Author: 2060 Shift

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App Everywhere B2B Apps Mobile Apps news and press

Improve the App Security for Your Healthcare Applications

In the healthcare industry, patients are increasingly requesting access to their own healthcare information. Clinics can benefit from providing their patients this information, with one caveat: it has to be kept secure.
Application-level security can be used to protect data accessed through mobile phones and other devices, but it also needs to be used with the right technology and the right security habits.
App Security vs. Device Security
Device-level security only protects the device, like a phone, while application-level security protects the information.
For example, when data is stored on an individual’s device (such as a smartphone), it can become compromised if the smartphone itself is breached. Anyone who accesses the smartphone can download this information. If nurses or doctors are accessing patient information through their own smartphones, their smartphones could present a security risk.
Application-level security keeps all patient information on a secured native app. Even if someone accesses an individual’s phone, they still can’t access information unless they are able to log into the native app.
Three-Factor Authentication
Three-factor authentication requires someone to give multiple pieces of information in order to log into a system. Traditionally, two-factor authentication requested something the person knew (their password) and something the person had (such as their device or an email address).
Three-factor authentication takes this a step farther by also requesting a biometric factor, such as a fingerprint or facial recognition.
New smartphones can use three-factor authentication because they already have iris scans, facial scans, or fingerprints saved on them. While it’s not a good idea to enable three-factor authentication by default (because not all devices can support it), having it as an option gives patients more control over their security.
Provide Complete Data Encryption
All stored data needs to be encrypted, including patient information. Otherwise, if the server’s information itself is compromised, patient information may be compromised as well.
Backed up data has to be kept as securely as live data, as compromising backed up data is just as dangerous.
Data should also be encrypted when it is being transferred, or it could be viewed if a patient is using an unsecured internet connection.
Require Lengthy, Complex Passwords
Password recommendations have changed over the years. Longer password phrases are now preferred over short but complex passwords. As an example, “p4ssw0rd!” is not as good as “The password is swordfish.” This change is because it’s easier for a computer to guess a short password, even if that short password is seemingly complicated.
In addition, a long password phrase is more likely to be remembered and less likely to be written down compared to a short, complicated password.
Keep Information Restricted to Different User Types
A general healthcare app may have multiple types of users (such as patients), healthcare providers, and administrators. Data should always be restricted to those who absolutely need that information.
Patients should only be able to see their own information, healthcare providers should only access the files that they need to access, and administrators should be restricted to administrative duties.
Healthcare is extremely specific regarding the types of information that can be allowed to be known, even within the healthcare facility itself.
Restricting data isn’t just about compliance, it’s also about security. If a single account is compromised, only the data it is allowed to access will be compromised. If it can view all of the data, then that would mean all the patients would be impacted.
The healthcare industry has very unique security requirements, in addition to issues of regulatory compliance. If you’re interested in developing a healthcare app but concerned about your patient security, deal with an app company that specializes in building secure applications. Contact jācapps to find out more.

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App Everywhere B2B Apps Construction Mobile Apps news and press

Improve Your Construction Business with a High-Quality App

Running a construction business requires tracking a large number of materials, workers, bids, and jobs as efficiently as possible. Thankfully, there are many construction phone applications available on the market to streamline this process. Even better, companies that create apps can design high-quality apps that work for a specific construction business.
What Are Construction Apps?
Construction apps are applications that can be run on various types of phones and tablets that track multiple elements of a construction job. Apps of this type are becoming popular on many job sites because they help to improve the efficiency of a building job.
For example, managers will no longer have to continually call employees to let them know when they are building and what type of job they are doing next. Instead, managers can send their employees an update using a construction app.
Which Types of Construction Apps Are Available?
Construction apps come in many different styles and provide a diverse range of benefits. For example, some apps focus on the creation and tracking of job bids. These types of apps provide construction companies with a detailed reminder of the nature of their proposal, who received the plan, and all of the elements of the bid, such as labor and materials.
A large number of apps focus on home and building design. Some of these small, but high-powered, apps take building plans and create a 3D model that builders can use to show their clients. Other design apps include real computer-assisted drafting (CAD) features that allow builders to come up with detailed and high-quality plans on the fly.
Just as importantly, employee-tracking apps provide construction businesses with an easy way of following all of their jobs without being on multiple sites. For example, these apps will let you know what workers are on a job site, when they clocked in for the day, when they took breaks, and when they clocked out. As a result, you can be apprised of their progress at all times.
And some construction apps are designed specifically for a single type of business. For example, roofing apps allow roofers the ability to plan a roof design, track the material costs, and follow bids. While there are a large number of these specialized apps available on the market, many businesses have professional app design companies create new ones just for them.
What Features Are Best in Construction Apps?
When designing construction apps, builders should ask for a broad variety of features that help their app stand out from others. For example, a good app should track the costs of all building materials and be adaptable enough to input the names of dozens of employees. In this way, construction managers and business owners can more easily track their expenses.
Construction apps should also have at least some design capability for the builder. Even employee-tracking apps benefit from a small number of design capabilities, so owners can use their apps for multiple purposes and avoid having to spend too much money investing in various app options.
Lastly, a suitable construction app can link multiple app accounts in a way that allows every employee to input information, track their houses, and adjust some aspects of their work schedule. Connected apps help to make relevant information easy to find for a construction group without oversharing and bogging down workers with excessive details.
If you are interested in designing your own app instead of using one already on the market, contact jācapps today to get more information about the app-design process. We will help you get a high-quality construction application that works right for your company.

