By Edward Belgeonne, CEO & Founder, Destiny Wireless

The written word has endured for 5,000 years. And even in our digital age, there remains a place for pen and paper. But as businesses increasingly scrutinise their processes, many are finding huge inefficiencies in the methods they use to record and transmit information. It’s estimated that the average company makes 19 copies of each document, loses one out of 20 – and spends 400 hours each year searching for lost files. Even more interesting: in the digital age 86% of organisations still use paper as their preferred method for data capture, making it their chosen form of “information technology.”

On the other hand, there is a definite need to keep digital records. According to the results of a recent survey by Anoto, a world leader in unique technology for digital pen and paper, two-thirds of office workers regularly need to scan more than 50 pages a day to transfer information to a digital format.

However, help may be at hand through mobile data capture. Any task that involves recording information and sending it to a company’s offices can be streamlined – think, filing reports, receiving contracts, confirming deliveries, accepting applications, filling forms, collecting research data, and so on. With the right technology, a business can capture and manage the information it needs from customers, clients, suppliers and field workers more accurately, more securely and much faster than with traditional paper-based processes.

If your company can collect accurate data and send it in minutes rather than days; if your field workers can spend more time with customers and less on paperwork; if you can locate people fast and direct them to the right job; if you can integrate all your company’s data-processes in an elegant seamless flow – then it’s clear you’ll be making considerable savings in time and money using such an approach. Mobile data capture can transform the productivity of your mobile workforce, enhance your service and increase your profits.

Finally, the latest developments make it increasingly easy to adopt a solution. After all, mobile data capture is moving away from expensive and monolithic systems, and is entering an age of true flexibility, where the end user calls the shots… and where a sensible solution fits neatly with current processes with a minimum of investment and upheaval.