Building a Small Mobile Business Using Mobile Handheld PDAs and Smartphones

Over the past few years companies were coming to MobileDataforce to ask about mobilizing existing business processes like field services, work orders, asset tracking, inspections, etc. These were companies that were just looking for ways to make things more efficient using handheld PDAs and smartphones. I am now seeing a new trend. This trend is companies that are starting from the ground up with a mobile business plan that takes advantage of mobile software and handheld PDA technology at their core.

Companies that can be run by a mobile owner/manager. The mobile owner/manager is able to enter work orders and job assignments on his handheld computer, dispatch the job to his team and keep working in the field. All the work is electronically documented on handhelds and synchronized back to his office accounting and work order software without human intervention.

These capabilities offer very compelling competitive advantages. You have full business visibility on the handheld. You don't have the high admin cost for the office. You can run very small operations very efficiently and with built in quality assurance.

For more information please visit MobileDataforce's website.

38 Reasons to Mobilize Your Business with Handheld PDAs

This article describes the value that mobile software applications on handheld PDAs can provide businesses:

1. Eliminate time spent in the re-typing data collected in the field.
2. Reduce time spent on the phone dispatching service tickets , rather dispatch direct from your office computer to the mobile handheld computer in the field.
3. Send driving directions in the mobile work order to save driving time and fuel costs.
4. Save driving time by wirelessly synchronizing work orders with the office.
5. Reduce fuel costs by minimizing the need to drive back and forth to the office to deliver paper work.
6. Provide better customer service by accessing their account information via wireless connectivity on your handheld computer.
7. Improve the efficiency of field data collection by using barcode scanners or RFID readers for rapid asset tracking.
8. Improve the quality of work by providing real-time management visibility to work being done in the field.
9. Create and schedule service tickets direct from the field. Reduces the need for an administrative intermediary.
10. Immediate invoicing for faster collections and cash management by synchronizing with the office accounting system or by using a mobile printer and credit card swipe machine on the handheld computer.
11. Proof of work – GPS audit trail of work with date and time stamp documents location and time of work. Reduces invoicing disputes.
12. Reduce introductions of human errors with automated business processes and systems integration. Move electronic data from the field to your database applications without human intervention.
13. Ensure complete data is sent from the field – incomplete data wastes time tracking down later.
14. Avoid handwriting and translation errors by pre-populating electronic form information.
15. Validate answers on mobile handheld PDA forms – to ensure data accuracy.
16. Take digital images to document work and avoid invoicing disputes
    Push data to the handheld and avoid time communicating information on the phone.
17. GPS tracking for reduced travel time and lower fuel consumption.
18. Compute and analyze data on the handheld in the field – programmed analytics can help field users make quicker and better decisions.
19. Automated business processes - your mobile application can be configured to perform all kinds of automated business functions, queries, computations, analytics and many more time consuming features automatically based on data input or buttons pushed.
20. Enforce business processes for efficiency and best practices - mobile software solutions can be configured to ensure the field user follows the appropriate business processes.
21. Avoid lost data —capture data immediately and sync to headquarters.
22. Avoid undocumented inventory usage and unbilled time due to forgetfulness. Enforce real time data entry at point of work.
23. Require clock in and clock out at jobsites to document the accuracy of work/time estimates.
24. Train new service technicians and inspectors with audio memos or video clips.
25. Capture digital signature for proof-of-delivery and proof of work on handheld computers.
26. Query for available inventory in nearby work vans to save travel time, inventory and fuel cost.
27. Use product and services information on handheld computers to up-sell.
28. Query latest shipping status and/or inventory levels via handheld computer while onsite with customer.
29. Document work and inspections time and dates to limit liability and disputes
    Use mobile technologies as a competitive advantage and show instant visibility to work.
30. Demonstrate to potential customers the advantages of including GPS, time and date stamps, digital images, audio memos and more to document work and synchronize with the office using your handheld computer.
31. Download product warranty information to the handheld computer for review at point of work.
32. Using rugged handhelds are often easier to carry around at job sites and are more durable than using laptops—lower ownership costs.
33. Mobile handheld computers with barcode scanners capture data quicker than typing on a laptop.
34. Combine your phone, GPS device, laptop, digital camera, paper forms and barcode scanner all on one mobile handheld device to save money, weight and support costs.
35. Combine job estimates, inspections, work orders, mobile inventory, time sheets all on one mobile application and one synchronization platform to mobilize and automate the entire business.
36. Scale your business by lowering administrative costs and the administrative work required to run the business.
37. Improve profits by analyzing real-time data collection on handhelds to understand the amount of time each task takes—so better scheduling and estimates can be implemented.
38. Push data to the handheld and avoid time communicating information on the phone.
    
