4 Tips to Help the Disorganized Lawyer

4 Tips to Help the Disorganized Lawyer


Practicing law involves countless details and deadlines. When attorneys lack organizational skills within a law firm, essential information can slip through the cracks and create all kinds of problems, from overlooked billable hours to a child custody case gone wrong.

Yet for years, disorganization was a sign of a good lawyer. Abraham Lincoln, for instance, stored documents in his top hat. If you’ve ever seen a painting of Lincoln’s desk, you know the lawyer-turned-president worked among piles of disheveled papers and books. The president was the definition of the “disorganized lawyer”. 

Now, however, that image of the scattered but brilliant lawyer is changing, making disorderliness less a sign of intellect than a cause for alarm. Kelly Lynn Anders, the associate dean of student affairs at Washburn University School of Law and author of a 2008 book, The Organized Lawyer, puts it like this: “On a regular basis, attorneys are sanctioned for many misdeeds that can be traced back to disorganization. Often, the sanctions are for actions that are inexcusable but not malicious. Rather, they are examples of how bad things can get when one is disorganized.”

Once an unorganized lawyer herself, Anders names a number of mishaps that can occur from disorderliness — “commingling of funds, failure to produce records to opposing counsel, failure to file in a timely manner, being inaccessible to clients, and seeming ill-prepared to represent clients during meetings,” she says.

If you’re an attorney or paralegal struggling to stay on top of your deadlines and work, the time to get organized is now. These four tips can help you avoid becoming the “disorganized lawyer” and improve your overall professional conduct when dealing with clients. 

Your day doesn’t always go as planned. Even though you think you’ll find time to jot down that 45 minutes you spent on client X, there are no guarantees. You could easily get pulled in another direction.

When you do catch a breath, the last thing you want to do is enter your time. So you forget and never bill for your hours of legal fees. Or you unintentionally overestimate legal fees or time, tracking an hour and a half instead of the actual time worked — a move that can put you in violation of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Rule 1:5 on billing and fees.

Tracking your time in real-time can make the job easier and help you (and your team) increase your accuracy. Time-tracking mobile apps allow you to use your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to make entries on the go, meaning you can start and end a timer precisely at the time you start and end your work, whether you’re off-site at a deposition, at home drafting an affidavit, or in court. Some apps even enter ABA codes automatically, so you don’t have to rack your brain to remember them or take the time to look them up.

In all likelihood, you receive more email than you can manage and find that it disrupts your focus and drains your time. If you aren’t careful, email can break your concentration and cause you to make errors on important tasks. Putting an “email system” in place can be a lifesaver.

Start by setting aside a few times a day (and a few times only) to check your inbox, such as first thing in the morning, mid-day, and late afternoon. This may seem hard at first, but hold steady and resist the urge to check email outside of those time frames. Let your team know your new system so they’re not left waiting for an immediate response, and so they resort to other measures, like knocking on your office door or calling you by phone, when something urgent arises.

Disable your email pop-up notifications to avoid pinging distractions, and organize your email folders in a way that makes sense. For instance, you can organize by client or legal service areas such as Domestic, Civil or Probate Litigation, Real Estate, or Criminal. Likewise, you might organize folders by priority level — Low, Medium, High, and Urgent. Then when an email comes in, file it accordingly. Remember to clean out your folders every now and then so they don’t become too hard to navigate.

Many offices in the 21st century rely primarily on digital, not paper, documents and filing systems. But that’s not possible with law firms, where paper is required for things like court exhibits, signed consent orders, and contracts. While you won’t be able to eliminate paper entirely, there are steps you can take to lower your paper use — and in turn, your chance of losing an important note or document.

Electronic, cloud-based filing systems are great for document and case management, and take up far less space than old metal file cabinets. Many cloud-based programs are designed exclusively for law firms and come with the added security measures attorneys and paralegals need. As this ABA article explains, two top-rated programs are Clio and Law RD. You can use them to manage and collaborate on documents, access your calendar, and even connect and share documents with clients — all in a safe, secure setting. The biggest advantages? With web-based programs like these, you can access your files and stay on top of your caseload from anywhere you have Internet access, whether you’re on vacation or stretched out on your home sofa. In addition, you lower your risk of leaving sensitive documents on your desk or out in the open, which anyone could fairly easily access and peruse.