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App Everywhere B2B Apps Mobile Apps news and press

5 Ways That an App Can Boost Your Customer Service

Mobile apps can be one of the best ways to reach customers and keep them. However, smaller companies often do not fully understand the value of an app as part of their overall customer service plan. How can a good app boost your customer service and make you invaluable to your clients? Here are five ways.

  1. It Is Always Open

Your business probably is not open 24 hours a day to serve customers whenever they have needs. But your app can always be open for business. An app provides an easy portal for customers to make late night or early morning orders, to manage payments on their own schedules, and to complete transactions when customers are on the run.
Today’s consumers expect to be able to conduct business on the road and on their terms, so they are more likely to open an app than to pick up the phone or drive by your location. Being there for people right at the tap of their finger builds customer loyalty, and in the modern, competitive era, you need loyalty more than ever.

  1. It Frees Up Personnel

The more that customers can do themselves, the less they have to contact and tie up your employees. When customers can order directly through the app, they do not have to interact with sales personnel. But the app can still offer new products or suggest additional services just like an employee would do. If they have questions, employees can answer these through email, text, or phone calls at an appropriate time rather than always playing defense.
By installing simple transactions on the app, your service people will also be free to focus their efforts on high-maintenance customers, complex service issues, and customer base development.

  1. It Provides an Outlet

Businesses increasingly have to deal with customers who take their complaints public. This can become a PR nightmare, and a bad review has effects well beyond that one transaction. If your customer cannot get an easy resolution to their disappointments, concerns, or complaints, they will likely turn to talking with other people or using social media to air grievances.
An easy-to-use return option in the mobile app as well as simple ways to initiate contact or get updates on complaint resolution will help prevent public shaming.

  1. It Offers Easy Solutions

A well-equipped app should help customers handle minor issues, questions, and changes on their own. The less effort they have to put into finding solutions, the better they will think about your company.
What types of problems should a mobile app easily solve? These could include things like changing billing information or shipping addresses, reporting and receiving updates about problems with goods, or initiating returns. Anything customers can fill in themselves should be on the app and not your own data entry employees. You save money and they save time.

  1. It Directs Customers

The app is a great way to direct both new and existing customers to new products and services. Customers can go to pages where they can see new items or be offered reorders on goods they already buy or they can be directed less assertively by using suggestion on what to do next. Or, use the app to push notifications to drive sales or launch new products. Any way you do it, an app is a new way to grow customers.
Whatever improvement your customer service needs, an app can help by shifting the load off personnel as well as giving customers an easier experience — both when problems exist and when they don’t. Start creating your custom business app today by visiting jācapps. Our app pros will help you make your life simpler and your customers happier.

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App Everywhere B2B Apps Mobile Apps news and press

Designing a Restaurant's Food Ordering App

What Should a Restaurant’s Food Ordering App Include?

While the smartphone app market is full of general food-delivery-service options, there is still plenty of demand for restaurant-specific apps. Whether you own a chain of fast-food locations or a single high-end restaurant, you can streamline your ordering process and reach more customers by designing a custom app.
Yet a poorly designed restaurant app causes frustration for customers rather than joy. To make sure your food ordering app offers a pleasant experience, include at least these five features.

Menu Photos

You should include text descriptions of each menu item, but a menu that is solely text misses out on some of the best opportunities offered by a food ordering app. Since app users are guaranteed to access the software through a smartphone with a quality display screen, food photos make a big impact.
Don’t just snap low-quality shots of your dishes to add to the app either. Paying for professional photography of your restaurant’s food may increase the total cost of developing the app, but you’ll earn that investment back relatively quickly thanks to increased impulse orders when customers see flattering shots of your best items.

