GPRS - enabling real time information transfer between mobile staff and the office
10 June 2004
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technology is helping Australian companies improve their service capabilities, reduce operating costs and increase productivity.
Industry adoption
Transport companies are leading the way in adopting GPRS technology to deliver data services across mobile devices. Real time information transfer between field workers and office staff has enabled jobs to be tracked more accurately and staff resources to be managed more efficiently.
In most instances, the introduction of GPRS has involved combining existing systems and integrating mobile components, thus extending the functionality of the in-house system to the mobile workforce. This provides office staff and mobile workers with access to the same information, including location of goods and delivery confirmation.
A company's supply chain application allows drivers to receive and control all their work in real time. Each driver receives a list of jobs and all the relevant details needed to complete them, such as pick-up and delivery address, type of load, number of parcels, weight, special notes (for example, "pick up at rear and ask for Bob") and signature capture for proof of delivery.
As the driver enters information into the handheld computer, it is transmitted immediately and securely via GPRS to the supply chain application.
The mobile solution allows the company to keep track of the location and status of every vehicle, so office staff can see how a job is progressing in a live environment.
Customers can also use a Web interface to follow the delivery progress in real time. For example, as the job is dispatched, customers can check that it has been received, picked up, dropped off and even view the signature of the recipient.
The benefits of GPRS
GPRS migrates the cumbersome global service for mobile (GSM) circuit switched data network to a highly efficient, packetised service which has been designed to maximise overall network capacity with respect to data.
The problem with the conventional GSM protocol is that it was targeted purely at voice operations and voice is an incredibly inefficient user of bandwidth.
As the demand and features of mobile devices have improved, the requirement for handsets to provide more than just a voice service has become increasingly evident. This has prompted networking parties to design a new service to maximise the capabilities of the existing network, prior to the adoption of a completely new 3G network.
The second key benefit of GPRS is its always-on connectivity. This means the user is able to receive data messages at any time without the need to dial in to a server. Hence, roaming users are instantly contactable through a wireless data network.
Beyond this, the billing is structured to charge for data throughput not call time, so the service can be left active at all times, making GPRS a very affordable option. This always-on service does not have any negative impact on the telephony services of the handset.
CITEC set to introduce GPRS gateway access
CITEC's broad portfolio of access technologies, available under the S2S IP Connect product, will soon be further expanded by the inclusion of a GPRS gateway access into CITEC's Corporate Services Network (CSN)® - providing high-speed, secure and affordable mobile connectivity to internal business applications.
CITEC consultants can develop a solution to suit your business requirements.
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