Key Considerations

6 things to think about before choosing your mobile devices.

Working with jLAN begins with a relaxed conversation about what your core business objectives are so we can help guide you through your software and hardware needs. One of the decisions you will ultimately make is which mobile device(s) fit your business best. To help you in your evaluation, we’ve listed the top six areas to consider.

Mobile Device Considerations

Tablet vs. Phone Form Factors If your are trying to decide between a phone or tablet device, here are a few considerations to help you choose.
Do your sales people do repetitive, high–volume transactions?
Are sales people in and out of their vehicles multiple times per day?
Are their mobile devices purely for sales and deliveries? If so, consider a phone form factor.

Do your sales people conduct long, consultative sales?
Do they need to present additional materials such as PDFs, videos and images?
Do they use additional apps? If so, consider a tablet form factor.
Connectivity How often do remote workers need to connect to your back office system? What type of network will they connect with?
How much data is being transferred? Consider choosing a device that offers WWAN, WLAN and Bluetooth connections so workers can connect in a variety of ways with a variety of devices.
Offline/Online access
Do your sales people work in environments with restricted internet access such as warehouses, freezers or other locations with limited access? Is it critical they have the ability to consistently transact with the mobile device? Always-connected, browser-based solutions could leave your people down if an internet connection isn’t available. jLAN Mobile allows users to work offline when there is no internet connection so there is no down time.
Barcode Scanning How much barcode scanning do your workers do on a daily basis? Typically, devices either have integrated barcode scanning or require an attached scanner connected by a slot or via Bluetooth. Heavy scanning will likely benefit most from integrated scanning capabilities.
Keypads/Keyboards What types of data are your workers entering? How much data is entered at one time? This often overlooked feature is quite important for heavy data entry such as orders and note taking. Keyboard options include QWERTY, Numeric and Soft – the best option will depend on your entry needs.
Environmental Conditions Do you work in extreme humid, cold, hot or dry environments? A device’s “IP Rating” is a two-digit number (Example: IP- 66) indicating the level of protection from solids and liquids. The first number designates protection from solids, while the second number designates protection from liquids. The first number can range from 0= No Protection to 6 =the highest level of protection. The second number can range from 0 to 8.
Rugged vs. Non-Rugged Ruggedized devices often offer many advantages over mass-market PDAs including more peripheral support, expansion capabilities, reduced downtime and a lower total cost of ownership. A remote workforce more often than not will need the performance of a rugged device.

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