    

MobileDataforce, Mobile Software, PDAs and Handhelds at the 2008 Olympics

MobileDataforce has a customer in the Netherlands called Janssen-Fritsen. They are supplying all gymnastics equipment for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing next year. This is their fifth Olympic order. They are a market leader and expert in the field of equipment and materials for sports education, gymnastics and sports centers. Most of their products are developed in-house and supported by their professional services team.

The company has 25 field workers that register and work with large quantities of information related to the installation and condition of the equipment. Until recently, all of this information was managed with paper forms. They have now mobilized these paper processes using MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform to improve service efficiency and to significantly reduce the reporting time.

Mobile Handheld PDA Applications for Inspections on Hospital Equipment

MobileDataforce is working on a mobile software application for use on handheld PDAs and barcode scanners by a biomedical equipment company that provides services to over 200 hospitals. The mobile field services application provides:

• Work Orders software
• Inspection Software
• Breakdown repairs and preventative maintenance on all biomedical equipment
• Safety and performance testing of all biomedical equipment
• Loan equipment to minimise inconvenience
• Acceptance testing of all new biomedical equipment
• Training and education on equipment operation and maintenance

Our mobile application will integrate with their pre-existing CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) to provide mobile handheld PDA applications for their service technicians.

MobileDataforce Launches PointSync – Professional Version 2.0

Boise, Idaho— November 29, 2007 – MobileDataforce® a leading provider of business critical mobile software applications for use on handheld PDAs, today announced the release of the PointSync Mobility Platform, Professional version 2.0. This release represents a major upgrade to the company’s award-winning rapid application development solution.

“PointSync Mobility Platform, Professional version 2.0 contains over 29 new features to help make mobile application enablement faster and less expensive,” said Tim Cerami, Director of Product Management at MobileDataforce. “We worked closely with our technology partners, customers and channel partners to better understand their need to develop custom mobile software applications faster and with more tools to help develop larger and more complex enterprise mobile solutions. The results can be found in today’s release.”

New Version Includes:

• Support for larger data requirements on data intensive mobile applications
• Support for server to server synchronization which enables complex mobile architectures and high volume data movement
• New mobile application design features to speed up development (Control Picker, Tab Controls, Expanded Toolbars, Dynamic Show/Hide Controls, etc)
• Ease of use features for mobile applications running on Windows Mobile phones
• GPS Device Settings – enhanced GPS integration features for mobile applications
  
  About PointSync Mobility Platform
  
  The PointSync Mobility Platform is an enterprise class development platform used to rapidly design, develop, deploy and support mobile business applications running on mobile handheld PDAs and barcode scanners. It is architected to provide database centric mobile applications with bi-directional synchronization, connectivity, security and enterprise database integration all within one platform.

About MobileDataforce

MobileDataforce is a global leader in the development of enterprise class mobile software development platforms and mobile business applications for use on handheld computers, PDA phones, Tablet PCs and laptops. MobileDataforce is a fast growing company with offices in Europe, North America and in Australia to support their expanding customer base and sales channels. Privately held, MobileDataforce has been mobilizing business processes since 2000. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.mobiledataforce.com/news/www.mobiledataforce.com.

Using Mobile Software Applications & Handheld PDAs for Inspections

I often get asked what markets we focus on with our mobile software applications for handheld PDAs. My first reaction is to say only the markets that have money, but that is not true...we are particular...we prefer certain currencies such as the Euros now days! The real answer is that inspection services is a very big market for us.

In the inspections services market nearly every customer has unique data collection requirements. They can not simply go to Office Depot and find a handheld PDA software application that meets their unique inspection service needs. What is required is the ability to cost effectively customize a mobile inspection solution in a relatively short period of time. We developed the PointSync Mobility Platform for that purpose.