Of course, cloud-based programs and other technologies will only work if you can use them. Many are complicated and can cause you to waste time on even simple steps like accessing your calendar or finding a file. Be wary of technologies that claim to help but actually take vast time and patience to set up and learn. Ask your product rep these questions before you decide to purchase:

  • Does set up require help from IT? How much time does it take?
  • What skills do staff members need to use this?
  • Do you provide any training support?
  • What kind of maintenance is involved?
  • Does your system integrate with the other systems we use?
  • Does your product work across mobile platforms, in addition to desktop?

As an attorney, every minute counts. Being a disorganized lawyer is no longer an option. Save yourself the headache of searching frantically for that one piece of paper or underestimating the amount of time or legal fees you bill for a case. Get organized in your law office, starting with the suggestions mentioned here.

At GoCanvas, we created a way to make organization easy with nearly 200 mobile apps designed by or for attorneys and law firms. Get some inspiration by checking out our customizable mobile forms and apps for Professional Services, or use our simple to use app builder to create your own legal services mobile app


Now you can easily modernize the way you are collecting data. Whether you are looking to improve your data handling processes or advance reporting, we hope you consider using GoCanvas as your data collection tool. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

Interested in learning more? Check out our eBook Modernize Your Law Practice in 3 Steps.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Create your own Android mobile app with digitial signature capture in 5 minutes

Create your own Android mobile app with digitial signature capture in 5 minutes

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How to Build an App in 5 Minutes!

GoCanvas allows you to easily create your own apps for Android, iOS, and Windows PC.  Today, I wanted to walk through a quick and simple example of how to do this in 5 minutes. This app will allow you to capture a digital signature on your mobile device in just seconds. Below, you can see what the result looks like on Android mobile device.  We already have over 20,000 pre-built data collection mobile apps in our .  Each of these can be customized, but in this article we are focusing on how to create one from scratch that can capture digital signatures.

The goal of this article will be to walk through signing up for GoCanvas, building a simple mobile app which captures some simple information (first name and last name) and a digital signature, fill out the app on an Android device and view the results as a PDF document.

Step 1 – Sign up for GoCanvas

If you aren’t already a GoCanvas customer, sign up for free GoCanvas account.

Step 2 – Install GoCanvas

Once you sign up for GoCanvas you should receive an e-mail with a download link for your device.  If you didn’t get the email, you can go to https://www.gocanvas.com/m to download GoCanvas.

Step 3 – Login to the GoCanvas website using your desktop computer

Login to the GoCanvas website with your new login on your desktop computer to begin building your digital signature capture mobile app.

Step 4 – Build your GoCanvas signature capture application

On the ‘Apps’ tab in the GoCanvas website, click ‘Create New App’.  Below, you’ll see the button to click inside the blue box:

Enter a name for the new app, let’s call it “Sample Signature Capture.”  Click ‘Save and launch app builder’.

Drag a ‘Signature’ control from the left-hand palette.  In the popup for the text input, enter ‘Please sign your name’.

The outline of your ‘Sample Signature Capture’ GoCanvas mobile application should look like the below screenshot.

To add additional fields to your new signature app drag a ‘Text box’ from the left-hand palette.  In the popup for the text box, enter ‘First Name’. Drag another ‘Text Box’ control from the right-hand palette. In the popup for the text input, enter ‘Last Name’.

Step 5 – Save and publish your GoCanvas signature capture application

At the top of the GoCanvas app builder, click ‘Save’ and select ‘Save and publish’.  Once the GoCanvas app builder has finished saving, you will be prompted what users should have access to the new application.  Make sure to check your login and click ‘Publish’.

Step 6 – Start GoCanvas on your Android and login

Start GoCanvas on your Android device and log in using your e-mail and password that you registered with.

Step 7 – Fill out the ‘Sample Signature Capture’ app

Fill out the ‘Sample Signature Capture’  mobile app and once done, click ‘Yes’ to upload your submission.

Click on the signature field, and sign with your finger or stylist.

After the signature is captured you will see the box turn green as shown below.

Step 8 – View your data online

If you logged out of the GoCanvas website, log in again and click on the ‘Submissions’ tab.  You will find the data you just filled out on your Android.  You can now view it online, download it as a PDF, export it as a CSV/Excel file, or integrate it into a backend system.

