The CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show in Las Vegas this week will be a product launching pad for companies wanting to woo mobile business workers and the carriers that serve them.
Sybase Inc. subsidiary iAnywhere Solutions Inc. will announce an upgrade to its wireless customer relationship management software that simplifies data access for mobile users. MobileSales Version 2.3s new user interface follows the customers normal workflow configuration process, making it easier to find customer information and complete call reports on a small screen, officials said.
“Applications have been put together like standard business options, but when you customize an application to follow a more exact flow, its easier to use on a handheld device,” said Lubos Parobek, iAnywhere senior product manager, in Dublin, Calif.
On the client side, the software now supports the Palm and Pocket PC operating systems. On the server, the software includes a key performance indicator dashboard, which lets managers measure the usage and effectiveness of their mobile deployments—how many transactions are coming through each of the sales representatives handhelds each day.
Also at the show, iAnywhere and Intel Corp. will jointly announce a tool kit to encourage software developers to build handheld applications and test for Wi-Fi WLAN (wireless LAN) environments. The kit includes several database and application development software products from iAnywhere, Wi-Fi-enabled handhelds and notebooks from Hewlett-Packard Co. that use Intel chips, and an access point from Cisco Systems Inc.
Companies at the show will target cellular carriers with Wi-Fi as well. Telecommunications Services Inc. will demonstrate services that let customers roam between WANs and WLANs. TSI will announce a hosted MMS (multimedia messaging service) for second-tier carriers that want to offer MMS to cell phone carriers but dont want to invest in the hardware, said officials at TSI, in Tampa, Fla.
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