Seuic AUTOID9 Android Handheld Terminal is a classic high performance in premise Android PDA that is used in various industries. The design is based on backlit physical keys and a touch screen which is practical comfortable and easy to operate. AUTOID9 can fully meet the requirements of industrial and warehousing installations for stability and durability.
If you could not make it to Facilities Management show in Birmingham today here is the presentation we did with Hannah from SOTI “So What is Unified Endpoint Management”
Get in touch to book a meeting or product evaluation.
This year FM15 is co-located with Maintec and The Health and Safety Event at the NEC Birmingham from 24th to 26th March. We will be on stand F12F showcasing our latest Enterprise Mobility solutions and products.
Got questions about device management and “Android for Work” come along to our ask the expert on Thursday with Hannah Suttenwood of SOTI.
On the same day we will be at the business exchange presenting a talk called “What is Unified Endpoint Management”
“We will aim to unravel the alphabet soup of BYOD MDM EMM and UEM and help you understand the importance of Unified Endpoint Management as an approach for using mobility to refine business processes. UEM can reduce the total cost of ownership that comes from relying on mobility to deliver efficiency across an entire organisation. It is now one that can also be applied to a vast array of endpoints any device – anywhere – anytime”
Looking forward to seeing you in Birmingham..!
Our exhibition season kicks off next month with 2 great events.
If you have a mobile worker business process improvement project this year come along to see how we can help you.
Showcases the latest innovations and solutions in the world of FM. Co-located with Maintec Cleaning 2015 and The Health and Safety Event at the NEC Birmingham from 24th to 26th. We will be on stand F12F.
Our highlights include the latest intrinsically safe tablet devices from ecom, MobileDemand’s new xTablet Flex 8/Flex 10 and the Panasonic Handheld FZ-E1. Plus the launch of the Electric Compass tracking solution.
Got questions about device management and Android BYOD come along to our ask the expert on Thursday with Hannah Suttenwood of SOTI.
Also on Thursday 26th in the business exchange we will be presenting a talk called “What is unified endpoint management”
“We will aim to unravel the alphabet soup of BYOD MDM EMM and UEM and help you understand the importance of Unified Endpoint Management as an approach for using mobility to refine business processes. UEM can reduce the total cost of ownership that comes from relying on mobility to deliver efficiency across an entire organisation. It is now one that can also be applied to a vast array of endpoints any device – anywhere – anytime”
The premier exhibition for the Environmental Health and Pest Control Industry 25th & 26th in London.
The folks from Brother will be joining us featuring the PJ range of A4 thermal printers – great for printing visit reports on site. As well as the RJ mobile receipt and label printer.
Catch up with a live demo of PestWorxs our mobile app with contract and call out functionality for Pest Control Technicians. PestWorxs is built on enterprise grade IT architecture so that you can customise an app to match your processes and integrate with other systems. All for less than the price of a cup of coffee per day.
Come and find us at Stand 1. Sign up here.
Enterprise Mobility is all about increasing productivity and generating a return on investment Vs other demands in the business. Keeping on top of whats hot in the sector can make a huge difference to project performance and longevity. So what do we think will be the seven key enterprise mobility IT trends for 2015 ?
As users started to use their “entertainment” tablet for work use some thought that Laptops would simply get wiped out and Tablet sales would continue to rise. IDC commented that 2014 saw Tablet sales growth slow year on year to 7.2% from 52.5% in the previous year. It looks like the Tablet replacement cycle may be as long as Laptops – or even longer. The rationale seems to be that once a tablet is found to be good at doing whatever it is doing there is no need to replace it. Although slowing it is expected that Tablet adoption will overtake PC’s in 2015 according to Gartner.
We doubt that laptops are going the way of LaserDisc or fax machine anytime soon. In the enterprise this means more possibilities for remote users to blur the lines between having a rugged PDA for line of business apps Vs a keyboard based device for more white collar productivity tasks. Although not suitable in every scenario we see more people using Tablets or Hybrid devices to replace the main computer in their lives.
