If you need to collect environmental or EPA field data, you may be wondering if there is a better way than using paper forms.  This video shows how you can take paper forms and turn them into mobile forms that run on rugged handheld devices for integrated data collection.

Forms can include standard input fields like textbox, checkbox or radio buttons. More importantly, they can include:

• GPS
• Camera capture
• Electronic signature capture (for proof of delivery)
• Barcode scanning

The video demonstrates taking the EPA Field Inspection for Onshore Drilling and converting it into a mobile form in less than 15 minutes. The mobile forms can run on consumer or rugged devices such as the Motorola MC55, MC75, Intermec CN3, CN4 and CN50.  These devices can withstand drops to concrete and work in the rain or weather without issue.

Watch the video below to see how you can take a paper form to electronic in 15 minutes or less.

FEMA and related agencies collect significant amounts of data in the field on paper forms.  Paper forms introduce delays, require re-keying and do not integrate key data like pictures and GPS. This video shows how to take a paper FEMA form and convert it to an electronic mobile form on a Windows Mobile Device.

Federal and State Emergency Management Agencies need to collect a lot of field data and they need to quickly and easily assemble that data.  This video shows FEMA and State EMA officials how easy it is to turn paper forms in to mobile forms.

The video uses FEMA form FF 90_81 Preliminary Damage Assessment to demonstrate mobile forms. We take each section and turn it into mobile ‘page’, and then add questions to the page. Question types include:

• Textbox
• Checkbox
• Combobox
• Lookup (barcode lookup for assets, products, etc.)
• Date
• Time
• Numeric
• Radiobutton
• Camera
• GPS
• Signature capture
• Label (for disclaimers, instructions, etc.)

While this video uses FEMA Form 90_81 Preliminary Damage Asssessment, you can see how you can easily add other forms like:

• Form 90_1 Request for Site Assessment
• General Damage Assessment form
• FEMA Form 90‐69B Declaration and Release
• FEMA Inspection forms

Click here to learn more about goRoam for Inspections and Surveys for mobile forms, or contact us.

Some customers need to bulk dispatch mobile forms based on customer routes, zones or other groupings.  We’ve added better mobile form dispatch capabilities to allow dispatching from Excel spreadsheets or using customer attributes.  The steps can be automated and saved to easily re-run with different parameters.

We’ll walk through a quick example of bulk dispatching a mobile form based on customer attributes.  We’ll show a cool new feature in the ‘Bulk Import’ builder where you can automatically populate data on the mobile forms.

The first step is to set the customer you want to filter on (ex. routezone).

Attributes field examples are:

• Service rep
• Customer Type
• Address
• Routing info
• Route zone
• Carrier route
• Market
• Sub-market
• County
• Any field on the customer, include ‘Tags’

Once these are set, access the ‘Dispatch Import’ menu item.

Note that you can import from a CSV file or from SiteSupervisor.

1. Select object type = ‘customer’.  This will show a list of filterable attributes for that object.
2. Select the partition field (routezone, market, sub-market, etc.).  This will automatically show the distinct values for that partition field. Select the ones that match your criteria.
3. For this example, select ‘routezone’.
4. Select one or more route zones.
5. Select the ‘Build Mappings’ tab at the top
6. 
7. Select the survey (mobile form).  This will auto-populate the fields on the survey that you can map to.
8. Select the import field and the field on the survey that you want mapped. Click the right arrow button to set the mapping. In this instance, we mapped the customer.accountnumber to the ‘accountnumber’ field on the survey.
9. When done mapping, click the ‘Dispatch Config’ tab at the top.
10. 
11. In the dispatch config, you can specify a template for the DispatchID and Description. The tempate can use any of the source fields (customer in this case). For instance, use {AccountNumber}-{Name} to have the DispatchID set with these values.
12. Select the user or role to assign the mobile form dispatches.
13. Optionally set the start and end dates when the mobile form dispatches are to be completed.
14. Press ‘Test Import’ to test, or ‘Build Dispatches’ to create the dispatches directly. The test results are shown below.
15. 
16. Click ‘Save Profile’ to save this import profile to easily re-run again without having to rebuild mappings, etc.
17. When the user logs onto their mobile device, they will have their full list of new dispatches in their ‘current’ working folder.

