MTC 2100 Ultra Mobile Computer

Nexcom's MTC 2100 (left), MTC 2100-MD (middle), and MRC 2100

I am a big fan of ultra mobile computers. They fit in your hand like a paperback book, yet provide the full power of a laptop. The touch screens permit you to use them like big PDAs. MobileDataforce focuses on working with field workers, so ruggedized mobile devices are very important.

Said to provide from four to eight hours of battery life, Nexcom's triplets differ in more than just color:

The MTC 2100, aimed at logistics and field service applications, includes GPS, based on SiRF's starIII chipset. Also onboard is a laser barcode scanner.

The MTC 2100-MD, aimed at medical and POS (point-of-sale) applications, includes an onboard RFID reader.

The MRC 2100, designed for outdoor and vehicle use, has added rubber padding installed, and is said to withstand drops of up to four feet.

The devices include 802.11b/g/n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0, and accept optional "3.5G" cellular or WiMAX modules. They additionally sport 1.3 megapixel cameras, plus a connector for an optional docking station. Dual independent displays are also supported, likely via the dock.Water and dust proof to the IP54 standard, the devices add several security features. In addition to integral fingerprint readers, they also include an Infineon TPM (trusted platform module) 1.2 chip. The TPM provides for the secure generation and storage of cryptographic keys, and it also provides a hardware pseudo-random number generator.

This is Not the Way to Mobilize

I was in Starbuck's on friday. I must confess this is not out of the ordinary for fridays, nor any other day, but I witnessed an event that was. Two service technicians were sitting at a table reading a work order on their mobile phone screen. This phone had about a 1" x 1" screen. They squinted at the screen and then filled our a paper work order on a clipboard. This is certainly one way of mobilize field service technicians, but I would recommend some better ways.

1. Provide a service technician with a full work order on a mobile device that has a big enough screeen to read. I can still see both service technicians squinting at their tiny screens over their mochas.


2. Don't make them rewrite the work order. Use a mobile work order software application on the handheld mobile device. Let them read the service ticket, fill it out, and sign the screen.


3. Don't use a paper work order. Wirelessly send new and completed work orders back and forth wirelessly. There is no need for paper.


4. Track inventory on the mobile work order application so inventory levels are automatically deducted when parts are used.


5. Let service technicians view their schedules on the mobile device.


6. Let service technicians view the status of ordered parts on the mobile device


7. Track time on various projects using the mobile device. Compare actual time with estimated time.


8. Complete job estimates on the handheld mobile devices and wirelessly send back to the office


9. Dispatch new work orders directly to the mobile handheld device

There are many more reasons to mobilize field service operations. MobileDataforce has been helping companies mobilize their businesses since 2000.

MobileDataforce VIN Decoding Technology (MVDT) on Handheld Computers

Handheld computers are a wonderful thing. We are using them plus our “MVDT” (MobileDataforce VIN Decoding Technology) to deliver some very interesting projects involving field services and automobiles.

The following items can be identified by simply scanning the barcode on the dashboard or on the door frame of a car: year, make, model, body type, bed length, doors, # of cylinders, engine formation, engine size, fuel delivery method, fuel type, gross vehicle weight, build plant, restraint system, transmission gears, transmission type, wheelbase, antilock brakes (y/n), stability control (y/n), traction control (y/n), trim level, curb weight, EPA city mileage with auto, EPA city mileage with manual, EPA highway mileage with auto, EPA highway mileage with manual, ground clearance, height, length, width and color options.

All of this information can be automatically imported into a vehicle inspection or a work order uniquely associated with the automobile. For more details please visit our website.

Application Enablement

I have read about a dozen reports over the last month on the subject of mobility. Many companies have synchronization technologies for email, calendars, tasks and messaging, but one of the biggest needs right now is "application enablement." The definition of application enablement, as I understand it, is the ability for a company with a defined need for a mobile application to find a way to cost effectively develop and deploy it.

Here is a scenario - The Business Manager walks down the long row of cubicles to the IT manager's desk and says, "I need a field service work order management system on rugged PDA phones for my service technicians."

The IT manager closes down his My Space page and slowly turns and faces the Business Manager. "We have a custom Work Order Dispatch application written by your cousin Pete. There are no mobile applications that plug into it off-the-shelf."

"Just develop it then."

"How? Do you have a large budget and 12 months?"

This is the question that comes up in companies across the globe. The big unknown is how do you cost effectively create mobile applications. The answer is you need a RAD tool (rapid application development tool) that is designed for mobile applications. The following link covers this subject in more detail.