Wrap Up

Hopefully the above example demonstrated how easy it is to go paperless with GoCanvas.  All of the applications created with GoCanvas work across all of the mobile devices we support. These include Android, Windows PC, iPhone and iPad. You can get rid of filing and data entry and save your business time and money.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Investing in Our Future, Faster

Investing in Our Future, Faster

You may have heard, since it was covered here, here, and oh yeah, here, that GoCanvas recently received a round of investment funding from K1, an experienced investor in B2B SaaS organizations.

What exactly does this mean…? That we can Do More.

Very simply this means we can now Do More — Do More for our subscribers, our partners, and our dedicated and growing GoCanvas team. Our commitment to these critical communities remains unchanged; the relationship with K1 means we can serve each of these groups more fully and innovatively. This partnership enables us to continue to pursue our big ideas — ideas that we’ve gotten from listening to you.

In other words, K1’s investment will help us get to the future faster.

Here is what is staying the same… the things that are most important:

  • Our wildly passionate focus on culture
  • Our team members and leadership – including myself as CEO
  • Our ability to all be owners
  • Our ability to build on the GoCanvas brand globally

Why K1…? Hint it was more than money.

The decision to partner with K1 was based on more than just a source of capital. First and foremost, we saw a deep cultural alignment between GoCanvas and K1. They believe what we believe, and we both understand the fundamental role culture plays in a business’s success. Plus, they have a reputation as a value-added partner with deep experience in helping to grow B2B software companies!

Why now…? Because we have more Big Ideas

Quite simply we want to continue to drive toward being at the heart of solving many of our customer’s bigger problems and helping them with their biggest opportunities for growth. We are convinced that if we help our customers more dynamically collect and share data it will benefit how they connect with their own customers and enable them to improve their businesses. Solving these problems and answering these opportunities means a deeper investment into our Product First philosophy, and investing in sharing our brand and story in more places.

Here’s the sales pitch…  Come join the team!

As part of this new chapter, we plan to double the GoCanvas team over the next year or so while staying put right here in Reston, Virginia. To that end, I encourage anyone interested in working in an award-winning culture, for a rapidly expanding tech company in the greater Washington, D.C. area (no, not Amazon) to check out our

Bottom Line: We are excited and hope you are too.

But if you do have any lingering questions, please do not hesitate to reach out directly to me at jq@gocanvas.com. I would love to hear from you.

James Quigley

GoCanvas CEO and Co-Founder

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Fire Inspection Apps for iPad, iPhone, Android and Apple Mobile Devices

Fire Inspection Apps for iPad, iPhone, Android and Apple Mobile Devices

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Fire inspection apps for iPads, iPhones, Android, and Apple mobile devices are powerful tools to help streamline any business doing safety and routine inspections ranging from simple fire extinguishers and alarms to robust fire protection systems. Fire alarm inspection apps, fire extinguisher inspection apps, fire safety inspection apps and more are all common uses of the GoCanvas platform. The major benefits of these apps include:

Time savings – With fire inspection apps, you can insert pictures, notes and signatures at the time of inspection. This saves fire inspectors tons of time because GoCanvas will  generate the reports automatically instead of taking time later manually add photos to your reports and forms and manually send them out to customers.

Improved data accuracy – With paper fire inspection forms, data can often be inaccurate do to a variety of factors, such as skipped fields, illegible data or doing calculations incorrectly. Or worse, the form gets lost and someone has to redo the inspection. With GoCanvas, you can set up your inspection forms so that certain fields are required and can’t be skipped. And since you aren’t dealing with paper, your reports can be instantly shared back to the office when they’re complete.

Since the very beginning here at GoCanvas, fire inspectors have consistently come to us for fire inspection apps and fire system installation apps. They also use GoCanvas for fire inspection app, service ticket apps, checklist apps and more.

GoCanvas allows them to replace every paper form in their clipboard with a mobile form on their iPad, iPhone, Android, or Apple device. They simply pull out their device, launch GoCanvas, and select the particular GoCanvas app they need to fill out.  The data is placed into a PDF document that can be emailed directly to customers and colleagues who need the data. The completed forms are stored on the GoCanvas servers and are accessible anytime via our website.

GoCanvas apps can be customized online using our powerful app builder. You can edit apps found in our application store or build your own from scratch. You can build fire inspection, sprinkler systems and fire safety apps that match the paper forms you’re using today and include some of the great features that paper just can’t match!

