While getting ready for the holidays I was at the mall, and it was packed!  People were hustling and bustling about, looking for the perfect gift for loved ones.  I mean it was NUTS!  It made me think, why do we put ourselves through all this?  Couldn’t we just as easily get a gift card, or whatever is in the sale ads for the people close in our lives?  Wouldn’t they be happy just knowing we thought of them?  No.  There is something to be said for the perfect gift, the one thing that – when you see it – you know it was made for them.

Why settle for less when it comes to your organization’s mobile application needs?  Off the shelf systems are designed to meet industry wide needs, but not necessarily the requirements of your organization.  Your organization is unique and chances are your software needs are as well.  Settling for an off the shelf system might solve some of your problems, but it will surely leave holes – probably in just the places that differentiate your organization.
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Barcodes emerged in the 1960’s, primarily in industrial settings, and by the 1970’s they had been standardized and started showing up in more and more commercial applications.  Today barcodes are everywhere.  They enable quick and precise identification in nearly all types of business.  The beauty of the barcode lies in its simplicity, its strength lies in its flexibility.

There are two main reasons why barcoding for inventory applications is beneficial

1. Productivity
2. Accuracy

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Running a mobile field service business can be incredibly difficult, especially when you consider the need to exchange information with multiple distributed workers in real-time.

Here at MobileFrame we have seen organizations that have tried everything to bridge this communication gap including:

• Equipping mobile workers with 2-way radios
• Utilizing Push-to-Talk based cell phones
• Sending text messages
• Calling workers directly

What we have found is that while these technologies are useful, they just are not optimized to help run a mobile operation.
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Over the past several months we have been working very closely with a large Consumer Packaged Goods Distribution company that has been in the process of evaluating different mobile software vendors to replace their legacy route accounting system.

They are interested in not only replacing their existing system but they also wanted to find a single platform to provide the ability to build, deploy, manage, and support all of their mobile application needs.
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Along with the smartphone boom of the past decade we have also seen an exponential increase in the number of companies providing mobile applications.

This increase in the number of available software vendors has caused confusion in the marketplace when trying to determine what the main differences are between companies that provide simple mobile forms vs. mobile business applications.

When most companies are investigating solutions they are looking for ways to eliminate the manual process of collecting information on paper. By eliminating the collection of data on paper, the business will be able to save costs, and ultimately increase profits. As an example let us assume that you are currently looking for a mobile software vendor to help eliminate paper from your field operations. You have completed your preliminary research and think you have found 2 companies that could be a potential fit.
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Many service based businesses that are utilizing old paper based methods to manage their daily tasks are also faced with the challenge of how to manage the unexpected. A great example of this is the daily dispatching of scheduled work orders. As a matter of routine, mobile workers travel into the office, pick up a pile of pre-printed work orders, then travel out into the field, and start working. BUT, what happens when someone calls in sick, needs help, is missing a part, a job is cancelled, or an emergency occurs?

On paper it’s pretty easy to explain what happens, everything in the office has to STOP while the dispatcher or service manager figures out how to untangle this mess. Usually this involves multiple phone calls to technicians to figure out job status, parts on hand, etc. Then after you find someone who can handle the additional work, how do you get them all of the needed information about the new job? They will likely need to know the customer name, address, contact information, description of the work needed, parts required, past history, etc.
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We are expanding our partner community and YOU are INVITED! In case you haven’t heard of us before we are the industry leader in 100% code free mobile application development, and include all of the tools to your customers go mobile.

Utilizing the unlimited capabilities of the MobileFrame platform, our partner program will arm you with everything you need close more business faster

Some of the key sales related benefits include:

• The ability to easily enter new markets
• Develop custom mobile applications in less time and with less effort
• Accelerate hardware sales cycles by being able to recommend the “Perfect” mobile solution that will exceed the requirements for any application, or department
• Expand sales opportunities in existing accounts, allowing for your customers to leverage their investment and increase ROI.

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This week we were visiting with a prospective client who collects soil samples out in the field. In addition to collecting a wide variety of different types of measurements related to the soil, they also need to collect information about the current weather. This weather data ideally is then saved along with the soil sample data. Apparently the lack of a standardized method for collecting and saving this information has lead to significant challenges for both the customers of this company as well as the office staff.
Here’s a look at what was going on:
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As many of our readers already know, MobileFrame is all about solving problems. In this case we are solving the problem of how to deliver real time turn-by-turn driving directions to mobile workers. To address this problem we are now offering a pre-built mobile configurable application that delivers real-time driving directions. Here is the best part: this application can be integrated into any existing MobileFrame application or used stand alone.

Here’s how it works:

1. Enter the Destination Address

2. Enter Starting Address or Leverage Current GPS Position

3. Click Get Directions…

4. MobileFrame Returns Real Time Driving Directions, based upon the most efficient route.
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I love talking to prospects about how MobileFrame can solve their problems and today I had a very interesting conversation that I thought I’d share. I was chatting with a prospect who was interested in replacing an old system that they have been using for the past 3 years. I was amazed to hear that their most annoying problem is getting new devices provisioned and sent out into the field.   Apparently their current software vendor forces them to deal with 45+ different cab files! They have a different file for each device model, OS, configuration, etc.

He said it is a nightmare to look through these different CAB files to find the exact right one for the device that they are loading. He said they waste hours on this every time they go to roll-out new devices….

The good news is that MobileFrame has the answer.
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