Thinking about Mobile Devices for Field Services?

Boise Foothills
It is interesting listening to mobility vendors today.  Many began as recent start-ups and their entire mobility careers have been focused on supporting white collar workers using powerful smartphones integrated with ERPs.  However, mobility vendors that started a decade or more ago see the world in a different light.  They are more sensitive to the needs and requirements of the field service technician, the lineman and inspector.  These users are in the field, on remote job sites and subject to the weather and harsh working conditions surrounding them.  These workers appreciate the term, rugged, especially as it relates to mobile devices.

PSION EP10
There is a big difference between working environments, which should be considered and influence the kinds of mobile devices selected for use by your mobile workforce.  When I am jogging outdoors it is very hard for me to stop in the bright sunlight of Boise, Idaho and read the screen on my iPhone.  It is very dim in bright sunlight.  What if my entire work was dependent on me using an iPhone app in these conditions?  It would be bad.  My eyes would suffer.  Different working environments absolutely need different kinds of screens, batteries, barcode scanners, RFID, keyboards and different levels of ruggedness.

Syclo, a mobility vendor with many utility and field services customers, has recently published a useful FAQ paper for organizations considering the merits of different kinds of devices.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Commerce News Weekly - Week of February 6, 2012

The Mobile Commerce News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile payments, mobile money, e-wallets, mobile banking and mobile security that I run across each week.  I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobility Charts Weekly

A recent survey by Wincor Nixdorf shows that a strong majority of French consumers are interested in using fingerprint scanning technology to secure transactions. Out of 1,008 French consumers surveyed, 69 percent were in favor of scanning their fingerprint at the point of sale to secure electronic payments rather than punch in a PIN code. Read Original Content

Working with Sage Payment Solutions, many Girl Scouts are now equipped with mobile devices that have a credit card reader attached. Already, some Girl Scout troops are reporting an increase in cookie sales since adopting the technology. Read Original Content

Bank customers are gradually shifting towards Internet banking with over 100 percent growth since last year. Read Original Content

Tech Endeavour structures a mobile application as a multi-layered application consisting of user experience, business, and data layers. The mobile application development process starts with definition of the mobile application, understanding key components, learning scenarios where it will be used, learning key patterns and technology considerations as well as identifying specific scenarios such as deployment, power usage and synchronization.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by Tech Endeavour, http://www.techendeavour.com/.

Transit authorities in New York City and surrounding areas are beginning to offer mobile ticketing features to customers. Currently Amtrak and New York Waterway have already begun selling tickets through smartphones. Read Original Content

Mobility Charts Weekly - Week of February 6, 2012


The Mobility Charts Weekly is a weekly publication of charts depicting the current and future status of the enterprise mobility market.  I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.



As consumers migrate to smartphones, more retailers are rolling out new strategies that leverage customer engagement via mobile devices. One of these is check-in services, where the market opportunity is substantial. Read Original Content



ClickSoftware released a detailed infographic highlighting recent mobility trends in the world of business. The report indicates 70 percent of employees with smartphones regularly check their work emails outside normal business hours. Read Original Content



Based on their customers, ClickSoftware featured a pie chart that illustrated the most popular operating systems for enterprise mobility clients. During the time period between 2007 to 2009 Windows controlled the largest share of mobile devices. Since then Apple’s iOS system has grown to dominate the market with 45 percent. Read Original Content

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Best of Benedict's Mobile Enterprise Strategies 2011

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I have spent the last week reviewing articles that I wrote on mobile strategies in 2011, and compiling a Best of 2011 list.  Some of my articles, upon further review, are not worth reading at all, but some are even worth reading again!  So just in case you successfully avoided reading them the first time, here they are again for your review and comment.  Before you get started, remember to follow me on Twitter @krbenedict.

The Best of Mobile Enterprise Strategies 2011:

Enterprise Mobility Application Predictions



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Enterprise Mobility and Transformative Healthcare

It is my opinion that enterprise mobility, M2M and mobile strategies will transform the healthcare industry more than just about any market outside of media.

Dave Chase describes, in this article, how the healthcare industry parallels the printed newspaper industry in their slow adoption of digital solutions and transformative technologies.  The image on the right demonstrates many of the mobile and M2M technologies that can revolutionize healthcare.

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Traditional healthcare institutions will rapidly become dinosaurs if they don't embrace the use of mobile solutions and M2M technologies that provide better quality of services, often remotely, for less costs.

The balance of power is changing.  Nimble start-ups will link best of breed and highly efficient caregivers, medical equipment operators and labs into new digital healthcare networks that are not dependent on massive hospital campuses filled with paper file cabinets, and expensive specialized equipment.  Healthcare will not be determined by buildings, but by systems connected to digital M2M and mobile networks.  Chase points out that instead of providing "sick care" these digital networks will be rewarded for providing profitable "health care."

Electronic patient records will be able to travel across the digital network with the patient.  More and more services will be able to be performed in remote home environments and in locations that specialize in providing efficient and cost effective services.

These new healthcare start-ups with digital, M2M and mobile networks, don't have the facilities and physical baggage of traditional institutions.  They will cause pain to the traditional healthcare institutions that don't transform with this new reality.  I for one would like to see a free market environment transform this industry into a competitive, transparent and innovative field that serves the community and economy better.

In too many regions of the world today, monopolies rule healthcare services.  These monopolies often serve themselves more than their communities.  They follow a path and business plan that does not have to be followed.  When there is no pressure to change, little does.  I would like to see more innovation and change in healthcare so it better serves the needs of our communities and our country.  Mobile and M2M technologies and free markets may be able to transform this industry with or without politics.



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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Interviews with Kevin Benedict