Distributors, primarily those who deliver baked goods, dairy products, soft drinks and beer to convenience stores and grocers, car parts to automotive dealership should use a route accounting system to mange direct sales from their trucks to their customers. In the course of conducting this work the distributor will load trucks with inventory, assign routes to mobile sales professionals, and send the stocked trucks out to stock the shelves, accept return goods, present promotions, and service the customer's needs.

The mobile sales professional during the normal workday needs to wear many hats. At each customer site, these workers handle everything from the physical delivery to general order management which includes invoicing, general merchandising and complete customer service. The mobile field workforce interfaces with the customer's needs day in and day out. As the main connection to your customers, the efficiency and effectiveness of these workers directly impact customer satisfaction, retention and perception of the brand they provide.

For organizations that use paper-based forms, the mobile workforce is subjected to the tedious and error-prone capture of information throughout the day. The information collected by the drivers must then be touched a second time and entered into the computer system resulting in costly labor intensive processes and the extraordinarily slow movement of information throughout the business process flows.

With the use of wireless (WWAN) mobile computers these mobile professionals have access to information on the distributors ERP system to obtain current pricing, inventory levels, current promotions, and everything else making them a mobile Point of Sale system. Having the ability to capture a customer's signature and print a receipt or additional invoices, the sales professional can complete the sales transactions instantly and also send the transaction data to the distributor's computer systems to begin billing process and adjust inventory levels.

Please contact us if you know of a DSD solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

Mobile Field Sales professionals need the right sales information on demand and real-time while they are in the field. With the use of wireless (WWAN) mobile computers and application software that have access to enterprise ERP data sales professionals have the data they need to make the most of every face to face meeting. Having access to this information allows a mobile sales professional the resources to process orders, submit new orders, view inventory levels, promotional information, provide the customer with expected delivery timeframes.

With the use of wireless (WWAN) mobile computers these mobile professionals have access to information on the distributors ERP system to obtain current pricing, inventory levels, current promotions, and everything else making them a mobile Point of Sale system. Having the ability to capture a customer's signature and print a receipt or additional invoices , the sales professional can complete the sales transactions instantly and also send the transaction data to the distributor's computer systems to begin billing process and adjust inventory levels.

This could also enable the mobile sales representative to capture competitor's pricing, give clients graphical display analytics and input special orders. Since the mobile sales professional is the face to an organization and has that business and personal relationship with the customer they often are in position to know what the customer needs and even what the competition is offering. Having access to sales data and information helps the mobile sales force to close additional business while on site, making them a remote Point of Sale extension to an organization. All of this will provide improve customer service and provide an advantage over the competition.

Please contact us if you know of a Field Sales solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

Utility companies are using handheld computers to collect electric, gas, and water usage while on their monthly rounds. Using a mobile computer , technicians collect consumption values and validate that the correct meter was read. This automated process eliminates the multitude of paperwork and the human errors associated with manual data collection.

Please contact us if you know of a Utility Meter Reading solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

A Mobile Field Service system could mean faster response times, increase the number of service calls, reduce travel costs and eliminate paperwork for both the company and the field service professional. These solutions made up of either enterprise digital assistants (EDA), mobile computers , wireless communications, and software empower mobile field service technicians with tools to work faster, track and bill labor, parts and material used, and up sell customers during service calls. Using mobile devices, from laptops to PDAs, to automate operations in the field would allow the better control and management of trouble tickets, eliminate paperwork, and streamline and standardized how work in done in the field.

Adding a Global Positioning System (GPS) to a Utility field service solution will allow the service organization to know where their trucks and technicians are at any time. This would be an aid when emergency or special dispatching is required. A field organization with this knowledge can make informed business decisions about how long a worker should arrive at a customer site or which remote worker is in the best position to handle the new or emergency. This will also allow dispatching to re-route the nearest vehicle when another vehicle is delayed.

Please contact us if you know of a Utility Field Service solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

The cost of paper-based citations is high, every year; millions of dollars are lost. Names and addresses can be misspelled, illegible handwriting, or technical error from entering wrong codes cause large numbers of tickets to be dismissed. Even if all this is performed correctly errors can still be made from clerks who enter that same hand written citation into various computer systems. By most estimates, between 10 and 15% of all traffic citations are dismissed due to errors related to spelling, legibility, and inconsistencies between violation codes and descriptions.

For example a police force that issues 60,000 tickets a year at an average of $75 a ticket has 10% of the tickets dismissed due to errors. This would result in loss in revenue of $400,000.

When a police force is equipped with the proper technology these errors can be reduced as well as the time to issue the citations. Using an electronic ticketing system, consisting of mobile computers or fixed terminals in the vehicles, police officers can enter most of the required citation information into an electronic form automatically. They can do this either by scanning the bar code or magnetic stripe on the violator's driver's license.

Application software on these mobile computers can provide drop down menus for violations and vehicle information and can automatically populate information such as statute violated, fine amount and court information. After the ticket is completed, a mobile or fixed printer with a WiFi or Bluetooth connection enables on-the-spot printing of the citation. The violator's signature can be captured on the mobile computers and if the mobile computer is equipped with a camera, photos can also be captured and appended to the citation records. If the mobile device has a real-time wireless connection, citation information can be immediately transmitted to the appropriate databases: one copy can be sent to the courts, and another copy to the police department.

For mobile devices without a real-time connection, the citation information can be uploaded via the in-vehicle Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), or, in the office at the end of the day by simply docking the device in its cradle. If a WiFi network is in place, the device can upload records automatically as soon as the officer enters the station.

Please contact us if you know of a Electronic Ticketing solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

Social caseworkers need to collect and access information in the office and while at remote client visits. With an integrated voice and data mobile computer caseworkers have the ability to do work the same work in the field as they would in the office. Calls and mileage can be automatically logged, photographic evidence with a time and location stamp can be recorded and instantly appended to the client file, documents can be captured and more.

The use of mobile devices would broaden the reach for the social worker to the client accelerating the flow of data back and forth so quicker decisions can be made while the worker is at the client's side, in real time providing a wireless WWAN communications are used. Data could also be stored and uploaded later when in the range of a WiFi network or when returning to the office. This would reduce the amount of paperwork generated and help prevent the human error from writing and then having to re-enter that data in to a computer system.

Please contact us if you know of a Case Worker solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277

Whether you serve your guests in a full service restaurant, by the pool or in a stadium seat, wireless tableside ordering and payment solutions can increase your sales, enhance the productivity of your servers and ultimately increase guest satisfaction.The time-consuming process of handwriting an order, walking it to the kitchen and re-keying it later for billing is obsolete when you equip your service staff with a mobile computer . Orders can be transmitted wirelessly to the kitchen or bar from the table, the check can easily be generated directly from the order, and card payments can be processed right at the table. Mobile computers are also a great tool for fast-food line busting.

Please contact us if you know of a Retail and Hospitality solution you would like to discuss with us. Randy Smith, Business Development Manager (Mobility) resmith@bluestarinc.com 800-354-9776 x3277