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BizSpeed is a mobile ISV and we often get asked by clients for recommendations on mobile devices.  If a client is looking at Motorola mobile devices, we get asked to help them choose between MC55, MC75 and MC9090 devices.  We have customers using all 3 models of these devices.

This article will help explain what what you should consider when choosing and will highlight real-life customer examples for field data capture and proof of delivery applications.

Motorola MC55 vs. Motorola MC75 vs. Motorola MC9090

goRoam on MC55	goRoam on MC75 (MC70)	goRoam on MC9097

Before we start with criteria, it is important to understand what features you need today as well as in the future. With rugged devices, once you purchase the device, you cannot go back and add hardware options like a camera, GPS or Bluetooth.  The devices we will discuss are:

• MC9090 (MC909x) – these are the largest and most rugged of the 3 models. They are supported on all carrriers (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile) and have the broadest range of hardware options.  These are the most expensive devices. Motorola MC9090
• MC75 – these are mid-sized devices that Motorola targets for proof of delivery, field data capture and barcode solutions.  Motorola MC55
• MC55 – this is the newest member of the family, has a slightly lower level of rugged design and size than MC75’s.  It is the least expensive.  Motorola MC55

Questions and Criteria

We start to narrow the hardware choice by asking the following questions.

Do you need cellular data?  If so, what cellular carrier do you use and do you know what the data coverage is like in your territories?

• The reason for this is simple – some territories like the North East are completely owned by a carrier (Verizon). If someone want T-Mobile or AT&T coverage, they need to check or consider changing carriers.
• The MC55 is not currently supported on Verizon, so the choice is between an MC75 and MC9000.   All devices support GSM networks (e.g. T-Mobile and AT&T).

If you need cellular, are you going to be doing anything that requires 3G/3.5G or faster networking?

• Most customers don’t know the answer to this but the question becomes more clear if they are:
  • Taking pictures with the device – picture size can be adjusted on the mobile device, but a reasonable quality color picture would be approximately 1Mb or larger. 
  • Downloading large files, such as site plans, MSDS sheets or merchandising plan-o-grams for proof of delivery apps.
• The more pictures and files, the more you would lean towards a 3G device such as the MC75.  Occasional picture takers could get by with a 2.5G connection on an MC55.

Do you need to take pictures? If so, do they need to be high quality and color, or can they be black and white?

• This might seem like an odd question, but someone who delivers furniture or cabinets with a mobile device would want a higher quality color camera so they could take pictures that could capture the details of a scratch.  Our customers doing utility meter installations need to take pictures of the existing meters and the new meters to show the meter reading. These can be black and white, and therefore can be done with the 2D imager (scanner) versus a separate camera.  Smaller black and white photos are good quality on the 2D imager and are usually about 30kb in size.  The 2D imager is NOT an autofocus camera though. If you need to take longer range pictures such as utility pole inspections, you would need a separate camera.
• Using the 2D imager is okay; however if you need pictures we are recommending getting a device with the scanner AND camera versus using the scanner for pictures. It keeps your options open and once you purchase a mobile device, you cannot change the configuration.  BizSpeed has modules for both Motorola and Intermec SDK’s to use their scanners for pictures.  Again, for close up pictures the 2D imager is okay, but not for higher quality or long range.
• If you need pictures, you would need to look at the MC55 or MC75 as they have the option to have a barcode scanner AND camera. The MC70 and MC9000x models do not not have this option.

Do you need GPS?

