Windows Mobile platform gets up-lifting endorsement

Escalator and lift firm Kone is set to embark on a massive Microsoft Windows Mobile rollout to 11,000 of its field service engineers, in an effort to improve efficiency and cut bottom-line costs.

Kone is a €5.3bn revenue company with over half a million escalators and lifts worldwide in places such as hospitals and shopping centres. The project will see frontline engineers equipped with XDAs to access central service reports and equipment information.

The first phase with 360 users has just been completed in Finland, with Australia, France, Spain and the UK to follow in the autumn. The rest of Kone's European operations will be done in 2005, with the US and Asia in 2006. Connectivity will be provided by various local mobile operators.

The cost of the project and specific ROI details have not been disclosed but Jim Haugsland, global field mobility manager at Kone, told silicon.com there will be a range of benefits including improved efficiency of field service staff and customer retention through better service.

"Customers want real-time information on the equipment," he said. "We'll now be able to provide up-to-date status reports to our customer."

Kone staff will use the XDA handheld devices to communicate with central office via the TaskMaster application provided by TBS. They will be able to receive new job allocations, send completion reports and offer customers up-to-date real-time service information.

Haugsland said this had previously been done by voice and paper, where some tasks had taken a week or longer. "Now it is instantaneous," he said.

Steve Reynolds, managing director at TBS, said the Kone project is notable for its scale.

"It's one of the largest we've worked on," he said.