Motorola Enterprise Mobility Services is designed to bring Motorola customers high quality support and repair. Comprehensive coverage is included as part of a standard contract.

This video gives you a behind the scenes peek at Motorola’s  impressive in-house Enterprise Mobility Services infrastructure.  

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about DecisionPont’s MobileCare™ Support including manufacturer support agreements.

Avalanche Mobility Center (MC) is a comprehensive management solution for the Wide Area Network enterprise that provides complete visibility and control of mobile devices from a central console. Avalanche MC streamlines the configuration, deployment and management of wireless networks while offering extensive flexibility by supporting a wide range of mobile devices over GPRS, EDGE, and 3G data connections and an optimized dual mode 802.11/Wireless WAN capability.  Avalanche also supports mapping of device location via GPS at no additional upfront or monthly cost, and the ability to send text messages to the device. 

Wavelink offers two versions of Avalanche: Avalanche Mobility Center (AMC) and Avalanche Site Edition (ASE). ASE is designed for customers managing between 10 – 10,000 mobile devices in a centralized deployment. AMC is designed for customers wanted to run in a distributed deployment. It can support upwards of 200 mobile device servers and each server can support up to 10,000 mobile devices. AMC can run on the SQL database it ships with or it can run on MSSQL Server 2005/2008. This version of Avalanche also has full support for Linux operating systems and also contains Infrastructure Management.

Both versions contain a Java interface with detailed user management, mobile device update schedules, extensive mobile device properties/tracking, and a robust reporting engine.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about Wavelink Avalanche.

Let’s face it, when you begin to consider the introduction of mobile technology into your enterprise; most of us first look at hardware.  After all, you can hold it and interact with it (press keys and view the colorful display).  While selecting the correct feature set of hardware (laser or imager, large keys or full alpha numeric) is important, your selection of mobile application software may play an even larger role in the acceptance, success and ROI of your mobile solution.

When considering mobile application software, there are three primary software options:

1. Purchase a pre-built “off the shelf” application.  A major advantage of “off the self” applications is that they are generally lower risk in that they have a previous installed base and someone else has worked out the bugs.  As a rule, these applications are quick to implement and many are now available on a subscription-based Software as a Service (SaaS) model.  The disadvantage to these applications is that they require you to change your business process to conform to the application.  For many companies, their business process is what makes them unique in the marketplace and as such is a competitive differentiator that cannot be compromised.
2. Purchase a mobile development tool and build to suit.  There are a number of companies that provide mobile development environments or “platforms” for the purpose of reducing the complexity of mobile application development.  These platforms provide many of the common mobile application feature sets and an interface to tie them together.  The advantage of these platforms is that they reduce some of the time and risk associated with development from the ground up efforts by providing pre-built and tested features that the developer can leverage.  The trade-off for such ease of use is that often the developer is limited to the features that the platform can provide.  Thus, understanding your business requirements in advance is fundamental to selecting the appropriate platform for your needs.
3. Purchase a purpose-built custom application.  Custom built applications provide the greatest flexibility in meeting your business needs.  This approach enables you to build mobile applications that directly support your business processes. When interviewing custom mobile developers, look for those that have significant mobile development experience as they are often able to leverage previous development efforts thus reducing the time and risk associated with new development efforts.  Also, the more experience they have in your particular industry the better understanding they will have of your vocabulary and processes thus improving the quality of the final deliverable.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about these mobile software  choices and which approach is best for your enterprise.

Our July 14 post introduced the topic of Push-To-Talk (PTT) explaining what Push-To-Talk is and its benefits to your business.

Many people are fans of Nextel’s Direct Connect Push-To-Talk feature.  The problem is you’re locked into Sprint-Nextel.  Even if you’re happy with them as your carrier, you’re still limited in your phone selection.  So what can you do if you really want the Push-To-Talk capability but you want to switch carriers or your mobile workers  need a ruggedized phone—perhaps with an integrated bar code scanner?

Until recently, there really were no alternatives.  Now there is.  Below is an audio demo:

Push-to-Talk Audio Demo

DecisionPoint and dwellingLIVE partnered on the successful deployment of PatrolLIVE, a mobile patrol officer solution for security companies.  PatrolLIVE consolidates all functions on a single Motorola mobile device utilizing RFID technology.  One of the most significant benefits for customers is that they can see the patrol officers’ activities in real time through the PatrolLIVE Web-based customer portal.

You can read the full press release here.  

Last March, Datamax and O’Neil, two industry leaders, combined to form Datamax-O’Neil, a global provider of industry-leading label and receipt printing solutions.

Their line of portable printers offer the rugged and reliable performance demanded for field services, route accounting and direct store delivery applications. 

Past posts have featured specifications and videos of the Motorola MC55 and MC75.  If you’re looking for a rugged portable printer to pair with one of those rugged mobile computers, look no further than the O’Neil product line. But don’t take my word for it.  Watch this brief and entertaining video titled “O’Neil 4t Factor: Running the Gauntlet” and you’ll be convinced that the 4t is designed to withstand extreme abuse including frequent drops, extreme vibration and constant jarring.  

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the line of O’Neil portable printers and which one is best for your mobile application.

We introduced the topic of Intrinsic Safety yesterday in our August 3 post.  In that post, I promised to cover the Intrinsically Safe definitions and standards today. 

