Over the past decade, most enterprises that rely on mobile workforces for field service and mobile enterprise asset management (EAM) have attempted to deploy mobile data handheld solutions. Some companies have achieved great success already, while others are still in preliminary pilot phases. Simply put, customer service field organizations react to trouble tickets generated from a call center, while maintenance and break/fix activities performed on internal asset investments are scheduled or acted upon in time-sensitive situations. To date, the industry standard for customer-facing application deployments is to enable real-time access to mobile data over Wide Area Networks (WAN), while internal-facing asset maintenance applications are typically fat-client solutions that are synched up at the end of a shift.

Most CIOs would argue that customer information needs to be delivered in real-time. Effective customer field service succeeds with up-to-the-minute dispatching that is based on dynamic information, including work schedules, routing, customer history and priority, call center information, and inventory availability. However, it was a widely held belief that field organizations that service internal assets and equipment are on a more fixed schedule. The asset worker can download trouble tickets and maintenance and inspection information onto a handheld device at the beginning of a shift, and then follow the set schedule throughout the day without necessary access to real-time, dynamic information.

With WAN-enabled mobile hardware, asset information can be linked to a central database in real-time.

More and more, enterprises with enterprise asset management field workers are bucking the trend of mobilizing inspection and maintenance solutions in a pure fat-client, offline mode. With the advent and proliferation of converged devices that enable voice and data communications over Wide Area Networks, organizations with EAM field workers realize that enabling real-time WAN connectivity and access to inspection and maintenance applications can greatly improve the productivity of field workers. Industries that can best take advantage of WAN-enabled EAM environments include utilities, telecommunications and cable, facilities management and real estate, petrochemical, and life sciences.

Mobile computing hardware is no longer just for data collection—it can now be used for telephone communication as well.

Converged voice and data devices with WAN-enabled applications improve worker productivity and provide a variety of benefits that improve return on investment (ROI) for the enterprise.

First, converged devices provide an immediate reduction in mobile hardware investment and total cost of ownership. IT organizations are tasked to maintain one device, instead of multiple devices, for all of their field employees. By and large, all field personnel are equipped with a cellular phone regardless of whether the mobile application is WAN-enabled. Converged devices with voice and data capability reduce the amount of maintenance involved for the IT organization as well as the up-front hardware investment and the cost of replacement devices.

Second, WAN-enabled maintenance applications enable time and materials to be tracked more effectively and in real-time, helping organizations to get better visibility into their supply chain. Improved time and materials tracking leads to more closed work orders per day and, therefore, an improvement in productivity. WAN-enabled applications also provide the opportunity to deploy Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology for the added benefit of call tracking and advanced reporting and management of human resources.

In addition, WAN-enabled EAM applications reduce travel time for a field worker, eliminating the necessity of visiting the office in the morning and afternoon to download and sync the day's schedule, ticket information, and updated application information. The asset worker is freed up to close more tickets per day.