Missionary Tablet
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:07 am
The missionary program of the church would greatly benefit from a small, tablet computer that each missionary companionship could carry with them. Imagine the possibilities!
- There could be an "app" for tracking proselyting - using the GPS, elders could make annotations of street contacts, knocking doors, mark where members live, etc. Would help make decision making on where to tract much easier. The data could even have a 'lifespan' where, over time, it would decay and be lost so that missionaries would be incentivized to retract the same streets again.
- More immediate communication between missionaries, mission office, and church HQ. Imagine if I could immediately send a street contact to the neighboring area, such that those missionaries could follow up while it was still a 'hot lead'. In my foreign mission, references that came from the MTC call center or from Temple Square took months to arrive, and usually the individual was un-contactable at that point. Anyone in sales knows the value of a "hot lead"
- Track missionaries schedules, with integrated reporting. Missionaries could mark which appointments fell through, which resulted in teaching a lesson, which resulted in baptism commitments, and which resulted in new appointments/lessons. Stats could come into mission office in real time.
- Reporting. Missionaries could do all reporting from the device (mostly as noted above) but also other reporting, i.e. writing letters to their mission prez.
- Specialized email client that only downloaded email on P-Day - missionaries could write email from their apartments. (Docking station/keyboard at home for faster typing?)
- Include library of images and videos, similar to "flip charts" of old - to help teach lessons. Offer video on demand of the Prophet - Imagine if you are an investigator in a far-off country - how cool would it be to not only learn there is a prophet, but actually hear him speak too - right in the middle of the lesson!
- No web browser, games, etc - device could be centrally managed by the mission office/CHQ. Keep those missionaries focused!
- Could even use the GPS to locate missionaries in case of emergency, distress, etc.
- The device would ultimately be the "area book", passed down from missionary to missionary in the area holding all the data about that area. (Area books were never maintained in my mission)
Would be simple to build this device based on available merchant silicon and Android. This is definitely within the grasp of the church. Could be a great device!!!
- There could be an "app" for tracking proselyting - using the GPS, elders could make annotations of street contacts, knocking doors, mark where members live, etc. Would help make decision making on where to tract much easier. The data could even have a 'lifespan' where, over time, it would decay and be lost so that missionaries would be incentivized to retract the same streets again.
- More immediate communication between missionaries, mission office, and church HQ. Imagine if I could immediately send a street contact to the neighboring area, such that those missionaries could follow up while it was still a 'hot lead'. In my foreign mission, references that came from the MTC call center or from Temple Square took months to arrive, and usually the individual was un-contactable at that point. Anyone in sales knows the value of a "hot lead"
- Track missionaries schedules, with integrated reporting. Missionaries could mark which appointments fell through, which resulted in teaching a lesson, which resulted in baptism commitments, and which resulted in new appointments/lessons. Stats could come into mission office in real time.
- Reporting. Missionaries could do all reporting from the device (mostly as noted above) but also other reporting, i.e. writing letters to their mission prez.
- Specialized email client that only downloaded email on P-Day - missionaries could write email from their apartments. (Docking station/keyboard at home for faster typing?)
- Include library of images and videos, similar to "flip charts" of old - to help teach lessons. Offer video on demand of the Prophet - Imagine if you are an investigator in a far-off country - how cool would it be to not only learn there is a prophet, but actually hear him speak too - right in the middle of the lesson!
- No web browser, games, etc - device could be centrally managed by the mission office/CHQ. Keep those missionaries focused!
- Could even use the GPS to locate missionaries in case of emergency, distress, etc.
- The device would ultimately be the "area book", passed down from missionary to missionary in the area holding all the data about that area. (Area books were never maintained in my mission)
Would be simple to build this device based on available merchant silicon and Android. This is definitely within the grasp of the church. Could be a great device!!!