Today at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) 2008 in Orlando, Verizon described a new mobile wireless communications solution it has developed and distributed to 2,250 field technicians and managers in our Verizon Partner Solutions (VPS) unit. VPS is a wholesale provider of networks and network services to U.S based wireless, Internet, cable and telephone companies.

 

Working in tandem with Verizon Wireless, the VPS unit has deployed a solution that replaces the 8-pound laptop PCs that its field technicians formerly used to connect with VPS systems and applications with a 5-ounce BlackBerry^® 8703e smartphone.  For a highly mobile workforce engaged in the installation, maintenance and repair of services for VPS customers, the conversion to BlackBerry smartphones has had a significant impact because the compact devices deliver the same computing and data communications functions as the retired PCs but at a fraction of the size, weight and operating speed of a laptop computer. The immediate benefits include:

 

Portability – Reducing the volume of equipment that technicians hand-carry into and out of work sites saves time by preventing repeat trips, which in urban areas can stretch for several city blocks.  Carried on a belt or in a pocket, the hands-free portability of the Blackberry 8703e increases technicians’ carrying capacity by removing the laptop PC from their gear load.

 

Speed – Because the smartphones are always on, they give technicians fast access to the systems and applications they need – eliminating the time-consuming PC start-up and shutdown cycles that halted technicians’ progress whenever they used their laptops.

 

Simplicity – After becoming familiar with the device, technicians are up-and-running quickly because they use the same Verizon systems and applications that they formerly accessed via their laptops.  In addition, because the smartphones combine both data and voice communications in a single device, they relieve the technicians of carrying and caring for a separate mobile phone.

 

Customer Communication – Timely technician-to-customer communications are an essential element of quality customer service.  Verizon systems and software applications accessed using the smartphones have been upgraded to automatically prompt submission of real-time job-status updates to VPS customers – enabling technicians to provide customers with greater real-time service and support information.

 

VPS field technicians themselves had a lot of interest in finding more efficient ways to serve their customers.  They recognized that the smartphones enable easy, convenient capture and delivery information in the field.  Work assignment, job status, testing, project close-out, time-reporting and other applications are now directly in technicians’ hands.  That means self-service for our technicians and an overall better experience for customers. It also creates a unique competitive advantage for Verizon Partner Solutions.