The PointSync Mobility Platform is the RAD tool created by MobileDataforce to address this need.

Work Orders on Mobile Handheld PDAs

Many owner's of small services companies ask me how a paper based work order or service request document can be condensed to fit on a small handheld computer screen. Good question! Let me explain some of the ways the team at MobileDataforce would layout the screens in an easy to use manner.

Most service or work order documents are divided into common sections:

1. Date, Service Technician name, service ticket number
2. Customer Name, address, phone number
3. Reason for Today's Call
4. Work Performed and description
5. Identify equipment that was serviced
6. Cost of work performed
7. Cost of parts used
8. Status of Work (complete, incomplete, outstanding)
9. Payment information
10. Customer and Service Technician signatures

We use the ability to pre-load the mobile work order application with all the dispatched customer information from the office. Most of the data the service technician enters into the mobile application can be done using:

• Check boxes
• Pick lists
• Radio buttons
• Pull down menus with multiple choice
• Digital signature capture
• Pre-determined labor rates
• Pre-determined parts' pricing
• etc

We are able to automatically compute the cost of labor and parts and you can even swipe a credit card from many of the handheld PDAs.

What is the value of mobilizing a work order or service request service?

• Faster dispatch from the office
• Pre-populated work orders synchronized to the handheld PDA
• Less data to fill out on work orders
• Instant invoicing for work complete
• Faster collections
• Complete and accurate work orders synchronized back to the work order or accounting system in the office
• Less admin work in the office
• Less dispatch work in the office

The benefits list is very long. If you would like to discuss your business requirements with a mobile solutions expert, please contact MobileDataforce by email or by visiting http://www.mobiledataforce.com/.

Here is another article on mobilizing work orders/service requests using handheld computers.

30-day free Trial of an Unlocked Palm Treo 750

If you are a field services company (anyone working out of the office and receiving service requests, job tickets or work orders) you may find this offer interesting. The details are on both Palm's and Microsoft's websites.

http://www.palm.com/us/business/solutions/mdf.html

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/enterprise/default.mspx

In summary - qualified field services companies can receive a free 30 day trial of a Palm Treo 750, the PointSync Mobility Platform, 4 sample mobile software applications and up to 4 hours of free mobile solution consulting by registering.

Concrete Sawing and Drilling and Mobile Handheld Computers

I had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the Concrete Sawing and Drilling Association meeting this week in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a cool 112 degrees on Wednesday when I arrived. I was able to spend a lot of time with these CSDA folks (who would go outdoors in that heat?) and learn even more about their individual businesses.

Here are some of the reasons companies in this industry are interested in mobilizing their field services:

1.Wirelessly dispatch job tickets to mobile handheld computers
2.Pre-task planning to prepare for job and have all required equipment loaded on vehicle
3.Track equipment that is needed and removed from warehouse
4.Record the person who checked out the equipment
5.Record the vehicle that equipment is assigned to
6.Document the tasks that need to be performed on the job. Were they all done?
7.How much time did each task take? Improve job estimates
8.Wirelessly synchronize data back to the office for instant invoicing
9.Was all equipment checked back into the warehouse?

These are similar requirements to many different field service industries. The business owners I spoke with were all looking to decrease loss, reduce unnecessary expenses and increase productivity and profits.

MobileDataforce has a great deal of experience helping field service companies mobilize their operations and accomplish the goals listed above.

Symbol MC50, Target & Handheld Computers in the Field

My family and I were doing something for the first time - outfitting a university dorm room. My son is about to leave the nest and join the ranks of academics and scholars (I hope!). Did you know that Target (USA based stores) has a complete line of products for dorm rooms called "07 College?" OK, they were not too creative on the brand name, but we did buy about a half dozen products from that line for his dorm room. In the process of shopping a store clerk walked by with a Symbol MC50 in her hand (if you are a regular reader you will note that Wal-Mart also used this device). She was looking up product inventory with the MC50 and answering customers' questions.

I pondered the activities of the store clerk and considered how that same activity (i.e. business process) could also be used outside the store. Most of the mobile software solutions MobileDataforce helps deploy involve some level of rain, wind, dust and mud (in addition to oil, blood, ice, explosions, etc.). The store clerk was looking up inventory to help a customer know if they could buy the product. The query also would tell the clerk where the products were located, and if there were more in the warehouse.

Field Service technicians use this same feature everyday. They just work in locations with more dirt and spider webs. Picture this - the service technician is on his back under a furnace. A replacement part is required for the repair. He pulls out his Smart Phone and queries the inventory in his van. The part is not there, but it is in a van just 1 mile away. He calls to the other van driver who delivers it.

