Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Talking beats typing

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 02:47:45 -0400

Talking beats typing

A new generation of personal information managers is helping
to revolutionize the way buildings get constructed

By Matthew Phair, Contributing Editor

Personal information managers, or PIMs — those push-button or
touchscreen pocket organizers, such as the Palm Pilot and Pocket PC —
have grown to attract legions of fans and users. But the real handheld
technology revolution in construction started about a decade ago in a lab
in Schaumburg, Ill., where Motorola and Reston, Va.-based Nextel
Communications first tested Direct Connect, the powerful long-range
walkie-talkie service.

At much lower cost than cellular rates, this feature allows users to
instantly contact other Nextel users, in less than a second. This
technology has changed the way contractors communicate, both on and
off the job site. “The construction industry was among the first to see the
value of this tool for instant communication across hundreds of miles,”
said Daryl Newman, VP/construction at Nextel.

According to Cheryl Hawkins, a public relations manager at Nextel:
n More than 150 million Direct Connect calls are made daily.
n More than 62 billion Direct Connect calls were made in 2002, up from 50
billion in 2001.
n The average Direct Connect call lasts 40 seconds, compared with almost
two minutes for the average cellular call.
n Direct Connect calls make up nearly 70% of the total calls on the
network.
n More than 94% of Nextel customers use Direct Connect.

While long restricted to local markets, big changes for the walkie-talkie
service are in the works. Nextel is taking it nationwide in two phases. The
first phase, which allows Nextel users to travel with the Direct Connect
service and instantly connect with anyone local to the area to which they
have traveled or with any other Nextel customers who have traveled with
them, was announced in January.

The second phase will allow all Nextel customers to connect with one
another anywhere on Nextel’s national network regardless of the
sender’s or receiver’s location. With coverage in 197 of the top 200 US
markets, complete implementation of coast-to-coast Nationwide Direct
Connect is expected to be available in the third quarter of this year.

Averting the permit roadblock

As in the case of PIMs, new computer languages and chips have
transformed the Nextel phone in recent years. Once just a voice device,
now it’s fitted with wireless access to data networks and corporate
e-mail. Phones have Internet capabilities, as well as the ability to run
Java-enabled business applications.

The most recent applications for the construction industry use the phone
as a terminal, enabling you to send and receive small amounts of data
that are key to the construction process.

In March, Nextel and Chicago-based ConstructWorks announced the
availability of two services, PermitWorks and CityConnect, a wireless
tool-set for managing building permit requirements.

PermitWorks provides access to a nationwide help desk staffed by
experienced permit specialists who serve as a resource to contractors
trying to manage their permit requirements, thus shortening the time it
takes to get permits processed.

“Managing the building permit problem is considered a major headache in
the construction industry,” said Newman.

CityConnect offers a specialized directory of hard-to-find contact
information on local municipal building officials in more than 3,000 U.S.
cities. Information can be access by city name or zip code. “Our
partnership with Nextel provides construction industry team members, for
the first time, the additional tools they need to manage every permit
problem right from their Nextel phone,” says Mike Gaynor, CEO for
ConstructWorks.

For the past two years, Nextel has been partnering with Norristown,
Pa.-based software developer Airput to offer a system called AirHours.
Using Internet-capable Nextel phones, AirHours allows field managers to
enter and review employee hours and project information, eliminating the
need for paper time-sheets. The program also allows managers to view
labor costs as they are incurred instead of days later, as with most
paper-based systems. Instant access to this time-critical labor-cost
information allows managers to react immediately to allocate labor
resources and avoid cost overruns.

The newest version, AirHours 1.8, includes Time Clock, where the push of
a button on a Nextel phone records when an employee begins and ends
work on a specific task. AirHours calculates the total time spent on the
task and can assign that time to a specific project and phase. Airhours
also includes an interface to transfer employee, project, and timesheet
information to QuickBooks, a popular accounting software among smaller
design and construction firms. Larger firms can transfer employee and
project information to Timberline Gold, another popular accounting
package. Data can be also transferred to Excel or Access using ASCII
text-delimited formats.

During a project, the SkyLog system from San Diego-based Pacific
Datavision turns a Nextel phone into a helpful record-keeping tool. It’s
targeted to project managers, superintendents, inspectors, designers,
and other professionals who need to communicate important details back
to their offices for documentation. Construction professionals can record
RFIs, change orders, and safety inspection notes by simply pressing one
button on their Nextel phone and speaking. SkyLog’s time and date
stamp on all voice messages acts as verification by a third party to help
avoid or resolve disputes. Skylog then saves message on its servers.
Other users of the system can either log in to hear the message or be
fax-notified of its creation. An optional transcription service from Pacific
also allows superintendents to have their messages typed into a log and
posted on a secure web page for end-of-day review.

Rough-and-tumble hardware

All the software in world won’t help one bit if the hardware isn’t up and
running. To ensure that jobsite workers have equipment that’s tough
enough to survive rugged work conditions, Nextel now offers the
Motorola i58sr. Designed with a focus on durability, the i58sr adheres to
Military Standards 810 C/D/E for resistance to dust, shock, and vibration.
It also offers a built-in speakerphone for hands-free conversation, a
250-entry phonebook, a date book, VibraCall alert, and a removable
memory card for transfer of information between Motorola-designed
Nextel phones.

The Motorola i58sr is Java enabled and also outfitted with a GPS internal
antenna that gives you your latitude and longitude. According to Airput
chairman Jim Wolsky, the next version of Airhours software will utilize GPS
to automatically record your location when you clock in with your Nextel
phone.

You’ve got mail

For those that absolutely must have more than a phone, portable e-mail
devices, especially the Blackberry from Waterloo, Ontario-based Research
In Motion, have taken the business world by storm. Palm-equipped
phones and phone-equipped Palms have made some waves, but what
may ultimately find much more acceptance in the construction industry is
the Nextel-ready Blackberry 6510 introduced in February. In addition to
its Direct Connect walkie-talkie feature, it offers a phone, organizer, and
wireless access to business e-mail and data. To take advantage of the
e-mail features, users must subscribe to RIM’s BlackBerry E-Mail Service
Plan ($49.99 a month, not including a voice plan).

The $500 unit measures 1x3x4 in. thick and weighs just under 6 ounces.
It includes a keyboard, a built-in wireless modem, a rechargeable lithium
battery, and a microphone and headset jack.

There’s the full update on the latest communication technology. Now get
out there and communicate!

http://www.bdcmag.com/newstrends/maycomputercol.asp

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