun gameplay". As you start to master the art of thinking backwards, the game throws more obstacles in your path by adding moving objects, traps and control modifiers to each level.

Reverse Maze comes with 48 levels, stat-tracking and online high scores for just $2.59 (US$1.99).

It has been getting great reviews on iTunes even now, by the way, but I reckon games like this will really come into their own scaled up for the iPad's bigger screen.

Snoop Dogg tells you where to go

Snoop Dogg, Homer Simpson and John Cleese are some of the celebrity voices now available here on TomTom in-car navigation systems. Theoretically they will eventually make their way onto the iPhone versions, although I don't know when. For now, check out the celeb voices online www.tomtom.com/plus/services/voices.php

As always, I am most interested in iPhone developer news. Please email me at mac.nz@me.com.

- Mark Webster mac-nz.com