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Work smarter with a TotalMobile mobile data solution
 At the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver, Steve Hegenderfer (Windows Mobile Technical Evangelist), revealed that Microsoft expect the mobility market to quadruple by 2009. What was more intriguing, however, was his prediction that most of this growth will be driven by line of business (LOB) applications.
This is an interesting change in emphasis from Microsoft but somewhat understandable though as up until now, the relatively high cost of per user mobile data contracts has restricted the beneficiaries to senior and middle management. As operators find ways of lowering the cost of mobile data, however, employers are beginning to see that mobile-enabling staff more widely is much more viable than ever before.
Although it is not only the cost of data that has been prohibitive in the past. Previously, putting Windows-based LOB applications in the hands of staff has also typically meant heavy up-front investment through either hardware terminals or full laptop setups. This up-front investment may even have been dwarfed by the ongoing support costs!
With application development on the Windows Mobile platform however, we are now able to deliver mobile versions of traditional LOB applications in a mobile environment using standard Windows Mobile-based handhelds and Smartphones. Not only are the devices less expensive to acquire but, they are also much less expensive to maintain so the total cost of ownership is significantly lower.
In a sense though, it is only once front-line staff become mobile that many organisations will start to see really significant gains. In business terms, if the management tier is where the high margin gains are to be made, then front-line staff is where the high volume gains will be made.
From our experience in the public sector, this analysis couldn’t be truer. Organisations which have deployed our TotalMobile suite of applications are seeing genuine hard cost savings through mobile-enabling front-line operatives.
Typically, it is front-line staff who are dragged back to the office by paper-based processes, Our ongoing research suggests that basic productivity gains from TotalMobile applications are seeing operatives complete two extra jobs per day, and the ability to schedule jobs and communicate schedule changes to field staff more efficiently is saving customers £10K per annum in fuel costs alone, not to mention further savings in vehicle maintenance and other associated costs.
From the point of view of Consilium Technologies, this is, of course, all positive news. We have a long-standing presence and substantial expertise in Windows Mobile development through our well-established TotalMobile suite of applications. And the tight integration between the TotalMobile suite and our TotalView management suite means we are almost uniquely positioned to help public sector organisations not only benefit from the hard cost and softer benefits of mobile enablement but also put them in a position where these benefits can be easily measured.
For more information
www.totalmobile.co.uk |