It has been coming for some time and without question a large number of enterprise mobility deployments ran on Android rather than Windows Embedded 6.5 in 2014. When Motorola Solutions the Gorilla in the sector gets acquired by Zebra it is a good sign that things have changed forever.
There are large numbers of users on this platform especially in the retail supply chain and T&L markets. So plenty of incentive in 2015 if you are a vendor coming from a different part of the market and a real headache for legacy manufacturers defending these accounts. Expect to see heavyweights like Panasonic in more traditionally “hand held” scenarios following the launch of their FZ-E1 and FZ-X1 devices.
Gartner says sales of smartphones grew 20 percent in the third quarter of 2014 in emerging markets were flat in Europe and up in the US. Growth is characterised by the continuing rise of Chinese Android brands and the narrowing of the difference in cost between feature phones and low cost smartphones. Gartner expects sales of smartphones to reach @1.9 billion devices world wide in 2014.
Low cost offerings like the Tesco Hudl and a slew of no-name rugged brands come with little or no real “enterprise grade” operational or break fix support. We believe organisations with more users will deploy solutions from major vendors such Samsung who recently launched the Tab Active an IP67 Android based inexpensive rugged tablet.
What about Microsoft…? Being late has characterised Microsoft in recent years. In the rugged space OEM’s using the embedded 6.5 and desktop Windows OS have taken a beating as many users moved to less costly devices that did not run a Microsoft OS. It finally got its act together with Windows 8.1. We predict more innovative and lower cost designs like the xTablet Flex 8 to beat off the opposition – but it will be tough.
Without doubt Fact ! In many organisations BYOD has been characterised by not being embraced by IT as fast as it is by employees wanting to access corporate data with their own devices. Turning the provision of mobility to white and blue collar workers into a competitive asset means aligning what may be formal and informal BYOD arrangements. Using device management as a method in security, application and financial management mobility scenarios is really the only way we see this happening
Carl Rodrigues CEO of SOTI commented “As global businesses establish and scale their mobility strategies, they can rely on our solution to manage smartphones, tablets and purpose-built mobile devices in addition to PCs, laptops and peripherals, from a singlepane of glass, no matter the operating system”
What if your SME enterprise does not have access to in house IT or the budget to fund a traditional enterprise mobility project ?
The good news is that many businesses already have competent devices in the form of SmartPhones or Tablets. Plus more line of business apps are deliverable via the cloud on a subscription basis. This will allow businesses to run a project with little up front cost that addresses how to increase internal productivity and deploy it with an excellent ROI.
Barcode Scanning has been around for decades and is considered to be the founding element of the Internet of Things. There are plenty of Android and iOS apps to allow your SmartPhone to scan using its camera. This is ok for ad hoc use but when higher frequency scanning is required a sled like the Honeywell Captuvo or separate Bluetooth scanner such as models form Socket are much more ergonomic to use. With the adoption of more SmartPhones and Tablets in the enterprise without integral scanning we anticipate seeing more of these in use next year.
If you supply the coffee we can bring our crystal ball to your office to discuss the seven key enterprise mobility IT trends for 2015 that may impact your project.
SOTI MobiControl Speed Control helps your enterprise by ensuring drivers are not using their devices while the vehicle is in motion. It can help minimise distracted driving and uphold your driver safety compliance guidance.
Brake, the Road safety charity says that “A study of in-vehicle video footage estimated that 22% of crashes could be caused, at least in part, by driver distraction. It also showed that drivers who perform a secondary task at the wheel are two to three times more likely to crash. Other studies have found that more complex secondary tasks, like talking on a mobile phone or texting, increase crash risk even more” Read More
In addition to speed control SOTI MobiControl has 5 key attributes:
SOTI MobiControl v12 will be available early in 2015. Latest release notes. Get in touch to arrange an evaluation.
We will be on stand 28 at the BPCA PPC Live 2014 Pest Control event next week in Salford showcasing key Enterprise Mobility solutions and products.
