Pocket-Sized Smartphones, Hand-Held Computers Automate Critical Company Tasks Quicker, Cheaper From The Road With Mobile BIS Software
January 8, 2009 LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)

A breakthrough by Mobile BIS software lets the new generation of pocket-sized smart phones and handheld computers inventory a 200,000 square foot warehouse in four hours instead of four days, feed the numbers into a corporate database and e-mail or text-message the results to mobile workers anywhere in the world--in seconds.

Smart phones can automatically track the whereabouts of a crucial customer shipment every minute from door to door without having to call the shipper for an update. Or automate other company functions and control them from the road.

A breakthrough mobility software program lets anyone on the go, from CEO to traveling salesperson to route driver who carries a BlackBerry, Apple I-Phone, Palm, Psion Teklogix or any hand-held smart phone or hand-held computer, instantaneously send or receive data and information in real time.

Since smart phones are ‘always on,' travelers can leave their laptops at the office and not waste time ‘booting up' to get online.

"We've solved a problem that helps small businesses compete with Fortune 1000 companies by using their smart phone to automate any pen and paper or manual procedures," says Michael Macho, president of Mobile BIS, a Los Angeles-based mobility software company. "You can be notified anywhere about key operations of your company and practically manage it by remote control."

"Mobile workers no longer have to lug around a laptop, worry about dropping or losing it or wait for it to boot up," he adds. "Today's hand-held phones and computers have virtually all the computing functions and features of a notebook computer for less than a pound."

Pet Crematory Boosts Productivity, Cuts Out Human Errors

Todd Snook, vice president of Valley Pet Cemetery and Crematory of Hagerstown, Md., agrees. His company has "achieved 30% to 40% efficiency and productivity improvements" using five ruggedized Psion Teklogix Workabout Pro handheld computers with customized Mobile BIS software, says Snook.

"We instituted this new technology over concern for our customers," he explains. "Before, there were handwriting mistakes and spelling errors. Now we key in all the information for a service call and keep a duplicate set of data off site as an added layer of security. Then our drivers scan a bar code with their Psion Teklogix hand-held computers, capture the data and send it wirelessly to me and to our office to double-check accuracy and better serve our direct customer---the veterinarian."

In addition to cremating the pet, Valley Pet can download information from the driver's Psion Teklogix computer print a cremation certificate with the pet's name, owner's name and, in some cases, the children's names as a keepsake, Adds Snook: "We've reduced labor costs in our office by automating three repetitive tasks that were previously done manually."

Eliminating the Laptop Computer

Dial Industries, Inc., a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of 5000 different plastic household storage and organization products, uses BlackBerry smart phones and hand-held Psion Teklogix computers installed with Mobile BIS software, to speed up inventory counts, monitor sales and replenish fast-moving products, expedite and track customer orders more accurately.

Dial's national sales manager, Rob Sanchez, who travels 60% the time, receives full customer intelligence reports on his BlackBerry without having to remember to access the information.

"Previously, we had eight people taking inventory in three buildings laboriously entering product numbers into laptop computers that had to be fed later into the accounting system and it would take all day," says Sanchez. "Now, we've eliminated the laptop.

"With a Psion Teklogix computer that reads bar codes, we click a button and the inventory status of each product instantly goes directly into our accounting system and I get a tip off if we're low or out of stock on a customer order."

Sanchez reports that the quarterly inventory now only takes four hours instead of four days "boosting productivity for the eight-person inventory crew by 50%. It's almost instant gratification. Before, we had to move the entire inventory around just to count everything. Now we just point and click. It's like magic."

No Longer Chained to His Desk

Tom Means says he was chained to his desk before his Pocket PC smart phone with Microsoft Windows freed him from his office. "If I'm not in the field seeing clients on a regular basis, I'm going out of business, especially in these tough times where everyone is a little nervous," says the director of Stone Tapert, LLC, a Pasadena, Calif., employee benefits consultant to small to midsized businesses.

Means is always juggling. "I may be meeting in a client's office while simultaneously in a heated negotiation with an insurance company, perhaps on behalf of a different client," he says. "If I'm doing my job right, there aren't enough hours in the day to see a client, drive back to the office, make changes, negotiate with insurance companies and then get back on the road to see another client. Los Angeles is just too spread out.

"I have to capitalize on the time between meetings—when I'm in the car or waiting for my next appointment -- have access to up-to-the minute marketplace information, plus every client's rates and benefits, options and proposals but I must also be able to make changes and adjustments in real time."

If he's successful in his negotiations, Means has to call in the changes and adjustments to his staff or wait until he got back to the office. "With a hand-held smart phone," he contends, "I can e-mail them in three-minute elevator ride or while sitting in a client's lobby."

Means says he always keeps his PocketPC turned on "so I don't have to waste time booting a laptop which takes two to three minutes to get it up and running. In fact, I got rid of my laptop because my smart phone can do a power point presentation and is always compatible with their audio visual equipment."

The employee benefits consultant claims his Mobile BIS equipped PocketPC smart phone aves him at least 10 hours a week in commuting time and ‘dead' time---when his client is running late for their meeting, for instance. Now he's problem solving for other clients while he waits.

"There's a plus and a drawback to that because now I have this digital umbilical chord," says Means. "Before, you had true weekends and uninterrupted vacations. Not any more. But this is a 24/7 global world and if we snooze, we really lose."

Benefits Any Industry

One manufacturer sees the mobile marketplace growing "substantially in 2009," as companies look for new ways to save costs in a difficult economy. Tony Condi, director of marketing for Psion Teklogix, Inc. in Cincinnati, contends "hand-held computers have the same functionality as a laptop without the risk of damaging the machine on, for example, a construction worksite," he says.

Condi says the Psion Teklogix cn be used in any industry, wherever there is a mobile sales force, field engineers, pick up and delivery service, asset tracking or inventory management—even meter readers. Anywhere there is a need to pump up-to-the-second information into a central database or generate a message on the spot to a co-worker or manager at a branch office or headquarters, this is a solution, he says.

"If you want to capture data where work is taking place and transmit it anywhere instantly to anyone carrying a smart phone," Condi says, "these mobility products improve a company's operating efficiency, raises productivity at least 30%, while cutting errors to near zero."

About Mobile BIS
Based in Los Angeles, Mobile BIS www.mobilebis.com), a division of BIS Computer Solutions, provides software applications for mobile devices to automate a company's operations, accelerate responsiveness of its field and transportation personnel and maximize customer satisfaction. Mobile BIS is an Oracle Certified Partner and a member of the Oracle Developer Alliance. Its mobile solutions are developed and implemented using the Oracle 10g database and Oracle 10g Lite mobile application server.