We’ve provided a lot of information in past posts about the features and benefits of micro kiosks, but did you know that adding the right printer to a kiosk can further enhance your customers’ experience?  Providing your customers with a micro kiosk that enables on demand self-service features is only the beginning, with a kiosk printer your customers can:

• Print coupons
• Print online order information for pickup
• Print value-added information such as “how-to” guides and recipes

DecisionPoint Systems can provide you with the right hardware and the right software to create an affordable all-in-one kiosk solution to better satisfy your customers.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about all-in-one kiosk solutions for self-service applications.

Optimizing customer deliveries is critical for Direct Store Delivery (DSD) providers.  Employing a proven enterprise solution for your mobile sales force will increase accuracy, productivity and customer satisfaction.  MiTEzSales Mobile is MiT Systems’ flagship Sales Force Automation software designed for use by mobile sales representatives in the DSD Industry.  MiT EzSales Mobile offers a suite of applications:

Pre-Order Sales- Pre-sales representatives use MiTEzSales Mobile to write up orders that will be delivered by a driver on a future day. Sales and inventory history is available to provide accurate up to date information, discounted items are flagged, promotions schedules are available, and close to code items can be highlighted giving the sales rep all the information they need for improved order writing.

Driver Sales- MiTEzSales Mobile provides an easy and accurate means for on-site order fulfillment. Historic sales and inventory data is displayed, promoted or discounted items are flagged and promotion schedules are available, providing all the information the driver/sales person needs to develop the right order.

Delivery / DEX- Delivery personnel are able to manage and perform all route functions from the mobile device.  Specific deliveries are selected from the complete delivery schedule, truck inventory can be tracked and verified; all invoice transactions and adjustments are performed on the device; accounts receivable, collections, and payments are made; credit and debit memos can be issued (if authorized); signature capture and on-site portable printing allow delivery personnel to provide a complete transaction record for the customer.
 
MiTEzSales Mobile software can be loaded onto a Motorola MC35, MC70, or MC 9000 series handheld wireless device and used in combination with a Zebra RW 420, RW 220, or MZ 320 portable printer to provide a mobile solution designed for DSD.

Let’s Get Mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for more information about MiTEzSales Mobile software and solutions designed for the DSD industry.

Proof of delivery solutions that leverage mobile devices can help your business maximize productivity and realize improvements in delivery tracking and overall reporting.  DecisionPoint’s select software partner Global Bay offers a Proof of Delivery solution that can help your mobile business realize these benefits and many more.

GBmobile Proof of Delivery combines an easy-to-use mobile interface for field workers with a feature rich back-end web management system.  With GBmobile Proof of Delivery you can easily stay connected to your mobile workforce and utilize mobile devices to schedule, dispatch, track and complete deliveries.   Your workforce will gain access to the following features via their handheld mobile computers:

• View schedules
• Accept/reject pickups
• Real-time schedule updates
• Scan packages
• Photo capture
• GPS and routing
• Pickup/delivery completion
• Signature capture

By enabling real-time proof of delivery GBmobile will minimize human error, increase accuracy and improve productivity.

Let’s get mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. for more information about how GBmobile Proof of Delivery can help you achieve improvements in delivery and logistics.

Motorola’s Mobility Services Platform (MSP3) is a comprehensive centralized deployment and device management solution.  MSP3 can be used from virtually any location to automatically stage and provision mobile devices, update the software on deployed devices and easily troubleshoot user problems regardless of where the devices are located. 

MSP3 has an intuitive Web-based interface.  Its 3-tier distributed architecture using IP communication enables it to support up to 100,000 mobile devices distributed across 2,000 relay servers located in around the world. MSP3 is offered in three modular editions: deployment, software management, and asset tracking and device support.  MSP enables customers to be up and running right out of the box and ensures mobile devices are always loaded with the most current software.  With remote device management, mobile workers can focus on their jobs rather than troubleshooting mobile computer issues.

MSP3 is network and carrier agnostic.

 Let’s get mobile!  Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about Motorola’s Mobility Services Platform (MSP3).

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.

It’s news to no one that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing tremendous challenges.  In 2003, the Postal Service drafted the Intelligent Mail Corporate Plan, which described the vision for Intelligent Mail in part to  “…place an information-rich code on all mail, aggregates of mail, and business forms, enabling end-to-end visibility into the mailstream.”   Recent progress is making this vision a reality. 

Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB)has been implemented to support expanded visibility into the postal network.  The Full-Service option provides a significant enhancement to that infrastructure.  As part of Full-Service, customers submit electronic documentation that provides details about the mailpieces and aggregates in their mailings, including the unique Intelligent Mail Barcodes applied.

Three key priorities were identified in 2003 that set the direction for achieving the Intelligent Mail Vision: 

• Strategy 1: Uniquely identify mail and aggregates.  The introduction of IMB has enabled unique identification of pieces, handling units, and containers.  Each bar code is mailer-applied and has a common customer identifier called the Mailer ID (MID) and serial number identifying a piece within a single mailing .  IMB is used by mailers and the Postal Service to uniquely identify mail and increase visibility of movement across the network. 
• Strategy 2: Develop and deploy enabling infrastructure.  In May 2009, the Postal Service launched the Full-Service option for mailers.  The systems deployed to support Full-Service provide enhanced visibility into the mail supply chain and facilitates the exchange mailing data between customers and the Postal Service.  Systems and enhancements are also being deployed to enhance mail quality by linking information about mailers to mailpieces.
• Strategy 3: Enhance address quality. The Postal Service spends over $1 billion dollars each year handling mail that is undeliverable-as-addressed.  IMB implementation has improved address quality by improving new address correction options and the change of address process, and identifying further Undeliverable-as-Addressed mail and Address Management System improvements.

Four new strategies have been identified for 2009 that update and enhance the original vision: 

• Strategy 4: Measure and improve commercial mail performance
• Strategy 5: Drive product innovation
• Strategy 6: Sharpen Operational Insight
• Strategy 7:  Enrich the customer experience

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the Intelligent Mail Vision and for assistance complying with Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) requirements and to help your business fully benefit from it.

Envisioning, designing and building a new enterprise system is very rewarding for many of us.  However, the value of these systems is gained through their continued operation.  For this reason, ongoing support and maintenance is a fundamental aspect of all enterprise systems and as such must be considered early in the process and support strategies must be included in the design process.

Support considerations must take into account all system components (hardware, application software, infrastructure, etc) as well as operational concerns (number of shifts per week, holiday coverage, required uptime levels, etc.). Once the operational requirements are identified, specific support strategies should be designed to minimize the outage of each system component.

When evaluating support options it is beneficial to look for integrated offerings from a single source.  This approach provides the broadest coverage and reduces outage delays due to the transfer of issues from one organization to another. 

Prior to evaluating third party vendors, examine your internal resources to gain an understanding of what you can and cannot do.  For example, many companies can leverage their internal support desk for troubleshooting tier 1 mobile device issues.  However, many of these organizations generally do not have the detailed knowledge to identify and resolve root cause issues, especially if the organization is new to mobile or wireless technologies.  In addition to evaluating your internal skill sets, also evaluate your resource availability as supporting 20 devices is much different than supporting 200 or more.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the best support strategies for your enterprise and DecisionPoint’s MobileCare™ Support. 

Our August 17 post introduced the topic of Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB)—also known as OneCode and the 4-State Barcode.  IMB replaces the postal POSTNET and PLANET barcodes and will be required starting this fall for companies looking to receive the maximum USPS automation discounts.

Motorola offers several imagers capable of decoding the new IMB symbology.  One model is the DS9808 digital imager scanner.  This scanner features a hybrid form factor for both handheld and hands-free scanning modes. Its latest scanning technology enables it to support 1D and 2D omnidirectional bar code scanning and sub-second image capture, as well as the ability to capture images and signatures.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about the line of imager scanners that can decode the IMB sysmbology. 

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.

Last week, DecisionPoint announced the launch of its MobileCare™ support services program, a customized suite of service offerings designed to maximize the value of our customers’ mobile systems.  MobileCare™ offerings include:

• Technical Support: troubleshooting assistance for mobile computing, printing and wireless networking issues.
• Software Support: extend life of your valuable software investment by ensuring your software applications continue to function properly.
• Remote Device Management: remotely troubleshoot problems, provide software and security updates, remotely disable lost or stolen devices and more.
• Express Depot: spare pool of pre-configured mobile devices
• Manufacturer Maintenance: support agreements  from manufacturers offered through DecisionPoint

Click each offering title to go to the offering page on the DecisionPoint website. You can also read the press release here.

Contact DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. to learn more about MobileCare™.