Frequently Asked Q’s
On Web App: creating a new scoop
Scoop is used in a variety of scenarios especially those involving communication
from the field. Here are some examples:
- while making
the rounds at a work site or plant comes across defects or improvement opportunities
that need to be documented and delegated to someone;
- working
at a customer facility, the need arises to communicate an issue (e.g., with machinery,
construction structure, etc.) and get advice/support from remote managers, experts
and engineers;
- while on a site visit, is
asked by customer to quote on a new sales opportunity; sales person needs to document
the opportunity and get feasibility, costing and management input to quickly produce
a proposal package;
- is visiting a site
to inspect, catalog and describe physical conditions or status of work; needs to
easily capture both visual and audio descriptions of what she sees;
- has developed a product
concept prototype and wants to describe and share elements of this with a supplier
to get feedback on feasibility and pricing;
- you think of a personal note,
idea or to-do item and want to make sure it is preserved for later use or sharing
with others;
In all of these cases, you quickly create a scoop from your handheld (or web) to
explain the topic of interest with the aid of multimedia. You then share the scoop
with just the right people you wish to collaborate on the issue at hand. The mobility
of Scoop and its embedded use of rich media dramatically increase the immediacy
and efficiency of the communication process. Scoop lets you share the topic with
others, discuss and collaborate while having the peace of mind that your information
is kept safe and private with a well-defined invitee list.
In a nutshell, how does Scoop work?
A lot of work goes into making Scoop easy to use—the idea is that it should feel
like a favorite pair of pliers or a trusty volt meter or other favorite tool in
your hands. And like your favorite tool, it should be versatile and flexible and
help you get a lot done without getting in your way. So here’s how this high tech
hand tool works at a high level:
- you use your web or handheld
account to create a scoop ticket, weave in text, voice, pictures, video or any subset
thereof to tell the whole story of the subject at hand.
- invite people you wish
to collaborate with on this scoop;all you need is their email address, type it in
or add from your contacts;they get notified via mobile alerts and email notifications.
- you and your invitees participate
and communicate via text and voice comments and with the help a variety of multimedia
until the objective is accomplished such as resolving an issue, closing a sales
lead or generating ideas for a new product or documenting work status.
What are Scoop’s primary benefits?
Scoop provides an unprecedented framework that connects you with your extended team: rich, immediate, clear, accessible. With Scoop you no longer have to delay getting vital information to your team or spending valuable time downloading images, voice notes and writing long emails to describe an issue or opportunity. Instead you immediately capture, describe and communicate right from your handheld using a variety of multimedia formats. Best of all, everything gets uploaded and backed up right away without any additional effort.
- use the power of multimedia and your smartphone to communicate clearly, less typing, more showing!
- access all information related to each issue or opportunity in one mobile source
- obtain for yourself and provide others the critical input / advice needed to get unstuck
- make it clear which are the issues that matter now and get people focused on them
- reduce the need for coordination meetings; stay on the same page effortlessly
- resolve support issues faster, reduce downtime, boost quality of service and customer satisfaction
- feed opportunities into your organization’s awareness faster; increase sales response speed and capture rate
- easily share just the information you want with a customer or partner
How does sharing work in Scoop?
Once you have finished describing an issue, lead or other topic by creating and
adding various media to a scoop, you can share it with others. You share your scoop
by iniviting others which you can do from the mobile app or from the web app.
When you invite someone you are basically giving them the right to view and work
with you on the topic underlying the scoop. You can choose from a variety of roles
when you invite others including contributor, visitor or lead.
You can also decide whether this invitee can invite other people. Lastly you can
set the access mode for each scoop for standard security access
(anyone with a link can view the scoop) or extra security access mode (users
need to login with their email to see the scoop)
How does Scoop allow me to collaborate with others?
Scoop allows you to describe project issues, sales leads or other topics clearly
and efficiently using various media. Once you share the given scoop with other invitees,
these individuals initially view the scoop intro. The intro provides a big picture
explanation of the given topic and provides a general call to action. Invitees are
able to see details of the topic and any nuances you have described in images and
video using captions, voice and text comments. Invitees participate in the discussion
by uploading additional media or documents (if applicable), replying to others comments
as well as adding their own. Since Scoop keeps all information and comments in context
to the given topic (scoop) and individual media, it is easy to understand what each
invitee is referring to and to respond accordingly.
Which scoops can I see and have access to?
