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Simplehosted Mobile - please see detailed product literature for information on more questions What devices will the system run on? Does the system run on all mobile phone networks? Are there minimum or maximum numbers of devices I can operate? What happens to data captured on the device? How much training is typically needed for each user? How does the system determine which jobs to send to which devices? Does the mobile user see all jobs for the day? How are material and job codes looked up on the device? Do I need to change my mobile phone provider? What happens if the system is unavailable? Does it matter which networks my customers use or which type of phone they have? Can I review the messages I have sent to my customers? Is there any software to install on the phone? Does the message arrive immediately? What happens when there is no network coverage? Can additional mobile users be easily added? What data is fed back to my core system? Do we receive a detailed invoice / statement? What are the cancellation costs? Are there minimum or maximum numbers of devices that can be supported? How is the monthly cost calculated?
What devices will the system run on? Technically any device running Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1 Professional with a touch screen running QVGA resolution, 240 x 320, or VGA resolution, 480 x 640. Note the application has been designed around a conventional, portrait screen layout. We are unable to guarantee the application will display properly on any specific device, particularly devices with smaller screen sizes and it is vital you test the application on the desired device to ensure all screen elements are visible.Back to Mobile Does the system run on all mobile phone networks? The application makes standard Web Service calls using the device's default Internet connection. The application has been tested across the major provider networks and a range of devices, but should be tested on a trial device to ensure normal operation Back to Mobile Are there minimum or maximum numbers of devices I can operate? No, there is no commercial minimum and Simplehosted's architecture will has been designed to be highly scalable to cope with any envisaged number of connections Back to Mobile What happens to data captured on the device? All data captured on the device, including the signature image, updates the Simplehosted central database and can be viewed via the Simplehosted Management Consol. All data held on the database is available to the Web Service integration to enable customers to update their back-office systems. If the Simplehosted Integrator is used, the Integrator communicates with the central system and generates an XML file for each update processed to the database and writes this to a local directory on your network. Back to Mobile How much training is typically needed for each user? We believe the application is intuitive enough to be given to an end user for immediate use. We would suggest a short informal one-on-one training session to build confidence shortly before deployment and then for the first few days of use periodic peer worker check-ups. Completion data should be reviewd for the first 2 or 3 weeks of system use to ensure no obvious anomolies appear to be being processed Back to Mobile How does the system determine which jobs to send to which device? The XML schema requires a resource ID. This resource ID is designed to be the ID used by your back-office system, so your system exports the user ID along with the job data. Each mobile worker is set up as a resource on the Simplehosted Management Consol and the field 'External System ID' is used to map the supplied ID to the resource account on Simplehosted. Back to Mobile Does the mobile user see all jobs for the day? The application has been designed to support one or all jobs being displayed, the user is free to choose which order to undertake jobs if a list is displayed. Back to Mobile How are material and job codes looked up on the device? Material codes and job codes are set-up as master data within the Simplehosted Management Consol. The data structure allows for each material item to reference a main group and a sub-group, for example a specific fuse could be categorised as Electrical, Fuses. The complete material database is sent to the handheld device and saved locally. On the handheld device, the user can see the complete list and can filter by either or both groupings. Alternatively the user can perform a free text search, so could enter the word 'fuse' which would then return the list of all parts containing the word fuse anywhere in their description. Back to Mobile Do I need to change my mobile phone provider? No, the messaging service is network independent and does not rely on your mobile phone service to send either SMS or e-mail messages. Back to messaging general What happens if the system is unavailable? The simplehosted service is designed to be highly resilient and offer as near possible always-availability service. If the managed service was for any reason unavailable for a period of time, messages would have queued both in and out and would be picked up and delivered. Back to messaging general A detailed user guide can be downloaded to help with system configuration, no further training should be necessary. Back to messaging general Does it matter which networks my customers use or which type of phone they have? No, Simplehosted messaging is network independent. SMS messages can also be sent to landlines now making it possible to reach even larger numbers of your customers Back to pass through Can I review the messages I have sent to my customers? Yes, the Simplehosted management consol lets you review all sent and received messages Back to pass through Is there any software to install on the phone? No, the system relies purely on native e-mail and SMS capabilities Back to Message Based mobile Does the message arrive immediately? Not always,push e-mail networks use relay servers to deliver messages and users can experience a delay before messages despatched arrive on the handheld device as a job. In most areas, this delay can be accommodated within the normal job finalising process, for example, job completion is sent on-site and by the time the worker is back in their vehicle with their tools packed, the next job has arrived. With SMS messages, either for mobile working or customer communications, delivery is near instant most of the time. Back to Message Based mobile What happens when there is no network coverage? In relation to the mobile working solution, because the system is message based, you benefit from the standard Internet mechanisms for making sure that e-mails queue and arrive; the same applies to SMS based solutions. Most mobile data solutions create direct end to end links and the reliability of each solution depends on how well each supplier has replicated mechanisms for handling network unavailability. Simplehosted leverages the message delivery capabilities of the Internet and of the mobile phone providers and this is one of the main reasons we are able to offer such robust systems at such low costs. Ultimately if there is no signal coverage on the phone or device used by the field worker, the message will not arrive. If the Blackberry platform is used, the message will be pushed to the device as soon as the network sees the device again, assuring the user of the most seamless solution available. Some mobile phone carriers are starting to provide similar 'push' capabilities.Back to Message Based mobile Can additional mobile users be easily added? Yes, users can be added or removed at any time without notice. Added users will be active immediately, you pay monthly for any user that has had activity during the month. Back to Message Based mobile What data is fed back to my core system? Any data element sent from the handheld device can be made available as XML data for integration with backoffice systems. Typically this will include job identifiers, actual start and end times, material codes and job codes. Back to Message Based mobile Do we receive a detailed invoice / statement? Yes, a detailed invoice will be e-mailed in pdf format at the end of each month. Back to commercial What are the cancellation costs? There are no cancellation costs as there is no contractual commitment. You pay a full month's charge for any user with activity in a calendar month but otherwise you can de-activate individual users or the whole account without penalty. Back to commercial Are there minimum or maximum numbers of devices that can be supported? No, you can use the service as little or as much as you want. Back to commercial How is the monthly cost calculated? Any mobile account (full mobile or e-mail) that is activated in a calendar month will be charged the standard monthly fee. SMS charges are invoiced at the standard unit cost against detailed usage statements. Back to commercial |
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