Delivery Tracking

Restaurants that don’t offer delivery can still benefit from ordering apps, but this kind of software development is especially valuable to establishments offering delivery. Your app should communicate clearly with users to let them know when an order is received, the food is prepared, and the delivery is sent out.
This sounds complex, but plenty of coding tricks can automate the process. You don’t necessarily have to increase the workload of your restaurant staff by more than the push of a button with the right design of your app.

Customization Control

One of the biggest reasons restaurant customers sometimes avoid using food ordering apps is due to a lack of customization options. A diner who doesn’t want tomatoes on their burger or who can’t eat a dish with shrimp needs a way to communicate their preferences and needs.
Your app can accomplish this in many ways, from a series of buttons to press to alter the order to text input. Make sure the workers preparing the food actually see the modified order or there’s little reason to offer customization options to your customers.

Previous Orders

Few app users download and install software just to use it once. By tracking a customer’s order history within the app, you’re encouraging repeat use by making orders as easy as possible. If someone always orders the same salad for lunch while they’re at work, the app should make placing that repeat order as easy as possible.
To take order history to the next level, include orders placed in the restaurant without the use of the app. You need to connect the app to a digital point-of-service (POS) software package running on the in-store registers. Integrated POS software offers many benefits on its own, making the upgrade to this kind of software worthwhile regardless of app connectivity.

Review Options

The best restaurants still make mistakes, and you need to hear about those issues from the customer before they turn to a public forum to share them. Integrating a review option directly into the app gives you a chance to capture complaints while they’re easy to remedy. For best results, add a text input area so users can do more than just give a transaction a star or numerical rating.
App development may sound intimidating, but we make the process easy here at jācapps. Let us create a useful and attractive food ordering app for your restaurant. Contact us today to get started.

Categories
App Everywhere B2B Apps Mobile Apps news and press

Designing a Restaurant’s Food Ordering App

What Should a Restaurant’s Food Ordering App Include?

While the smartphone app market is full of general food-delivery-service options, there is still plenty of demand for restaurant-specific apps. Whether you own a chain of fast-food locations or a single high-end restaurant, you can streamline your ordering process and reach more customers by designing a custom app.

Yet a poorly designed restaurant app causes frustration for customers rather than joy. To make sure your food ordering app offers a pleasant experience, include at least these five features.

Menu Photos

You should include text descriptions of each menu item, but a menu that is solely text misses out on some of the best opportunities offered by a food ordering app. Since app users are guaranteed to access the software through a smartphone with a quality display screen, food photos make a big impact.

Don’t just snap low-quality shots of your dishes to add to the app either. Paying for professional photography of your restaurant’s food may increase the total cost of developing the app, but you’ll earn that investment back relatively quickly thanks to increased impulse orders when customers see flattering shots of your best items.

Delivery Tracking

Restaurants that don’t offer delivery can still benefit from ordering apps, but this kind of software development is especially valuable to establishments offering delivery. Your app should communicate clearly with users to let them know when an order is received, the food is prepared, and the delivery is sent out.

This sounds complex, but plenty of coding tricks can automate the process. You don’t necessarily have to increase the workload of your restaurant staff by more than the push of a button with the right design of your app.

Customization Control

One of the biggest reasons restaurant customers sometimes avoid using food ordering apps is due to a lack of customization options. A diner who doesn’t want tomatoes on their burger or who can’t eat a dish with shrimp needs a way to communicate their preferences and needs.

Your app can accomplish this in many ways, from a series of buttons to press to alter the order to text input. Make sure the workers preparing the food actually see the modified order or there’s little reason to offer customization options to your customers.

Previous Orders

Few app users download and install software just to use it once. By tracking a customer’s order history within the app, you’re encouraging repeat use by making orders as easy as possible. If someone always orders the same salad for lunch while they’re at work, the app should make placing that repeat order as easy as possible.

To take order history to the next level, include orders placed in the restaurant without the use of the app. You need to connect the app to a digital point-of-service (POS) software package running on the in-store registers. Integrated POS software offers many benefits on its own, making the upgrade to this kind of software worthwhile regardless of app connectivity.

Review Options

The best restaurants still make mistakes, and you need to hear about those issues from the customer before they turn to a public forum to share them. Integrating a review option directly into the app gives you a chance to capture complaints while they’re easy to remedy. For best results, add a text input area so users can do more than just give a transaction a star or numerical rating.

App development may sound intimidating, but we make the process easy here at jācapps. Let us create a useful and attractive food ordering app for your restaurant. Contact us today to get started.