Mr. Ray Collins

Ray Collins, Alpha Microsystems' business development manager, cites a number of areas in which his company -- and potentially yours -- saved money using wireless handhelds.

Technicians become more efficient.At a specific site, technicians have real-time access to records for specific parts and pieces of equipment.In addition, it is easier to dispatch them to a nearby problem. Reduced cell phone bills.Collins says cell phone bills previously averaged between $300 and $400 a month.Even taking into account the cost of the flat-fee wireless service for the handhelds, wireless costs have been reduced by $150 a month, he says. Greater accuracy.Using cell phones to exchange data with the main office was imprecise and led to errors, Collins said."Technicians spent a lot of time on the phone calling dispatch and there was a lot of inaccurate information going back and forth," Collins says. Productivity gains.Collins estimates there is a 30-40 percent gain in productivity that results from technicians having information such as the status of parts shipments in real time."They save travel time if the part isn't there yet," he says. Forms are filled out more punctually.

"It's very important to make wireless applications hardware independent," says Ray Collins, systems integration manager at Alpha Micro Systems.Despite initial success and four-month return on investment, modifications were necessary.Clients had to become much thinner to suit the low bandwidth, so designers served up forms at the server end rather than by the devices themselves.Now that the initial bugs have been ironed out, the company is now marketing its Field Access application to other companies.

But unlike Alpha Micro Systems, few manufacturers possess the in-house savvy to deal with do-it-yourself wireless.Fortunately, Wireless Application Service Providers (WASP) such as OracleMobile and Ztango Inc. (www.ztango.com) have evolved which can install and maintain these services without the need for heavy investment in IT resources or infrastructure.

We had a payback in about four months , Ray Collins , Alpha Microsystems' business development manager.He said the company implemented the system with its 100 field technicians in March 2000 and hasn't looked back.

A customer calls the call center or fills out a form by accessing Alpha Microsystems' extranet.That opens the service call and automatically alerts the nearest service technician via pager or wireless phone.The technician accesses the call record with a wireless Palm VII handheld , contacts the customer to get more details , then sets an appointment.All relevant information during these transactions is entered into the record via the Palm VII.

After arrival , the technician enters the fact that she's on-site and can use the handheld to find parts.

Ray Collins , Alpha Microsystems' business development manager , cites six areas in which his company saved money using handhelds -- points that could apply to your business.

1. Technicians become more efficient.At a specific site , technicians have real-time access to records for specific parts and pieces of equipment.In addition , it's easier to dispatch them to a nearby problem.

2. Reduced cell phone bills.Collins says Alpha Microsystems' cell phone bills previously averaged between $300 and $400 a month.Even taking into account the cost of the flat-fee wireless service for the handhelds , wireless costs have been reduced by $150 a month.

3. Greater accuracy.Using cell phones to exchange data with the main office was imprecise and led to errors , Collins says : Technicians spent a lot of time on the phone calling dispatch , and a lot of inaccurate information was going back and forth..

4. Productivity gains.Collins estimates a 30 to 40 percent productivity gain from technicians having information , such as part shipment status , in real time : They save travel time if the part isn't there yet..

5. Forms are filled out more punctually.Instead of waiting to get back to their office , technicians now fill out forms on the spot.

6. Tighter billing cycle.The rapid filling out of forms means the company can bill clients more quickly -- and get paid sooner.With the new system , bills typically go out to clients within two weeks instead of 30 days , as had been the case.
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Collins , Wylie , and Wylie's colleague Erik Cummings , who managed the Key3Media trade show network , agree that a company's size should determine whether wireless handhelds will help a support staff.
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Collins said that writing the connection to Alpha Microsystem's SQL Server was simple.

July 16 , 2001

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"We had a payback in about four months," Ray Collins, Alpha Microsystems' business development manager.He said the company implemented the system with its 100 field technicians in March 2000 and hasn't looked back.

A customer calls the call center or fills out a form by accessing Alpha Microsystems' extranet.That opens the service call and automatically alerts the nearest service technician via pager or wireless phone.The technician accesses the call record with a wireless Palm VII handheld, contacts the customer to get more details, then sets an appointment.All relevant information during these transactions is entered into the record via the Palm VII.

After arrival, the technician enters the fact that she's on-site and can use the handheld to find parts.

Ray Collins , Alpha Microsystems' business development manager , cites a number of areas in which his company -- and potentially yours -- saved money using wireless handhelds.

Technicians become more efficient.At a specific site , technicians have real-time access to records for specific parts and pieces of equipment.In addition , it is easier to dispatch them to a nearby problem.Reduced cell phone bills.Collins says cell phone bills previously averaged between $300 and $400 a month.Even taking into account the cost of the flat-fee wireless service for the handhelds , wireless costs have been reduced by $150 a month , he says.Greater accuracy.Using cell phones to exchange data with the main office was imprecise and led to errors , Collins said.Technicians spent a lot of time on the phone calling dispatch and there was a lot of inaccurate information going back and forth , Collins says.Productivity gains.Collins estimates there is a 30-40 percent gain in productivity that results from technicians having information such as the status of parts shipments in real time.They save travel time if the part isn't there yet , he says.Forms are filled out more punctually.Instead of waiting to get back to their office , technicians now fill out forms on the spot.Tighter billing cycle.The rapid filling out of forms means the company can bill clients more quickly -- and get paid sooner.With the new system , bills typically go out to clients within two weeks instead of 30 days , as previously was the case.This is relevant in enterprises in which service calls are charged back to departments.

