Handheld PDA Solutions for First Responders and Mobile Business Processes on the Server Side

I have written several times about the benefits of automating business processes on mobile handheld devices, so this time I am going to focus on automating business processes once the data is synchronized from the handheld device in the field to the server in the office.

Last week I visited Patron Systems in Boulder, Colorado. They are a software company focused on law enforcement and public safety. They have sophisticated business processes built into their mobile law enforcement applications that include real-time queries to multiple disparate databases to auto-fill eforms on laptops. Once the data is collected on the law enforcement form, it can be synchronized and routed to a police supervisor for review. It stays in a "work que" until the supervisor either approves or rejects it. If rejected it is returned to the original officer for editing and correction or if approved gets sent to the record management system for storage.

This is an example of how data collected in the field can activate an automated business process/workflow back at the office. The data is routed to a specific location, and a specific person/position to review, make a decision and then act upon. Once there is an item in the work que, the person is notified that there is an action required. This is an important concept - the person does not have to remember, or look things up, they are notified there is work to do. This is "automating" a business processes. If the eform is rejected as incomplete it will be sent back to the original author's "work que" and the officer will be notified. Again the significance of this step is that the workflow/business process will notify an officer in the field that there is additional work required.

The above example of an automated business process demonstrates the ability to start a process/workflow in the field, move the process to the office and then back to the field. This is a "mobile and automated" business process. The more you can define and automate "best practices" the higher quality and better your products and services will be.

Workflows can be automated by using mobile software platforms that are integrated with a central database server. Business rules, triggers and other methodologies and tools can be used to automate your processes on the database.

More on Workflows & Business Processes for Mobile Handheld PDAs

I want to share some more thoughts on mobile software applications and automated business processes as they relate to mobile handheld PDAs. One of the key differences between a paper form and an electronic form on a handheld PDA is the ability to include automated business processes in the electronic form on the handheld. What do I mean by automated business process?

Definition of Automated Business Processes: a set of interrelated tasks linked to an activity that spans functional boundaries. Business processes have starting points and ending points, and they are repeatable.

IBM adds these valuable comments - "More importantly, the value of creating business processes for an enterprise is in the intellectual assets that those processes represent. The widgets that a business produces have value, of course; additionally, the knowledge of how to make those widgets has value too. That knowledge can be captured, added to, and improved in a business process. The scope of the widget-making process is important because doing all of the steps ensures quality widgets; doing more or less or different steps results in higher costs or lower quality or both."

One can improve the quality and consistency of the operation or business process by automating the way it should be completed. In a mobile software application for a handheld PDA, a company has the ability to ensure the appropriate business processes are done in the appropriate order. This is accomplished through a variety of means including:

• Requiring specific information to be captured
• Automating GPS location capture whenever a work order is completed
• Requiring a digital signature from a customer to close out a work order
• Requiring a digital photo of the work performed
• Automatically capturing time and date stamps for work
• Automatically checking inventory levels before dispatching a service technician to replace a part
• Routing the field worker to a different set of questions, based upon answers (e.g. if equipment is broken automatically ask question #6, if equipment is repaired automatically proceed to question #3)
• If work completed, close service order - if work incomplete answer question #2 about rescheduling work
• etc

There are an infinite number of ways you can develop and automate business processes. These business processes, as IBM explained, can help you ensure that work is completed in a systematic and quality manner. You are in effect building "best practices" in your mobile software application.

MobileDataforce has spent the last 7 years researching and developing ways to include and manage automated business processes in mobile handheld applications. The PointSync Mobility Platform has been designed with automated business processes in mind.

Multilingual Mobile Software Applications for Handheld PDAs

Mobile software applications are often used in the field by workers using handheld PDAs that do not have English as a first language. To assist in training these workers to use mobile applications in the manner they are intended audio and video files can be included in various locations on the mobile application. These audio files are often accessed through an icon on the application next to a field or set of inspection questions. Here are some examples:

• RFID Cattle Management application includes Spanish language audio files on the screen so workers can listen to instructions on how to correctly use the application and answer questions.
• Construction Management application can flip back and forth between English words on the application and Spanish words on the application at the push of a button.
• Quality Assurance applications can explain how to analyze the quality of a particular operation through audio, video and pictures
• Instructions can tell the field worker the proper method of ordering additional products to use on a job.

Video files can also be accessed from the mobile application. Let's say a field worker has never performed a routine maintenance procedure on a peice of equipment. The service order or maintenance order can include a multilingual video file that explains how to perform the procedure. This is a powerful training aid for field workers.

MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform enables the user to access these multimedia files from within their mobile applications.

Video for Service Technicians Using Handheld PDAs

Imagine this - a junior service technician needs advice on how to repair a piece of equipment. He pulls out his handheld PDA with a wireless connection, calls his supervisor back at the office, and starts taking a digital video of the equipment. The supervisor is able to view the digital video in real time and asks the junior service technician to move the video camera around so the equipment can be viewed from several angles. Advice is given and the junior service technician completes the job.

This scenario is available today. MobileDataforce's PointSync mobile software for field service technicians is available here, and the ability to transform your Smartphone or handheld PDA into a live video cam can be found here.

More Business for Mobile Software and Handheld PDAs in Australia & New Zealand

MobileDataforce is growing rapidly in Australia and in New Zealand. We have just kicked off a number of very interesting mobility projects. One project in New Zealand is with a prominent engineering and construction company that involves mobile service requests. They are utilizing GPS, photo capture and the ability to create new service requests and job estimates on the handheld PDA from the field.

Our customer has the following business units; trucking, engineering, asset management, facility management, road and bridge building and construction and many more. Each of these business units have a need for mobile software on rugged handhelds to communicate with their management team and software in the office.