Come along and have a chat about how we can help you figure out how an enterprise mobility solution can reduce the reliance on paper based systems allowing for an increase in productivity and efficiency across your field based organisations.
PestWorxs – our mobile app with contract and call out functionality for Pest Control Technicians is built on enterprise grade IT architecture that you can integrate with other systems. All for less than the price of a cup of coffee per day.
Devices – Why use a Smartphone when you can experience superior lifetime total cost of ownership with a rugged Tablet or hand held device utilising Windows or Android operating systems.
No matter what device you use remotely control it with SOTI our most trusted provider of remote device management solutions for the enterprise. Learn more and sign up for a free trial.
Whatever the size of your project we will help you plan finance and implement a solution using proven products that improve business processes and generates a meaningful return on your investment.
Visit the BPCA Prize Wheel for the chance to win 1 of 25 bags of excellent MobileWorxs coffee. See you in Salford.
MobileWorxs will be exhibiting at Facilities Management 2014 which is taking place next month at the NEC in Birmingham.
Our stand F16B is adjacent to the BPCA Pavilion where we will be showcasing our latest Enterprise Mobility solutions and products from 11th to the 13th March.
We are focused on reducing the reliance on paper based business processes and increasing the visibility of in field operations. This allows our customers to monitor productivity and promote efficiency across their organisations.
Come along to the stand and take a look at solutions such as PestWorxs – the mobile app for Pest Control Technicians, which allows pest control teams to log calls at the office, issue jobs to field technicians and receive back up-to-date information.
FMWorxs & AssetWorxs are both field service and reporting apps specifically targeted at users in the FM building inspection and maintenance environments.
Safety and compliance have become hot topics for anyone with a fleet of vehicles. So we will be showcasing the world premier of “VisWorxs” our unique user-configurable vehicle inspection and defect reporting solution which helps ensure vehicles are roadworthy when they leave your depot.
All our systems are built on enterprise grade IT architecture, allowing you to deploy manage and integrate them into your CRM ERP or decision management systems.
Mobile solutions do need to run on something. So we will also be showcasing rugged Tablet and hand held devices utilising Windows and Android operating systems from leading manufacturers such as Panasonic MobileDemand and Intermec. As well as software from SOTI which is widely regarded as the world’s most trusted provider of Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions.
Our goal is to help you scope define and finance your project in such a way that you improve your business processes and generate a meaningful return on your investment. See you at the show.
“How does the solution work if there is no network connectivity”
If may be hard to believe but wireless Wi-Fi and WWAN networks are not always available or reliable. In many scenarios your enterprise mobility app will need to be designed to contain all the business logic data and process it needs but residing on the handheld device itself. This enables functionality both online and offline by returning the unit back to a dock. Historically this is a common approach with .NET based devices. Same logic applies where Android or iOS are being used. Some apps like Direct Store Delivery are often used in physical environments where network access is spotty and going off to find coverage to compete a transaction would take too much time.
Where wireless or wired access is available mobile workers can communicate with host business systems in real-time. Make sure your remote app can automatically or on command send and receive queued transactions content and messages via a secure connection like Netmotion Mobility XE. Features such as this optimise user productivity while minimizing transmission costs.
The benefits of using Wireless either across Wi-Fi or WWAN are clear but make sure you allow for both on and off line scenarios.
Worcester, UK – MobileWorxs announced today that it has joined forces with SOTI to resell the award winning Enterprise Mobility Management software, SOTI® MobiControl®
MobiControl allows companies to manage, support and secure their mobile field force using a web-based management console. With MobiControl, enterprises can control, access and secure mobile devices remotely, saving time, labour and money. Mobile administrators can locate, gather and track information and lockdown GPS enabled devices, enable security protocols and provide mobile application and document management capabilities. The system tracks hardware and software assets effortlessly.
Get in touch to learn more about how mobile device management can have a positive impact on your enterprise mobility deployment.
Having covered the software side of enterprise mobile device security in Parts 1 & 2, this blog will cover the hardware options to make your device and data secure.
