Electronic Data Collection Solutions and Its Benefits For Business

Data is a lifeline for any modern business and are critical when it comes to business decision-making. Data could be of various types like customer data, employee data, sales data, inventory data, financial data, etc which businesses use for everyday and strategic planning. In modern terms, data is a collection of facts, measurements, numbers, observations, etc which is translated into a form that a computer can process. In short, database is a piece of information that is machine-readable. Human readable figure is generally unstructured and can be interpreted in several ways, while machine-readable data is structured and machine-readable.

Some companies have an in-house team to collect information from various sources while others prefer to outsource it to some professional firm. There are several quality firms providing data collection solutions to their clients. They deploy quick and efficient technologies to collect and enhance the quality of figures while reducing the labour burden associated with it for their clients. They use digital devices for data collection and gather quantitative figures in the form of numbers, dates, images, multiple type questions by using tablets and laptops.

Data can broadly be classified into a few major categories as mentioned below:

• Personal Data- This can be comes under personal in nature and carries individual details like demographics date of birth, address, phone number, email, etc. Such data is used for research purpose to understand customers changing preferences or tastes.
• Transactional Data- This type is generated only after an action has been taken like visiting a web page or clicking an ad. Such data is collected through Google analytics or some internal capture system.
• Website Data- Web data is collected through browsing any website and is publicly displayed. For example government reports, competitors published reports, business analysis, etc, which is collected to understand market sentiment and government policies.
• Sensor Data- such data is collected through electronic devices e.g smartwatch to measure pulse rate or devices measuring weather. This type of database enables machines to make smart moves based on the analytics they process.

Electronic data collection solutions have certain distinct advantages as compared to manual collection. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Automated- By using electronic data collection solutions businesses can automate their data capture. They can process forms, automate invoices, etc faster and efficiently.
• Accuracy- Modern data collection solutions can collect data accurately and store them in a structured manner. Such data becomes easy to access and processing for smart analysis and decision-making.
• Save Time- When data is captured electronically it significantly reduces the time needed for such an activity. As the process is automated with less manual interference it makes it easy to fill data and save it.
• Cost-efficient- Electronic data collection is faster which means less manpower is required as compared to getting it done manually. This, as a result, leads to a significant reduction in the costs.
• Easy to access- Electronic data collection solutions collect and store that in a synchronized manner. This, in turn, makes easy access to all relevant stakeholders with even multiple users working on it at the same time.