Wireless technology can extend the reach of your enterprise systems to mobile workers in the field. Mobile and wireless business solution provider RangeGate, maintains that only companies that have integrated IT systems can effectively conduct e-business, and that mobile and wireless solutions are the fastest, most cost effective methods of achieving integration.
RangeGate, focusing on providing mobile business information solutions, draws on engineering skills, strategic alliances with key mobile networking companies such as Lucent, Microsoft and Lotus, and consulting and integration skills to provide companies with enterprise-strength mobile information solutions.
"When considering an e-business strategy, companies must identify whether their business activities are conducted within their premises, or whether their activities range beyond their physical location," says Andrew Fosbrook, CEO of RangeGate, a Datatec company.
"In both instances, mobile technology can revolutionise traditional systems because of its ability to integrate these systems, and its ability to allow companies to conduct business at the point of contact with the client and/or supplier. This, coupled with the delivery of accurate and immediate data to the system, will significantly change the nature of customer interaction," says Fosbrook.
Mobile technology will simplify in-field data collection, eliminating recapturing, paper-based details and human intervention, says Fosbrook. "The traditional way of doing business off-site was slow, prone to error and required significant human intervention to ensure that the process and the information was completed. Mobile technology will not only eliminate these problems, but will also make it possible to maximise revenue-generating opportunities in-field. If a sales representative is at a client`s premises, a company can deliver additional information to complete a transaction or encourage further purchases. Speed and accuracy of delivery are key."
Gathering real-time business intelligence in an e-commerce environment would also benefit from mobile technology, says Fosbrook. "In this instance we are not necessarily referring to off-premise mobile technology, but rather using mobile technology to integrate enterprise systems, and their subsequent ability to deliver business intelligence to the organisation.
"One of the biggest barriers to e-commerce delivering maximum business effectiveness is that the technology supporting e-commerce is unable to mirror the business processes of a company, and therefore real-time data capture and business processing is not possible. Mobile computing will change all this, as it will allow a company to map business processes as they occur in real life, and be replicated into their IT system. This not only means that data is fed into the system once, at the point of the business event, but it also ensures that the business intelligence delivered from the system is accurate and to the minute."
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