In today's fast-paced technology world, a little knowledge goes a long way. The more you know about the latest technologies available in your field, the better equipped you are to serve your customers.
I will be representing ClickSoftware next month by presenting at the UCExpo (AKA: Mobile10) event which will be held in London.
The topic of my presentation will be: 10 Common Mistakes You Can Avoid When Selecting and Deploying a Mobile Solution.
So if you happen to be in the neighborhood, jump by and show us some love!
Although we usually see the iPhone as a great entertainment gadget less efficient for work, a recent research by the New York Times talks about the fact that during 2009 the number of companies using iPhone has doubled itself. In addition, around 70% of the companies listed in the fortune 100 are examining switching to the iPhone, mostly thanks to the improved support for Exchange.
Interesting.
Personally I find it hard to work with the iPhone mainly due to the lack of built-in multi-tasking (although this hack is really a great workaround).
As a result, I now work with the BlackBerry Bold on one hand (emails, documents and tasks, phone) and play with the iPhone on the other hand (photos, music, games, phone).
In field service, we barely see companies looking to deploy the iPhone, mainly due to the lack of physical keyboard and the delicate form factor. But also because of multi-tasking, integration with mobile hardware like barcodes, RFID, printers and more. We are waiting to see when will it be changed…
Following today's earlier post about the quiet release of Windows Mobile 6.5.3, we've decided to give it a decent test, and see how will ClickMobile look like when running on the new version of Windows Mobile.
So here it is:
ClickMobile running on Windows Mobile 6.5.3:
As you can see the top area was completely replaced with a smaller notifications bar. Clicking on it opens up a new improved notifications window.
In the bottom area, the traditional OK/X button now falls into the bottom right corner, the 2 soft menus are still located in a similar manner, and the start menu is now where it should be in the bottom left corner…
All of those buttons are now completely finger friendly.
I must say I really like the changes Microsoft did, especially placing the OK or X button in the lower area, making it much easier to reach it with the thumb.
After getting spanked by almost every respected tech / blogger with the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, it seems like Microsoft has decided to keep a low profile with the almost confidential release of Windows Mobile 6.5.3.
Version 6.5.3 has already quietly been released to manufacturing in December of 2009, according to a reliable source. There will be no announcement of this version. It will simply show up on shipping products whenever manufacturers are ready.
You've already seen plenty of videos of leaked 6.5.3 ROMs with the Start menu at the bottom, the thinner notifications bar, and user-arrange-able Start menu items. It's being billed as an even smaller upgrade to to 6.x than 6.5 was even though many of the UI changes look pretty significant to us.
As always we will update here at the MobileFever as soon as we certify ClickMobile to run on this version, exactly like we did when WinMo 6.5 was released.
Few days ago we enounced that ROK, a leading provider of building, repairs and refurbishment, and maintenance services, has selected the ClickSoftware ServiceOptimization Suite.
Rok will manage a full range of jobs with the application, from tasks involving just one technician and lasting a couple of hours to more complex projects with multiple stages, involving a number of technicians and lasting a few days. ClickSchedule will automatically optimize the arrival of the right technician in the right sequence to get the job done in line with Rok’s Service Level Agreement commitments.
All the required project information will be available to the technicians via ClickMobile on their handheld devices. They also plan to use these to update progress, such as closing off a job which will then support Rok’s billing system for fault free and faster invoicing.
ClickLocate will provide a real-time, holistic view of the technicians’ locations and Street Level Routing will show the fastest path for them to reach the customers. All this field information will then be passed to a business intelligence tool, ClickAnalyze, which will provide Rok’s leaders with a valuable insight into the delivery of its services and where improvements could be made. Rok can readily demonstrate to its customers precisely where its services are driving efficiencies.
Few days ago a new PR was released telling about Cables & Wireless selection and implementation of the Service Optimization Suite.
"Cable&Wireless has implemented ClickSoftware’s workforce management solutions including ClickSchedule, ClickMobile, ClickAnalyze, Street Level Routing and ClickLocate, which will enable the company to increase the average number of visits completed by each engineer in a working day. This means Cable&Wireless will be able to further improve the customer experience and productivity."
From the ClickMobile perspective, it was a pleasure working with people with such a good technical knowledge and I would like to wish Cables & Wireless the best of luck and great productivity using our solutions.
Gil.
Even though most of the following scenarios are not likely to happen in the real life - it's still one of the craziest videos I've seen, demonstrating the capabilities of the world's toughest rugged windows mobile PDA.
Check out the TK6000, from Juniper Systems.
Here are some specs:
