FotoNotes
Improving Job Site Reporting Using Smartphones

Though there have been marvelous innovations in the field of construction technology like LiDAR and connected helmets, there are still some key areas of construction management that are lacking in good technology solutions. A prime example is a lack of standardized job-site process in a construction company. A job site process includes preparing an initial estimate for the work required to be done, project tracking and status, and finally, documentation of completion of work. A single misstep can cause a delay in the entire process and final payment from the clients of the company. Thus, a solution is needed that can standardize and improve company-job-site communication. “Our goal is to create the easiest to use mobile applications in the industry and great simplify the task of managing construction projects,” says Kamal Shah, CEO of FotoNotes, a company dedicated to easing the job-site process with the use of smartphones. In his interview with CIOApplications, Kamal tells us how FotoNotes utilize the potential of smartphones to ease the job-site process and help its customers get more business.

Where did things begin for your organization? Could you tell our readers about its genesis and backstory?

FotoNotes was founded in 2010 on the concept that smartphones could prove to be a potent tool in conducting business. They can be specifically useful for organizations that perform work out in the field, construction sites, and other areas. We realized that in the construction industry, not much technological development has occurred for people working in job sites and started with building simple applications that help people take photos and capture information from job sites. Over the years, we identified the key problem areas to focus on based on working with our customers. So, we heavily focused on making it easier for construction companies to gather better information in the field – better data and better photos. This approach really helped streamline their operations and allowed them to give better estimates in proposals and get more business, be more efficient in the execution of their projects, and also get paid faster by showing their clients clearly documented proof of work.

What are the solutions that you can offer to the construction market, and how do you go to market with them?

We provide a mobile application for the construction industry. The application is available for both iOS and Android, along with a cloud-based web application version.The web application is available as Software as a Service (SaaS). We allow the customers to get the product running very quickly and start reaping the benefits from it immediately.

What are some of the features of your product that are different from the ones available in the market?

One core feature that we provide is a very flexible platform that allows our clients to configure their forms and workflows. As opposed to being prescriptive, our application provides clients with the flexibility to define their own forms. They can do estimates, project tracking, job site, and job completion report in their form. Even our smallest customers can configure things the way they want.

The second feature is photo capture and management. The photo-taking abilities of smartphones have become a potent tool. So the ability to quickly take work photos and categorizing them easily for later review and report generation serves as a critical feature. The third key feature is our heavy focus on building easy-to-use mobile apps. The final thing is integration. FotoNotes integrates with thousands of cloud applications like QuickBooks and Salesforce. This allows customers to add FotoNotes and work with other tools efficiently.

What are the immediate outcomes that your clients can experience after collaborating with your organization?

The first immediate outcome that our clients gain is increased sales through a better proposal generation process, leading them to close more business. They would be able to use FotoNotes to generate professional estimates and proposal reports for their customers. Clients can see all the details and photos in the reports in a streamlined way. The second benefit comes in terms of cost-saving. The managers can get real-time information from the field to office and keep better track of the project, quickly identify potential problems, and communicate more effectively with people on the field. Thirdly, documentation of completed work with all the photos provides proof of work. This proof allows our customers in construction companies to get paid by their clients without much back-and-forth about the confirmation of work completion.

Could you tell our readers about a case study where a client came with a challenge, and you helped them find a solution?

One of our customers owned and managed thousands of single-family homes across the country. Their management was centralized in one place. However, they used external contractors and construction firms and were spread out to different geographical areas. So, they needed to standardize all their processes and approached us for it. After receiving our help, theycould create standardized forms to generate estimates and for job status and completion reports. They were easily able to issue logins for all users, including their construction firms and contractors. Now they are getting a standardized estimates, status reports, and job completion reports from all of their workers and contractors. This allowed them to significantly improve their efficiency in all of their field processes starting from generating estimates to project tracking to project completion.

Their contractors and people out in the field enjoy the easy-to-use features and the fact that FotoNotes makes their jobs easier.

How has the company evolved with the solution over time? How did it help you gain market traction?

Initially, when we launched, we received a very positive reaction as people started to realize the true potential of smartphones. Over the years, we evolved our product in conjunction with working with our customers. We kept finding ways to improve our product regularly for over nine years. We focused heavily on customer experience and took their feedback to continuously improve our product. This is the approach that we choose to sell the product. In our opinion, the product sells itself, and once our customers start using it, they love it.

We also get a lot of great word-of-mouth. Referrals by people who enjoyed our product benefitted us a lot. Thanks to them, we gained a considerable advantage and were able to grow the company and provide our solution more broadly across the industry.

Any particular events or achievements this year that you would like to highlight?

Our key focus in 2019 was to provide even better solutions to the construction market. So this year, we launched a completely productized construction management solution. We wanted to provide a solution that really helped construction firms with generating estimates/proposals managingprojects efficiently and keeping consistent and solid documentation of their work. This is what customers asked for and we’re excited to have delivered.

How do you envision the next 12-18 months in the future of your company?

We will continue evolving our product and make it better than ever. We’ll do it as we always have - by working closely with our customers, listening and gathering their feedback. We are excited to continue to grow in scale in the construction market and bring new innovation and ideas to the industry.