Any business wanting full traceability of their returnable assets knows only too well the hard work that goes into collecting information about each cylinder, tote, or container and then painstakingly keying it all into the tracking software.

Manual asset registration can be slow, error-prone, and labor intensive.

With TrackAbout’s new Voice Activated Workflows, data entry time is significantly reduced by simply speaking into your device.

Key benefits include:

• Simplified asset registration. Rather than glancing multiple times between your asset and device to take down information, the data can be dictated into the system.

• Significant time savings. Reduce the time it takes to enter an asset’s attributes by 15-25% on average.

• More accurate data entry. No more mistyping and “fat finger” data entry. Voice recognition instantly – and accurately – captures your asset’s attributes.

• Extensive language support. Devices can be configured for specific languages and are capable of ignoring background noise.

Time Savings

Assets with even a moderate number of attributes – maybe 10 or 15 data points – can often take 2-4 minutes each to register in your system. Extrapolate that to hundreds of cylinders, and inputting all that information can be challenging.

That means plenty of room for error when physically typing in all that data. How many times, for example, have you read a serial number off the shoulder of a cylinder and had to glance back and forth to your mobile device as you type in that information, only to later find that you had mis-keyed a character or two? 

Typically, you’ll need to collect information about the asset itself – its unique identifier, serial number, and manufacturer details. You’ll also need details about the contents, size, weight, test dates, and so on before marrying it to a unique barcode.

Serial numbers are usually pretty long and it’s easy to transpose characters or type them incorrectly. Small screens and keyboards can easily see “Q12345678” end up as “W12345678” – and if that happens, good luck accurately tracking your asset.

With TrackAbout’s new Voice Activated Workflows, asset registration is 25% faster!

Not only is data entry quicker, and the likelihood of digits being mistyped significantly reduced, but it’s safer too, eliminating the need for users to remove their gloves when manually entering information into their device.

Trusted Voice Recognition

Powered by Google and the device’s built-in Android Speech Recognizer, Voice-to-Text supports multiple languages and recognizes different accents, ensuring data is always captured correctly, even in a busy warehouse environment with plenty of background noise.

Advanced navigation options also offer a truly hands-off approach, says Liz Schurdak, Product Manager at TrackAbout.

Rather than needing to tap the screen to enter information into each field, TrackAbout offers Auto Advancing, which listens to your voice, recognizes when a value has been entered, and seamlessly moves on to the next field to wait for your response. If you need to move on to a new section, simply say the field name out loud and the cursor moves. It’s also possible to move between pages by saying “Next Screen” or “Previous Screen”.

And don’t worry if you make a mistake. Not only can you override Voice-to-Text at any time by tapping the screen and entering details manually, but you can simply say “Correction” to reactivate a field.

A common nuisance for anyone familiar with the process is the time it takes to enter dates. Manually entering the manufacturing date of an ageing cylinder produced in the 1960s, for example, requires a lot of scrolling to cycle back through the years. It’s frustrating at best, and extremely time-consuming when you’re dealing with hundreds of assets. Now, you can simply say the date out loud, and it’s captured instantly.

TrackAbout’s new Voice Activated Workflows is intuitive and easy to use. It’s available for Android and is coming to iOS later this summer. To activate it on your device, email TrackAbout Support. Additional voice support options will be rolled out across the TrackAbout mobile app later this year.

Empower your workflows with voice activation and make your operations easier and more efficient.

Liz Schurdak, Product Manager and Elizabeth Wallace, VP of Product at TrackAbout,  recently hosted a webinar explaining the benefits of TrackAbout Voice Activated Workflows. You can view recording on our website.

If you'd like to learn more about how effectively managing returnable assets can help boost business efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce regulatory risk, reach out to our sales team today at sales@trackabout.com. Alternatively, get in touch to request a free demo.