If you are thinking “adding an SSL or Mobile VPN and device management software seems expensive why not cut out the data over the air and just use local Wi-Fi or docked Ethernet when in the office”. Limiting data transfer to within the four walls makes it very difficult for “eavesdroppers” to listen in. Jobs for the day can be synchronized to the device over night, the user can complete the jobs throughout the day and then return the unit to a cradle when the shift has finished.
This obviously limits what the mobile system can do. No new jobs can be sent to the user, no changes to the jobs, jobs cannot be assigned to a different user, no remote support or monitoring no results sent back in real-time so orders cannot be processed until the next working day. Overall when going mobile the pro’s of using a secure connection and device management outweigh the con’s.
With hardware, how can a log in confirm the user is psychicaly present? Using a biometric finger print scanner is one option. The user can slide their finger over the scanner which will confirm it against the device or against the backend server. It makes the device very secure as only that specific user can login. Application can also asked for user name and password is the finger print scanner becomes damaged or too dirty. You will find a bio metric scanner on some laptops and rugged PDAs such as the Motorola ES400, or an attachment for the MC75a.
Instead of finger print sensors, an alternative option is a smart card. Just like a security card is using to access through a door, a user can touch a smart card to a sensor. The card can then be validated over the network and the user granted access. The issue with this is that a user can still lose the card. If available for your chosen device like a rugged handheld the initial purchase and card replacements will not be cheap though.
The last hardware piece to cover is a TPM (Trusted Platform Module). These chips are installed on the motherboard, which store certificates, passwords, but primarily encryption keys. Threat of hacking (software or accessible hardware) or physical device theft is reduced, and device authentication must pass via this chip. Currently these chips are only found in desktops, laptops like the XRW and tablets but could be installed to all devices.
So in three parts we have looked at device security out of the box, the potential problems if not secure and the options available to further secure you device, data and network.
Key point: Think about mobile device security in the planning stage and before your project gets off the ground!
Do not get spooked by potential enterprise mobile device security problems call us to discuss how we can help your project to address your key business issues.
Guest Post by Timothy C B Cox with some great advice on getting the best out of your enterprise mobile data plan.
Fact: Network providers want to sell you their most expensive data plan.
Fact: Network providers like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Vine and other apps that push photos into their cloud with the best quality image. But your enterprise photos need to get back into your system as fast as possible to be of value.
Uploading images to your cloud can make up a high percentage of your data plan. So understanding this better can help reduce your data plan and reduce costs!
Your enterprise mobile photos need to be of good enough quality to do the job but small enough to avoid long upload times and excessive data plan usage. There is no need to use the highest resolution photo available.
A single transaction typically involves more than one photo, so the problem is compounded by the need to complete the work and being about to transmit all the information in a timely manner.
Capturing the information is only the start. Once the image (and other data) has hit your cloud or other systems the image will need to be viewed by others who are using different systems.
These different systems may need to display the image in different ways. Be sure to establish the best common width and height of your photo. This will reduce the need for post-processing of the image and any subsequent problems displaying the image for other users on different Windows Mobile Android or iOS devices.
There are many image types you can use, but without prior consideration you may choose a format not best suited for your solution.
There are many formats with JPEG being the most common image, but if you want to take photos of forms or drawings may not be suitable. Which one ?
You can take the photo at the maximum resolution the mobile device is capable of then reduce the image size and perhaps change the file format for transmitting. You can then retain the high quality image on your mobile device if it is needed later.
Note: You will need to purchase extra flash storage for these full size images.
Key Point: Images are an important part of your mobile system especially if being used to enforce compliance. Once you have decided on the image size you will need to stop anyone from changing your settings. Buy software to perform MDM Mobile Device Management and lock down your mobile devices preventing users from changing all of your device settings.
Timothy C B Cox Mobile Workforce Strategy Consultant based in Dubai. Get in touch with Tim through Linkedin
Call us to discuss how we can help keep you in the picture and ensure your enterprise mobility project addresses your key business issues.
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