Time-Saving Features

GoCanvas apps can be customized online using our powerful app builder. You can edit apps found in our application store or build your own from scratch. You can build fire inspection and fire safety apps that match the paper forms you’re using today and include some of the great features that paper just can’t match!

Signature Capture – Signature capture apps are also popular here at GoCanvas. Signature capture on iPads, iPhones, Android, and Apple devices is done easily with GoCanvas.  Employees or customers can sign right on the screen with their fingers or a styllus.

Insert Pictures/Images – Taking pictures and inserting them into your documents is also very popular. There is nothing worse than spending hours pulling images off of your mobile device or digital camera and then inserting them into a Word document.  GoCanvas allows you to insert them right during the job at the time you capture them.

Barcode Scanning – Barcode apps are also something we see a lot of here at GoCanvas. You could place a barcode on all of the fire extinguishers in a building, for example. When you come to inspect it you just scan the barcode and all the data about that extinguisher auto-populates for the inspector (serial number, model, size, etc.).

GPS – You can ensure that your inspectors were actually on site when they complete their inspections. Your customers don’t want to think that your reports were filled out at the local fast food joint with fake data!

Dispatch – You can queue up jobs for your inspectors using our dispatch feature. Or you can dispatch jobs on a one-off basis as your customers call in needing service. Using a work order app or service ticket app you can fill in the jobsite information and customer contact information and the nature of the problem reported and you inspector or technician can fill in the rest and send it back to you.


Now you can easily modernize the way you are collecting data. Whether you are looking to improve your data handling processes or advance reporting, we hope you consider using GoCanvas as your data collection tool. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

Interested in learning more? Check out our eBook on The Power of Data: How to Turn Numbers into Business Insights. 

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Advanced Construction Technologies Increases Data Visibility

How Advanced Construction Technologies Eliminated Paperwork & Increased Data Visibility

The Background

Advanced Construction Technologies (ACT), serves as an industry leader in the environmental and geotechnical construction and engineering space. They offer a wide range of specialized services from vapor intrusion, contaminant testing, geotechnical construction, and much more. Although based out of Southern California, ACT is recognized for its work across the United States.

The Problem

Before GoCanvas, Advanced Construction Technologies was spending over 120 hours each month tracking down personnel records and different reports for their clients.

The Information collected out in the field would often time be incomplete and inconsistent, making it difficult for the company to invoice correctly and hold employees accountable. They wanted to focus on increasing visibility and communication between the field and the office in order to improve their customer experience and streamline processes throughout the company.

The Solution

One of Advanced Construction Technologies’ employees, Fernando Monay, introduced GoCanvas to his boss when he was hired. Prior to working at ACT, Fernando worked at a company that had successfully implemented GoCanvas. When Fernando switched over to ACT, he immediately knew that GoCanvas would help alleviate the issues they were experiencing with their paper-intensive processes.

With GoCanvas, ACT has now created a streamlined process for collecting information that can be analyzed in real-time. Previously, they struggled with how to collect and track their change orders. It was very common for approvals to be forgotten and it could sometimes take days for the information to get back to the office.  But since their implementation of GoCanvas, change orders are being submitted with all the necessary information and in real-time. This makes it so the office staff can immediately approve and pass information to the client without delay.

The Outcomes

Since implementing GoCanvas, ACT has expanded its use cases to include everything from Daily Reports to Time Cards. These mobile forms utilize features such as:

  • Workflow
  • Photo Capture
  • Reference Data
  • Signature Capture

These features help ACT accurately report information to customers and give the office staff full visibility into the daily productivity their field staff.

Since replacing their paperwork with GoCanvas, ACT is still expanding their data reporting capabilities! They are currently working on integrating GoCanvas with some of their backend systems to totally eliminate all manual data entry and take back that time in order to complete more jobs. ACT has already saved themselves over 1,440 hours annually and over $30,000 in paper cost savings alone.

Ready to Rethink How You Work?

GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.