• GPS is typically used to:
  • Mark where a delivery was made for Proof of Delivery. This can be done behind the scenes and is important when delivering to larger retailers like Home Depot, Wal-Mart or Lowes. Large retailers will be geocoded at the street address; however, deliveries are usually made at the back of the store which can be many hundred yards away. If you want to know when a driver breaks a geofence and arrived at the delivery point, you would want to track that from the handheld.  Another example is deliveries to new subdivisions – these are not yet on the map and navigating by GPS is easier for subsequent trips.
  • For GPS tracking and navigation. Many customers use truck mounted GPS systems, but these frequently don’t provide graphical navigation systems. BizSpeed has multiple tracking and navigation options so delivery drivers can have their list of orders on the handheld and can tap the order to get on-screen navigation.
  • For meter installations or other field device installations such as oil field equipment, you may need to capture GPS coordinates. If you need sub-meter accuracy, you will need to get an external GPS unit or do post-processing.
• We recommend getting GPS on devices even if you don’t need it now. We have one customer with 250 devices without GPS. They picked up a new line of business that requires them to dispatch the closest driver – which now requires them to add GPS via external hardware, which is a more expensive and involved solution.
• Both the MC55 and MC75 have GPS as an option. MC9000 devices generally don’t have GPS available except through external adapters or Bluetooth.

Do you need serial port connections either on the device or in the vehicle mount?

• The MC55 is targeted at more basic route accounting users. As such, the vehicle cradle does not have a serial port built in. Examples of where this applies are:  serial cable connection to vehicle GPS, JBus (vehicle diagnostics), fuel delivery meters or external communication devices.
• The MC75 and MC9000 vehicle cradles have a built-in serial port. Their cradle is more expensive than the MC55 cradle by approximately $100+.

Do you need barcode scanning?

• All of these devices have barcode scanning. The only decision is whether you need 1D/2D or long-range.
• 2D scanners can be helpful if you have barcodes that may get dirty or damaged. Examples of this include plant nurseries where 2D barcodes may be easier to read due to dirt on the barcode.
• Long range scanners can scan barcodes up to 40’ away. Long range scanners are only available on the MC909x platform.  Examples of long range scanning would be scanning the barcode at the top of a warehouse rack from a forklift.

Do you need RFID?

• If you need RFID, your only option is an MC9090.  Note that RFID enabled devices are significantly more expensive.

Do you have any specific ruggedness requirements? Will you be dealing with harsh environments?

• The MC9000 is the most rugged device. It has the best drop spec (6’ to concrete) and the best IP (intrusion protection) rating. 
• The MC75 is also plenty rugged and designed for field delivery applications (5’ to concrete).
• The MC55 is close to, but not as rugged as the MC75. It is designed for the field but not for super harsh environments.
• Examples of harsher environments would be where you work outside in the rain or dirt – such as oil field services, agriculture or bulk product delivery such as fuel, lubes, chemicals or fertilizer to tanks outside.

What size keypad do you need?  What type of input will the keypad be used for?  Do you need a pistol grip?

• The MC55 and MC75 both have similar sized keypads. They are larger than a BlackBerry but the size of the device shell is fixed. 
• The MC9000 comes in a short version (MC9090S), a long version (MC9090K) and a gun/pistol grip (MC9090G).  The keypads on MC9000’s are larger than the MC75 or MC55. If drivers use gloves (such as fuel delivery) then it would be worth comparing the MC9000 to the MC75.
• If you perform a lot of scanning, you should consider a pistol grip, which is only available on the MC9000. 

So which device is right for you?

The following highlights examples of BizSpeed customers using each type of device.

MC9090 – Bulk bleach manufacturer with 8 plants in 5 states. This customer receives bleach in rail cars and then distributes to pool supply companies, municipal water treatment facilities, paper manufacturers, etc. The bleach is loaded at the plant and the driver starts their day by scanning the truck (tractor) barcode, trailer barcode and product barcode. They weigh the truck on an industrial truck scale and goRoam wirelessly receives the truck weight to calculate the volume of product on the truck. The driver makes deliveries to a set of customers and scans the delivery ticket, product, etc and records product quantities in each tank. The customer signs the device for proof of delivery and then prints a receipt on mobile Zebra RW420 printers.  When drivers return to the plant, the driver scans and weighs again to calculate remaining volume. Once at the plant, deliveries are sent wirelessly to the goRoam server for processing and export for invoicing.

• This customer selected MC9000’s because they needed the most rugged device, a large numeric keypad, a larger battery to power the wifi since they use wifi for roaming throughout the plant to load products, and because they wanted a larger device so it was easier for the driver to keep track of it.

