"Availability of affordable and ready-to-customize applications is the single most important factor which makes, breaks or delays an emerging technology."

Here we shall describe various business applications for mobile computing - both horizontal applications that are used by workers and professionals across all the industries as well as those that are specific to business processes in a vertical industry. We shall also provide a few case studies that offer examples of best practices of mobile computing automation in an industry.

Vertical Industry Application

Airlines / Railways

• Ticketing.
• Schedule information.
• Maintenance - fueling and de-icing information.
• Baggage handling.

Construction

• Dispatch of construction crew to a job site.
• Project status monitoring and reporting.
• On-site estimation of small jobs.
• Scheduling of construction equipment like graders, trucks, etc.
• Ordering of rental equipment to meet sudden demands.
• Transfer of equipment from one site to another.
• Tracking of labor Time spent and material used for cost plus projects.
• Crew card automation and transmittal through wireless networks.

Distribution

• Comprehensive Route Accounting / Direct store delivery applications spreading across Multiple Industries of FMCG, Beverages, Food Distribution, Tobacco, Alchohol, Diary & associated distribution companies.
• Warehouse Inventory applications.

Electronic News / Communication

• Digital cameras.
• Compressed picture and data files transmitted on wireless networks.
• Time-critical news transmitted through wireless networks to news rooms.

Financial Industry

Banking

• Wireless banking transactions - account balance, funds transfer, bill payment from a smart phone or handheld PDA.
• ATMs wirelessly connected to handheld devices through Bluetooth.
• Stock Trading.
• Sales professional automation in the financial industry - enabling these professionals to respond to customer queries on the spot.
• Credit card authorization on mobile POS terminals equipped with wireless adapters.
• Wireless e-mail, instant messaging.

Insurance

• Current client portfolio information via wireless-connected devices.
• Sales illustrations, created, printed and presented to customers on the spot.
• Corporate data retrieval from the client's office or home.

Payment

• Wireless Payment by handheld devices like Palm - beam Palm to a credit card terminal using infra red now and Bluetooth in future. The POS credit card terminal has an infra red device attached to it.
• Cashless payment without using conventional credit cards
  Mobile wallet initiatives.

Stock Trading

• Hand-held PDAs connected to wireless networks, accessing information from Stock Exchange servers.
• Wireless mobile computing trading from Palm and Pocket PC by large active investors.

Health Care Industry

• Pen-based wireless Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
• Mobile Health care.
• Tele-diagnostics.
• Clinical Trial Automation.

Hospitality Industry

• Hotel Reservation software.
• Guest Check-in using handheld devices - PDAs, Blackberry and cellular phones.
• Sales force automation.

Hospitality Industry

• Hotel Reservation software.
• Guest Check-in using handheld devices - PDAs, Blackberry and cellular phones.
• Sales force automation.

Manufacturing Industry

• Broad-spectrum networks to resolve LAN extension problems.
• Portable computers in vehicles and in mines or on shop floors.
• RF connected hand-held computers in manufacturing plants.
• In-process Monitoring.
• Real-time Asset Management: Tools, Materials, Parts.
• Instant Purchase Verification, delivery Confirmation and Order Tracking.
• Industrial Controls.

Public Sector / Government

Public safety - Law enforcement / Fire / Emergency medical services

• Computer-aided dispatch of police officers, firemen or ambulances to a location of crime, fire or medical emergency respectively.
• Real-time enquiry into various criminal and offense data bases held in local, regional, state/provincial, national (NCIC in USA and CPIC in Canada)
  Links to emergency departments of local Hospitals.
• Employs end-to-end systems using proprietary (some agencies have started using public shared CDPD networks recently) private radio network technology.
• Stand-alone records management system (RMS) applications on mobile workstations that feeds into RMS servers in the county offices
  Electronic Citation (Ticketing) applications.
• Accident Data Collection systems - where police can record relevant accident information on the scene of the accident.

Military / Defense

• Electronic reporting for Defense Forces.
• Military Targeting.
• Remote monitoring.
• RFID and GPS-based for supply chain and logistics - track movement of defense shipments.

Natural Resources / Environmental Control

Data collection for environmental control agencies with the help of mobile workstations

Utilities

• Mobile field data collection and inventory of field assets.
• Automatic Meter Recording (AMR) through meters equipped with wireless modems.
• E-mail and instant messaging for field technicians and project staff.
• CAD applications used to dispatch service representatives.
• Sending real-time information through wireless networks on customer's orders, repair requests and existing maintenance contracts to field staff.
• Wireless network monitoring of procedures.
• Water and Waste Water Management.

Miscellaneous Applications

• Bar code readers.
• GPS receivers.
• Ticketing application for parking control officers.
• Automated employee time reporting.
• Weather Monitoring.
• High Speed Internet Access.
• Wireless T1-Line Replacement.

Traffic & Weather

CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE

General Government Departments

CONTENT NOT AVAILABLE

 Retail Industry

• Wireless POS terminals.
• Wireless devices to perform on-the-spot markdowns and inventory counts.
• Wireless credit card authorization service.
• Service vehicles with ruggedized notebooks w/printers for real-time work-order and repair receipt printing and the uploading of data.
• Inventory price verification.
• Returned goods processing.
• Real-time access to customer (purchasing) profiles.
• Quick-Erect check-out facilities.

 Transportation Industry

Courier, Vehicle Fleet Management and Passenger Transportation Services

• Parcel tracking application a la UPS & Fedex.
• Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) about real-time drop shipments or pickups.
• Exact delivery time tracking for superior customer service.
• Fleet management/maintenance information.
• Traffic Control and Monitoring.
• Mobile networks to provide two-way communication between fleet drivers and their dispatch centers or home offices.
• Real-time Traffic Reporting.
• Parking Management: Automatic Fee debiting/Space Availability.
• Real-time Passenger Information Dissemination ( at Kiosks, Bus Stops, Road Signs, etc.).
• Command and Control of Vehicle Fleets: City Buses, School Buses, Cabs Services Vehicles, Airport Limo Service Vehicles.

Car Rental Agencies

GPS-based navigation in rental cars

 Miscellaneous

Automated Toll Collection

• Automatic toll collection.
• Smart card toll prepayment.
• Satellite-based gps.

Automated Information Collection - Telemetry

• Automated reading electricity/gas meters.

Electronic Maps for Real Estate, Insurance Appraisers, Etc

• Geo-coding (a capability that results from the merging of GPS and map information)
  Electronic maps.

Special Temporary Events - Sports, Exhibitions and Conferences

• Sporting event scores recorded and communicated wirelessly to servers.