Tablet PC's and 3G give carpet manufacturer the leading edge
31 October 2006
Yorkshire manufacturers of high performance carpets, Westex is using the latest in laptop technology to help its field sales team deliver real time information to customers, outside of the traditional office environment. The lightweight Tablet PC's with 3G connectivity are easily used whilst standing and incorporate additional features such as voice activation and a digital pen which enables the user to write directly onto the screen. All of which make it far easier to work effectively in retail environments.
The UK wide, 15 strong Westex Carpets field sales team already use max-i-mise, a customer relationship management (CRM) product from IT partner Wharncliffe Business Systems. Access to the system via traditional laptops proved unwieldy, whilst PDA devices are too fiddly and small to deliver the wide range of information accessed daily.
John Shirt, joint Managing Director of Westex Carpets explains, "When we first implemented CRM it was soon clear that laptops weren't practical to use on the shop floor of retail showrooms. Wharncliffe recommended the IBM Tablet PCs running 3G datacards, along with some additional software. This practical solution delivered immediate and significant benefits."
The Tablet PC is a lightweight laptop with a tilt and swivel screen which can be folded flat to the equivalent size of an A4 notepad. The digital pen feature plus voice recognition both make the Tablet PC ideal for mobile users as the device easily used whilst standing, or sat in a car. The 3G datacard gives a high speed data connection on the move via the mobile phone network, providing live access to customer data and email.
"We tested the Tablet PC with max-i-mise and it worked straight out of the box." explained Kevin Canetti, Wharncliffe's Technical Director. "Linking the system via 3G meant mobile users could update immediately, avoiding admin at the end of the day and increasing visit numbers."
"We also developed new routines which give the field team a real time view of customer accounts, recent sales, trends, credit limits, current orders and stock information as well as integrating max-i-mise CRM for greater ease of use – all of which makes it a seamless customer solution." he concluded.
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