Sometimes you find out the hard way you may have underestimated what kind of tool you should get for a job.  You do research to try to match what’s out there with your needs and, more importantly, your budget.  Occasionally, sacrifices are made because there’s just not enough money to get every perk you’d like.  We recently had an email from just such a customer who underestimated their needs and paid dearly for it. 

This particular customer made a large order (from a competitor) of consumer grade equipment.  He soon discovered his mobile employees were a lot rougher on the equipment than he anticipated.  About 35% of the non-ruggedized devices broke in the first 6 months.  The batteries drained too quickly and the workers had difficulty managing two separate devices instead of simply having a scanner with phone capabilities.  The software was confusing to his employees and connecting the Bluetooth scanner was problematic.  It was rapidly becoming apparent that the large order he placed was not right.  Unfortunately, he was now stuck with incompatible and broken equipment that wasn’t getting the job done.

Once the customer came to us, we were able to ensure he had exactly what he needed to meet all of the challenges.  We hooked him up with Intermec products since he was familiar with that quality brand and the Intermec CN50 could handle all aspects of the work.  We also ensured that the devices worked well inside of their pre-existing network and that the mobile workers could easily navigate the software.  Since he switched away from the consumer devices, the customer’s been pleased to report not one unit has broken. 

You’re not saving money if you have to go back and pay more money to fix what you bought the first time.  To make sure you’ve considered every angle before you pull the trigger on your next big order, contact a RACO product specialist at 1-800-446-1991.

If you have used an Intermec CK3 with WM6.1 you may notice that the Internet explorer (IE) works a little differently.  This applies to OS version 3.45.26.0031 and SSPB 6.20.33.0471.  There is a feature that is missing and has been an issue for at least one of our customers.  If you go into the menu on IE and then tap on view, you will notice the usual options have changed.  One that seems to be popular is the “Fit to Screen” option.  There is a registry key that can be edited to bring this feature back.

NOTE: edit the registry at your own risk.  You will need to use a mobile registry editor (you can find free ones on Google) and edit this registry key - HKLM\Security\Internet Explorer\MSHTML=0.  After you change this key to 0 the old view menu magically appears.

BEFORE

AFTER

We get asked all of the time about justifying the cost of a rugged mobile computer over a non-rugged or a consumer-grade device. Depending on the product, there can be a large cost differences between the two product types. There are three points that we like to make when justifying the cost difference:

1)      Ruggedized mobile computing devices like the Motorola MC55 is designed to resist damage from drops, humidity, misuse and other environmental issues. Consumer- graded devices are not designed this way and after-market cases only provide minimal protection. To put it simply, you drop it….you break it.

2)      Battery life is a very important factor for mobile computing. Ruggedized devices are intended to work for a full eight hour shift with options available to extend this time. This does not just include voice communications – it also includes data transmissions, scanning, image capture and all of the other functions needed for a mobile worker. The battery life for consumer graded devices will die out after only a few hours if used in this way.

3)      The costs for IT to support consumer-graded devices are nearly three times as high due to the increased failure these products. We ask a very simple question…do you want your valuable IT personnel to spend their time on IT projects or troubleshooting broken smartphones? 

For detailed information about the total cost of ownership for mobile computing, view Venture Development Corporation’s white paper. For more information about the value of ruggedized mobile computers, contact a RACO product specialist or visit www.racoindustries.com.

Instant Messaging(IM) on Windows Mobile(WM) seems like it would be simple to implement with four major IM providers offering solutions.   However, when it comes to WM, not all solutions are created equal. GoogleTalk and Yahoo! only offer web browser based IM.    AIM has an application client which looks and works very well.   However, the overall winner is the Windows Live Messenger (formally known as MSN Messenger) client.  A nice advantage of the Windows Live Messenger is that the application comes embedded into WM and a login is the only setup step required.  Live Messenger sets itself apart further by offering one other feature; let’s call it ‘Push-toTalk’ IM.   Any microphone equipped WM device can record a message with just a single click to record and another click to send.  The voice clips are transmitted nearly as fast as any IM message and can be replayed multiple times or saved.   I was very impressed with the sound quality through such a simple connection.  All IM conversations can be archived and viewed at a later date.

Alternatively there are several 3rd party IM programs such as Fring or Agile for example, which facilitate the use of multiple simultaneous  IM carriers.  www.fring.com    www.agilemobile.com
While researching the Google solution I did find an application that showed much potential - Google Latitude.  With this free and easy to use application you can see the current location of all your contacts.  In the mobile arena or DSD, it is a great way to be able to see the location of all mobile assets. 
And for headquarters there is an iGoogle plug-in that integrates easily and allows for asset tracking.  Tracking is accomplished via assisted GPS and is therefore accurate within 1600 meters.  A GPS enabled device is not required.

Have you ever tried to do a search on your mobile phone for the closest pizza place but get a very slow response or a bunch of useless information? If so, then you have not been using the best search engines designed for mobile phones. Mobile searches through Yellowpages.com, Hotels.com as well as a few others are easy to use and designed for the mobile environment – the search information minimizes the amount of data sent to the mobile phone i.e. graphics, ads, etc. and only delivers the relevant information that was requested.  The results even include a map of the search result and if needed, driving directions from your starting location. All you need is input what you are looking for and where you are and the mobile search engine will do the rest.  

