This was a closely fought contest, but Chevin’s FleetWave Mobile development did enough to grab the Best App award for 2015.
Developed to “bridge the gap between field workers and the office”, according to Chevin, the system can be downloaded onto almost any tablet or smartphone running Apple iOS, Google Android or Windows Mobile 8/8.1.
Flexibility enables the app to be used for a variety of approaches, from driver’s vehicle checks and customer delivery signatures to logging that work has been carried out.
Applications, according to the company, include servicing and maintenance, equipment inspections, installation, commissioning, mileage, expenses and sales orders. The forms are also geostamped, so managers can see when and where they were completed, while a barcode scan on a vehicle is also included if required, to prove the driver was with the vehicle when they filled in the form.
Judges comments on FleetWave Mobile included: “Wonderfully simple and extremely useful for fleets with drivers out and about. It’s also good that it doesn’t need a connection all the time.” The latter point is particularly important for any business working in a rural or remote location.
The relevant information is simply stored and instantly uploaded as soon as a connection is found, so work doesn’t just come to a halt when there’s no internet signal.
Chevin has a series of pre-configured forms constructed to what it describes as “industry best practice”, or companies can develop their own to meet individual needs.
Talking to BusinessCar late last year, Chevin boss Ashley Sowerby pinpointed apps and mobile working as a key area of emphasis for the company, and that has paid off with this award.
“There is lots you can do with the mobile app around inspection sheets and workforce jobs, and a lot more around expenses,” he told BusinessCar. “The app is probably the big one for us in 2015, especially around mileage and expenses.”
Chevin claims its FleetWave Mobile is “a very cost-effective solution for workers away from the office to collect and transfer data back to a central fleet software system quickly and securely, without the need for a continuous mobile signal or internet connection”
That level of development and basic usefulness for the industry has won Chevin the Best App Techie for 2015.
Highly commended – Arval Mobile+
It’s obviously more complicated than it looks to create an app that does the good things simply and well, but a straightforward app that offers everything in one place is going to be of value to fleets and particularly their drivers.
“[It’s] what every lease company should be offering” was the verdict of one of our judges. Arval’s Mobile+ gives basics such as fuel and service and maintenance sites, details of the driver’s fleet policy, access to Arval’s team, and a form to book a service.
Meanwhile, 2015 updates include live traffic alerts, weather forecasts, guidance in the case of an accident or breakdown, instructions for taking vehicles abroad, and maintenance guides that incorporate fair wear-and-tear and vehicle information, including tyre sizes and pressures.