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Implementing Distributed Control Systems and Mobile Forms Technology in Food Processing Facilities

Implementing Distributed Control Systems and Mobile Forms Technology in Food Processing Facilities

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Food processing is changing. Advances in technology and more efficient methods of production have changed the way that food processing facilities are built, operated and managed. At the same time, consolidation is taking over many industries, making processing plants larger in the pursuit of better economies of scale. Approaches to vertical coordination are also changing, shifting away from the use of spot markets toward greater reliance on contracting in the grain and in livestock industries.

The emergence of distributed control systems is one major example of how innovation is affecting the industry. Distributed control systems are computerized control systems for a procedure or facility usually with a large number of control loops, in which autonomous controllers are distributed throughout the system, but there is central operator supervisory control. Most recently, developments in distributed control system processes have incorporated the use of wireless systems and protocols, remote transmission and logging of data history, mobile interfaces and controls, and embedded web servers. The advance and growth of distributed control systems have revolutionized the food processing industry and the value of having an integrated system has proven itself.

Similarly, integrating mobile form technology is proving to promote efficiency, decrease waste, and prevent failures and hazards. Integrated mobile form technology takes a facility’s or multiple facilities’ data and distributes it electronically to every corner of the operation. It takes the same benefits distributed control systems have over facility systems, and applies it to record-keeping, data transmission, storage, and analysis, and regulatory compliance efforts. Mobile form systems for food processing facilities range from areas like food safety inspection checklists, production schedule templates, pre-production checklists, and standardized recipes documents, to pest control procedures, food batch records, food hazard analysis forms, and food additives records. 

As the way food processing facilities operate changes and advances, so must the way data is logged, transported, and analyzed. Integrating data onto a mobile form software makes data more accessible, makes report creation simpler and more effective, and prevents any data from going unnoticed. This improves processes at food processing plants, food establishments and other food industry workplaces. Both production supervisors and production workers save time and cut out the hassle of poorly designed traditional food production forms.

Efficiency isn’t the only goal, however. Preventing citation from the United States Department of Agriculture or U.S. Food and Drug Administration, depending on your industry, is also critical to large and small food processors alike. Distributed control systems and integrated mobile form technology are essential for proper compliance with ever-changing modern regulation. Not only can these systems serve to prevent citation, they help to create a safer and more hospitable workplace for employees. Preventing hazards is just as critical to overall efficiency when running a successful food processing facility as the smooth operation of the machines.

The combination of these two technologies is pushing the food processing industry into the new century, revolutionizing every aspect of how a facility is built and operated, and are only going to serve to better promote efficiency and safety as the technologies improve.


Now you can easily modernize the way you are conducting quality control. Whether you are looking to improve your data handling processes or improve operational insight, we hope you consider using GoCanvas as your data collection tool. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

Interested in learning more? Check out how MOM & Post Consumer Brands save over $75,000 each month from automating their data collection. 

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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How Security Guard Managers Should Handle Complaints

How Security Guard Managers Should Handle Complaints

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notebook of complaintsYou’re working hard to keep your clients safe and their property secure. You’ve been careful about the staff you’ve hired to work as security officers, conducted the necessary background checks and drug screens, and provided diligent training while clarifying your coe of conduct and expectations for how your agents should conduct themselves while on the job.

Yet despite these efforts, it’s inevitable that people will occasionally file a complaint about how your security officers perform their jobs. Sometimes these customer complaints are quite serious; other times they seem trifling.

Regardless, every customer complaint form lodged against one of your security guards and personnel needs to be taken seriously. Failing to do so puts you at risk for reputation damage or costly litigation. Even your business license is at risk. That’s why it’s crucial to have a thorough policy for handling customer complaints – and to follow it.

Have the right kind of post-incident follow-up

Virtually every state regulates private security officers and companies, and those regulations often set guidelines for handling complaints.

With that in mind, here the steps your organization should take in following up on a complaint:

Listen. The first step in handling complaints is to hear what the complainant has to say about the incident or problem. Was a security guard rude? Not paying enough attention? Or are we talking about something more serious, like a security guard who is accused of being intimidating, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, harassment, or worse? Your goal here should be to gather the facts at issue as the complaining party understands them, not to defend or condemn your employee. This first step is critical because an individual wants to feel they are being heard and respected — and research has shown that listening may reduce your litigation risk. This first step may be the most intrusive, but it is extremely important in handling complaints and making sure you are receiving all the pertinent information on what occurred.

