June/July 2008

Can you build a workflow application for mobile devices in-house, without needing the resources of a full IT team? Yes, says Aeromark, which has created a development environment with exactly that object in mind. And it claims that with it, you can create mobile applications in half the usual time.

The system is called Workflow DynMX, and one of the unusual things about it is that it is a hosted solution. In other words, when you sit at your PC creating interfaces that will be used by the PDAs running your mobile application, you're actually interacting in real time with a system hosted remotely on an Aeromark server.

You might think this would make the process slow or clunky, but m.logistics has seen it in action, and it's actually clean and swift. You even get the classic drag-and-drop features for positioning form fields and so on.

This is all the more remarkable, given that Aeromark's own Web-based development interface uses PHP Web scripting technology, wrapped up in a system it called RapidXB. In the words of managing director Roger Marks: 'We're taking this technology to areas where few other developers have gone.'

 

Aeromark has created what it calls a new Binary Token Protocol to speed data transfer to and from the server. This compresses the forms and data that are winging their way back and forth, and the company says this allows PDA connection time to be reduced typically from 15 seconds to under three seconds – improving transmission reliability as well as reducing costs.

As for the end result, Aeromark claims that it is 'absolutely like bespoke software', even though much of it is based on standard routines; and it is produced far more quickly.

You can build a variety of mobile applications with the system, including job planning and management and proof of delivery management. Store-and-forward, always-on and push data communications are all supported. You create the mobile application and interface, and then manage it from a desktop control panel.

Aeromark itself will usually design your first batch of mobile programs to get you going with the concept, but then your own developers or even users should be able to expand on them by adding new screens and functions, or by modifying those that are already in place.

Unusually, Aeromark specialises in both vehicle tracking and mobile job management, and can link its workflow applications with its existing Optimatics telematics system. This is also a hosted solution, and has been recognised by 'branded solution' status with Orange and 'preferred telematics partner' status with Vodafone.