WHAT ARE WIRELESS APPLICATIONS?

Custom Wireless Applications

To reduce data transfer, components of a web application that do not change such as graphics or static pages are installed on the device.

	ADVANTAGES

If your company already has an existing web application, creating a Wireless Application version is usually the least complex and expensive route for enabling mobile data acccess for your employees.

As you build and improve the dynamic portions of your Wireless Applications, your employees automatically receive the updates over the air. The hassle of distrubting new versions of the application to employees is nearly eliminated.

If employees work within metropolitan areas with good mobile phone coverage, Wireless Palm Applications perform well and are reliable.

	DISADVANTAGES

When mobile service coverage is spotty or unavailable, the Wireless Applications will not work. Data for the application is not stored on the device unlike standard Palm applications. Application usage can continue only when the handheld returns to an area with adequate coverage.

	USAGE SCENARIO: SERVICE TECHNICIAN

At the beginning of the day, a service technician makes a web connection on a Palm device with wireless connectivity and reviews the schedule of service calls for the day.

The address, phone number and directions to the first service call is displayed in addition to a description of the work to be completed. After completing the work at the first call, the service technician connects to the appliation again to report the work completed.

After the wireless update is complete, a revised schedule appears. An emergency service call has been scheduled while the technician was working on the first service call. Without the Custom Wireless Palm Application, a dispatcher would have had to relay the address and work to be completed over a mobile phone or two-way radio. The Palm software provided up-to-date and accurate information to keep the technician's productivity high despite the schedule change.