Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Mobile workforce mobility

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 12:59:52 -0400

Mobile workforce mobility
Source: Fleet Equipment; Lincolnwood
Publication date: 2003-09-01
Arrival time: 2003-10-12

One smaller fleet finds the right communications tool for its mobile workers.
"It's very simple, really" states John Schuller, vice president of Operations at
Cleveland Express Trucking Company, a 30-year old distributor of commodities
ranging from food stuffs to drums of paint. "People work faster and better when
they know their progress is being monitored."

Earlier this year, Nextel approached Schuller about a new data service known as
GPS TimeTrack. Built for use with GPS-enabled mobile phones from Nextel, Xora GPS
TimeTrack provides an easy and affordable way to track employee hours, location
and job status over the Internet.  The service allows companies to capture start
and stop times for shifts, jobs, work orders and breaks, while monitoring the
location and speed of mobile workers, in real time. Additionally, businesses can
use the service to create detailed Web reports and location maps. Unlike services
that only track physical assets, such as delivery equipment or inventory, Xora GPS
TimeTrack is designed to be a location-based time keeping and project management
tool.

With this knowledge, Schuller surmised he and his administrative dispatch staff
could use the Xora-generated maps to route drivers to unscheduled pick-up and
delivery calls, including urgent customer calls. What's more, they could use the
reports to corroborate time sheets filled out by drivers.
"Let's face it, no one remembers working fewer hours than they actually worked,"
says Schuller. "Because our drivers are paid by the hour, it is very important
that we know the exact time they started and finished their work days. Xora GPS
TimeTrack shows me precisely when a worker left the yard and when he returned at
the end of the day, as well as what stops he made in between. As a result, our
payroll has never been more accurate."

While a number of technology vendors offer vehicle-mounted devices as the hardware
solution for location-based services, for Schuller's operation he believes the
hand-held system is more practical. "If a driver is out of the truck for 15 or 20
minutes, what good does it do us to have the device installed in the vehicle?" he
points out. "It is critical we are able to locate our field staff at any time
during the work day, whether they are in their vehicles or not."

Schuller sees Xora GPS TimeTrack contributing to Cleveland Express' safety
compliance program. According to recent government regulation, by the end of 2003
every transportation company must have in place a strategy for ensuring the safety
of hazardous materials shipments. In the event of an emergency situation involving
a Cleveland Express shipment, the company can assist the proper authorities by
quickly pulling up a map of all its drivers' locations.

Other potential uses of Xora GPS TimeTrack include the ability to upload
landmarks, integration with bar code scanners, which attach to mobile phones,
wireless text alerts and enhanced reporting. With its landmark feature, the Xora
service can automatically populate maps with visual landmarks such as job sites,
points of interest and customer locations.  Integrated wireless text alerts
companies to send instant SMS messages through the service to individual mobile
phones, groups of users or to an entire workforce. Enhanced timesheet and job
reporting allow businesses to resolve billing/ labor disputes and comply with
regulatory requirements.

According to Ananth Rani, vice president of Products and Services at Xora, "With
the latest version of Xora GPS TimeTrack, it is possible for any business with
field employees to get its jobs done faster, more efficiently and at less cost.
Further, because Xora GPS TimeTrack is based on the technology platform that Xora
has installed at many Global 3000 businesses, we are able to quickly evolve and
scale the service offering to meet changing customer requirements. We are very
excited about our ability to continually make product improvements that help our
customers to be more profitable."
Today, more than two-dozen Cleveland Express drivers carry Nextel phones running
the Xora GPS TimeTrack service. At a cost of $11.99 per mobile worker per month,
Schuller is convinced Xora GPS TimeTrack is a sensible investment.

"Before Xora, when drivers would leave the office for the day's work, it was
difficult to account for their activities," notes Schuller. "Thanks to Xora,
that's no longer a problem. The bottom line is if we didn't have Xora GPS
TimeTrack, we'd be falling behind our competition."

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnnmoney/Story.nsp?story_id=42544358&ID=cnnmoney&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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