MC75 – HazMat pickup and disposal for large retailers, oil change shops, car dealers, etc. across 30 states. These drivers receive routes/stops through cellular communications while on the road.  The drivers go to each stop and pickup one or many HazMat containers. They place a barcode on the container (by hazmat product type) and record the contents of each container. This can involve a reasonable amount of data capture through the touch-screen on the handheld device as they have to complete different mobile forms depending on the pickup.  Once complete, the customer signs for electronic signature capture/proof of pickup. 

• This customer selected the MC75 because they wanted a mid-sized device that would be easy for the driver to carry but would be rugged enough to be around hazardous materials and heavier equipment that might bang around or have the device dropped.  They needed 3G network speeds to facilitate image capture.  GPS is done on the vehicle but can also be captured on the handheld. At the time they selected the MC75, the MC55 was not available; however, they still would have only considered the MC75 or the MC9000.

MC55 – Door-to-door surveys  and canvassing on a large scale. This customers use goRoam.Inspections to automate field data surveys that may contain 300-750 questions, although not all are required to be answered.  When a homeowner or business needs a survey completed, the field personnel scan a barcode and take 1 or more high-quality pictures per site. They also have to take a GPS reading and possibly make a drawing on the device  to show the site.  Once complete, the homeowner signs the device for proof of delivery/electronic signature capture and a receipt is automatically emailed.

• This customer evaluated the MC55 and MC75, but selected the MC55 because it was less expensive.  They determined they did not need the ruggedness of the MC75 or the 3G network speed since the pictures would queue and sync in the background with goRoam. They wanted the smallest/lightest device since the device would be carried all day by the field personnel.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact us regarding rugged mobile hardware selection.   To learn more about BizSpeed and goRoam Proof of Delivery Software click or call 866-270-0541 (toll-free).

Most utilities are performing large scale meter upgrades to AMR (automated meter reading) meters. 

The good news, if you’re reading this, is that you are interested in learning how to automate the field service installation.

The bad news is that most existing work order systems are not designed to handle the specifics of meter installations. Specifically, they aren’t designed to:

• Dispatch to one or more installation crews versus a technician
• Automatically capture GPS readings (for buried meters, the GPS reading is critical and may need to include sub-meter accuracy)
• Attach pictures to the work order (a picture of the old meter with meter reading and a picture of the new meter with the meter reading and serial number)
• Import work orders from the utility
• Schedule exports of completed work orders to automatically send to the utility
• Allow custom fields and other data specific to an individual utility customer

The following is a list of needs we’ve heard from customers related to automating field surveys and installations.

• No programming – customers don’t want to have to write an application.  They want something out of the box that can be used right away.
• Easy configuration and changes – customers want to be able to add fields or change fields and NOT have to get their IT staff or the vendor involved for simple changes
• Fast setup – customers want the option to have the system installed at their location or run on a hosted basis
• Multiple hardware device support – customers want the ability to use existing hardware. This requires API’s specific for each rugged device manufacturer. goRoam has support for Intermec and Motorola SDK’s built-in. This means that if you have an older model MC70 or CN3 with a 2D imager (cameras were not available), we support it.  You don’t have to to upgrade to newer models such as the CN4, MC55 or MC75 that has a separate barcode scanner and camera – of course, we support those devices too.
• Temporary use – meter installations are project based work. Customers want the ability to scale up for a larger installation but not continue paying for devices and the software service between projects. goRoam is available on a hosted basis (per month, per user) and we have the option to rent devices.
• No lost data – the data on the mobile device needs to sync based on complete transactions (e.g. work order) versus a basic database table replication. Using tools to build mobile apps versus using an off-the-shelf complete system has resulting in hearing stories about customers who lost data and ended up losing the meter installation job.  goRoam uses transactions and does not lose data.
• Automatic software updates – any changes to forms should be pushed down to users automatically.
• Easy integration – getting data into and out of the system should be easy, and it should not require a significant amount of programming.

In this walk through, we’ll show you how to quickly setup and implement mobile, wireless work orders for AMR meter or SmartGrid device installations.  The installation is based on BizSpeed’s goRoam system.  goRoam runs on the web for dispatchers and on rugged, wireless handheld devices for installation crews. goRoam can be used standalone or it can easily be integrated with existing work order systems.

