At the 2012 Google I/O conference, the big “reveal” was Google Glass.  A team of Glass-wearing skydivers live streamed their descent toward the roof of the San Francisco Moscone center where the event was underway.  It was an awe-inspiring stunt, but Google Glass flopped due to a buggy and ridiculous user experience, and the project […]

I had not thought about how much our service contracting customers have in common with Southwest Airlines until I read an article about the airline issuing iPad Minis to flight attendants to streamline operations. Ok, so their territory is pretty big. And they have quite a fleet to manage. But they offer recurring services, and […]

How many photos are stored on your smartphone right now? I have 1,438 photos that take up 4.8 GB of storage space — but this is pretty low compared to some of the folks around ServiceTrade. Carrying around more than 1,400 images is pretty painless — until it isn’t. Have you ever hit the storage […]

Smartphones, tablets, and mobile applications have finally reached both a price and a level of functionality that make them an absolute no-brainer for service contractors.  Aside from the obvious risk of device breakage (read our earlier post about this), contractors that deploy mobile devices to more than a few field techs quickly discover a tangle of IT-related device management headaches. Setting up the email […]

In the final installment of the Smartphone Buying Guide for Service Contractors we will address the final decisions you’ll make before purchasing. Should you provide devices for your technicians or should you have a bring your own device (BYOD) policy? If you’re providing devices, where should you buy? Company Provided vs. BYO Mobile Devices How […]

If you’ve been reading our blog for a while (thank you, by the way), you’ve heard ServiceTrade advocate a connected IT ecosystem of business operations applications for your customer service, accounting, inventory, CRM, payroll, email marketing and online reviews.  There are modern, mobile solutions for all of these needs that work within an integrated system. […]

Once a service contracting business makes the decision to adopt ServiceTrade, the conversation almost always shifts to making device decisions. We covered one factor of this decision, Android or iOS in Part 2 of this series. In Part 3, we will take a closer look at the software-related factors for deciding between smartphones, tablets, and […]

As I ponder the differences between mobile device platforms, I wonder if this blog post is like dispensing parenting or political advice? Is this one area where we all have our preferences and nothing anybody else says will change our opinions about which is the best? If that’s the case, carry on with your established […]

So-called “rugged” smartphones are appealing to service contractors because field technicians work in environments that aren’t always electronics-friendly.  As we’ve found in our own testing and heard from our customers, that durability comes at a price in performance and usability. The Deal with Rugged Devices The housing is the main selling feature of a rugged device. The […]

If you have been looking for an excuse to arm your field techs with smartphones, I am going to give you several in this blog post. The goal of any business expenditure is to make your business more competitive by lowering costs, improving customer service, or increasing revenue.  I believe an investment in smartphones for […]