The only competitive advantage remaining today for any business, irrespective of what industry you’re in, irrespective of where you reside on this planet, is the ability to obtain and act on information ahead of your competition. No matter what business you’re in, whether it's oil and gas, whether you’re in healthcare, whether you’re a logistics company, it doesn’t make any difference. Your ability to get information into the hands of people who need that information, and enable them to act on and interact with that information before the competition can is what's going to make a difference in terms of business success.  So that should be a good motivator for you to start thinking about mobilising people. If they are out and about, working with customers directly involved in business activities, they need access to your network, they need access to IT resources, and they need to do it faster than the competition can. 

Core Objectives for Contemporary Mobility

 Minimise, if not eliminate, the behavioural and performance differences that exist between wire line and wireless capabilities: 

• Throughput

• Reliability/Availability

• Access to applications and data  

Wireless can do anything that wire can do, and without the need to find a place to plug in: 

• Location-independence, virtual office

• Any application Extending mobile user base beyond service, sales, vertical markets, etc. 

The Future of IT…is in mobility 

• Mobilising all enterprise IT services and capabilities

• Wireless as the default or even primary vehicle

• Advances in technologies, standards, networks, devices

• As with wire (and just about everything else in business), the key is management

• Maximise productivity – ease of use, transparency

• Reduce costs – time saving, administration costs etc.   

A feature-packed high performance GPS handheld

Productivity and patient care could be improved by remote IT access for community health workers.

Is it the end of the clipboard in hospitals?

Mobile technology for community health workers could increase productivity by a quarter, reduce travel time by a third, and improve patient care, according to the results of an NHS trial.A three-month pilot run by Nottinghamshire Health Informatics Service allowed community clinicians and therapists to securely access clinical systems and patient records on the move.Electronic versions of NHS forms were downloaded on staff’s PDA, to enable them to complete patient forms remotely. Such forms and patient records can be completed off-line and in remote locations. User’s  were given PDA’s to carry out their daily patient checks.

iGroup’s ‘Dynamic Forms’ can assist the NHS, as the device allows real time access allowing nurses to respond to referrals while on their rounds. Using a paper system, if a patient requires a blood test, they must wait until a nurse comes off their rounds to see the note. The nurse can receive the request and respond immediately.

"Because a quicker blood test means a quicker diagnosis and quicker treatment, people can get out - and no one wants to be in hospital," said Salford staff nurse Jenny Quilliam.The results of the trial showed the potential for a 25 % increase in productivity, reduction in travel times of 32 %, with the potential to reduce commuting by 50 %.On average 96 % of patient notes were completed on the day - without mobile working, there is typically a delay of up to 48 hours as workers report back to the office to write up notes.Users perceived an average of 70 % improvement in facilities to do their job.

‘The mobility trial has helped to transform the way community clinicians and therapists work,’ said Stuttle.‘Users have access to real-time information, enabling them to plan their day better and have direct contact with colleagues and hospitals. This solution is helping to deliver the highest quality care for patients.’

With iGroup's solution, ‘Dynamic Forms’, which will help increase productivity in the NHS and reduce travel times, as well as giving maximum ROI will mean to end of hospital clip boards.

CN50 Mobile ComputerThe Industry’s most advanced rugged mobile computer 

The CN50 is the ONLY wireless mobile computer that combines small and light-weight form factor with a rugged design to deliver that most advanced, high performance voice and data communication solution specifically designed for the HIGHLY mobile field worker.

The CN50 is the first device in the industry to offer a 3.75G wireless WAN Flexible Network™ Radio, the CN50 allows enterprises to finally standardize on a single hardware platform that can be configured for either CDMA or UMTS wireless networks. This gives enterprises the flexibility to choose the network that provides the best geographic coverage and the lowest cost

Intermac introduced the CN50 mobile computer as “a new class of device” and “game-changing product”, referring to the small, light and rugged computer’s support of 3.5 G and 3. 75G wireless wide area network HSUPA radio technology that can result in data upload speeds up to five times faster than any other mobile computer available.

The Intermec CN50 stresses secure standards, customer satisfaction, maximized ROI as well as total cost of ownership, all mandating a new generation of smaller, lighter mobile computers with advanced performance and features.

Intermec saythat the device is 25% smaller and lighter than similar mobile products, with dimensions of 6.05 x 2.9 x 1.1 inches and weighing about 11 ounces. That's very compact by rugged handheld standards without a doubt, and the CN50, on top of including more functions than a Swiss army knife, is amazingly tough. It can survive 5-foot drops, operate in a wide temperature range of 14 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and is sealed to IP54 specifications, which means its pretty much dustproof and can survive water spray from all directions. Further proof that this is a state-of-the-art device is the integrated 3.1-megapixel coloured camera with auto-focus, flash, an integrated digital compass for enhanced GPS functionality, and an accelerometer that handles display orientation and much more. For data capture, there is an integrated 1-megapixel area imager with laser framer and aiming that supports omnidirectional scanning and decodes of 1D, 2D, composite and postal codes as well as signature capture.

The CN50 also supports eMDI (Enhanced Mobile Document Imaging), an optional Intermec software application that lets mobile workers capture full page paper documents with the CN4's imager and convert them into electronic documents right at the point-of-transaction. These high-quality document images can then be transmitted to back office applications in real-time, potentially simplifying workflows, shorten billing cycles, and providing customer service and shipping operations ready access to documents for faster processing.

The CN50 is available with either a numeric or QWERTY with backlit keypad. Among other accessories are a vehicle holder, quad battery charger, four-bay multi-dock for charge only or charge and Ethernet, as well as various RAM mount options. Whereas mobile computers almost exclusively used Intel XScale processors in the past, there are now other options.

The CN50 uses a multi-core architecture with a 528MHz ARM11-based main processor and an ARM9-based radio processor, likely a Qualcomm combo. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1, has 128MB of RAM and 512MB of Flash ROM, a 3.5-inch 240 x 320 pixel transflective displays with LED backlight, but apparently no expansion slot(s). The device is powered by either a standard 3.7V, 1,950mAh battery or an extended battery that packs 3,900mAH, but does not add to the size of the device. In summary, the Intermec CN50 packs an awful lot of data capture, computing and communication functionality for mobile workers who rely on "hold & carry" customer interaction and appreciate a single device that combines all their needed tools into a single, rugged, compact package.

See http://www.ruggeddirect.co.uk/ on details of how to purchase and for more information.

- Despite the global recession 26% of enterprises are planning to increase their IT budget in North America, Europe and the Middle East in the fourth quarter of 2009 and into 2010.

- Adoption of enterprise mobility solutions is set to increase in 2010.

- A survey of 1110 IT decision makers in 2009 found that in the next two years 38% of enterprises will have deployed a mobility solution, up from 29% in 2008.

- Healthcare will lead growth in mobility solutions adoption

- Mobile technology is evolving to suit the changing demands of mobile workers

- Investing in mobility solutions benefits the whole organisation, not just the mobile employees.

Has your organisation developed a mobility solution?

sept 2009.pdf (806.10 kb)

igroup have launched their September 2009 newsletter which can be found on www.igroupltd.co.uk.

By reading igroup's monthly newsletter find out about what igroup are up to, what new prodcuts and services we offer and updates on igroup's staff and customers.

Each month you can read how igroup have helped their client's to run faster with increased efficiency and productivity whilst being more competitive and helping them to cut cost's. Find out where you can see igroup at trade show's and seminars, and if you can't make it, updates on how they went will be published in the newsletter and igroup will add pictures of its staff at events, seminars and with clients.