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Do handheld mobile solutions peak the interests of top management within your company? The idea of a handheld device collecting information from the field and wirelessly transmitting it back to the home office sounds great. Have
you thought about what it takes to implement, deploy, and maintain a wireless solution? Developing a wireless strategy
for your company can save a considerable amount of frustration and money.
Construction companies everywhere have similar challenges when collaborating with field operations. Some of the challenges include:
§ Timely information with accuracy
§ Personnel are constantly mobile
§ Reporting requirements are changing
§ Field resistance to technology
You probably have some of these within your organization as well. Addressing these types of challenges will be critical to the success of a solution. Develop a business strategy that includes short and long term goals. What are some short-term and long-term goals that you could develop for a wireless solution? A short-term goal might
be email or a field Rolodex. Your field personnel will become proficient with either of these in less than one month.
That is why it is important to have a strategy. You want to capitalize on the initial success and deploy a business application. Your company will profit even more with an application that replaces a critical field report. Replace your
time sheet, production report, or punch list. Make sure the application offers an end-to-end solution that does not
require organizational structure changes. A solution needs to improve your data processing efficiency, not grow it.
Your long-term goal should focus on moving all paper forms in the field to electronic format. This idea is not out of
reach with handheld technology.
Every solution has multiple pieces to consider - hardware, wireless carrier, security applications, and interfaces. Keep
in mind your goals and select a software provider that best provides products that resolve them. Therefore, let the
product drive the hardware and look at the handheld as a wireless device. Also, have a requirement that the product (or
products) interface to your primary system. For most companies the primary system is an accounting system, for others
it might be a project management system. It is very important that the products you deploy fully interface with your
primary system. Have the software provider show you how the interface works. Look for proven products already
implemented at other companies.
Setting up wireless business applications:
It takes a software provider several years to perfect a product and offer the mature solution construction companies
need. Let’s face it; the slightest problem with any technology is looked at as a broken system. Therefore, going
wireless on one of the major carrier’s data networks needs to be a strength of the solution. There are two types of
wireless solutions, “always connected” and “occasionally connected.” Always connected requires the product to be
connected to a network or the Internet in order to function. All of the data resides on a server at a central location.
Occasionally connected products do not require a connection to the central location to function. Selected information
resides on the handheld to enable the field user to collect and validate data. The data is transmitted periodically back to the central location.
An example of an “always connected” solution is application service providers (ASP). One of the requirements of an
ASP is to have high-speed Internet connections. Most wireless carriers offer a wireless PC card and unlimited
coverage services for this type of solution. The “occasionally connected” solutions will allow the field personnel to
function where there is no connection to the Internet. This type of solution allows your field personnel to operate
throughout the day by recording activity. For some construction companies this may be a better option. Building does
not always occur in a wireless carrier’s data coverage area.
Therefore, look at the wireless carrier’s coverage map and pay close attention to the data coverage area. Some wireless
carriers are better than others in certain states. Wireless bandwidth varies between carriers and within a carrier’s own
network. Also, they are rolling out new technology and offering amazing wireless speeds. Evaluate the wireless
carrier’s bandwidth, coverage, costs, security, and technology. Do not just take a wireless carrier’s word that their
wireless services are the best. Ask for evaluation phones from the carriers that make your short list. Test-drive their
wireless services and you decide which carrier service works best. Look for clarity, connection drops, and service
coverage. Remember this one important point, not having the right wireless carrier could cause the wireless solution to
fail.
Initiative Maintenance:
A wireless solution should simplify operations and provide scalability. Look for ease of use offered by the product and
its most commonly used device. The user’s experience should be free from cognitive friction. Before you make an
investment to totally equip your company with a wireless solution, do a pilot program of 5 to 10 users. Evaluate a
product for 30 to 90 days and see how well it was received in the field. Consider how your company will manage the
solution. Determine how easy is it to replace a broken device or to perform disaster recovery. Now is the time to
consider total cost of ownership of the solution.
Additionally, look at the software provider’s services and support. Verify that they are a full turnkey solution provider.
Not only should they offer training, but also their support should be fully automated. They should be able to push out
changes and automatically update the product without user intervention. Also, the software provider should be utilizing
the latest in software development tools. Wireless technology is still developing and requires yearly reinvestment by
the software provider. They must do this to maintain pace with the technology.
An effective overall wireless strategy for your business should be to align your company with a software provider that
takes the aforementioned topics into consideration and offers products that adhere to your company’s business model.
A streamlined business process will yield a seamless field data workflow. You will experience shortened project cycles
and decrease corporate operating costs as a result. With the right goals set you will reach your objective of improved
data processing efficiency.
See the original article at Constructech's website (opens in a new window).
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