Business Moble Applications

How to Create Visual Step-by-Step Instructions, User Manuals, Tech Support Articles With an Android Smartphone.

2011-05-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

Business users drown in text. We read and write manuals, knowledge base articles and blogs, use wikis and participate in forums to exchange information. AHG Cloud Note (www.cloudnote.net) is a popular software for Android users. It reduces amount and volume of text documents and increases clarity and quality of communication by helping users to create step-by-step visual documents directly on an Android smartphone or tablet. AHG Cloud Note can create documents that include text, images and video materials, and securely share them through the cloud or company’s own network. Users can also save and edit documents right on their device, as well as present them to a live audience locally or around the world.

Instructions

1. From the main menu select “New” …
… and type in the name of the document you are about to create. Click “Continue.”
a. If you have already created document(s) and want to view or modify them, select “Open” from the main menu and then tap the name of the document you want to open.
2. Select what you would like to insert in the document: photo, video, or text. Long-click on a “Photo” or “Video” button if you want to start with visual information or click on the “Insert Text” to start with a text description.
3. If you selected either “Photo” or “Video,” the program will give you a choice: take a new image (video) or insert image or video file already saved on your phone. a. If you choose to take a new image or video, a camera app will start and you will be able to take a visual. b. If you choose to insert an existing video or image file, file-explorer or gallery app will help you to select the file.
4. If you select “Insert Text,” you will be able to type free-form text, such as description or subtitle.
5. The item you created in steps 3 – 4 will is placed on the applications canvas.
6. Long click on an item opens and “edit” menu that allows you to: a. (in case of an image) -- re-take photo, insert another photo, move the item up or down the story line, rotate or delete it; b. (in case of video) -- re-take video, insert another video, move the item up or down or delete it;
7. Continue with steps 2 – 6 inserting as many new document parts as you need.
8. At any time you can click “Preview” button to see your document in its entirety.
Note: the document is saved automatically after each new insert. You do not need to worry about saving it. You can also edit any part of the document at any time.
9. Enterprise or Demo versions only: once you are satisfied with the document, you can upload it to the cloud or your company’s network.
10. Once the document is in the cloud, you can decide which parts, if any, to keep on your android device and which parts to permanently delete
11. You and your colleagues can access it through the web and post it to a knowledge base, intranet or internet FAQ, wiki or a web page

When we say "M-Learning" do we mean only one side of the equation?

2011-05-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the basics. Wikipedia says that mobile learning is distinct "in its focus on learning across contexts and learning with mobile devices," and then quotes definition of mobile learning from mobilearn: "Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies."

I think that where we learn is only one side of the equation. The second, no least important, side is where and how do we create materials used in learning. Creating flash cartoons or using Captivate might work (and does work) well in many cases. It is probably not be the best way to document a real-life process. Take, for eaxmple a task as simple as clearing a paper jam in a copier. Suppose you need to create a lesson teaching users how perform this task. Now, let's say that you don't have a copier (or that particular model) in your office. It's somewhere "in the field," but you still need to create this lesson asap. And it should be good. You probably think about a team of video and audio techs you need to assemble, about scheduling editing time and so on. How about you grab your phone and get out of the door, get to wherever that piece of equipment is located and document all the necessary steps employee would need to take to fix the problem. Take a picture, add text, add another picture or shoot a video, add more text ... Create step-by-step guide right on your phone, edit it, upload to the cloud (or to your company's server), share, publish to your knowledge base, web site, FAQ section or e-learning module, use it as information exchange module with clients or students, enhance your tech support, publish to your facebook page. You can do it today with AHG Cloud Note.

At the same time, using AHG Cloud Note we are getting closer to informal or semi-informal, peer-to-peer learning, where immediate help is as close, as your smartphone. The good news is that these informal training sessions do not disappear. They continue life in your searchable knowledge base, FAQ section, or tech support section of your web site or intranet.

Welcome Back!

2011-05-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, during what will probably be known as "The Big Blogspot Meltdown," otherwise known as botched software update by Google, this blog dissappeared in the digital eternity. That gives you a pause if you depend exclusively on cloud. Luckily, Cloud Note offers an option to work with a publick cloud, as well as your company server. One more useful feature!

But let's start where we left off. Over the last several weeks I ran into multiple lists of "10 Best Business Software for Mobile Business" or "11 Mobile Apps Your Business Cannot Live Without." The problem I found with almost all of these lists is the applications they include might be great, they might be useful, but they have nothing to do with business. For example, the last list that made me fume included alarm clock, antivirus and backup. I certainly understand the importance of rolling out of bed on time for any business to be successful, but alarm clock as a business app? I don't think so.

As a result, we decided to compile, with your help, a list of real business applications, created for real business. We do not care what on what platform the application runs, who produced it, etc. The only thing of importance, it should be:

mobile, and
business

Everything else belongs to a different list, no matter how great an application might be.

As the owner/host of this blog let's start with AHG Cloud Note (http://www.cloudnote.net/).
Cloud Note is made for corporate and business users to simplify creation of instructions, tutorials, knowledge base articles, tech support questions and answers - and sharing them. It makes it easy to capture and document process or procedure on the spot with your smartphone, by taking images / video and adding explanatory text, share and exchange documents, and integrate them into corporate systems, such as knowledge base or LMS. As such, it can be effectively used in the environments that require knowledge capture and distribution, including learning and training, knowledge management and technical support. You can download free demo or free personal version on Android market