Review the record. A critical source of information will be your guard’s own incident report. You should review this document before speaking with your security guard. If the report tells a story that’s different from the one you heard from the complainant, then you’ll want to pursue that discrepancy in your discussions with your employee. Also, take note of when the report, which should have been filed as soon as possible after the incident in question, actually was filed when handling complaints.

Gather more information. Beyond the complainant’s version, the security guard’s version, and the incident report, gather any additional sources of information that might be available, such as statements from other witnesses or camera footage, to attempt to understand what actually happened. When handling complaints, it is extremely important to gather as many pieces of information and evidence for validates sources as possible. This gives you a well-rounded view of the situation and doesn’t make you biased in any way when handling complaints.

Seek a resolution. The action you take will depend, of course, on the results of your investigation. While in severe cases your hands may be tied and disciplinary action will be required, most of the time you’ll have some discretion. The most important thing is to fully document the investigatory steps you took, what you discovered, and why you chose to take the action you did based on the evidence found. When you are handling complaints, you will feel pressure to rush to a resolution. Don’t! You want to make sure you make the best decision, for all parties, and ensure that the complaint is fully resolved.

Plan for follow-up. No matter how you handle a customer complaint, you should always be prepared to defend your response. Sometimes a patron won’t like the way you handled complaints and will seek further action. Other times, a state regulatory agency or other bureau or authority will hear about the incident and decide to conduct its own investigation. If this happens to you, it’s important to cooperate and have all your notes in order.

Proper documentation — the timely and accurate logging and filing of incident reports and daily activities — makes the process of handling complaints much more manageable.

Start by making sure your security guards are well-versed in how to describe an incident and include basic information (time, date, location, and witnesses) as well as unbiased, descriptive details. This makes handling complaints much more time efficent.

The process of investigating a customer complaint and documenting the results is much easier when your reports are digital. Storing all your activity logs in the cloud makes it easy to find the data you need when you need it and to properly handle complaints when they occur. Automatic time-stamping means you’ll always know when a report was filed; that’s especially important when investigating a customer complaint because reports filed long after an incident occurred means the information is often less reliable. Late documentation should also be a violation of your internal policies regarding incident reporting.

Moreover, a report that’s altered after it’s initially submitted is often a sign that something is amiss, and digital reporting makes it immediately clear when that has happened.

While paper-based logs are still dominant in the security industry, a crop of mobile apps are starting to emerge to make documentation faster, easier, and more accurate. One example of such an app is GoCanvas’ “Security Officer Daily Activity Log Mobile App,” which allows security guards and officers to log an incident, and then add detailed information such as GPS and images. You can get started with mobile reporting for free for, then decide later whether it’s right for handling complaints and more within your business. Or explore 100’s of other security industry apps that may be perfect for your business!

While training security guards to correctly report incidents, enforce rules, and document activities in a detailed manner doesn’t guarantee that they won’t be the target of customer complaints, but it can help your business retain its professional reputation, minimize the repercussions of a complaint, and better handle complaints in the future.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Whether you have two or 200 employees, your business’ success depends on their hard work. Passionate, motivated team players are the difference between…

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Should You Connect Field Service Management Software with QuickBooks?

Field service management software has shown to increase productivity both for employees in the field and operations teams in the office. You may be wondering how field service…

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How the Best Field Services Businesses Use Mobile Apps

Mobility and field service: the talk has been happening forever. The idea that real-time information improves customer service and boosts technician productivity is changing…

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

2018 Spring Subscriber Survey: 5 Most Interesting Trends

2018 Spring Subscriber Survey: 5 Most Interesting Trends

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We’re very excited to begin sharing with you the results from our 2018 Spring Subscriber Survey.

At GoCanvas, we believe that our subscribers should have a voice in everything we do. That’s why we love all the feedback we received this year in our subscriber survey!

We take all the responses captured, create a report, and distribute them throughout the company so that every department is able to benefit from the feedback. We also use the responses to analyze how and why subscribers choose the GoCanvas platform for their business.

This type of insight into our subscriber’s usage and deployment of GoCanvas allows us to better roadmap what types of functionality should be added to the development roadmap. It also allows our team to measure what areas of the platform we should focus more time, and what features deserve higher priority.

