Who is the best service provider
in wireless communications? The answer is it depends on what
your needs are. While there are many factors you need to consider (and
that's the reason why you need somebody
that can give you professional guidance), there are some items you cannot
overlook.
1. Coverage - Before looking at the fancy
phones and great rate plans, take a look where you are going to be using
your unit. Study their coverage
map and make sure that you will be under their "coverage' area most of
the time. By the same token, don't discard this choice because the carrier
does not provide service at your favorite hunting grounds if you only go
there once a year.
2. Data Applications - This is the most overlooked
and critical step. If you are a business, this step is more important
than rate plans. Today,
data applications are critical. It's not a matter of cute cell phones and
thousand of minutes, there are data applications that can have a tremendous
impact
on your bottom line. Companies with a mobile workforce can benefit of GPS
(Ground Positioning System) to check where their employees are deployed,
barcode scanners attached to their phones, wireless work order transfers,
email, wireless internet to laptops and pda's. Data applications
are becoming the primary means to manage a mobile workforce with voice
used as a secondary method.
3. Rate plans - Don't go by the amount of minutes alone. Find out if minutes
can be "pooled" or "shared" at company level. For companies with offices or
departments in different locations, can the minutes be "shared" by those locations,
what if offices are in different cities, can they be on one account if so desired?
Do the minutes include long distance? Do they include any roaming fees?
4. Equipment - Do the units have the needed features,
and,
if you are a realtor or insurance agent, would it be beneficial to have a cell
phone that can take a
picture and email that picture to a specific location? For dispatching companies
(wrecking companies, courier services, transportation etc), are the units GPS
enabled in case you want to locate your workforce? For dirty and noisy environments
(construction), are the units built to military specs for shock and dusty environments?
For more sophisticated applications, are the units Java enabled?
Although these are critical steps, obviously they are not enough to provide the most informed
decision. For a free consultation of your wireless communication needs, schedule
an appointment with us and we'll send a representative to give you a cost analysis.
Hopefully, we'll be able to make a positive and significant change to the way
you do business and to your bottom line.