Non-incendive Devices, Circuits, and Components: incapable of generating thermal or electrical energy sufficient to ignite a volatile atmosphere under normal operating conditions-although sufficient energy for ignition could be generated under fault conditions.  A Non-Incendive device is designed for use in environments where the specified hazard may be present, but is not likely to exist under normal operating conditions.

Class I is part of the National Electric Code definitions of hazardous location classifications and protection techniques. The Class I classification is a segment of the basic designation which is listed by “class” and “division”.
 
Class I locations are areas where flammable gases may be present in sufficient quantities to produce explosive or flammable mixtures. Class II locations can be described as hazardous because of the presence of combustible dust. Class III locations contain easily ignitable fibers and flyings. Division 1 designates an environment where flammable gases, vapors, liquids, combustible dusts or ignitable fibers and flyings are likely to exist under normal operating conditions. On the other hand, Division 2 is an environment where flammable gases, vapors, liquids, combustible dusts or ignitable fibers and flyings are not likely to exist under normal operating conditions. Hazardous atmospheres are further defined by “groups.”

Intrinsically Safe (I-Safe) Devices, Circuits, and Components: are incapable of generating thermal or electrical energy sufficient to ignite a volatile atmosphere under either normal or abnormal operating conditions. Consequently, intrinsically safe systems have much wider application than their non-incendive counterparts. Non-incendive systems are generally less costly and easier to maintain than either explosion-proof or intrinsically safe systems.

Class 1, Division 2 Safe Device: Device which is safe to operate in locations (1) in which volatile flammable liquids or gases are handled, processed or used but which are normally confined in enclosed containers or systems, (2) in which ignitable concentrations of gases or vapors are normally prevented by ventilation, (3) which are adjacent to Class I Division I locations and not separated by a vapor tight barrier.  An intrinsically safe device is approved for use in the specified class and division and will not produce any spark or thermal effects that will ignite a specified gas mixture.

ATEX: Derived from the French “ATmosphere EXplosible” (explosive atmosphere). Refers to Atex Directive 04/9/EC, the European regulation governing equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

 Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about non-incendive and Intrinsically Safe (I-Safe) mobile devices and what you need to protect your employees. 

Standard electrical equipment often creates internal sparks which can ignite flammable substances present in hazardous environments where flammable materials are handled and any leak or spill has the potential to form a an explosive atmosphere.

In these areas, it’s essential that mobile devices are rated either non-incendive or  Intrinsically Safe (I-Safe).  But what do these terms mean and how do you know whether you need either of these rated mobile devices?

Intrinsic Safety is a protection technique for safe operation of electronic equipment in explosive atmospheres.  A device termed intrinsically safe is designed to not contain any components that generate sparks or a hot surface due to any type of electrical fault that could cause an ignition.

The National Electrical Code classifies hazardous locations by class and divisions.  In these environments, mobile devices must be used with a corresponding rating. In tomorrow’s post, we’ll cover the Intrinsically Safe definitions and standards.

 Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about non-incendive and Intrinsically Safe (I-Safe) mobile devices and what you need to protect your employees. 

We introduced the topic of Data Safeguard Solutions in our July 28 post.   In that post, we said we would explore the three-pronged security solutions in more depth.   Today, we wrap up this discussion by addressing the topic of Mobile VPN products.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that establishes a private or secure network connection known as a VPN tunnel within a public network, such as the Internet.  The third-generation VPN, called the mobile VPN, is based on the TLS (Transport Layer Security, is the latest version of SSL) protocol, which has been optimized specifically for low bandwidth networks and mobile devices. 

Common features include:

• Mobile VPN based on the TLS (Transport Layer Security, is the latest version of SSL) protocol.   
• AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) data encryption.
• FIPS 140-2 certified.  FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) Publication 140-2, is a U.S. government computer security standard. 
• Authentication options: Smartcard, client certificate (X.509) and RADIUS.
• Compliance with wireless requirements for PCI, SOX, HIPAA, etc.

 In addition to the increased security offered by a mobile VPN product, the following are also benefits: 

• Single user log-in.
• Seamless network roaming including WLAN to WWAN.
• Session resumption allows for a very fast VPN reconnection without any user interaction.  
• Automatic resumption after hibernation.   This feature extends battery life.
•  Data transaction recovery. 

 Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to assist your company in determining the ideal mobile VPN product for you. 

We introduced the topic of Data Safeguard Solutions in our July 28 post.  In that post, we said we would explore the three-pronged security solutions in more depth.   Mobile device Security was addressed in our July 29 post.  Today we will address mobile security suites.

Security Suites provide protection for mobile devices from viruses, malware, data compromise, the effects of device theft, and unauthorized data access.    Some products support the full range of mobile operating systems including Windows Mobile, Symbian, iPhone, Palm, RIM, and Linux.

Common features include: 

• Virus Protection - protects mobile devices against malware delivered via e-mail, SMS, MMS, direct download, Bluetooth or infrared transmission. Typically this includes real-time scan of any file received as well as on-demand scans of internal memory, memory card and full device. 
• Firewall - protects users from threats. Firewall solutions typically offer bi-directional, packet filtering options, protecting the mobile device from accessing harmful or questionable content and preventing malicious content from being transferred to the device. Firewalls monitors cellular, Wi-Fi and phone-to-PC traffic blocking and rule-based filtering.

In addition to the above core functionality, mobile security suites may also include:

• Call and Message Filter - Blocks incoming SMS, MMS and/or voice calls from selected contacts and unknown users.  
• Mobile VPN

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to assist your company in determining the ideal security suite product for you.