I was chatting with one of our valued partners today, and we got into a very interesting discussion regarding the adoption of field based mobile computing. It appears as if we have both stumbled upon the same problem. The apparent disconnect between automating office based paper processes, and field based paper processes. This discussion really made me think.

“Why don’t businesses value mobile computing like they value office based computing?”

For years companies have been using computers in the office to aid in the functions necessary to run the daily operations of the business.

For Example:

• Bookkeeping / Accounting
• AR / AP
• Payroll
• E-mail
• Customer Activity Tracking
• Sales Performance Tracking
• Resource Scheduling
• Creating, assigning, and closing Work Orders
• Ordering Parts
• Updating Spreadsheets
• Etc.

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When investigating mobile software solutions every organization has to ask themselves the age old question: “Can I find something off the shelf to solve this problem?”

I invite you to consider the merits of evaluating an alternative approach before spending money on a solution.

FACT: Off the shelf mobile software solutions are developed by companies that identify some common problems in a specific market, then build a software solution that addresses some of those needs. This is also called a one size fits all approach.

PROBLEM: Here is where the problem lies; no two organizations even within a specific market operate in exactly the same way.  The associated business logic that has made your organization successful can’t be incorporated into a boxed solution intended to fit the masses.
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MobileFrame proudly announces version 4.7 of our enterprise mobility platform. With this version, we have added a series of useful new features including:

• Database Setup Wizard.  This wizard helps users quickly and easily create a new MobileFrame database and set it up for use.  It will work with any/all databases supported by MobileFrame including SQL, Oracle and DB2 databases.
• Task Version History.  When you save a task (a mobile application), an automatic backup of that version will be generated and stored in the database.  You can review all versions of your tasks, rollback to a particular version, or export different versions of your task.
• Project Publisher.  With the new Project Publisher, Administrators can “publish” (export) entire Projects including mobile applications, enterprise data (static and dynamic), mobile workers, etc. This allows Administrators to move projects across servers from development to production and/or create complete backups of their projects. Read the rest of this entry »

Patented MobileFrame Configurable Mobile Application™ Platform Eliminates all Coding for Custom Mobile Applications including Smart Database Synchoronzation with Back-Office Enterprise Data.

MobileFrame announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. patent number 7,730,097 to MobileFrame for its unique 100% Code Free Smart Database that seamlessly synchronizes data between back-office enterprise systems and distributed mobile devices. MobileFrame’s enterprise mobility system eliminates custom programming through an intuitive, user friendly point-and-click desktop, enabling novice computer users to easily create and deploy sophisticated custom mobile applications. With secure Sarbanes-Oxley compliant instant messaging, integrated intelligent networking, prioritized smart synchronization, full remote device control, configuration and management, integrated GPS tracking and mapping, and remote software updates all built into one software platform, MobileFrame significantly streamlines mobile application development, deployment, and administration. Read the rest of this entry »

Here at MobileFrame we are pretty good at solving the problem of paper in the field. In this case we had a customer come to us with a very simple yet, annoying problem.

Here’s the current process:

• Write the Barcode from the asset on a sheet of paper
• Indicate if it passed or failed inspection
• If the asset failed, indicate why

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Here’s round 2 on creating a mobile application and this time instead of a real time meal order taking application, I’ve created a simple Work Order System that includes a Dispatch app and a handheld app. They were both built using MobileFrame and completed in under 2 hours.

Here are the 2 Parts: Read the rest of this entry »

RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is a technology that involves the use of a tag that is applied or incorporated into a product or asset to help identify and track the item using Radio Waves. There are many different types of tags and associated readers available on the market today. It’s now common for organizations to not only look for ways to eliminate field based paper processes but to also think past bar-coding as well.

Here is a good example, you employ a team of 100+ Sales representatives that are in charge of doing inventory counts at customer locations (Think big box retailers) and the inventory needs to be 100% be accurate. The current solution involves the process of manually scanning 100′s if not 1000′s of products while at the customer’s site. No matter how diligent you are this can be a time consuming and error prone task. How do you solve the problem? Hire more sales people? Invest in better, faster scanners? Buy your sales reps memberships to the local gym so they can move faster? A great alternative would be to create an RFID based system. Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently at a technology related tradeshow and was approached by a very intrigued sales person that works for one of the major rugged handset manufacturers.  He said MobileFrame sounds great BUT he wanted some specifics on what types of apps we can deploy, specifically for hospitals.  I initially answered him and rattled off many of our advanced capabilities… 100% Code Free, GPS Mapping and Tracking, Mobile Device Management, Real-Time Instant Messaging, etc.

As the conversation progressed he just didn’t believe that our solution could really be that easy to use. I asked him to come back in 30 minutes to see what I could come up with.  I was up to the challenge, so I quickly created an application for taking meal orders from patients in the hospital.  The app allows you to enter the room number, select the main course, side orders, dessert, notate any specific dietary concerns and then synchronize the order back to the office in real time.  When the rep came back and I showed him the following video (See below), he couldn’t believe that I was able to get the done and deployed to the device in 30 minutes.  So, I have an opportunity for you.

If you would like to see for yourself, please challenge us. Send us your paper forms and we will build your custom application and demo it to you live on your very first phone call.

Contact Us | Phone: 408.885.1200 |  Email: info@MobileFrame.com

Over the last couple of weeks I have had multiple discussions with organizations that tried to go mobile, only they weren’t successful. (FYI – None of these organizations have ever been MobileFrame customers)  After hearing about all of the obstacles they tried to overcome, I realized that they all have a few problems in common.
Problems Encountered:

• Endless Professional Services Cycles (i.e. Development) – One company said that they have been trying to get their pilot started for the last year and a half. They’ve spent $100,000+ on Software and another $40,000+ on Hardware.  The hardware is still sitting in a corner collecting dust.
• Difficult to use Development Environments – Some of these groups purchased development environments that claimed to be easy to use. They weren’t. This naturally lead to issue #1 which is the need to pay for a lot of money for Professional Services. Read the rest of this entry »