If you have questions, please contact your account manager or support.  This feature is available the May 2010 release and is in place for SaaS customers.

Customers have continued to push the MobileHub (SiteSupervisor) to automate business processes, especially after mobile form data is posted. We’ve enhanced the goRoam.MobileHub to provide delayed jobs (background processing).  This is best suited for actions where the user does not need an immediate response so you can keep their workflow streamlined.

Examples of where delayed jobs help are:

• Sending emails of PDF images of completed surveys
• Conditionally sending order emails based on data filled in from mobile forms
• Processing uploaded images
• Longer running calculations such as geocoding customers based on GPS breadcrumbs

Delayed jobs are installed with the ‘scheduled job’ administration tools.  Delayed jobs are setup in a separate library on a per company basis. This allows our SaaS (Software as a Service) customers to each have their own delayed job processor, or if you are an on-site customer you can run background tasks with one library for all company codes.

Please contact your account representative to learn more.

This video walks through a Day in the Life of a bulk products driver who makes deliveries with LCR meters. The video shows how a driver uses the following functions:

• Pre-trip – clock in, enter their vehicle ID and start their route
• Load builder – automatically create a load from the orders on their trip
• Route stops – view loads and orders for the day, as well as events for the trip or individual stops
• Enter a load – record both package and bulk products loaded on the truck. For bulk, the driver enters the compartment for use with metered delivery
• Enter an order – record products delivered (manual or with meter), enter stick readings, customer comments, capture customer signature and print delivery receipt.
• Metered delivery – for LCR-II metered delivery, wirelessly start the meter, scan assets/fleet vehicles for each delivery, and record quantities delivered per asset.  The driver can view the LCR register wirelessly at the end of the hose reel.
• Stick readings – record stick readings for bulk delivery
• Log events – log events such as ‘waiting on customer signature’, ‘waiting on dock doors’, etc.
• Post-trip – clock out to complete the trip.

DOT regulations require all commercial vehicle carriers to complete a Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR). Inspection reports must be completed both pre-trip as well as post-trip.  For more information on Federal Motor Carrier regulations  click here.

Our inspections module is setup to enable electronic vehicle inspections so drivers can complete and print DVIR’s from handheld mobile devices such as Intermec CN3’s and Motorola MC55’s.  Vehicle inspection reports are wirelessly sent to the goRoam.Mobilehub server so fleet maintenance can see all reports in near real-time. 

More importantly, we can enable post-save events so you can specify actions upon receiving electronic vehicle inspections.  For example, you can receive an email anytime an inspection is completed with a defect, or you could receive an email and automatically create a work order for that vehicle.

goRoam.Inspections allows you to easily tailor the vehicle inspection for your specific needs and questions.  The following flow shows a typical vehicle inspection flow for a driver.

Step 1 – Login in and view list of available forms. 

Select vehicle inspection from the list of available electronic forms.

Step 2 – Barcode scan or enter vehicle information

Step 3 – Check any defects on the Truck (Tractor)

Step 4 – Check Trailer for defects

Step 5 – Mechanic corrects and signs

Step 6 – Enter optional pictures, GPS or drawings

You can take a picture directly in the inspection form and mark on the picture to show where the problem areas are.  Forms can be GPS stamped in the background so you know exactly where the inspection took place.

Step 7 – Driver certifies and signs

Step 8 – Save and Close

Once completed, the inspection report is automatically sent to the server via cellular or wifi.  The driver can print a copy to a local printer such as the Zebra RW420 or email a copy.  Note that the start and stop time were automatically set, so you know exactly when the driver started and stopped.

Step 9 – View results

All inspections are automatically sent to the server where you can view, report or export results.  The submit process can be configured to automatically send an email when certain inspection fields are set or have a value (such as low oil or air pressure).

Step 10 – Print and email

The following standard report is available for all surveys. Report templates can be easily setup for your forms to condense the report to one page.  Note the report contains the full electronic signature, picture of the vehicle with markup from the driver on the defect and GPS location.  Reports can be saved as PDF’s for easy emailing.

