wireless computing

Wireless Transactions

by Andrew Seybold

One of the key benefits of being "wirelessly connected" is the ability to get updated information in real time. Those companies that are interested in providing wireless handheld devices to the masses (horizontal users) are concentrating on providing updates to calendars, address books, and task lists. However, there are a number of applications already up and running that are providing real value to mobile workers today.

Wireless Vertical Markets

Suppose you are a salesperson dealing with supermarkets. Your job is to visit each of your stores, check on inventory, and then recommend an order to get them back up to the proper stock levels. In addition, you want to make sure that they are aware of the specials your company is running and, of course, you want the order placed as soon as possible so that you can get your commission check.

In times past you would enter the store, fill out stock on hand reports, and then transfer the suggested re-order items to an order sheet. The store manager would then sign the order and you would turn it in at the end of your day. Once it was turned in, the order would be entered into the company's computer system and an order would be generated.

Today, you walk into the store, use a bar code reader to take inventory, call up the store's order history on the screen of your handheld device, update the order, and have the store manager sign off on it. Then, as you return to your car to drive to the next stop, the order is transmitted via wireless to your company. It is then processed and ready to ship, usually days earlier than doing it the old way.

Or suppose you are a salesperson visiting purchasing agents in large companies. The purchasing agent has a need for 10,000 widgets and can buy them from you or any one of your competitors. The items are needed quickly, and you have to commit to a delivery schedule. Not too long ago you might have obtained the information and called back the following day with an answer. Or you might have asked to use his phone to call the order desk to verify the quantities available. But until you actually turned in the paperwork, the items remained in open inventory available to other salespersons.

Today, you might turn on your wireless handheld, check inventory in real time, and then place the order the same way, ensuring that the stock on hand was allocated for your customer. While you are in his office, he asks you about a new product. You do not have the latest specification sheet with you so, using your H/PC, you connect to your company's system and you have a spec sheet faxed to your customer. It arrives while you are still in the meeting.

Other Examples

There are hundreds of examples where near real-time wireless access can help you close an order, get information that is time critical, update a price, check inventory, and even check on the credit status of your customer. Police in the field can check on a license plate or driver's license without having to talk to a dispatcher. Fire department personnel can check on the type of hazardous materials they find at an incident, and delivery companies can track a package and know exactly when it was delivered and to whom, all in near real time.

Recent wireless data applications include getting life insurance quotes in real time while still sitting in front of the customer, locking in a mortgage rate while sitting in the living room of your client's house, and even being able to access the real estate multiple listing service to find a house that is for sale that meets your client's criteria.

Wireless Transactions

A handheld computer with a wireless modem is an ideal combination for transaction-based applications. If software developers know that the application will be used in the field they can write code that is smart enough to minimize the amount of data that is sent over the air. For example, a large, bulky price list can be stored on the computer before leaving the office. Only changes and updates to the price sheet need to be sent over the wireless network.

Or, a list of service calls can be downloaded wirelessly to the device during the off-peak early morning hours and then only changes and updated status of the calls need to be sent and received during the day. It is important in all of these applications to understand the limitations of wireless communications and the power of the handheld device. Marrying wireless and handheld computers can provide powerful business tools that give mobile workers a real advantage over their competition.

FedEx

Perhaps the most sophisticated wireless data network in the world is that run by Federal Express. FedEx has now begun to equip even its package drop boxes with wireless modems. When a package is dropped into one of these boxes, a notification is sent over the network and the nearest truck is notified that there is a pickup at that location. Once the driver picks up the package, another wireless transmission is sent over the network telling the system when it was picked up and what truck it is on. During the entire time FedEx has the package, they know where it is and when it is delivered. They can almost instantly tell you when the package was delivered and who signed for it. Because FedEx has such an extensive system, it has set the standard for this type of package tracking. UPS, Airborne, and other companies have had to deploy their own systems in order to keep up and remain competitive with FedEx.

H/PCs vs. Phones

During the last half of 1999 we are going to be deluged with new cellular and PCS phones that include a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) browser in them. These devices are designed to provide both voice and data access for mobile workers. However, most of these WAP-enabled phones do not have the ability to store any information or applications in them. They merely provide a way to access information that is hosted on a remote server and have it delivered to a screen that is small (usually 4 lines of 16 characters).

It is important to understand the differences between these WAP phones and an H/PC equipped with a wireless modem. The WAP phone is merely a voice phone with the ability to access information stored remotely, while a wireless H/PC is a computing device with application and data storage. The wireless connection adds significant value to an H/PC, but even when out of network coverage, the H/PC is a "smart" device and can be used productively. A WAP phone is useless when it is out of coverage. No prices can be checked, no messages can be received, and no appointments can be referenced.

The entry of these WAP phones into the market is being preceded with lots of advertising dollars to convince us all that this is the greatest combination of wireless voice and data technology ever invented. My take is that these phones are interesting and for some light data uses they will prove to be of value. However, if you want to be sure that what you are carrying is useful inside buildings and outside of network coverage, a well-equipped H/PC should be your device of choice--wireless simply adds value to the timeliness of your data. A WAP phone only provides data some of the time.

A World of Transactions

We live in a transaction-based world. Almost everything we do is based on one or more transactions. Obtaining information is nothing more than a series of transactions, ordering wine is a transaction, and updating a database that resides on your H/PC is also a transaction.

H/PCs are intelligent devices that can store important data on them--data that we need in the normal course of our work or play. Adding wireless to these devices increases their productivity by providing near-real time access to remotely located information that we need to better handle our daily assignments. If you think of the wireless connection between the H/PC and the back-end information stores as a pipe that provides near-real time access to that data, and the ability to update it both at the source and on the H/PC as well, you will understand the value of the marriage of these technologies.

Andrew Seybold heads a computer and communications industry consulting and newsletter company, and publishes the well-respected Andrew Seybold's Outlook on Communications and Computing. He has an extensive radio communications and computer background, is recognized as one of the top analysts in these fields, and is a founder and President of the Portable Computing and Communications Association (PCCA). Andrew Seybold's Outlook can be reached at 408-338-7701, fax 408-338-7806, e-mail: lseybold@outlook.com lseybold@outlook.com