Today's hardware is very good and Wello Solutions can be installed on any device. Still, a device that is too "light" will impact the everyday use. A lot has to do with the amount of data you are managing. The higher the amount of data, the more power you need. In order to evaluate what device is best for you, please consider the following points.
Operating system
The Wello Solutions app can be installed on any mobile device with at minimum following operating system:
iOS 11
Android 5.0
Windows 10
So all smartphones, tablets, and if running on Windows also laptops, running at least on one of the above operating systems or higher, will work.
Some small differences apply to these operating systems that may influence your choice.
Android and Windows allow to select multiple files to be upladed to the Wello app, while iOS only allow to upload files one by one.
Although Windows tablets sometimes appear to be less efficient it may also depend on the company policy. Sometimes Windows is preferred because the company can monitor it better through ActiveDirectory and the likes.....
Storage Capacity
Storage capacity is especially important with pictures or large teams. Some companies take 1 or 2 pictures per work order, others take 200 pictures per work order.
The average DB size from a Wello user, pictures included, is 200 Mb. Larger customers can be around 2 GB. All Wello customers upload pictures to the app to generate nice service reports.
The storage capacity required to host the Wello database remains relatively small because the Wello Solutions app removes all data from its database for any work order older than 8 days. Wello also applies a planning horizon of 8 days, which you can enlarge to 90 days. If you have lot's of data, enlarging the planning horizon may seriously impact the DB size.
Note: Wello Solutions manages the app DB size by regularly cleaning/removing obsolete data, but not the hard drive of the device. Pictures taken with the Wello app are not stored separately on the hard drive! They are only stored inside the Wello app database (and removed 8 days later).
Processor
As always, a poor processor will influence speed and fluidity of the OS and of course the apps running on the device. Still, Wello Solutions does not require heavy computing power. Any good processor speed will do (on a processor scale poor - average - good - very good - excellent).
Again, here too, DB size matters! The bigger the database, the better your processor needs to be.
RAM
For Android we advice at least 4 Gb of RAM or more to run smoothly. 8 Gb is better. For large DB sizes, choose 12 Gb RAM.
iOS has good RAM management, and even with an outdated 6S+ which has 1 Gb RAM, we see the Wello Solutions app still runs fine with small DB sizes. Else 4 Gb of RAM is a good idea.
Again, the one rule that is important to keep in mind: the larger your database size, the more RAM you need to keep your device fluid. So if you are closer to a database size of 2 Gb instead of 200 Mb, we advice to take more RAM. Especially if you are using other devices or apps (like measurement devices/apps ) at the same time.
Storage - Processor - RAM equation
At Wello Solutions, we see that database size is an important metric to know what device specifications you need. The more data you manage, the more free storage space, RAM memory and processor speed play a role. They kind of impact each other so it is not a matter of having only a large storage space, or only an excellent processor. And keep in mind that the Wello Solutions app will not be the only app running on the device!
How can you predict if your database will be large or not? It is not easy to know upfront how large your DB size will be, it may depend on the number of pictures you take, or on the highest "planning horizon" setting (see above). At Wello we see that a good rule of thumb is the number of technicians. The more technicians you have in your service organization, the larger your database will be.
You can as well factor in the number of work orders per year. But usually large technicians teams and a high number of work orders per year go hand in hand.
Internet connection
Only Wi-Fi or also 4/5G? Both are a must unless you can work offline for a whole day because the planning never changes last minute and/or because you don't need to follow the real-time planning during the day.
Also, if you dispatch work orders or use the workshop flow, you may consider 4/5G as well! Accepting a dispatched work order or picking one from the workshop queue requires an online connection.
Hardware connectivity
In 99% of the use cases, hardware connectivity has become irrelevant. Bluetooth is now the most used technology. Still, if you need to connect to another device to download some data or run technical diagnostics, you need to check if the device has the required hardware connectors.
Screen quality
Depending on your work environment, screen quality may be a point of attention:
when you often work outside and sun is shining, the screen brightness will be important. Brightness influences battery life
when looking at small details inside pictures, sharpness may come into play
and when working in rough environments, the (scratch) resistance of the screen glass can be an asset.
Battery life
Wello Solutions in itself does not consume much battery. The two things that may influence battery life are:
the background synchronization process (the higher the frequency (like every minute), the more battery is used)
and the use of the location services
The synchronization frequency can be set to every hour if required, and the use of the location services can be unchecked.
Of course, any other usage is also influencing battery life (like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). But in general, where battery life in the past was a major concern, nowadays this is almost a non-issue. And in case of heavy usage, be sure to have a good car charger.
Form factor
Form factor is key. You cannot guess which form factor will be best. You have to test it in real life!!!
It sometimes may depend on how your technicians see it, or simply due to the working conditions. If technicians often have to climb a ladder or pass through narrow gaps to get access, a smartphone that fits in the pocket may be more convenient.
The environment in which the devices will be used, is equally important. Is it a harsh industrial environment or not? Is it necessary to protect the devices from falling on the ground, from dust or humidity? Is the environment only made of hard concrete? If yes, a good casing maybe adviced. Not all devices/form factors fit in the right casing for your work environment.
In summary, the golden rule is always to choose some form factors and allow the technicians to work with them and give you feedback. Because if they get a tablet and everyone wants a smartphone, you're going to have a roll-out/acceptance problem.
Next?
Read more about the Wello Solutions app: