Handheld Computers

As the cost of rugged handhelds has reduced and mobile communications have improved, you see them deployed in more and more applications across different industries. By giving the worker direct access to pertinent information and allowing them to conduct business at the point of a transaction or information capture, you increase efficiency and liberate your staff.

What’s exciting is that the future of mobile computing is exploding before our very eyes. For instance, the recent introduction of Google’s Android will spur many hitherto unheard of applications. There is an Android application that lets you input barcode information into your phone in order to obtain information about products. So if you are in a shop and you see something that you like, but want some more information you can scan the barcode and reviews about that product will pop up. You can also search for better prices at different locations. The customer will certainly be king and have the tools to hand to exercise their power. In addition, major advances in the iPhone platform, the Blackberry and the growth of the netbooks will also drive more business applications.

In the manufacturing and distribution industries the mobile computing device has become invaluable as workers can tap into a myriad of essential information such as customer information, inventory, item and order history and complete a traditional paper based process electronically while away from their company network. The advantages are that it eliminates duplicate data entry and provides a seamless interaction between the worker and the business processes.

The mobile handheld has become a well recognised and tried and tested device for the hotel and restaurant sector. In many instances it has replaced the stationary POS systems which typically created bottlenecks due to waiting staff standing in line at the till. Instead, with the handheld unit they are free to go from one table to another taking payments or orders which are automatically processed.

In the health care sector handheld or PDA devices are slowly becoming more popular among physicians, allowing them to have immediate access to relevant clinical facts and patient data. In the US PDAs are used to enhance clinicians' knowledge about their patients and provide easy access to accurate chronologic information such as IV lines, antibiotic therapy, and even helped house staff to rapidly retrieve and review patients' records. In the UK doctors have used them, often on their own initiative, to record clinical information, make lists of tasks that need doing, and to look up information online.