Vehicle inspections, asset inspections, customer surveys, smart meter installations, safety audits – are all examples of how our customers use the inspections and surveys module.  We’ve added features to address some important demands:

• Completely new dispatch board that allows simultaneously showing dispatch schedules for users, roles/groups, assets (ex. trucks) and trips.  From one scheduling screen you can see, track and manage inspections, orders, loads or anything that can be scheduled. (server)
• Integration with other mobile modules to dynamically populate surveys from current forms.  For example, if you are making a delivery and the driver needs to create a survey for that order, the survey can be pre-populated with fields from that order such as customer name, address, order number, etc.  This eliminates drivers rekeying info on surveys. (mobile)
• Easy batching of dispatches. For customers who create 100’s of dispatches at a time for users, you can specify that only the next X number will be auto-sync’d. For AMR installations, customer canvassing or other large scale inspections, this is a huge benefit to mobile users as well as dispatchers. (server)
• Survey printing using HTML templates to any supported printer such as the Zebra RW420 or Intermec PB41, PB42 or PB52. You can easily add and edit your own print templates. The printing template makes it super easy for you to print well formatted receipts of surveys in the field. Template updates are automatically synchronized without having to package for deployment. (mobile and server)
• Improved barcode scanning support with customer specified lookups such as assets.  (mobile)
• Execute server tasks when surveys are saved so you can selectively take actions such as creating work orders or sending emails with survey results.  This is very powerful and a number of customers are using it to automatically handle post-save actions.  We have an API for adding your own extensions. (server)
• Bulk dispatch importing – you can import dispatches from comma separated value (CSV/Excel) files to automatically create dispatches and assign them to a user. For example, if you have an Excel file containing customers, addresses, etc., you can map the CSV columns to survey fields, automatically assign to a user or group and create the dispatches.  You can save the import template for quickly repeating the import. (server)
• GPS timestamping in the background – surveys can be set to automatically try to get a GPS stamp in the background so you can track where surveys are completed. (mobile)

For a demo of new features, please contact us.

Choosing a barcode scanner can be a challenging task if you don’t have a lot of experience.  This is a quick overview of what you should know when selecting barcode scanners.

1D or 2D?

The first question you need to ask is what type of barcode you will be scanning:  1D or 2D.  This is important because a 1D scanner cannot scan 2D barcodes, although 2D scanners can scan 1D barcodes.  A 1D barcode has black vertical lines and looks like:

1D barcodes have a range of symbologies:  code39, code128 and UPC are typical.  UPC (Universal Product Codes) barcodes are what is found on merchandise and store products, whereas the other symbologies are typically used for internal tracking such as manufacturer serial numbers, inventory locations, etc.  Most scanners are configurable to filter out and read only the symbologies you specify.  If you don’t know the symbology you are using, you should check to confirm that the scanner can read it if you elect to use a 1D scanner.

2D barcodes store more information than 1D, but they require a 2D reader.  Common examples of 2D include drivers license, FedEx and UPS package tracking.  Benefits of 2D include being able to read the barcode even if a portion of the label is damaged or obscured.

Most people need 1D barcode scanners.

Imager or Laser Barcode Scanner?

Laser barcode scanners read 1D barcodes. Most new handheld, PDA or mobile scanners have converted and use an imager. An imager allows you to read 1D or 2D, although when you purchase the scanner you should be careful to specify that you need to read 2D barcodes even if it says in includes an imager.

Laser scanners emit a thin red line of light (the laser) which reads the barcode. Many imagers also emit a red line of light to help the user target what they are scanning.  Imagers tend to read broken or dirty barcodes better than laser scanners.

Mobile, Handheld or Fixed?

The form factor for scanners varies by the type of application. Most of our customers use handheld scanners built into rugged mobile devices like Intermec CN3, CN50 or Motorola MC55 or MC75 devices.  These scanners are built into mobile computers and mobile software application talks directly to the scanner using the scanner API.  Examples of mobile computer scanner applications include:

• Inventory counts
• Proof of Delivery
• Asset tracking and audits
• Inspections
• Operator rounds

Motorola MC55	Intermec CN3

Mobile computer scanners range in price from $1250 to $3000+.

Handheld barcode scanners are dedicated devices that usually are connected to a PC or terminal.  With handheld scanners, it is up to the PC to handle the application and processing of the barcode. These are usually seen in retail environments at the Point of Sale (POS) or mounted on forklifts where an operator has a terminal on the forklift and uses the scanner to confirm what they load. 

