Sept/Oct 2003

Synstar, a leading pan-European IT services supplier, is rolling out a mobile communication system based on Telepartner Systems technology to its field service engineers. So far it has been implemented in the UK, France, Spain and the Republic of Ireland.

The company is calling the system its remote engineering communication solution (RECS), but the main components are Telepartner's Mercury mobile application server and browser-based Workflow Manager software. These handle transmissions via Telepartner's own wide-area network.

Synstar field engineers now carry Nokia Communicator 9210 smartphones ­ one of the models with a clamshell lid enclosing a full QWERTY keyboard. Using this, they can respond in real time to service call information, check parts inventory and order parts as necessary. The devices can also be used for ordinary voice phone calls.