„We make software more human“
This is how the software developer from Troisdorf near Cologne has been promoting its expertise in the field of voice-assisted software applications since 2014.
A look at the redesigned website for dawin gmbh quickly leads to selected practical examples that the agile software company has successfully implemented for its international clients.
Voice-assisted software proves to be very useful, especially when working with hazardous materials, i.e. when the user has to work hands-free/eyes-free. However, speech recognition and voice control are also a welcome alternative to the small keyboards used to operate mobile devices, such as smartphones.
The company develops individual software primarily on behalf of clients. The solutions created extend from simple time-recording systems and laboratory programs to complex enterprise resource programs (ERP). dawin also brought its own app, spicture 1.0, onto the market in 2015.
The developer team at dawin noticed that, despite the increasing support for corporate processes by IT applications, experts and specialist personnel, in particular, are regularly confronted with unstructured data. These situations result from the high area of responsibility of specialist personnel and managers. They often have to react to unforeseen situations. This can be an insurance claim, the first stock-take for special projects or simply an idea that needs to be documented and cannot be covered by the existing working programs.
The requirements placed on a program for this irregular, unstructured data were stated by the surveyed specialist employees as follows (multiple answers are possible):
- The solution should be mobile and available on smartphones. (73%)
- It should be possible to take high-quality photos. (89%)
- It should be possible to add the following to the photographs:
a. Notes (92%)
b. Sketches (27%)
What’s more, 60% of those surveyed considered the possibility of dictating notes to be very helpful.
The result was the spicture 1.0 app from dawin. It combines photos with notes, keywords, sound recordings and sketches. The app is available for the iPhone and Android smartphones. It is possible to export data as PDF and Excel files via email in version 1.0. In future versions, a web service and numerous interfaces to further communication portals, such as Facebook, should be possible. What’s more, an assortment of standardised report templates should simplify the post-processing of photo note documentation.
The app is free of charge and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store as well as soon from Google Play.