Step 1 – Create the installation form

goRoam.Inspections is a module that allows rapid assembly of mobile forms without programming. Forms consist of pages, pages have questions, and questions have attributes (ex. textbox, checkbox, GPS, picture, etc.).   Mobile forms can be ‘dispatched’ pre-populated with the work order information from the utility company or your work order system.

Logon to the goRoam server and create a new form.  Name the form (ex. Meter Installation) and set the icon for the form. 

Step 2 – Manage the form

Save and click ‘Manage’ to access versions of the form and start adding pages and questions.

You will see the list of versions of the form. Each time you want to update the form, you can create a version to work on before pushing it to the field. Once ready, you can simply ‘publish’ that version and it will be deployed to the users.

Step 3 – Add pages and questions

You will see the pages and can simply start typing to update the page name. To reorder pages or questions, drag and drop them to the new location.  Add questions and set the question information.  This is what will show up in the mobile form.   You can see the list of question types listed below.

Questions can be of type:

• Checkbox
• Combobox – drop-down list of values
• Date
• Numeric – includes precision such as 2 decimals
• Multi-choice group – drop-down list where the user can choose one or more values
• Radio button group – radio buttons where the user can only choose one value.
• Signature capture – this includes  signature capture form on the mobile for the customer to sign with an electronic signature on the device. This also supports free form drawing.
• Time – time control
• GPS capture – supports capturing GPS from built-in or external GPS devices
• Image capture – inserts a picture from the device camera. This also supports image capture from Intermec and Motorola 2D imagers (barcode scanners).
• Label – read-only text. This is often used to display customer agreements, etc.

For each question, you can set numerous properties such as how it is populated, whether it is required, and conditional logic.

Step 4 – Preview the mobile form

Step 5 – Publish and assign to work crews/roles

Once a form is set, you can publish the form to one or more groups of users. These are typically going to be the roles you setup for your work crews.

Step 6 – Setup your post-completion handler (optional)

If you want to automatically email the completed survey, you can add a post-completion handler. This is a standard .NET extension that allows you to be notified when a survey comes in from the field and is marked complete. Typical uses would be to email copies of the survey or to perform other actions based on the results of the survey, such as creating a follow-up work order.

Step 7 – Import Utility Work Orders to Create Field Dispatches

Most utility companies will provide a flat file that contains the list of work orders they want completed. These include the customer name, address and basic demographic data. These can be imported via web services, scheduled jobs or our import utility. The import utility allows you to open a flat-file (CSV) and map the import fields to your survey fields. This will automatically create dispatches for each imported work order.  Note that import profiles can be saved to quickly re-import additional records.

Step 8 – Field users receive and complete work orders

Users logon and see the menu items authorized by their security role.  Synchronization happens in the background, so work order and survey users simply click the touchscreen to open their dispatches.

The technicians receive all dispatches for their role (work crew) or for them individually (as a user).  To start a meter installation, the tech taps the screen to see the work order. The forms are configured per utility company specs  – so this installation example includes the following:

• Pre-installation checklist
• Installation – work order details including customer info and contact
• Communications gateway – for a multiple devices that use a single communications gateway
• Location information
• Service call resolution
• Info on additional devices installed (if any) – for instance, monitoring units for HVAC, water heaters or pool pumps.
• Embedded pictures, GPS, customer electronic signature and barcode scanning of installed and removed devices
• Optional printing – each form has built-in printing support and can be printed using mobile printers like the Zebra RW420

Orders are sent and receive wirelessly in the background. Once complete, the order can be exported to the utility in a batch file.

Step 9 – Export data to Utility Company

Using the goRoam.MobileHub, the dispatcher can manually export orders or can setup a scheduled task to export completed orders to the utility company via FTP.

These results can be exported to a CSV file – the easiest way to view is in Excel.

Notes…

If you made it this far….thanks!  We’d love to hear from you. Please contact us for more info or leave a comment.