Down the road
Eventually LinCo intends to take advantage of Palm handheld's signature capture capability to capture customer's signatures electronically upon delivery. Although MiniMate offers this capability, LinCo is currently getting these signatures on paper. "We felt it was most important to perform our deployment one step at a time," said Linneweber. "Once we're absolutely convinced that our drivers are comfortable with this stage of the deployment, we'll move to signature capture, which will allow us to reduce our paperwork and related labor costs even further. We also hope signature capture will help us reconcile customer payment inquiries faster than ever before."

LinCo Services is also planning to deploy Prism Visual Software's MiniMate for Service handheld application as soon as wireless service is available in the rural areas where its trucks travel. LinCo has seven service technicians who daily repair coffee makers, coke machines, and more. With the MiniMate for Service handheld application, these service technicians can complete work tickets, receive additional ones during the day, and upload information to LinCo's central system without requiring data entry. The MiniMate for Service also works in conjunction with the MiniMate for Route Delivery handheld application, so that route drivers can alert service technicians if a service visit is required at one of the locations on their route. Customers will benefit from these efficiencies, and the application will also help LinCo track the time and productivity of its service team.

Steve Niles is Senior Editor for ZATZ Publishing. He is also an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. For more information, visit http://www.sn-films.com.