From Sydney beginnings, Soprano Design has taken its software to the world. With a ten-year history accommodating transport and logistics companies, Soprano Design says it now has “a significant game-changer” on the table
Efficiency gains are always on the tongue of logistics and transport managers, but rarely do they take that conversation into the realm of secure text messaging, let alone consider them to be one and the same.
However, that is exactly what one Australian company is trying to communicate.
Sydney-based Soprano Design is a global developer of enterprise workflow messaging technology and is looking at the logistics and supply chain industry in Australia.
With a history working with 1000s of businesses around the world, and 30 of the Global Fortune 1000 brands, the company processes more thana billion mobile messages annually between its customers’ employees, IT systems, operators, and customers.
Often seen in health, finance, and government settings, Soprano Design CEO Horden Wiltshire says the mobile secure text messaging technology is “a significant game-changer for the logistics and supply chain sector,” as it offers turnaround and communication gains with the added benefit of peace of mind.
“It’s increasingly common for people to send sensitive information via a messaging app, but in business it’s essential those messages are secure,” he says.
“Our response has been to develop what is now world leading secure messaging with the integrated workflow options.”
This comes in the form of a mobile workforce app called Gamma, launched by the company in 2014.
Automated Gains
Soprano Design’s Gamma application is PIN-protected and includes remote wipe and vanishing messages, plus it integrates mobile chat with simple workflow forms.
Wiltshire says the forms, which have automation benefits, use button and menu-based user interfaces for efficiency.
“We know time is of the essence in this sector,” he says.
“So its workflow automation capability, which combines secure mobile chat with simple workflow forms that use button and menu-based user-interfaces, help to make processes faster and more streamline.
“It allows businesses in the logistics and transportation sector to design custom ‘mini apps’ with buttons, menus, text boxes, checklists, and more.
“They can be delivered or accessed from within the mobile messaging app, which means a user doesn’t need to switch back and forth between apps when conducting the most important tasks during a work day.
“That means within the same app, the worker can securely communicate with colleagues, receive or send messages to existing IT systems, and also receive or access these new workflow ‘mini apps’ to confirm, respond, escalate or otherwise advance a business process with the touch of a button.
“We believe this combination of workflow ‘mini apps’ within a secure mobile messaging app will provide significant productivity gains in the sector.”
Faster and more secure than emailing, Wiltshire says it is also more flexible than legacy paging and text alerting systems.
“And because it’s there, on your smartphone, you have a virtual tool-box of electronic forms that are securely protected from hacking ready to use at any time,” he says.
Interaction
The system’s automated possibilities for transport and logistic companies include geofencing alerts for employees on the road and customer-directed messages pre- and post-delivery.
Businesses can also alert customers to deliveries through automated delivery notifications, removing the need for manual processes.
When it comes to employees using the system, Soprano Design says shift fulfilment can be also automated.
Staff members can respond to shift offers with the press of a button and receive reminders before they are scheduled to start work.
In the event of a disaster or company-wide problem, managers can use their mobile phones to issue crisis alerts to the workforce.
They can also set up requirements for workers to verify their safety and location.
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