Unscientific Analysis of the Mobile Software Application Market

If you are looking for a scientific study, with verifiable statistics, on the trends to be found in the enterprise mobile software application market, this is the wrong place. What I can share is the following examples from the past few days in Boise, Idaho, USA.

Last week I looked out of my office window (I do this a lot to appear contemplative), and see a mobile dent repair van in the parking lot. We have been involved with many mobile dent repair business application projects - my sales team swarmed him. Later that day the paintless dent repair technician visited our website to download information on our mobile solutions for paintless dent repair.

Yesterday, I visited Starbucks (this was not my first time), and saw a gentleman wearing a shirt that had a "Carrier" logo. Carrier is a manufacturer of Air Conditioning equipment. We have been involved with numerous mobile software application projects with HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) companies.

I said, "Howdy! I work for a company that develops mobile software applications for the HVAC industry." He looked at me with surprise (I get that a lot when I talk to people) and then he said, "I am looking for mobile work order software for my HVAC business right now."

Later, I was working in my tomato garden (a world class production) last week and my neighbor came over. He leaned against my fence and said the software company he works for is interested in mobilizing their work order management software application. I know just the company I told him. He is coming over to the office later this week.

Again yesterday I was returning to the office after having visited a unique, one-of-a-kind place called Starbucks, and there in the parking lot was a van with the words "Mobile Windshield Repair" on the side. I went down the hall to our sales department and pointed out the window. With an explosion of papers and headsets the room cleared. The Mobile Windshield company has many locations and vans operating across multiple states. They are interested in mobilizing their dispatch and work order processes.

My truly unscientific analysis suggests the market is very interested in mobilizing business processes today. I want to be the first to raise my hand and say - talk to us here at MobileDataforce. We have operations in North America, Europe and in Australia. We are helping companies achieve inspiring returns on their investments in mobile solutions and providing significant competitive advantages around the world.

What Don't I Know About Mobile Software Solutions & Deployments?

This is always a difficult question. How can you know what you don't know. Well I guess the answer is you find someone who has been there and done that and learn from them. When it comes to mobile software design, development, deployments, and support, etc., MobileDataforce has a great deal of experience around the world. I am going to dedicate this blog article to some of the things we have learned.

This blog article from March 14, 2007 is a good starting point. It identifies 51 questions the helpdesk team will want to have answered before large mobile software deployments.

Let me highlight a few of the questions you will want to have answered:

1. Do you anticipate only needing one specific mobile software application, or many mobile applications over time? Can you start with a mobile software platform that supports all of your mobile needs, or will each mobile application be a separate IT project and use different technologies and infrastructures?


2. Do you know your exact solution and data requirements in advance, or do you anticipate needing to edit and adjust your mobile application as you learn from your field experiences and users? This will impact both design and schedules.


3. Do you have an in-house software development capability, budget and helpdesk infrastructure to enable you to customize your own mobile software application(s)?
4. Do you want to contract your mobile software application design, development and deployment to an experienced mobility company, or build it internally?


5. Will you be synchronizing your field data with one back-office database, or multiple database applications?


6. Do you know how to integrate field data to your database applications? Do you have your own DBA that can do this?


7. Mobile solutions are often used on laptops, Tablet PCs, Smart phones, PDAs, etc. Do you know your exact hardware requirements? Will you be supporting just one device, or all of the above?


8. If your internal IT staff are developing your mobile solution, do they know how to do the following: support GPS, Barcodes, RFID, Digital Signatures, Digital Image integration, synchronize data across multiple databases, provide helpdesk tools to support large deployments, etc.


9. Do you have an IT development team that is experienced in designing, developing and deploying mobile applications, or is this their very first mobility project. Can you afford the steep learning curve, time and money developing a mobile application in-house with no experience?


10. Have you considered the support effort required to manage large mobile software deployments? Do you have software in place to manage this?


11. The biggest challenge with complex mobile application development is to create the right data model for your mobile application before you start development. Often an appropriate data model for a simple mobile application, is not the appropriate data model once you start adding features in future versions.

We, at MobileDataforce, have to manage these issues daily. I would invite you to discuss your projects with my team (208-384-1200) before you start developing in-house. Often we can give you advice that could save you months of development time and pain.

Field Services, Work Orders and Mobile Handheld Devices

I have written a number of articles over the past year about the value of using handheld computers and Smart phones for field services and work orders. Here are a few of them for your reference:

Tools, Parts & Mobile Work Order Solutions on Handheld PDAs

HVAC Maintenance and Mobile Handheld PDAs

HVAC Service Orders on Handheld PDAs

Mobilized Work Order System

Mobile Inspection Software, Service Requests & Asset Management

Toilets and Handheld PDAs

More on Mobile Workflow & Business Processes

30 Reasons to Mobilize Your Business

Business Analytics and Mobile Handheld Computers

Mobile Service Orders for Furniture Repair and Delivery

Automobile Work Order Solution for Handheld PDAs

To read more articles on mobile business solutions click here.

Business Analytics and Mobile Handheld Computers

We have many very large customers that are deploying hundreds and even thousands of mobile handheld computers to their field services and inspection teams around the world. In addition to all of the efficiencies derived from using mobile applications that synchronize directly to enterprise database applications back at the office, there is the additional value of being able to analyze services and business metrics. Let me explain:

If your company provides a defined list of services, it is easy to include a feature in your "mobile work order" application that will record the start and stop times on a service. Let's say you have 100 field service technicians all performing the same list of services. It will not take long to understand the average length of time it takes to complete that service. Your job estimates will become increasingly accurate, your planning and scheduling processes better defined and accurate and the individual performances of your field service technicians can be monitored based upon your analysis of the time it takes to complete each service that you offer. You can pay bonuses or give raises to service technicians that have above average service performances and that generate above average profits for the company.

These business analytic features can be included in just about any mobile application developed on the PointSync Mobility Platform.

Mobile Inspection Applications

MobileDataforce works with many inspection services companies. Our PointSync Mobility Platform enables companies that provide a wide variety of inspection services the ability to rapidly develop new and cost effective mobile inspection applications. The "rapid" part is very important since many inspections are project based, and you can't spend 6 months developing a mobile solution.

Some of our customers use the same mobile inspection application routinely, while others do contract work for electrical companies and other large organizations that require customized inspection services based upon the needs of the project. The PointSync Mobility Platform works well for both environments.

Hawaii & Customized Mobile Software Solutions

Greetings Folks,

I am back from a wonderful and relaxing family vacation/holiday on the Island of Maui, Hawaii. I tried to forget mobile software solutions for a few days, but alas, there are people carrying mobile handheld computers everywhere I go!

Let me give you an update on some of the mobile software solutions my team has been working on over the last few weeks:

• Paintless Dent Removal - mobile auto/vehicle inspections, services and repair business solutions
• Bridge inspections
• Mobile work order management applications for ATM service technicians
• Electric Utility - mobile inspection & work order applications
• Building inspection applications for a county government
• Clinical trials - mobile applications for healthcare service providers
• Asset management/conditional assessments and preventative work orders
• Much more...

The key value propositions for many of these solutions are the following:

1. Accountability of work and workers in the field
2. Accountability of company assets and inventory in the field
3. Efficient use and dispatch of field service technicians
4. Documentation of work completed in the field
5. Efficient and timely synchronization of field data to the enterprise database
6. Fast processing and invoicing of work completed
7. Inspections and documentation of inspections - for just about everything
8. Faster and better customer service leading to happier customers and greater profits

Toilets and Handheld PDAs

This is a first - MobileDataforce is developing a solution for inspecting toilets. Our team in Newcastle, England is working on a project called WaterSmart. This application is for Water Utility companies to use to help homeowners conserve water and save money.

This is how it works:

1. Inspectors swarm into a homeowner's bathrooms and start flushing their toilets, using their showers and filling their bath tubs.
2. They measure outputs, water pressure, and the overall water use of a house.
3. They use handheld PDA applications to collect all of this data and synchronize it back to headquarters
4. The data collected results in recommendations for the installation of water conservation equipment in the home, which kicks-off a work order process
5. The work order is dispatched to a service technician that travels out to the home and installs things like; balloons in the toilet to reduce the water in the tank, shower heads that reduce water volume to a dribble and many other clever things...

Dolphin 7600 - Handheld PDA

MoblileDataforce focuses on providing mobile software applications, so when hardware companies develop handheld computers that match our focus I am very interested. Hand Held Products (HHP) has recently released a new handheld computer called the Dolphin 7600. This handheld is small, light weight, has extended battery life and a built-in bar code scanner. I particularly like the rubberized edges for easy gripping and added drop protection. It has a 4 foot drop to concrete rating.

It runs on the Windows CE operating system so is completely supported by mobile software applications and mobile software platforms like the PointSync Mobility Platform.

This category of handheld computers (light industrial mobile handheld computers) fits field users who need a mobile computer that can easily fit in their pocket, or on their belt. Something that is easy to handled, but contains all the functionality of the larger industrial handheld computers.