Behind the scenes, the technology that performs the search and provides results is a bit more complicated. Basically, it utilizes a proximity search feature (x/y coordinates) to determine the closest place that you are looking for in real-time. Once that location is determined, the information is then delivered to the mobile device in order of relevance and location closest to the user. These mobile search sites are also designed for the slower transmission speeds of the wireless world and to fit the screen size of the available devices. The results appear within a couple of seconds and formatted so the content is easily viewable.  After all, who wants to waste time on bad searches when there’s a great pizza joint not far from you?

T-Mobile's UMA technology 

Make or receive mobile phone calls without utilizing my minutes? Browse the internet or send wireless e-mails without worrying about the amount the data I will use? All of this while receiving near flawless voice reception? Yes, this is all possible and the technology is readily available and easy to begin using today.

It has been over a year since T-Mobile has released its UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) technology for mobile phones and mobile users have yet to truly take advantage of this amazing technology. Very simply, mobile phones with UMA, like the BlackBerry Curve and 8900, allow the user to send and receive phone calls over a WiFi network. Data transactions including e-mail access, WAP and internet browsing can also occur. This gives the user the unique ability to receive near flawless reception while not utilizing minutes or data from their wireless plan. As long as as you have access to a WiFi network, you can begin taking advantage of this technology with a few, easy setting adjustments. This can take place at home, at work or anyplace where you can access a wireless network regardless of the quality of the cellular signal. The mobile device will even remember previous networks and automatically connect your mobile device as long as the settings have not changed.

Unlike wireless SIP, VoIP or Skype smartphone applications - UMA allows a user to seamlessly transition back to the GSM network when talking out of WiFi range.  This allows a user to start a phone conversation at the workplace or home where a 802.11 b/g  network is available and continue the conversation, uninterrupted, when walking or driving out of range.

Want to learn more? Contact a RACO Wireless sales representative to learn about T-Mobile's UMA technology and how it can improve your mobile needs.

Socket Mobile has just made the BlackBerry a notch cooler and more useful than it already is.  Socket now supports their 7 series Bluetooth bar code hand scanners with the BlackBerry Curve, Pearl and Bold.

A few applications that come to mind are:

-Inventory tracking for route sales

-Bookscouting (searching for bargain books to resell)

-Mobile price checking

-Retail market research

You only have to load a small application on the BlackBerry and then pair it with the Socket Bluetooth scanner and you are ready to start scanning.  The BlackBerry will treat the scan as data entered from the keypad; so the scan will input anywhere you have a cursor.

Don’t have a BlackBerry or need an application developed for the BlackBerry?  No problem, contact RACO Industries to speak with a representative about your specific needs.

Wireless Guru,

My company has twelve 802.11b/g wireless access points installed throughout a 185,000 square foot facility.  We recently deployed a large number of WiFi enabled mobile computers running the Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system.  We've encountered issues where devices freeze up regularly and lose their IP address.  Many times, the devices require a restart in order to reconnect to the WLAN.  We've verified that the signal stregnth is adequate throughout the building and all devices are configured correctly, what could be causing this?  Please Help.

Initially here is the problem that I think you are running into with your wireless infrastructure.  Though it may seem like a converged network, the stand alone access points/wireless routers will not communicate together and will therefore never negotiate a handoff or roam from one access point to another.  Each access point is broadcasting the same SSID and quite possiblly the same channel, and know nothing about each other.  Therefore there is a huge disconnect between what the handheld expects and what the multiple networks can deliver.  Bottom line, if a device ever roams correctly it is not by design but by chance and luck.  Whenever a device does have to roam it will have to disconnect from the network and then reconnect again, and that will only work if every access point is setup exactly the same.  And even if they are setup correctly you will still not be able to effectively roam.  In this setup each access point is a completely separate network.       Now you did not mention DHCP, but each of these units could be acting as a DHCP server, however in practice you never want to have more than one DHCP server and one in this scenario, will not work.

The solution to the problem is a converged network, a central controller which then controls all of the access points.  The controller has all of the network configuration and it manages all of the access points.  The controller will also manage all of the roaming and ensure that devices are always connected to the wireless network.    

To avoid the problems you are experiencing, centrally controlled or mesh is the only way to go in a multiple access point environment.  These type of networks are something we do have a lot of experience with, either troubleshooting or design and installation.

In the past year, we’ve been working on creating videos to help demonstrate products, show troubleshooting techniques, and point out solutions to help your business.  We recently hit a mini-milestone with our 50^th video.  

The fine folks from Datalogic stopped by for a visit to show off their products and point out which ones would be useful for certain industries.  This particular demonstration highlights scanning solutions for healthcare environments.  It’s an important distinction because this equipment needs to withstand regular sterilization and operate in such a way as to not disturb resting patients.  Datalogic has created a number of products that do just that and you can see that in the above clip. We’re already ramping up production on more videos to show you what RACO has to offer.  It shouldn’t be that much longer before we hit our 100^th video.  Keep checking back on RACO Industries’s YouTube channel for more helpful tips and solutions.