As you read through the survey infographic below, you’ll find a number of interesting stats and trends. Here are my top 5 most interesting statistics:

  • Flexible Platform – Aside from Construction, usage is deployed somewhat evenly across 5+ different industries. This illustrates the flexibility of the App Builder, PDF Designer, and the platform’s core features like Dispatch and Workflow.
  • Fast Payback – 7 months is the average time in which a subscriber receives a full return on their investment and deployment of mobile forms.
  • Multiple Forms & Use Cases – Inspections were the only type of form that was selected by more than 50% of subscribers. This illustrates the different amounts of use cases that GoCanvas subscribers deploy!
  • Photo Capture – Still the most popular feature across every industry and demographic, capturing photos gives every type of business the evidence they need to keep the most accurate digital records possible.
  • Multiple Submission Per Day – Over half of all subscribers said that they fill out and submit 2 or more mobile forms per day. This shows the common trend of implementing GoCanvas in operations that are frequent, data-intensive processes.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

10 Best Mobile Devices for Business

10 Best Mobile Devices for Business

As businesses continue to replace outdated processes and move toward automation, it is important to evaluate which devices would work best for your company. Paperwork is an outdated and labor demanding chore that can be easily solved through apps.  Creating a streamlined workflow of data can be simple once you have determined what mobile strategy your team will use in the field.

In deciding on what device would meet your team’s needs, many factors might play into that decision. Typically, the purchasing process for new business devices is primarily based on cost, durability, security, and usability. These elements can make or break an organization’s decision. While the upfront cost of purchasing devices can seem daunting, the payback is both quick and large once you compare it to the time savings you get back by automating these core corporate data processes.

Some businesses are lucky enough that everyone has their own smartphone or tablet they can use, but that is not typical. One of the first steps in deciding on your mobile devices is determining which characteristics and functionality are most important for your business. We have made the decision-making process even easier by creating a list of the most popular mobile devices for automating your data collection processes.

iPhone

iPhones are one of the most popular mobile phones on the market! They easily one of the most user-friendly as most people have used one at one time or another. With an iPhone, users are also given access to many business improvement applications and employees can communicate without data service through I-Messaging and Calling. Encrypted tools also give these smartphones an upper-hand on security for your sensitive data.

iPhone 6s:  $440 – $550

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera, Touch ID, A9 Chip

iPhone 7: $500 – $650

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

Splash, Water, and Dust Resistant, 4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera service, Touch ID, A10 Fusion Chip, Battery lasts up to 2 hours longer than iPhone 6s

iPhone 8: $700 – $920

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPhone)

Splash, Water, and Dust Resistant, 4.7” Retina HD Display, 12 MP Camera, Touch ID, A11 Bionic Chip, Battery lasts up to 2 hours longer than iPhone 6s

Galaxy Samsung 

Samsung offers a variety of cost-effective and durable devices. With a Galaxy Samsung smartphone, you can ensure each of your employees has access to a device that is easy to navigate and can communicate easily with your other office staff.

Galaxy Samsung S8 Active:  $670 – $800

Photo Credit: https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-s/galaxy-s8-active-64gb–at-t–meteor-gray-sm-g892azaaatt/

5.8” Gorilla Glass Display, Water, Shock, and Dust Resistant, Military -Grade Body, Ip68 Rating, Premium Camera

Galaxy Samsung S6 Active: $150 – $350

(Photo Credit: Samsung)

5.1” Super AMOLED Display, Water, and Dust Resistant, Military -Grade Body, Ip68 Rating, Premium Camera

CAT S41 

$415 – $550

The Cat S41 phone is made to withstand extreme conditions from water to dirt. This device has so much battery power that it is able to charge other devices through its battery share feature.

(Photo Credit: CAT Phones)

5” HD Gorilla Glass Display, 60 Min Waterproof, Military Standard 810G Shock and Drop Proof, 13 MP Camera

Kyocera Brigadier

$115 – $350

Similar to the Cat S41, enjoy peace of mind with this phone built for extreme environments. This durable device doesn’t slow down productivity with Glove† and Wet Touchscreen Operation technology allowing users to enjoy touchscreen access through cold weather, rough terrain, or wet hands.

(Photo Credit: Kyocera)

4.5” HD Sapphire Shield Display, Scratch-proof, water-proof, shock-proof, temperature extremes protection, 100db speakers for hearing clarity in loud environments, and 8 MP Camera

LG X Venture

$150 – $375

For a practical device with features for day to day outdoor activities, the LG X Venture is the perfect device. Its long-lasting battery and resilient body provide the end user with an easy to use functional device.

