The company is outfitting each crew chief/project manager with a handheld application that allows them to enter employee time information and material quantities for specific tasks on their projects. This will allow them to more efficiently get time and material information into their back-end systems (less time equals less dollars spent). In fact, it allows them to eliminate a paper system, which requires extra office trips by the crew chiefs and significant data entry, because Pencel's software integrates the data directly with the company's existing accounting/project management software running on an AS/400 system. Again, less time plus less paper waste equals less dollars spent.

The integration with back-end systems is bi-directional such that the crew chiefs can see additional information, such as the projects' budgeted material quantities with instantaneous benchmarking data. Such timely information will allow Capital Electric to identify any potential problem areas much earlier in their projects, making any necessary corrective actions more effective. Being able to resolve problems earlier in the cycle is another way the company aims to use its handheld computing solution to lower costs.

Kevin Doel

Always stays connected to the office
My Palm VIIx has returned to me the investment my company made several times over.

The most significant time was on a trip to a client's annual meeting on the east side of Alabama's Mobile Bay. The hotel's phone system just would not let me dial in using the laptop I was carrying. I stepped outside, flipped the antenna on the Palm VII and handled all my email. It was kind of cool checking email while standing next to the water. Keep in mind that this was some 20 or 30 miles from Mobile proper. I stayed connected without fighting antiquated phone lines.

In all cases, the Palm VII allows me to stay connect to the office regardless of where I am.

Steve Simpson
Sr. Internet Consultant
Alliance Technologies

Helping disabled veterans
I'm not sure that my testimony will suit your story, because you might consider it "not quite business," but here it is:

Several years before my retirement in 1995, computers entered my workplace--a government employment service. I bought a computer and began learning how to use it. In time, I became the "computer guru" in my office. Once I saw the PalmPilot, I knew I had to get one. The Professional model became available for $149, and so I grabbed it. I was delighted to find how much information I could hold in it, including my bank account and over 130 health food restaurants--name, address, hours, etc.

When I retired, I found the PalmPilot's most valuable capability.

I was just a few weeks retired, still unwinding from the work scene, when I got a call from a former associate. He told me about a kind of consulting job that he thought I might enjoy. Basically, it meant contacting disabled veterans who had received a free computer system from a non-profit foundation and then helping them unpack and put the computer components together.