Handheld scanners usually connect via the serial port and can work wirelessly (e.g. Bluetooth or proprietary) or tethered.  If wireless, they can scan anywhere from 2 – 30 feet away from the host computer.

Most handheld scanners have an option to take whatever is scanned and put it in the keyboard buffer, which makes it appear that someone typed the barcode value. When operating in this mode, it is simple to use with existing applications. You should check with each type of scanner to ensure it supports this, otherwise you will need to ensure it has drivers to support your operating system. Most support Window; however, that does not mean they support Windows CE which is usually the OS on forklift terminals. 

If you elect to use a BlueTooth scanner, you need to ensure it supports your device. For instance, if you want to scan to a phone or PDA, you need to ensure the scanner has drivers. Just because you have a Blackberry device with Bluetooth, do not assume at Bluetooth scanner will work.

Handheld scanners like the Motorola LS 2208 are around $200. Tethered scanners can be less than $100.  Bluetooth scanners like the Baracoda or Socket scanner are $400-$600.

 Motorola LS 2208

A third option is a fixed mount scanners. These scanners are usually installed on conveyor belts.  Self-serve grocery checkout stands and store price lookups also have fixed mount scanners. With fixed mount scanners, you have to ensure the barcode will pass within a readable distance and at a suitable angle. Grocery store checkout stands have multiple scanners to address this. In applications like conveyor belts, fixed mount scanners can be tied to light-activated sensors so the scanner is activated when the light beam is broken. This enables you to 1) know when you should expect to read a barcode 2) control the time to read a barcode.

Fixed mount scanners for industrial type use can range in price from $500 – $1500. 

Keyence  BL-1300

If you have questions on scanners, please enter a comment or submit a question.  We work with a number of companies and can assist in scanner selection as well as barcode label generation.

We often get basic questions from prospective customers who are interested in handheld data collection software on mobile devices.  We just published a brief presentation that should help you to understand what your options are with handheld data collection software, whether you should use a mobile forms application like goRoam.Inspections or if you should use a Line of Business Application like our goRoam.Delivery, goRoam.BulkDelivery, goRoam.Service for Work Orders.

You may also be interested in the presentation on Handheld Data Collection – Device Selection.

In order to efficiently route deliveries, customer addresses must be geocoded. Geocoding is the process of taking an address and translating it into GPS coordinates – latitude and longitude.  The GPS coordinate is what all route optimization and territory planning tools use to develop routes.

BizSpeed has updated our geocoding toolkit to use Microsoft MapPoint 2010, Yahoo Maps and Google Maps for geocoding. Whether you are delivering to a commercial customer or a residence, we can help you geocode your delivery addresses.

The geocode toolkit allows you to load a CSV data file and process each record to calculate the geocode.  A typical problem is that customer addresses are not entered correctly – according to US Postal Service Carrier Route convention.  For example, when entering a customer address, your customer service may enter:

995 Highway 20
MIDDLEBURY, IN 46540

However, the correct address is.

995 U.S. 20
MIDDLEBURY, IN 46540

BizSpeed’s geocoding tool uses MapPoint for the initial geocoding pass. If unsuccessful, we use a customer’s Yahoo API key and attempt to geocode with Yahoo Maps.  Yahoo Maps does a better job interpreting street name differences. If still unsuccessful, we write an output file that lists all the variations of potential addresses along with a link to the address in Google Maps.  For each address, we provide a link to show the address in Google Maps or to show the GPS position in Google Maps.

To perform customer geocoding, you simply:

1. Load the geocoding toolkit.
2. 
3. Load the CSV file containing the delivery addresses (address, city, state, zip and customer ID)
4. Process the file.
5. For each record processed, whether found or not, you can click and launch Google Maps with the address or with GPS coordinates to  find or confirm the lat/long and location.
6. If a correction needs to be made, find the right address update and simply copy it into the geocoding toolkit to save the changes.
7. 
8. To View in Google…
9. 
10. To view in Google Maps by GPS…
11. 

Accurate geocoding is critical to developing optimized routes and optimize distribution territories. BizSpeed provides our toolkit for existing distribution customers, and for more complex solutions provides geocoding by recording GPS from our Proof of Delivery software or by matching POD delivery times with GPS coordinates from on-board GPS solutions such as GeoTAB.