Handheld Audits: Why, What and How.
| by Bill Shadish |  |
After Liz and I wrote about the ecasys energy management
software for the September 2001 Home Energy issue; I was surprised
to find that the bulk of the subsequent reader responses were
about Auditing and Handheld issues. To address that level of
interest, this article will cover the state of electronic handheld
field auditing. We will discuss the platforms, current tool sets
and show some examples of what can be done today. We will cover
the basic Why, What and How of handheld audits.
W H Y Use Handhelds?
The Current Process
Audits in many agencies are done before [or during] a contractor's visit to a site. Often paper forms are completed using various check [x] boxes or multiple choice entries. Also scribbled on these forms are notes about everything from the condition of a furnace, the number of occupants in a multi-family dwelling, the name and birth date of the owner, and a number of other such items. Work may or may not be performed at the same time as the audit is done -- in fact, often it is the contractor who is doing the work that performs the actual audit. This information may or may not make its way into the office, to be entered into one or more systems.
At some future point, the location that has been audited may be inspected; often by a different individual after work has been completed. Your staff members may ask for customer sign-offs before and/or after work has been done.
The various points of transferring this audit information within many organizations is shown in Figure 1.
Each step in Figure 1 and the paper flow shown below represents a point; where paper is moved, and where an error can occur in re-entering the audit data.
a.) Paper forms are created b.) Auditor/Contractor visits site paper forms filled out Customer queried; Unit audited Forms to office for data entry into a system/application c.) (maybe) it is also rekeyed into secondary system(s)/application(s) Reports Are run Forms sent back to Contractor to do the work Work completed and Forms sent back to Office d.) forms go back to Customer or an Inspector for signoff e.) Reports Are run f.) Forms filed.
Each step also represents a slice of time, which is required to move this data around. Sometimes the time from initial audit to final inspection can be measured in weeks. The reason Why to consider using handheld audits is to cut out many of the steps (and time, and costs) of doing this process in the field. Figure 2 shows the paper shuffling (which occurs in only one step) that takes place if using a handheld for your audits. The chance for keying errors is reduced to 2 places -- when the audit is entered, and when the site is inspected.
Advantages of Handheld Audits
The advantages of handheld auditing includes:
- Reducing redundant keying of data from application to application.
- Reducing the time it takes to get the information from the field into the office (and back).
- Reducing errors (which are likely when scribbled paper notes are passed back and forth to be transcribed, and rekeyed).
- Increasing the ability of field staff to do things like capturing graphical representations of homes or buildings; and obtaining customer signatures in the field.
- Allowing you to do advanced things such as bar code scanning in the inventory item used on a job.
Another goal, albeit a more application-specific one, is to demonstrate
a way to do things such as a NEAT (National Energy Audit - a reference
link is below) or other localized WAP (weatherization) audits
on a device other than a laptop.
W H A T can you do with Handhelds?
You may want to know exactly What can be done with handheld audits. Figure 4 shows an example screen from an audit on a Palm Pilot.
The steps to using this audit in the field are:
- Create the Audit in the office.
- Decide what customers will be audited with this audit.
- Download the audit (and customers to be audited) to a handheld.
- Enter the information into the handheld in the field.
Depending upon the mode of communication that you've chosen (wireless,
in-office-synchronizing, etc - see the HOW section below
for more) - the data is then moved back into the office server's
data through your chosen communication method.
The Way this Works
The first thing that you will want to do is to create the Audit template on the central server. The audit should be able to collect almost anything that you want to - such as collecting strings of text, numbers, dates and times. You can also collect graphic images in the field (even pictures!) , such as customer signatures and contractor-drawn sketches of dwelling items. For example, the contractor or inspector can draw, or load, a quick sketch of a floor and "pencil-in" the location of a crack or other necessary repair (see Figure 5).
H O W do you pick a Platform?
Platforms for Handheld Auditing
There are really 3 significant platforms to consider for handheld audits. "Platforms" here are defined as significantly different operating systems or hardware; that can not easily share their data with each other.
WinCE (Microsoft's platform). You will also hear the related phrase "PocketPC", which is not the platform itself, but which really is the applications layer (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) that runs on the handheld itself. WinCE is interesting as an option because the framework uses common Windows applications, such as Word.
PalmOS (Palm's [3-Com's] Pilot platform). Palm holds about 60% of the market. Palm is interesting to consider as an option because of its lower overall hardware costs and a wealth of tools and applications from 3rd parties.
Phone-based (such as Symbian) This type of platform deals with providing application capabilities directly within the little screen area on mobile phones. A phone-based approach is interesting because the user only has to carry one device to cover two needs (phone & auditing application); but it is hampered by lack of development tools, standards, and; of course, the tiny display area on the phone itself.
Note: specifically NOT covered in this article are laptop solutions. The reason for this is that in many agencies; theft, security and cost become issues when a contractor or inspector carries a 7+ pound laptop into the field. This article will cover only those devices that can be pulled from a coat pocket to conduct an audit, and replaced in a coat pocket once the audit is done.
Architectures of Handheld Auditing
There are three basic methods of getting the audit data back and forth from the handhelds. Well, ok. There are 4 - but I won't count rekeying the data by hand… The following table outlines the pluses and minuses of each approach.
| Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Wireless | Complete real-time updates of data.
The auditor can actually enter information directly into your website from the field. AND, you can trade information with them while they are still at the customers' site. Allows auditors to access web-based data [such as statistics or customer information] from the field. | Per month connectivity charge (~19.95$USD/month) |
| Wired (modems) | No per month connectivity charge. Allows auditor to get data from the field into a central site, without having to return to the office. | Requires auditor to connect to the office via phone, from the customer's site or from home. Otherwise, they have to come into the office to move the data directly - as explained in Syncing below. |
| Syncing | No additional connectivity costs. Easiest to program. | Data is only moved into the central location when the employee returns to the office. |
You will want to select the model that best matches your own particular
Price--to--Real-time-Data-Needs situation. Obviously, the best
answer would be to equip all field staff with wireless devices;
from which they can enter data, send questions into your office
and receive electronic answers, all in real time. But then too
- there are costs to implement this. The basic price to implement
a wireless solution (IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A WEB SITE) is around
$900/user, including handheld hardware. If you do not have a web
site then office server software is required to "catch"
the data from the handheld device and deposit it into the central
office system.
For More Information
If you would like more information about handheld audits, there are downloadable demos, overviews, online presentations, and feature descriptions available at http://www.foaudits.com
Other References
Computerized Energy Audits, National Energy Audits (NEAT)
http://hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/940511.html
Recipe for a "DOE-Approved" Computer Energy Audit
http://hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/94/940512.html
Summary
In this article we have covered the basic Why, What
and How of handheld auditing -- a topic that I love to
discuss. I will leave the When of moving to handheld
audits up to you.
To contact Fundamental Objects:
Bill Shadish, bills@fo.com
Fundamental Objects, Incorporated
800 Robert Dean Drive
Downingtown, PA 19335
Tel: (610)873-8022
Fax: (610)873-8772
Web site: http://www.fo.com