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How Mobile Technology is Transforming Investigations


How Mobile Technology is Transforming Investigations

Investigators spend more time in the field and less time behind a desk

There’s no question that mobile technology is changing the way we live and work. With more than six billion mobile phones in service worldwide, and the tablet market growing exponentially, mobile is here to stay, and any solution that doesn’t embrace it doesn’t have a future.

In an interview a few months ago, Jason Averbook, Chief Business Innovation Officer at Appirio, told me that he thinks every worker will expect to be able to use mobile tools to do his or her work by 2020. His children, five and eight years old, are already using i-Pads at an advanced level. This is the way they communicate and collaborate and this is the way the incoming generation of workers will expect to work. If you have to be in the office to use it, it’s not going to work, he said.

Investigators are already using mobile technology to manage their investigations and it’s revolutionizing the way they operate. They are realizing new levels of efficiency and collaboration, improved processes and faster resolution of cases.

Access from Anywhere

The ability to manage investigations from a mobile device means that investigators don’t have to return to the office to input case information. Not only can they add investigation interview notes immediately after an interview, but they can also capture photo, voice and video evidence on their mobile devices and then import the files into their cases.

Mobile device users can access reports from anywhere, making managing a team of investigators much more efficient. Managers can monitor caseloads and assign cases to investigators when they are out of the office. Less time between complaints and the beginning of an investigation means less chance of having to defend investigation processes in the event of a lawsuit.

More Collaborative Investigations

The ability to access case files from anywhere means that a manager who gets a call from the legal department with a question about a case can go into the file right from his or her smartphone and get the answer immediately. No need to call the investigator; no need to go back to the office to look up the file.

An investigator who travels to interview witnesses can input notes into the case file immediately. This means that others working on or overseeing the case get immediate access to the new information and can act on it quickly.

Signatures and Scanning

Other progressive features of mobile optimized case management software include the ability to access forms and capture signatures on mobile devices. An investigator who secures a confession from an interview subject can open a form and have the subject sign the form directly on a mobile device. Once the signed form is uploaded to the case file, others can access it and act on the information.

And in a loss prevention investigation, mobile devices can scan bar codes to access and record information about stolen products. The investigator can add that information to the case file and make it available immediately to those who need it.

Mobile technology is among the biggest influences in today’s investigation environment, improving collaboration, efficiency and case resolution times and reducing administration. Investigators who use mobile case management technology can spend more time doing what they do best: investigating.