(Photo Credit: ATT / LG Venture)

5.2” Full HD Gorilla Glass, Shock, Dust and Water Resistant, 4100 mAH Battery, 16 MP Camera

Samsung Galaxy Tablet

$350 -$500

There are many Android devices to choose from for a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. These tablets were the first Android-powered tablets to go to market. Samsung’s Galaxy Tablets provide a practical solution for companies looking to provide employees with a device that has touchscreen capabilities and is easy to transport.

(Photo credit: Samsung / Galaxy)
 

Apple iPad Pro

$350 – $600

Similar to Samsung, Apple provides a diverse range of options for mobile technology. The iPad Pro offers a simple solution for you and your company with powerful capabilities like Pro Retina Display Features and a 10-hour battery time.

(Photo Credit: Apple / iPad)

Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1

Pricing Varies

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 offers an automation solution resistant to dust, water, and falls. This pad includes heavy glove sensitivity and a smart card/magnetic strip reader option. Your field techs can also take advantage of its dedicated GPS or 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity.

(Photo Credit: Panasonic)

Getac F110

Pricing Varies

The Getac Tablet gives your company endless battery life with its two hot-swappable batteries. With multi-factor authentication, 4G LTE, dedicated GPS, and resilience to drops, shocks, spills, liquid, and dust you can be Getac F110 will make your whole team and the business owners happy.

(Photo Credit: GroupMobile)

Hp ElitePad G2 1000

Pricing Varies

The HP ElitePad 1000 is also referred to as a “total business solution.” This tablet has a customized body for the healthcare, retail, and construction industries. With a gorilla glass display, you can be assured scratches and tumbles won’t make a dent.

(Photo Credit: HewittPackard)

Hope you enjoyed getting the scoop on all these mobile devices. Whether you are planning to buy some of these devices for your business or already have devices, we hope you consider using them to streamline your business processes. Sign up for GoCanvas free and give our platform a try today!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Collect, Sign and Share: Complete Documents Faster with GoCanvas + SignNow

Collect, Sign and Share: Complete Documents Faster with GoCanvas + SignNow

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The GoCanvas platform is constantly being updated, as you can see in our most recent release notes, but the most exciting updates are coming from our integrations department.

Our Professional Services team has been hard at work creating time-saving backend connections and custom tools to help your business increase productivity.

The newest of these high impact tools is our new connection to SignNow. SignNow is an industry leader in E-sign technology. They allow companies to take typical static PDFs and add live text/signature fields to the document. These documents are then retrieved, stored and filed for easy access.

The addition of SignNow to your typical GoCanvas process will help any company to improve the speed of documentation and data analysis.

You’re probably already familiar with the many ways that GoCanvas interacts and connects with Zapier, and this is just another amazing extension of that integration.

By connecting SignNow via Zapier, you’re able to leverage your existing GoCanvas PDFs and turn them into dynamic documents that your customers/staff can interact with via email or browser.

Below is an illustration of how the process works across GoCanvas and SignNow.

1) In GoCanvas, fill out a mobile form that requires a third-party signature

2) Indicate in GoCanvas who should receive the PDF and press “Submit”

3) An email is sent to the recipient, indicating that a document is available for them to review

4) Click “Open Document” and the GoCanvas PDF (now hosted by SignNow) indicates which “live fields” can be filled in by the recipient without the need for any downloads or login credentials

5) Once all required fields have been filled in, the recipient presses “Done” and both parties receive a final PDF version of the document instantly

Collecting signatures is sometimes trickier then it sounds.

Whether you are dealing with a remote field staff or serving a wide territory of clients, getting the final signature on a document can sometimes take hours or days when distance separates you.  But now with GoCanvas and SignNow, you can send GoCanvas PDFs to anyone, regardless if they are a subscriber or not, and have them add their information to the document instantly!

This new type of GoCanvas workflow is perfect for companies completing:

  • Proposals
  • Invoices
  • Estimates
  • Purchases Orders
  • Quote Sheets
  • Daily reports

And this is just the beginning!

So if you’re interested in learning more or how you can get this setup on your GoCanvas account, send an email to our Professional Services team at IntegrationTeam@gocanvas.com.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

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