Apps

Are You Dropping Tasks?

January 31, 2014 by Tectoria

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If you are using task or project management software you might want to consider giving Droptask a try. Free (right now) and completely visual it works very differently than your standard PM program (which are, basically, lists). The creators of Droptask, were at some point, greatly annoyed at people’s inability to clearly and easily understand what projects they were on, what was a priority and what other people were working on. At a quick glance Droptask allows you to do all of those things. It is still relatively new but they do have iOS apps available at the moment with Android support on the way. They are working on the Freemium model so a free version will always exist but a pro version is due to be released soon. Check out a full review from PC Magazine here.

New app helps hospitals turn the page on pagers

March 4, 2013 by richardd

It was great to see Mike Ferguson and Ben Moore on the front page of one of our local newspapers recently. The duo are from SmartPager Systems – a mobile software company based in Victoria.

SmartPager is based in the DataTech Business Centre in Saanich and the firm has developed a smartphone-based app and back-end call centre software designed to replace the out-dated pager system still used by most hospital doctors.

The system launched in January. It allows users to send and receive confidential patient information, discussion and diagnoses via texts, audio messages, and images on smartphones through a cloud network. It has intelligent paging functionality including the ability to page until read and move the message to the next person in the chain if it is not answered.

SmartPager’s largest client group involves about 85 doctors working out of the Centre for Orthopedic Research and Education (CORE) in Phoenix. CORE surgeon Dr. Jason Scalise says it wasn’t hard to abandon pagers.

The reliability of paging networks is eroding daily, he says, and that standard texting between doctors and staff presents a “grey area” in terms of what is allowed under HIPAA. “The entire paging infrastructure in the U.S. is physically failing,” Scalise says from his office in Phoenix. “If a page doesn’t get through, the recipient and sender would never know.

Moore was alerted to the problems of traditional pagers while spending time at a local hospital after his newborn daughter suffered complications.

Wifarer develops visitor app for Royal BC Museum

August 1, 2012 by richardd

I love this story in today’s Victoria Times-Colonist. Victoria tech firm Wifarer has developed a software system for the Royal B.C. Museum. Visitors will be able to use the app with handheld devices and it’s design to improve the whole experience inside the building.

The app serves as a map, a path-finding tool and a source of information for visitors as they pass particular exhibits. It identifies a user’s location in real time and draws a path to exhibits.

While the Royal B.C. Museum is the first museum to use the product, the system was introduced at the Shops at Prudential Center in Boston and is being tested at some of the largest hospitals, airports, convention centres and stadiums in North America.

The app will also be introduced in the next few months at the Bay Centre in Victoria and Vancouver International Airport. Philip Stanger, Wifarer’s chief executive, said the company makes money by selling the software to venues and believes the enduser should not have to pay for the app. “It’s a service the venue provides the user for engagement,” he said.

We have a family pass for 12 months to the Museum, which attracts a lot of visitors all year round – I can see many people using this app.

Wifarer’s mission is to help venues improve their visitor experience. I can think of a few airports that need its technology very badly.