While some government employees can complete their day-to-day responsibilities without leaving City Hall, most find themselves working on objectives out in the community. Historically, this has meant employees must take manual notes and wait to file reports or paperwork until they return to their office space. Some employees may even need to spend time transferring their written notes into digital formats for long-term storage which costs your government time and money.
However, now this is all changing; municipal employees can rely on public sector mobile technology to perform critical tasks, from viewing property information to filing reports and receiving assignments digitally. By using a local mobile field device, employees such as code enforcement officers, health inspectors, and police officers can spend more time serving residents and less time recording their efforts back at City Hall.
Follow along to learn why government mobile local field devices are beneficial, and the types of tasks employees can accomplish remotely using a phone or tablet using government applications and find mobile government solutions.
What is a Government Device?
"Government device" is a broad term that refers to the use of technology, like tablets, cell phones, and mobile apps used for completing government work. A mobile field device makes it easy for government employees and elected officials to serve their community while being out of the office since it connects them with vital information and data – no matter their location.
For example, a code enforcement officer might rely on code enforcement software to take notes or look up property information while completing their job in the field. In doing so, they can easily access any essential information to perform her day-to-day responsibilities, promote a safe and healthy community and complete mobile device work efficiently.
GovPilot offers government field technology solutions across local government departments. If you’re facing a recurring problem within your agency, there are government software solutions you can access to address them!
Why are Public Sector Devices Integral to Modern Municipal & County Workflows?
Devices are integral to working mobility in local government because they allow access to government technology like inspection forms while away from the office and provide support access to vital, real-time information to municipal workers out in the field. When a form like an inspection document or code violation is issued in the field using mobile solutions for the government, the data will be instantly stored and accessible from the government cloud for officials in the office and the field.
While there are times an employee might be able to use a laptop and hotspot in the field, this approach is cumbersome, clunky, and hard to manage. This clunkiness is especially burdensome for employees who may need to bring a lot of gear into the field, or who are quickly going back and forth between administrative and field-based activities.
Additionally, most of us have gotten used to pulling out our phones when we need to look something up quickly. As a result, a public sector device like a tablet is a natural and user-friendly tech choice for employees that requires minimal training or supervision.
Fortunately, government software is available through mobile applications such as GovInspect or GovAlert which make it easy for employees to use the technology even while on the go.
The Benefits of Mobile Government Technology
Now that the definition of government field technology has been established, and it's clear why mobile solutions for government are integral to your municipal workflows, here’s a more in-depth look at the benefits of government phones and tablets in the field:
Field Report Filing
Mobile software products and public sector devices enable government employees to complete and file reports while in the field. Mobile working public sector field devices ensure municipal workers are able to file reports while out of the office minimizes the likelihood of forgetting or excluding critical information and promotes public safety, security, and well-being.
As a result, field reporting capabilities are particularly useful for staff who must regularly complete reports while taking important information from citizens and business owners. This includes activities like building inspections, health inspections, code enforcement, policing, and emergency management.
Read more about Building Inspections and How Local Governments Can Ensure Public Safety.
Auto Scheduling of Assignments to Workers Already in The Field
Your local government officials can also use government field technology to assign tasks to employees already in the field. For example, your transportation department can let technicians know if a stoplight has gone out, even if the tech is already undertaking routine maintenance elsewhere in the field. Because you can use this tech to automate government workflows, you don’t need to rely on email or phone calls, which are cumbersome and time-consuming. Update municipal field employees in real-time to simplify communications and combat any inefficiencies.
Learn more about How Government Software Helps with Scheduling Notifications.
Pull Up Property Records and Other Existing Government Data From a Phone
Employees can also use phone apps to pull up government data in the field. For example, a city inspector or code enforcement officer might refer to GovInspect to pull up a property’s history before conducting an inspection. Remote access to government data also makes it easy to answer resident questions in the field.
See how Trenton, New Jersey streamlined inspections with GovPilot's mobile apps.
GovPilot partnered with the International Code Council and General Code’s eCode360 to make codes easy to pull up in real-time when in the field using GovInspect.
Increased Efficiency and Productivity
Because staff don’t have to head back to the office to complete critical work tasks, your organization increases efficiency, saves time and money, and fosters local government innovation. Government field technology also improves productivity across your workforce since employees have all the tools that they need to complete jobs wherever they may be physically located.
Cybersecurity
Using cloud-based government technology can also support your organization’s data security and integrity, which is particularly significant since cybersecurity is one of today’s most pressing modern government challenges. Municipalities all across the U.S have faced data breaches and lost critical government and citizen data, resulting in government flow setbacks for weeks. Maintaining critical and sensitive information with secure software decreases the likelihood of compromising data during cyber attacks.
GovPilot has implemented to following security protocols to keep its municipal partner’s data safe and secure whether they’re in the office or working mobility:
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Encryption
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest to be protected the entire time it is within GovPilot’s system. This encryption will ensure that converting information, often referred to as plaintext, into a format that is not easily readable by unauthorized parties. -
RBAC
Robust access controls to all systems and data through a resilient system of monitoring and managing access to your governments digital resources, networks, systems, and data. -
Secure Hosting
GovPilot infrastructure is cloud-based, securely hosted in Microsoft Azure which provides a high level of protection against various cybersecurity threats and risks to your government systems. -
Resilience
Frequent data backup & geographically remote disaster recovery infrastructure ensures your local government will not permanently lose any vital government data.
Learn more about Local Government Cybersecurity and the Dangers of Government Data Breaches.
