Enterprise Mobile Technology

When I think about mobile technology, a handheld device is apart a object of the solution. The unit may or may not posses a touch screen, and may or may not have wireless capabilities. There is no "perfect" device, as every user and application has unique requirements, and depending on the specific technologies that your particular solution requires, the finest tools to meet your needs might be a very interesting combination.
By the time you finish reading this article, I hope you"ll have a dewy appreciation for often-boring technologies in your toolbox, and the potential that these technologies have to drive momentous return- on- investment for your mobile business solutions.
Barcode Scanning
Many devices have integrated lasers for barcode scanning, on the contrary there is also a plethora of add-on scanners that connect to just approximately any slogan through an expansion slot, cable, or Bluetooth.
While laser-based barcode scanners are certainly the standard within the industry, there is a flurry of innovation around optical "scanning" technologies that would remit a device to recognize a barcode through an image captured by a regular digital camera. In addition to a handful of SDKs that offer this capability, Motorola launched the MC35 with optical-only scanning and has absolutely done a lot to raise awareness about this emerging technology. Even so, there are still challenges to reliably scanning 1D barcodes optically, which are partly why divers companies are focusing on 2D barcodes for optical scanning on walking devices, including Microsoft"s new Live Barcode standard.
Another twist we can put on the barcode argument is actually displaying a barcode on the device that isbe scanned by external readers. While this may seem cutting edge, it is already continuance used for baseball and movie tickets, and the airlines are working together to assemble an industry average for wireless boarding passes.
Biometric Authentication
While some devices like the Toshiba Portégé G910 have built-in fingerprint scanners, there are also a variety of add-on devices that provide fingerprint scanning capabilities. Privaris offers a Bluetooth-enabled scanner, and Veridt has a scanner that can plug into a Compact Flash slot.
In appendix to authenticating a user for security purposes, this same biometric fingerprint scanning technology can be used for distinct other purposes as well. For instance, a nurse could scan a patient"s fingerprint to pull up their medical history and build any bottom line observations.
Other types of biometrics besides fingerprints are retinal, facial, gesture, and voice. Oki Electric has a retinal scanner for use with mobile devices, and VoiceIt Technologies has a mobile SDK product for voiceprint-based authentication. It is one shot a matter of age before all of these biometric technologies convert commonplace.
GPS Integration
Beyond traditional GPS applications like basic mapping and navigation, this technology is capable of contributing to many more types of solutions. For instance, take a facile positioning function-, and a field survey application can capture the GPS coordinates of where the data is physically being captured. In a twist on navigation, a field service solution can hold the location of the where the physical items are that need to be repaired, and can lead the technician to the exact spot to do the work. In a delivery solution, the mobile application could optimize the route to minimize drive time, and in a dispatch-automation solution, the mobile devices can all upload their current positions in real-time to the central system that can quickly make the worker that is best located to be assigned the job. Although these GPS-centric implementations are not necessarily complex, a little innovation can operate enormous return-on-investment. And with more devices arriving with integrated GPS all the time, and literally dozens of plug-in or wireless GPS add-ons, there is no brains not to comprehend this innovation.
Image Capture
Over the last infrequent years, the integration of a digital camera has become a commonplace addition to virtually every handheld and smartphone. When cameras first started to appear in mobile devices, many people struggled to grasp why anyone would applicability them. Now, but as period went by they have been adopted into the core of our culture. Celebrity rants, customer service blunders, and disasters are now captured instantly, and within seconds are e-mailed approximately the globe, posted on blogs, and displayed on news television. Just as these scenarios carry come so commonplace in our personal lives, so will enterprise-oriented moving solutions be able to leverage this technology. From attaching images of damaged property when processing an insurance claim, to beguiling pictures of products being delivered or services existence rendered, mobile applications can truly utilize the capabilities of built-in cameras. Much real-time streaming video conferencing is possible, and as wireless bandwidth continues to increase, so will the usability of those applications.
Even beyond that, equal capture technology can be used for object, character, and all the more facial recognition. Much in the corresponding way that barcodes can be "scanned" by processing the image of a barcode in the software, so can other types of recognition technologies use the same capabilities. Optical character recognition can moderate an image of printed text into actual text that can be formatted, processed, e-mailed, or saved in a database. By passing the captured image on to a network of back-end servers for bulky processing, wireless devices can even act as the mobile interface to sophisticated facial (or other types of) recognition systems.
Magnetic Strip Reading
There are not very many mobile devices with integrated magnetic strip readers, but thankfully there is a very wide selection of add-on readers. Given the standards in the various types of magnetic stripe cards, it is relatively manifest to bang out applications thato take advantage of this technology. One of the most familiar uses for this is capturing credit card swipes for processing worth at the point of sale. Another very common magnetic strip principles is for driver"s licenses. Imagine applying for credit by swiping your license, inputting your social security number and income, and digitally capturing your signature for instant approval. Beyond that, there are infinite applications that could be implemented with brand loyalty cards from airlines or hotel chains. Even manifold tradeshows record attendees" contact hookup on a swipe card to allow for accessible capture of data at exhibitor booths, and rather than using a "dumb" print terminal, a convincing mobile application could be used to grip additional customer information requests or even process sales orders.