Most inspections follow a common process. From a high level software technology perspective an inspection looks like this:

1. Create and upload an electronic inspection form to a handheld computer
2. Capture data
3. Synchronize data and integrate data with the office database application

When you drill down a bit deeper it looks like:

1. Development tools for creating electronic inspection forms quickly


2. Add pick lists and drop down menus of items to inspect (to speed up inspections)


3. Add the measuring scale for inspections (i.e. excellent/good/fair/poor)


4. Add data validation to ensure quality data is capture


5. Add business rules to the handheld inspection form (i.e. the answer is invalid if it says the VW can carry 76 passengers)


6. Configure connectivity preferences (i.e. wireless, wifi, cable, satellite, etc.)


7. Configure the synchronization process


8. Configure the security settings


9. Configure integration of data with the designated database


10. Manage application updates and versions


11. Manage mobile users


12. Manage a large variety of unique mobile applications


13. Manage mobile handheld PDAs

Two of the key words above are "Configure" and "Manage". You don't want to be required to program or code these items. It takes far too long and is far too expensive. You need a rapid application development tool for mobile inspections. You want to be able to design, develop and deploy new custom inspections quickly and cost effectively.

Some of our biggest mobile inspection customers are electrical utilities, food processing companies, electrical contractors, government agencies, construction engineering firms, etc. The common theme is a huge amount of data needs to flow easily and cost effectively between the field and the office over handheld computers, laptops or Tablet PCs.

If you would like to brainstorm about how to mobilize your inspection processes please contact us.

MobileDataforce Hires Mike Freeman as VP of Sales

MobileDataforce Hires Mobility Expert Mike Freeman to Accelerate Success in Worldwide Sales of Mobile Software Solutions

Noted Speaker, Sales Leader and Visionary Business Executive Joins MobileDataforce as VP of Sales...learn more

We are growing very fast here at MobileDataforce and we are attracting some very good industry talent to our management team. Mike Freeman, former VP of Enterprise Sales at Palm Inc, will bring a huge amount of talent and expertise to our team.

Welcome Mike!!!

Getting Paid for Field Services - Using Handheld PDAs

I had the opportunity recently to spend time with one of our mobile software customers. They are developing a new business and dedicating a lot of time to thinking through their business processes. As he shared this experience, it occurred to me that my client is not getting paid for the work completed, but rather on the completed documentation of the work done. I realized these two items go hand-in-hand, but you don't automatically receive payment for work, unless there is adequate data that documents the work.

I again saw this phenomena in play when a large customer would not pay their bill until I properly registered as a vendor, got approved as a vendor, and filled out a series of forms before they would even consider paying me. Again, it was the completed and submitted data that released the funds, not the work.

The importance of getting accurate, complete and timely data from the point-of-work to the bill paying department of your customer is crucial to your success. Many small companies don't recognize this upfront. They assume doing a good job in the field will equate to good collections and a good bank account. Wouldn't that be nice.

Reality is that many small companies fumble around with these processes trying to keep stacks of loose forms and paper that are floating around in the cab of their delivery or service truck organized long enough to carry them into the office and pile them on the admin's desk. The admin looks at the stack of dusty and mud stained forms with blazing eyes that leave you watching your back.

The good news is that mobile handheld PDAs and smartphones with good mobile software applications can now be cost effectively integrated directly with your accounting and work order management systems.

The purpose of these mobile software applications is to ensure that accurate and complete data, that documents the work you have performed, gets into the hands of your paying customers as soon as possible, with as little administrative work and expense as possible. We call that "mobile business process optimization." If you would like to learn more about optimizing your field services using mobile handheld devices and mobile software applications please contact us or visit our website.

MobileDataforce VIN Decoding Technology (MVDT) on Mobile Handheld PDAs

Mobile handheld PDAs 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.

Broncos vs Vandals and Using Mobile Handheld PDAs

Our office in Boise, Idaho is nicely decorated today in two different color sets. One is black and gold - representing the University of Idaho Vandals football team, and the other color scheme is blue and orange for the Boise State University Broncos football team. This week the two interstate rivals will be playing each other.

Nick Martin, a Boise State University graduate and technical support guru, arrived at his office to an unpleasant surprise this morning. His desk was fully decorated in his rival's colors. I am sure revenge and conspiracy course through the halls.

How does this relate to mobile handheld computers? I took this picture with my Palm Treo 750 PDA phone running on Windows Mobile 6.0. I synced the image back to my desktop where I am writing this blog. Using the software solution PointSync Mobility Platform I can do the exact same thing with any business application - work orders, inspections, asset tracking, proof-of-delivery and more. The world is now ready for mobilized business applications of all kinds. If you would like to discuss your thoughts on mobilizing business applications please contact us.