Benefits of Wireless Dispatch

A few short years ago, only the top players in a given market segment had the foresight and ability to implement a specialized data dispatch system as a means to improving their operational efficiency and customer service. For example, in the taxi market, which is one of the first industries to realize the benefits of automated dispatch, it would have been uncommon to find fleets under several hundred units in size that employed data dispatch systems. In the delivery market, only large national organizations, such as FedEx, or large regional players had the wherewithal to take advantage of such specialization as a rule. The high cost and complexity of these systems, coupled with the lack of available radio spectrum, put the benefits of automation above the reach of most companies. As a result, those organizations that were automated were able to use the efficiency gains of wireless data dispatch to hold pricing or service advantages over their competition.

Today, the situation is quite different. A number of very recent technology advancements have combined to significantly reduce the complexity and cost of implementing automated dispatch and workforce management systems. As a result, service organizations of all sizes and types are using business software applications to improve their customer service, operating efficiency, performance, employee safety and a host of other factors. In some service markets, where margins are tight and competition is fierce, the effectiveness of such a solution can literally make the difference between achieving desired profitability and market share, versus retrogressing as a viable business.

An effective business management system greatly accelerates the process of accepting, scheduling and pricing a customer order, then simplifies or even automates the assignment of that order to a field worker or driver. Once assigned to a worker, most systems then monitor and record the status of all work on a real-time basis, allowing for accurate and professional response to customer queries, as well as the balancing of work-loads. In addition, a turnkey business management solution integrates the process of billing completed work, tracking accounts receivable and posting financial transactions to an accounting general ledger. Throughout all of these processes, a series of industry specific reports keeps management informed of collective and individual performance results, business trends, problem areas and customer service levels, etc.

In any organization that involves the delivery of services through a field work-force, the greatest costs of providing that service can be found in its human resources and equipment. How efficiently these resources are utilized directly determines both the profitability and competitiveness of the business. This is where the workforce management solution earns its keep by helping maximize those expensive resources, allowing significant, measurable gains in the amount of work that can be produced with a given set of people, vehicles and equipment.

Technology Advancements

What are these fundamental changes that have relatively recently lowered the barrier to entry for wireless dispatch and workforce automation systems?

The Internet

No question, the Internet has dramatically changed the landscape for business by removing geographic boundaries, reducing the cost of communications, standardizing communications protocols and lowering device costs. Five years ago, most data dispatch systems operated over costly private networks. Now, most such systems leverage the power and flexibility of the internet.

Public Data Networks

The advent of always-on / always-connected public data networks is a godsend for service organizations, greatly simplifying communications from the office to the field. Only a few short years ago, most wireless dispatch systems operated over private radio networks, such as two-way radio systems. These systems were costly and complex to implement and maintain, and often available only to large organizations.

Most national and regional cellular carriers now offer true packet data services that support high speed, real time data communications to low cost wireless phones, PDA's and a plethora of specialized wireless devices. These networks allow today's service organizations to utilize mobile workforce solutions at a fraction of the cost they would have been, with far greater power and reliability.

For a complete overview of the benefits of this technology and comparisons of available systems, click here. To research available wireless GPS devices that support public data networks, click here.

Application Service Providers

The combination of the preceding two technology advancements has spawned a new generation of powerful application providers, called ASP's. An ASP provides software applications – and all the IT infrastructure and support services necessary to deliver them – to customers on a subscription basis. ASPs typically host applications at a remote data center and deliver them to customers via the Internet.

ASP's are able to spread their development and operating costs across thousands of users. As a result, even the smallest service company has access to applications far more sophisticated than could be justified in an in-house enterprise solution. A wide range of solutions are available for specific vertical markets that incorporate everything from order entry, to automated dispatch, vehicle and asset tracking and back office systems, etc.

For a more thorough analysis of ASP's and how they stack up against traditional Enterprise solutions, click here.

Web Services

Web Services is a hot, relatively new technology that is designed to connect enterprises to their business partners and customers, as well as build bridges between disparate IT systems, via the internet. Web Services uses a set of open XML based standards and multi-vendor support from the world's leading software and computing companies, including Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems to create a global platform that is revolutionizing the way in which business applications cross-communicate. Web Services makes it possible for software applications to communicate ubiquitously, regardless of the language they are written in and the operating systems and platforms on which they are deployed.

Web Services will dramatically change the way in which companies will manage their operations from a computing and technology standpoint. Rather than having to buy an end-to-end solution from one software vendor, turnkey systems will be made up of multiple modules that integrate seamlessly through a Web Services interface. Software vendors typically specialize in one particular area, but attempt to satisfy their customers' needs for an end-to-end solution, by writing code in areas where they really don't have expertise. For example, software application providers will often add accounting functions to their applications when these features are best addressed by an company that specializes in accounting software. With Web Services, the end-to-end solution can combine highly specialized modules from multiple vendors that interconnect through a Web Services interface.

In their April, 2004 newsletter, The Stencil Group (www.stencilgroup.com) comments "Bottom line, Web Services and service-oriented architectures represent a fundamental shift in the design of enterprise software, and some of the most important solutions are coming from smaller software companies that are tackling real problems today."