Printing
There are actually several different types of animated printing technologies, and although they are similar, they are all designed for different purposes. On one hand, there are small ambulatory printers like ones made by Epson and Zebra that allow users to print small items like tickets or receipts. On the other end of the spectrum is the ability to print on any printer from anywhere, and software from companies like PrinterOn allow you to connect to their overhaul wirelessly over the Internet and print to your printers at home, the office, or even your hotel when you"re travelling. In the centre of that spectrum, there are medium-sized printers commensurate the HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer or add-ons from Anycom that let you print directly to the printer via Bluetooth. Nevertheless you might need to print from a mobile device, thankfully there are compelling tools available to help you achieve whatever want. Projection
How often do you lug your laptop halfway across the country dependable so that you can give a PowerPoint presentation? When I talk with businesslike road warriors, I regularly hear that whether it wasn"t for the presentation, they would equal as well prefer to leave their laptop behind. With technology from companies conforming Impatica, this is available today. By connecting a small video adapter to any VGA projector, a mobile device can transmit the presentation over Bluetooth or USB connection. But still beyond giving PowerPoints, this same technology can be used to pageant off the shade of your expressive device, in order to establish a specific application or perform training.
Further down the road in the next unusual years, tiny projectors testament de facto be embedded in your handhelds and Smartphones, where they will be able to project an carbon onto a tabletop or a wall. Companies like Explay and Microvision are creation meaning progress in reducing the vastness and power requirements of the projection mechanism, and eventually this will conceive the physical the screen magnitude insignificant as you will be able to use virtually any surface as your mobile display.
Radio Frequency Identification
While Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has achieved much of its current adoption as a result of mandates from Wal-Mart and others, the potential for this technology stretches far beyond supply chain management. Most of these deployments revolve environing fixed-mounted readers that automatically scan items on pallets as they move by. Even beyond that, RFID can do matters that are not feasible with barcodes. First, RFID tags can be authenticated, unlike most barcodes which are easily replicated. Additionally, RFID can store information in the tag and perform both read and write actions, while barcodes can only be read after they are printed, and the earful in the barcode cannot be changed.
Specifically from a mobile perspective, handheld RFID scanners are not line-of-site, which can be both a challenge and an opportunity. Provided tags are rapid together, they can be rapidly scanned in sequence, but the problem is that the user does not necessarily know which physical tags gain been scanned or in what order. While this could present issues in certain applications, it also allows a motile application to scan tags that are not visible. For instance, this could be tags that are inside a closed box, a sealed surgical instrument tray, or even inside an animal. And in that data can actually be written to the tag, a mobile field avail automation solution could actually store a record of the repair on the tag itself. While it will certainly take a drawn out interval to spread the akin of ubiquitous adoption as the barcode has done, RFID"s impact on the efficiency and workforce productivity of many business processes will be no less significant.
Signature Capture
Even though signature capture has traditionally been one of the most basic components of diverse mobile solutions since the extent handheld affair applications were first deployed, the importance of this capability is nonetheless immensely significant. With recent legislation upholding the validity and legally-binding globe of electronically-captured signatures, the ability to obtain and store these signatures is incredibly considerable for a wide range of mobile applications.
Many sales force automation solutions duty to capture a signature to close a sale, delivery applications must capture a signature to provide proof of receipt, and point of sale solutions need to capture a signature in certain cases to fulfill their merchant agreements when processing credit card transactions. There are limitless numbers of applications that require signature capture, and thankfully any device with a touch screen is capable of doing that.
Delivery Recognition and Transcription
When it comes to voice recognition, there are two indefinite types of applications. First are command-driven applications, like the au courant Microsoft Living Search Mmobile that allows you to do "Coffee" into your device and it will show you where the nearest Starbucks is. This type of technology has been around for a very long time, and is trustworthy as gangling as there is little background noise.
The other type of manipulate is transcription or dictation, and although heads keep been trying to do this for a very long time as well, the results have traditionally not been as good as voice commands. Additionally, the processing requirements of these solutions are positively high, and are so not very unlatched to mobilization. That is, until now. A convention called Simulscribe offers a competent service that will automatically copy your voicemails and e-mail them to you as text, which will not only change the way you deal with voicemails, but it also demonstrates how call transcription technologies can work today with mobile technologies: by passing the audio on to a server for heavy processing.
Accenture"s R&D labs have yet been working on a mobile application that can "coach" a salesperson through a conversation by recognizing the voice of both the salesperson and the customer;, the method could then pass tips or advice wirelessly through a Bluetooth earpiece worn by the salesperson. Wherever these voice-driven technologies go, the outlook will be quite exciting.
Realizing the potential
While all of these technologies by themselves can offer big league capabilities as you create mobile solutions for your organization, the true implied is realized by combining these technologies in your toolbox. For instance:
GPS Positioning + Biometric Authentication = Secure timecard that proves identitfy and location
Barcode Scan + Magnetic Strip Reading + Signature Catch = Completed sales transaction
Murmur Recognition + Projection = Interactive mobile sales demonstration
As your partnership explores its own potential for mobility, mention to this technology toolbox for ideas that might jog some of your own inspiration and innovation.
by Nathan Clevenger

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