What are web applications and who needs them? Digistuff explains the purpose and benefits of a custom web application.
What Is A Web Application And Why Do I Need One?
“Web Application” is a term applied to a variety of internet-based programs, covering the spectrum from simple contact management programs to very complicated applications accessed by hundreds or even thousands of users. An on-line store like amazon.com is a web application, as is a website that lets you share photos with friends or keep in touch with business contacts. Web applications differ from programs that run on your desktop, like Outlook or Photoshop, in many ways. They don’t have to be installed on your computer, which saves time and money since you don’t need to worry about ‘updates’ to the software. The ones properly written are cross-platform and cross-browser, so it doesn’t matter whether you use Internet Explorer or FireFox or Safari, or whether you have a Mac or a PC or a Linux workstation; the application works equally well.
Web Applications also offer easy access – you don’t have to be in the office or on a specific computer to access them (if they are running on the internet as opposed to internally within a company). The internet platform makes it very easy to share web applications among your own employees, your customers, your suppliers, and your potential customers. And because the information is kept in one place, making a change instantly updates the information for everyone who needs it.
Do I Need A Web Application?
- If your company is like most, you have duplicate information stored in lots of different places. You most likely have Excel spreadsheets and contact management programs and accounting programs and other applications on your local computers. If a customer’s address changes, every system needs to be updated individually.
- You probably have a web site that contains information about your company that needs to be updated on a regular basis (and often, it isn’t updated as often as it should be).
- Perhaps you have employees who sometimes work from home, or who travel and need access to information in order to work while away from the office.
- Maybe you have customers with whom you must share information about projects, events, billing or other work-related subjects.
If you recognized your company in any of the above scenarios, chances are you could benefit from a web application. The key to good communication is easily accessible information, kept centrally to avoid duplicated effort or errors due to out of date information. A web application gives you the ability to centralize your information yet have it accessible to everyone who needs it, wherever they are – as long as they have internet access.
What Could I Do With A Web Application?
- Website updates without needing the services of a programmer
- Contact management
- Automated emails or newsletters in an html format
- Scheduling
- Appointment tracking
- Run an on-line store
- Organizing and processing information collected through your website
- Collecting payments on-line
- Product inventory
- Shipping management
- Reports
But Aren’t There Already Lots Of Programs To Do Those Things?
Yes, there are. Some of them run on your desktop, which means they won’t link into your web site, and they certainly won’t be available to you when you are out of the office or out of town.
Some of them are built by developers, hosted on their servers, and offered to you as a monthly service. These spread out the cost of development among many customers, so you get the benefit of a great web application without having to pay for development. But they certainly won’t automatically update information on your web site. And, because you’re not paying for the development, you don’t have much say in what features the application provides or how the information is displayed. In short, it’s not a custom application!
That Sounds Really Expensive…
Although large companies like Amazon and Yahoo utilize web applications for their global, complex customer networks, a web application doesn’t have to be complicated or big; it can be as simple as an events calendar for your company or maintaining a list of articles you think would interest your customers. There are many benefits to having a web application – both internal and external – but a major plus is that the information you enter into your web application can then be utilized where needed on your website – you don’t need to duplicate your effort or pay a web developer to update information that changes often. The cost is totally dependent on what you need the application to do.
A few examples of how Digistuff has built custom web applications for our customers:
Case Study 1: Fuego del Mar
Availability Calendar: A customer who has a vacation rental home in the Caribbean wanted a website where potential guests from around the world could see a calendar and find out when the rental house would be available. They also wanted to use the same calendar to advise their property manager when guests were arriving.
The Web Application: We built a small web application where our customers, the owners of the house, can log in via a password-protected web page. It doesn’t matter where they are – they can be at home in the US or vacationing at their Caribbean get-away or travelling around the world, but as long as they have internet access, they can always access their calendar.
A simple screen allows them to enter information about their guests - name, arrival and departure dates, plus any special requests. They can view this information at any time, as can their property manager; anyone they choose to trust with their password. The property manager uses the information to prepare the house, handle special requests, and schedule activities as needed.
The Fuego del Mar website (which we also built) has lots of information about the house; all the great amenities, activities, and lots of photos which entice vacationers to choose Fuego del Mar. The site also has a page that displays an availability calendar - not the names of the guests, just whether or not the house is available on a particular date. As soon as the owner or manager of the house enters the guest information, the calendar is instantly up to date on the internet. Prospective guests can then choose the dates they wish and make a reservation for Fuego del Mar.
Summary: The house owners enter the information once about a guest. It is visible to them, to their property manager, and to prospective future guests. The ‘administrative’ or ‘back-office’ application is password-protected so that only authorized employees can see or change it. The information is shared with prospective guests via the calendar, but NOT all the details. Potential guests simply see a color-coded calendar telling them whether or not the house is available on a particular date. This simple web application is an user-friendly communication tool that eliminates duplicate information and is instantly shared by 3 different types of users usually in different countries.
Case Study 2: Anesthesia Providers Inc.
Professional Scheduling: One of our clients runs a scheduling and management service for a group of independent medical professionals. Her office cultivates the relationships with the medical facilities that require professional services, and she maintains the schedule of which professional is certified to work for which facility, who is working on what days, who is unavailable, etc. All this was done via Excel spreadsheets and Word documents and lots of phone calls.
The Web Application: We worked with our client to change the process into a web application. Now, the scheduling is all done via the internet, and phone calls are kept to a minimum, as are Excel sheets and Word documents. A user logs into the system using a password-protected screen. Based on their login, the system knows who is logging in (a medical facility, or a medical professional, or the scheduling office). Based upon who it is, one of 3 screens is presented.
For the medical facility, a screen displaying the jobs they currently have scheduled appears. They can schedule a new job, check the schedule to see who will be working with them for an existing job, or enter information or date and time-stamped notes about any of their jobs.
For the medical professional, a screen displaying their work schedule appears. Using a calendar-based screen, they can mark themselves as ‘unavailable’ for work when they want a day off, they can find out detailed information about jobs they are scheduled for, and they can fill out a time sheet for a completed job.
For the scheduling office (our client) a menu appears, from which they can do many different things. They can see the scheduling screen, where new jobs entered by the medical facilities are displayed. Based on the information kept in the system about who is certified for what facilities, who is available and who is working, they schedule the jobs quickly and easily. They can maintain information about their customers, the medical facilities, or information about the professionals who belong to the group. They can view or print reports showing them hours worked for each professional, so they can bill their clients and pay their associates.
Summary: Our simple web scheduling application has greatly simplified the scheduling process for our client. They have increased efficiency and decreased mistakes, miscommunication and scheduling conflicts. Because it is a web application, it is utilized by all 3 groups involved, easily accessible from laptops and workstations and mobile devices; always password-protected and secure.
Case Study 1: TropicalREZ
Travel Booking Service: A customer was in the process of starting a new business. The business model was based on websites such as Travelocity.com and Hotwire.com - a company that offers a centralized reservation system for people wanting to book travel. The niche for TropicalREZ was a small Caribbean island where the large hotel chains hadn’t yet infiltrated; the accommodations were mostly small, independent hotels, B&B’s and guest houses. Communication on the island was not great, and there were constant complaints from visitors about hotels not responding to emails, not calling back, and generally not being accessible. The goal of TropicalREZ was to be that missing communication link. Being based on the island and intimately familiar with all the hotels and tourist-based businesses, plus a constant internet connection and focus on great customer service, they were well-positioned to accomplish their goal. TropicalREZ needed a website that would bring the customers in, keep them interested, and handle the booking and payment details of the transactions.
The Web Application: Working with the client, we built a website where travelers interested in visiting the island could browse the options for vacation accommodations, car rental or activities, make a reservation, pay for their reservation and communicate with their travel consultant. They can read about the history of the island, view frequently asked questions, see maps of the area, or find out a wide variety of information about their destination.
In the reservation office, there is a large framework behind password-protected access where the employees keep the information up to date. Nothing on the website is ‘hard-coded’, meaning they don’t need to pay us, the web developers, every time they need to change a price or a paragraph. They upload photos of their partners - hotels, dive operations, car rentals, canopy tours, fishing expeditions, etc. and enter information about what is offered and how much it costs. They keep the frequently asked questions updated as well as the maps. They receive reservations and communicate with their customers. They see what payments have been made and can view a calendar of arrivals and payment status of each. In short, the web application assists with virtually every aspect of their business, helping them better communicate with clients and keeping the clients informed about all their options.
Summary: From an idea in the head of an entrepreneur, we were able to make that dream a reality that is now a successful business, all by developing a (in this case, not so simple) web application.