Based in Baton Rouge, Envoc is one of Louisiana’s fastest growing enterprise software design and development companies. Envoc has recently emerged in the energy sector by 
developing a software-based solution to a long-standing problem: inspections performed with paper and pen.
Innovative solutions aren’t always at a company’s forefront. Why? Tradition. Ease. Budgets. But while creative solutions may break tradition, they increase efficiency, revenue and scalability. Innovation creates “a better reality” for a company and its customers, and it’s the core of Envoc.
“The future is now when it comes to advanced software technology and its practical applications in everything around us,” says Ned Fasullo, Envoc’s chief strategy officer. “We intend to continue working with forward-looking clients to make innovative solutions that achieve their business outcomes, and we think doing so will ensure that Envoc is a major player on the national stage.”
The founder of Envoc and the leader of its vision, Calvin Fabre, says it best when he describes the “why” of Envoc: “We exist at the intersection of creativity and technology to deliver excellent experiences and innovation. With a collaborative, agile process and cross-functional teams, we deliver a unique blend of design and development that creates an unmatched experience for your business.”
Envoc is expanding at that intersection, entering multiple industry sectors and international markets. As a software development firm, Envoc is the only Xamarin-certified organization in Louisiana specializing in native mobile app development. The company is also a Unity developer for 3-D applications and augmented reality platforms for the safety and industrial space.
During Envoc’s deepening relationship with the industrial sector in 2015, the company realized a problem pattern among its clients. Many inspection processes were conducted over a multiple-step process with countless risk points. Each time an inspection form changed, the company had to reprint new forms to distribute to all inspectors. In the field, inspectors began their process with pen and paper, taking pictures of equipment as needed. Back at the office, inspectors would have to upload, attach and add notes to each picture according to the inspection they completed. Only then was the inspection completed and ready for administrative signatures and reports.
Throughout this traditional process, companies were left vulnerable to inspection mistakes due to poor handwriting and multiple data transfers. Inspectors were consumed with editing their inspection forms rather than conducting new inspections. There was also a lack of accountability to whether or not the inspectors physically conducted the inspection. Companies continually lost valuable time and money in the traditional inspection process, and Envoc changed that with the Spotter Inspection App.
Spotter is a tablet app and administrative web portal for companies in the oil and gas, chemical, marine and manufacturing industries. The tablets are unique for these industries in that they work offline, eliminating the need for consistent internet connection inside inspection facilities. They are also certified as Class 1 Div 2 Intrinsically Safe.
With Spotter, inspection processes are reduced to just three simple steps: template creation, inspection completion and report generation.
Within the Spotter web portal, supervisors can easily create and update forms for the inspectors’ immediate use. They can also monitor real-time progress as inspectors are now able to conduct inspections in one seamless process, capturing photos and videos within the app and submitting the form with the touch of a finger. In turn, inspection times are reduced by 87 percent and managers can keep their teams accountable through GPS capturing features.
Internally, digital signature and routing capabilities reduce the need for manual handoffs and time-consuming approvals. Once an inspection is complete and approved, it is stored in the web portal and always accessible for revisions and reporting.
Companies can now conduct more inspections with greater accuracy in less time, thus leading to happier clients and increased revenue. Nelson Carthel, vice president of operations at CTS Inspection Services, says, ”[Spotter] brings big value to clients in terms of the expediency of reports and the reduction in labor hours.” Envoc intends to continue adding to that value.
Through extensive research and analysis, Spotter will soon enter the next stage of its evolution. It will be an exciting phase of updating and refining key features to create “a better reality” for companies all across the industry sector.
By Alaina Stuckey, Strategy Specialist at Envoc
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