Instant Cloud Access to Field Records
Mobile government technology provides cloud data storage to all field records. As a result, employees can know exactly what stage a project is in and all associated tasks without needing to call a supervisor. Likewise, automated and cloud-based government workflows make it easy to see who was the last person to undertake a task, so employees know what needs to be completed next.
As soon as an online form is completed and filed from the cloud, officials can access it immediately from the office or their public sector mobile device.
On-site Fine Issuance For Code and Law Enforcement
Using a mobile field device makes it possible for employees, such as code and law enforcement officers, to issue fines on-site in real time. As a result, government staff can enter detailed information about exactly why the fine is being issued, and provide citizens an opportunity to pay them immediately on-site.
Real-time payments are more convenient for citizens than having to drive to city hall to pay a fine, and will drive revenue for your local government.
Learn more about Modern Government Fee and Fine Processing Models and the Keys to a Modern Code Enforcement Strategy.
Government Employees Can Work Remotely (from the field or at home)
Possibly the most widespread benefit of using government mobile device technology is the ability it provides employees to work from wherever they need to. COVID-19 showed us how important it is for employees to have opportunities to work from home and complete work without the obligation of traveling to the office. Employees don’t have to be on local servers to do work, since they can access cloud-based software for collaborating and completing tasks.
Remote and hybrid government work structures are a major selling point for public sector recruitment and government employee retention.
GovPilot's GovInspect Mobile App
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How to Build a Government Mobile Technology Strategy
The use cases for government mobile technology are plentiful. But how do you implement a strategy around this technology? There are a few steps you’ll want to take when onboarding any new technology to your organization that are detailed below.
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Prioritize Employee Buy-In
First, be sure to attain buy-in from your employees. The last thing you want is for individuals to see government field technology as burdensome. If you don’t achieve proper buy-in by encouraging government employees, it’s almost inevitable that the software won’t be uniformly used, wasting your organization’s investment. Explain the benefits, and be sure to address any questions or concerns to maximize the technology’s potential.
Good communication with government employees is critical to any city administrator’s success. Learn more about improving communications in your community.
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Provide Employees With The Right Tools
Next, you’ll need to provide all relevant employees with the tools and training to use your new software successfully. This includes access to a government mobile phone or tablet to use in the field and guided classes to teach employees how and when to use the software.
You can help training move more smoothly by choosing user-friendly local government mobile technology. In choosing GovPilot as your government software partner, onboarding specialists will be there to train and assist your staff from day one, to help transform your local government and combat any technical issues.
Learn more about Onboarding Software in Local Governments and how to train employees.
What To Highlight During Training
During training, be sure to share information about policies and procedures around tech use. In doing so, you help your organization foster cybersecurity and data integrity by teaching individuals cybersecurity best practices and how to handle the field devices. Additionally, you’ll want to provide every user with password-protected access to mobile technology.
The following articles provide additional insights about performance management that may be useful when building your mobile technology strategy:
- Government Strategic Planning: Examples and Helpful Tips
- Performance Management for City Managers
- Government KPIs: Setting Measurable Goals in the Public Sector
- Municipal Planning Strategy for Local Governments 2023
Use GovPilot to Modernize Your Mobile Field Processes
GovPilot provides critical local government software to help your agency modernize its mobile field processes, store essential information, and facilitate efficient workflows. Because our software is accessible through mobile apps, it makes an excellent addition to any government field technology strategy by simplifying the workload for the government workers in the field and preventing mistakes that happen when employees file reports hours or days later.
If you’re excited to learn more about GovPilot’s operating system for local government, don’t hesitate to book a consultation today.
FAQ for Government Mobile Technology
What are mobile field devices in governance?
Mobile field devices are tools, like cell phones, that enable public employees to access critical information or conduct business while working in the field. Using mobile devices in the public sector allows government employees to complete critical tasks without needing to return to City Hall for information or assignments.
What government apps are must-haves for municipalities?
Government mobile applications provide convenience and security to municipalities by streamlining and simplifying the process of once-outdated-manual processes such as inspections and citizen concern reporting.
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GovInspect
GovInspect is a technology solution for local governments provided by GovPilot that is available as a mobile application and aims to provide digitized, cloud-based inspections and streamlined services. The GovInspect App, when paired with GovPilot's platform, enables on-site inspections and real-time, cloud-based record keeping directly from mobile devices including smartphones and tablets.
Utilize GovInspect for:
- Building and construction related inspections
- CCO Rental/Sale Inspections
- Code Enforcement Inspections
- Issuance of Violation Citations
- Work Orders
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GovAlert
GovAlert is a mobile online citizen concern reporting app that aims to GovAlert empowers constituents to share non-emergency concerns with government officials in the time it takes to send a text. The government officials in the appropriate department are then notified and the concern is automatically logged to be addressed by the municipality.
With constituents able to report problems as they see them, your local government will be able to identify, prioritize and solve issues faster, creating a better quality of life for residents, and improved public safety for all.
How can local governments go wireless with field devices?
You can promote wireless government operations by using software that enables employees to edit documents offline and working with GovPilot’s platform to install mobile inspection and reporting software on mobile field devices. Many cloud-based applications provide this functionality, including automatically uploading changes to the cloud once reconnected with the internet.
How to file reports from the field?
GovPilot’s automated workflow software makes it possible for employees to file reports from the field. Employees can enter all pertinent information into the cloud-based software, where it will be uploaded and viewable by anyone who has the proper permissions.
How to access government data from the field?
Employees can access government data from the field by engaging in local government business partnerships. GovPilot offers cloud-based software that can be used with a mobile field device, making it easy to find information whenever you need it, no matter where you are.
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