Mr. Ray Collins, Sales Engineer.Mr. Collins joined FieldConnect from Alpha Microsystems where he served from 1997 to May 2001 as Business Development Manager for the FieldConnect division.Mr. Collins brings his knowledge of field service, software, wireless technologies and experience to FieldCONNECT.He previously spent 10 years with GTE Wireless as an Analyst and later as an Application Development Manager.Mr. Collins began his career with a government contractor in 1982, as a computer programmer.

If you are running at 60 percent on a T1 or T3 currently and intending to broadly implement wireless, plan ahead for more bandwidth, says Ray Collins, systems integration manager at Santa Ana, Calif.-based Alpha Microsystems.His company developed Field Access, a wireless middleware application for 110 field engineers deployed remotely repairing desktops and providing network support.They access custom data via Palm VIIs and wirelessly receive and transmit alerts and updates.Collins says return-on-investment realization took four months.

Wireless users connect via BellSouth to a secure Windows NT-based intranet/extranet at the Alpha Microsystems facility that operates over Web-enabled devices such as RIM pagers, Nextel Communications Inc. text phones, Palm devices and some Windows CE devices.It's very important to make wireless applications hardware-independent, says Collins.Based on user feedback, having forms served up at the server end rather than by the devices themselves is making clients much thinner than before.

Alpha Microsystems made this switch due to the speed ceiling on wireless transmissions.Field Access, like most of the current wireless crop, runs at only 9, 600 bit/sec.But according to mobile vendors, 144K bit/sec. is right around the corner.Until then, it's essential to minimize content by keeping replies brief and forms stripped-down, says Collins.And until proven technology exists to convert any Web page and serve it to a small screen, companies will have to generate content specifically for wireless users.

People think you can just reformat' existing applications for small devices.
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Collins says he's also concerned about the lack of universal wireless coverage.Applications need to be able to function when they are outside of normal range, he says.Devices should be able to seamlessly capture data and feed it into the system as soon as you get back into a covered area..

Cellular companies are urgently addressing the coverage question, and they're gearing up for the boom.According to Iain Gilott, IDC's vice president of worldwide consumer and small-business telecommunications, new shipments of all digital handsets worldwide will be WAP-capable by next year.The big players can't afford to miss the market opportunity represented by mobile Internet access, he says.

If you are running at 60 % on a Tl or T3 currently and intending to broadly implement wireless, plan ahead for more bandwidth, says Ray Collins, systems integration manager at Santa Ana, Calif.-based Alpha Microsystems.His company developed Field Access, a wireless middleware application for 110 field engineers deployed remotely repairing desktops and providing network support.They access custom data via Palm VIIs and wirelessly receive and transmit alerts and updates.Collins says return-oninvestment realization took four months.

Wireless users connect via BellSouth to a secure Windows NT based intranet/extranet at the Alpha Microsystems facility that operates over Webenabled devices such as RIM pagers, Nextel Communications Inc. text phones, Palm devices and some Windows CE devices.it be very important to make wireless applications hardware-independent, says Collins.Based on user feedback, having forms served up at the server end rather than by the devices themselves is making clients much thinner than before.

Alpha Microsystems made this switch due to the speed ceiling on wireless transmissions.Field Access, like most of the current wireless crop, runs at only 9, 600 bit/sec.But according to mobile vendors, 144K bit/sec. is right around the corner.Until then, it be essential to minimize content by keeping replies brief and forms stripped-down, says Collins.And until proven technology exists to convert any Web page and serve it to a small screen, companies will have to generate content specifically for wireless users.

People think you can just `reformat' existing applications for small devices.
...
Collins says he be also concerned about the lack of universal wireless coverage.Applications need to be able to function when they are outside of normal range, he says.Devices should be able to seamlessly capture data and feed it into the system as soon as you get back into a covered area..

Cellular companies are urgently addressing the coverage question, and they be gearing up for the boom.According to Iain Gilott, IDC's vice president of worldwide consumer and small-business telecommunications, new shipments of all digital handsets worldwide will be WAP-capable by next year.The big players can not afford to miss the market opportunity represented by mobile Internet access, he says.

It used to be they [ the technicians ] were on the phone all day with Dispatch , says Ray Collins , business development manager for the field connect division of Alpha Microsystems.Now , they just pull it up on the Palm , and that's that..

The investment for mobile computing projects is often relatively small , IT managers say.The units range from $ 200 to $ 700 , and connecting handheld apps to existing databases oftentimes doesn't require a lot of custom programming.

Countrywide Home Loans , a real estate mortgage provider , leveraged existing back-end technology for a mobile application that helps in mortgage sales.
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They're more than the field engineers need , Collins says.

Mobile applications are often deployed in unique situations.They can also create unique problems.

Losing the wireless signal is a common one.The Dairy Farmers of America has deployed about 10 Pocket PC devices to field users and plans to deploy about 400 more nationwide.

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Coverage is always an issue , Collins says.Field engineers work in office buildings where , many times , they can't get a good signal.They just need to be educated to stand by a window to get a signal , or wait until they get out to the parking lot or on the road to check in.