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Mobility
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Data Case Study:
On the move, in the know
the company
Otis Elevator Co. is the world's largest manufacturer and installer of
elevators, escalators and related equipment, and the company is
responsible for 154,000 units in North America alone.
the need
Wireless access to maintenance schedules, service call dispatch
details and technical data for field elevator technicians on the road.
the solution
Internet access via Mobile BrowserTM – enabled cellphones utilizing
the 1X network.
the results
Increased efficiency for field service technicians
Increased customer service
Access to critical information from any location
otis elevator’s mobile techs
stay in touch
Otis fields a large mobile service force to keep those units
operating in top form, and communicating with these
technicians is critical to delivering optimal customer service.
Otis has teamed with Bell to deliver wireless voice and data
technology to field elevator technicians in Canada. Bell
national wireless network gives technicians access to
maintenance schedules, service call dispatch details and
some technical data through Bell Mobile Browser enabled handsets.
Business Solutions
The information the field personnel needs is accessible as text
on their phones, which saves them trips to the office to pick up
assignments.
“If a customer calls for service, it could be something like an
elevator moving too slowly or ‘The elevator is shut down on
the tenth floor with the doors open.’ That call is routed
through Otisline®, Otis’ 24 hour customer service line where
the customer details the symptoms of the problem, and we
dispatch a mechanic,” said Paul Reinhart, Manager of
Maintenance Field Operations for Otis. “What the mechanic
would see on the phone are symptoms of the problem as
reported by the customer.
“When the repair is done and the problem resolved, the
technicians use a different menu on the wireless phone to close
the service call with the technical details of work performed on
the elevator.”
1X–The Next Generation Network
Return on investment
Regular preventative maintenance forms the bulk of Otis’ field
work. Without wireless technology, a technician would spend
time picking up maintenance schedules and then returning
that paperwork.
With Bell, though, the cellphone takes over that paper-based
job. “If you had a paper-based system for scheduling and
recording the completion of preventative maintenance
procedures, you need to pick up and drop off the paperwork.
We did not want to have that type of logistics problem. It
wastes time,” Reinhart said. “Instead, our technicians go into a
menu item on the cellphone to view schedules and record
completion of preventative maintenance procedures and
service calls.”
In addition to convenience for the technicians, the move to
Bell’s handsets generated dollar savings, Reinhart said. “The
return on investment was in the form of savings in hardware
costs compared to previous devices, and we streamlined the
process so that the close-out of service calls took less time.”
“Also, the alternative to using these mobile devices was to have
mechanics call in to get service call details, but with the mobile
phones there are savings in terms of having a data interaction
instead of a person-to-person interaction.”
Mobility
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buildings, which are literally everywhere. Wireless is
the only realistic means through which we can
communicate voice and data with mobile employees.”
“For anyone who has a sales force or a field service
force – people working in a decentralized manner
who need information – this is very attractive.”
Paul Reinhart, Manager of Maintenance Field
Operations, Otis Elevator Co.
The other factor that sometimes gets overlooked when
companies examine the business use of mobile
technology is the significant reduction in the size and
weight of today’s devices. This is critical for professionals
who are truly on the move.
Going forward, Otis hopes to expand its use of mobile
technology. “The growth of the wireless data industry is
great for us because, if anything, our use of data will
grow,” Reinhart said. “Technicians can’t walk around
carrying a lot of technical manuals, so we need to equip
them with solutions to technical problems as well as other
information to increase their efficiency.”
Otis Elevator Co.
Otis’ new Mobile Browser implementation replaces
a previous wireless system in which techs carried
both a phone and a larger wireless handheld device,
“affectionately known as ‘the brick’ because it was
reasonably heavy. The functionality of the previous
device has been integrated into the phone resulting
in one less device for the technicians to carry,”
Reinhart said.
“Now we get wider coverage with the new phones, plus
we also carry one less device,” Reinhart said.
Otis is the world's largest manufacturer, installer and
maintainer of elevators, escalators, moving walkways and
other horizontal transportation systems. Founded in 1853,
worldwide Otis sells approximately 70,000 vertical
transportation systems annually, and employs nearly
61,000 people. More than 22,000 mechanics maintain 1.2
million elevators globally, with 154,000 units in North
America alone.
Information anywhere
The Otis implementation is the perfect example of what
wireless technology can deliver to enterprises that need
realtime access to corporate information, according to
Sherrin Pacione, Bell’s Manager of Enterprise Wireless
Solutions. “Field service is becoming a key sector for
wireless implementations. This group is extremely
dependent on realtime data while in the field, and access
to mission critical information is a key business driver.”
“We have proven with Otis and with our larger customer
base that we can provide this type of access. As our highspeed 1X data network grows we can offer more and
more to customers in terms of robustness, speed and
feature-rich applications.”
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Business Solutions
Reinhart agrees that, for a large segment of workers,
mobile is the way to go. “We’re a decentralized service
organization, with employees out in our customers’
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“Otis is far ahead in the industry in adopting mobile
technology. With Bell’s leading-edge data applications
and 1X next generation network, we are positioned to
deliver new solutions for customers like Otis as their
data needs evolve.”
Sherrin Pacione, Manager of Enterprise Wireless
Solutions, Bell Mobility
To learn more about wireless data solutions,
contact your Account Executive
or visit www.businessonthego.ca
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