One of the first solutions Morrow and his colleagues considered was one of Microsoft's Windows CE devices because the staff was already using them in the office for other purposes. However, this struck Morrow as being entirely impractical. "We wanted a tool and an application that was appropriate to the task and operating environment. We did not want to waste time and money on unnecessary features."

While he was looking at the Windows CE devices, someone suggested he take a look at what Palm had to offer as well. After weighing costs and features of the various alternatives, including Windows CE devices, Palm devices, and other industrial strength handhelds, Morrow and his colleagues came to the clear conclusion that the Palm solution was the most economical response to their need.

According to Morrow, adopting the Palm solution led to several immediate improvements. "The inspection frequency was certainly not as great as it is now. Using the Palm handheld, we can inspect and report on a daily basis instead of a weekly basis. It has standardized the process because all 19 sites are now using the device with the bus inspection application."

The bus inspection program is made up of 22 screens through which the inspectors must navigate. When they finish their shift, they perform a HotSync operation via a landline snap-on modem to a central server, which is located in the Downer's Grove headquarters. That populates a database from which reports and tables are generated. They then do a daily data dump to Dallas so that the administrative person in Dallas can create reports as desired.

The inspectors use Palm IIIe devices specifically. The device's compact size is a major advantage, as the inspectors need to move in and around a bus, inside a bus maintenance facility. Morrow sites the device's touch screen as being the key to its ease of use as opposed to something requiring a keyboard or a panel full of buttons. On the software side, Morrow has found Palm's simple, clear operating system to be ideal. "We wanted to keep it as simple and as fast as possible. Most people using the Palm devices are not computer literate, and many of the people use English as a second language, as well."

The application was designed for ServiceMaster by Pen Computer Solutions based on ServiceMaster's existing paper forms and information provided by Morrow and the company's account manager. The entire process took approximately eight weeks.

Communication between ServiceMaster and Greyhound has improved considerably since the Palm solution was implemented. Morrow describes the benefits in communication this way:

The account manager uses the data collected using the Palm application to report to Greyhound the activity at each of his sites. The data is also used to monitor the types of scores achieved on inspections. This helps the account manager guide the staff on areas of improvement. We can look for trends by site, shift, and supervisor. We set the program so that ServiceMaster supervisors can conduct inspections and their counterparts in Greyhound's management can as well.