To Your Own Devices

When their cell phones died on Sept. 11, 2001, people in New York and Washington, D.C., had no trouble using their BlackBerrys to stay in touch with colleagues, family, and friends. All those phone calls after the attacks overloaded the cellular networks, so the BlackBerry –Research In Motion’s handy little pager that lets you send and receive text messages –became a literal lifeline for many.

Shortly afterward, the committee that oversees physical security at the U.S. Capitol ordered BlackBerry handhelds for every member of the House of Representatives. Since then, the House has issued more than 3,000 BlackBerrys to employees, an investment of roughly
$6 million US.

With its compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, as well as Lotus Notes, the BlackBerry has become the device of choice for many companies that want to put mobile e-mail in the hands of their employees. That includes truck fleets. A truck driver using a two-way pager can log on to the company network with his name, province, and odometer reading, then request the day’s route for pickups and deliveries. The driver receives the information he needs via the pager and, as he moves from stop to stop along his route, he uses it to keep his dispatcher apprised of his location. Working behind the scenes is “middleware” — software that connects applications, allowing them to exchange data, so the data fed into the two-way pager can flow into the fleet’s routing software without a hitch.

It sounds simple, but there are lots of different devices and software on the market that can deliver wireless text messages, and they’re evolving as rapidly as the networks that carry their signals. Determining which solution is best for your business means knowing what the options are and how they affect the bottom line.

These days, the predominant two-way communications device in truck cabs is a cell phone. Cell phones indeed are becoming more functional — the latest models have operating systems from Microsoft, Palm, or Symbian that combine the features of a cell phone and a personal digital assistant. But they’re still phones first. That means 1) they aren’t yet practical for capturing and moving larger chucks of data, or running the applications a trucker making multiple drops would need; and 2) for every minute a driver spends on the phone to his dispatcher, he’ll spend five on the horn to his girlfriend, sopping up expensive air time.

Truly useful two-way wireless devices begin with pagers, the most notable being RIM’s BlackBerry units. They’re relatively compact, with a small screen and built-in keyboard, and operating software that includes a full-fledged contact manager, calendar, and links to Outlook and Lotus Notes.

The popularity of the BlackBerry means developers are writing software for it. Enhanced messaging programs let you handle e-mail attachments and access files on corporate networks or on the Web — there’s no need to dial-in in order to read, print, or fax important documents.

A growing catalog of middleware for transportation and logistics makes the BlackBerry compatible with other key programs like your dispatch, vehicle maintenance, or order-taking software.

For a truck fleet, a typical pager-based solution would include RIM pagers, Synergistic Systems’ Synergistic Dispatch offering (www.syn-sys.com), or Descartes Systems Group’s RoadShow routing software (www.descartes.com), pickup and delivery functions to integrate data technology with the routing software, and a connection to a wireless data network. The result would allow ongoing two-way communication between dispatchers and drivers.

The downsides of a pager-based solution limit its effectiveness for some users. A pager works only with its own integrated modem and cannot scan documents or capture signatures electronically. The hardware isn’t especially rugged and can be expensive. Typically, BlackBerrys cost up to $850, plus network charges of $40 to $60 per month.

The company is trying to bring down the cost by licensing its hardware and software blueprints, allowing other manufacturers to clone BlackBerrys. And last month, RIM previewed its BlackBerry 6210 and 6220 models. They’re expected to cost about $400 — perhaps even less, if network carriers discount the handy units the same way they do cell phones.

The other critical issue for pager users is the network that carries the two-way signal. The BlackBerry line supports five terrestrial wireless networks in North America: Mobitex, operated by Cingular Interactive in the United States and Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada; DataTAC, operated by Motient in the United States and Bell Mobility in Canada; GSM/GPRS (voice and wide-area data) operated by AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile in the United States, and by Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada; Nextel, a digital cellular network, operated by Nextel Communications in the United States; and CDMA2000 1X (wide-area data and voice) operated by Verizon Wireless in the United States and Bell Mobility in Canada. The capabilities and roaming restrictions of the various networks will shape the choices you make in a wireless messaging device.

Then again, there may be hope for your cell phone yet. RIM and Symbian — owned by the industry’s biggest handset makers including Ericsson, Nokia, and Motorola — have agreed to work together to develop wireless e-mail capabilities for cell phones.

Symbol Technologies (www.symbol .com) makes wireless computers that read bar codes –they’re the rugged handhelds you see in warehouses and stockrooms. But once the information has been collected it needs to go somewhere quickly to be effective. Last month Symbol introduced its PDT 8056 handheld scanner with wireless LAN (local area network) access — also known as 802.11 access or WiFi — and the next-generation GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network for always-on high-speed data access.

Cancom Tracking (www.cancomtracking.com) says it will support a new electronic signature capture initiative introduced last month by Qualcomm. The feature uses delivery management software from Agentek (www.agentek.com), which is able to transmit secure electronic signatures over a satellite in a 60- to 100-byte message size.

8 Research In Motion (www.rim.com) cleared a hurdle on the way to the U.S. release of a BlackBerry device that runs on CDMA cellular networks. The Waterloo, Ont., company received a grant approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Feb. 20 for its BlackBerry 6750 wireless handheld. RIM already has a CDMA (code division multiple access) device in Canada through Bell Mobility. CDMA is supported by two of the three largest cell phone network providers in the United States.