Scoop allows you to describe project issues, sales leads or other topics clearly
and efficiently using various media. Once you share the given scoop with other invitees,
these individuals initially view the scoop intro. The intro provides a big picture
explanation of the given topic and provides a general call to action. Invitees are
able to see details of the topic and any nuances you have described in images and
video using captions, voice and text comments. Invitees participate in the discussion
by uploading additional media or documents (if applicable), replying to others comments
as well as adding their own. Since Scoop keeps all information and comments in context
to the given topic (scoop) and individual media, it is easy to understand what each
invitee is referring to and to respond accordingly.
What is Scoop data synchronization?
One of the primary design goals for Scoop was to eliminate the need for manual transfer
and synchronization of data across devices and platforms. We had all experienced
the dread of returning from a long field trip only to have to spend the weekend
pulling images, voice notes and paper notes from different sources and constructing
emails describing them to the rest of the team. Instead we wanted the information
to flow immediately into the team’s awareness and the work to be done when we got
back from the field.
Scoop’s merge-based two-way synchronization is the magic sauce that sees to this.
As you work, this algorithms runs in the background and carefully monitors any changes,
even the smallest one such as one made to a picture caption or a comment and immediately
replicates this change across the the other copies of the same scoop regardless
of where the change or addition (e.g., new picture) is made: on the web or on the
mobile app. When new or modified content is arrives, the application clearly announces
these via both mobile badges (e.g., NEW indicators) as well as email notifications.
Can I keep working on mobile app when there is no network?
Often times in the field, people are in situations where there is no network connection.
Examples include when users are in transit (e.g., airplane) or at remote worksites
and facilities. Therefore a major goal for Scoop was to provide users with full
access to their data and enable them to continue to work in these situations.
To address this objective the Scoop mobile app maintains a full up-to-date copy
of user’s scoops on the device. This copy is available during offline operation
and fully functional. Changes can be made and media and comments can be added. Scoop’s
synchronizer algorithm keeps track of all such changes as they are made. Depending
on the working mode selected by the user, once a network connection is
detected, these changes are synchronized to the Scoop server as well as to other
invitees for the given scoop(s).
Can I copy my scoop data from web to new mobile handheld?
When you switch to a new handset or when you change your SD card or in other cases
you may need to restore your scoop data on your mobile device from your web account.
For instructions on data restore please refer to the data restore section
of Scoop help.
How does the Scoop mobile app work?
Unlike many business mobile apps that are designed as mere viewers of data that
resides on the server, the Scoop mobile app is a full-blown rich media capture and
communication software program. It not only allows you to access and view the scoop
data and updates from the server but to capture, describe and contribute original
content right from the field.
Which platforms are supported by Scoop mobile app?
Currently Scoop is supported on the Blackberry, iPhone and Android platforms.
How does Scoop mobile app affect my wireless data plan?
Scoop synchronization cross-transfers any new scoop data or changes between your
web account and your handheld to ensure consistency and access to latest updates.
This data transfer is accomplished via your mobile data plan (except in cases when
a Wi-Fi connection is available). Depending on specifics of your wireless data plan
and the volume of scoop data, your mobile carrier may add extra charges to your
monthly bill.
Having said that, most content especially text and images are significantly compressed
to reduce data transfer requirements (an average quality jpg image captured on a
mobile device takes up approximately 250KB). Furthermore, most carriers now allow
relatively large monthly data transfer limits (as example only, 2GB of data transfer
per month is not unusual)
To avoid any surprise charges however, please review your wireless carrier contract
and data plan specifics before using Scoop. In addition, you can reduce usage of
your wireless data plan by undertaking data intensive operations when a Wi-Fi connection
is available. Examples include: running data restore using a Wi-Fi connection or
capturing a video in offline mode and synchronizing or going online only when Wi-Fi
is present.
Which Scoop plan is best for me & my team?
Scoop is designed and provided under a variety of plans to fit the needs and
budget of any size team from the entrepreneur all the way to large organizations
with thousands of field and office workers. The goal has always been to provide
a wide range of options including individual plans of Scoop to empower
pioneering souls such as yourself to forge ahead while gradually getting the rest
of the team on-board.
For detailed description of these plans and a thorough comparison of features and
capacities please see the plans section.
Do people I share scoops with need to have paid accounts?
People you invite, can open, view and comment on your scoops using a free scoop
account or no account depending on how you configure the access security
of each given scoop.
