August 2004

Full speed ahead

Imagine connecting to the Internet with a notebook or handheld anywhere you can use your cell phone — and at landline speeds or faster. With next-generation (3G) networks from Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and other major providers, the dream is a reality.

Sprint, for example, launched a 3G network two years ago that uses CDMA 2000 1X, a digital wireless technology developed by Qualcomm. Sprint’s network reaches peak speeds of 144 kilobytes per second (kbps) and averages between 40 and 60 kbps, says Qualcomm’s Jan Dehesh. Even at average speeds, the network is twice as fast as the familiar 56K dial-up connection, Dehesh says, since the actual throughput of dial-up is 19.6 kbps. “You truly do see a remarkable difference when downloading things,” says Dehesh, vice president of Qualcomm’s Enterprise Marketing Division.

Although greater bandwidth is a welcome convenience, it comes at a premium. So does 3G offer enough value to merit the premium price of about $80 a month? It just might if you are considering wireless applications that feature document imaging, file downloads, video conferencing, chat and Web browsing.

Phoenix-based Camping Companies Inc. (CCI) is an auto repossession firm that uses Sprint’s CDMA 2000 1X network to power a wireless software application called Re-Pros. CCI has 12 offices in five states — Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Oklahoma — that handle repossessions for lien holders such as banks, credit unions and the financing arms of companies such as Ford Motor Company.

For high-speed Internet connectivity between its tow trucks and the office, CCI equipped each tow truck with a ruggedized Panasonic laptop and a CDMA 2000 1X Sierra Wireless AirCard for Sprint. The Re-Pros system, developed by CCI in conjunction with Phoenix-based software developer AppsCafe, facilitates communication between collections departments and CCI over secure high-speed Internet connections, including the wireless data sent to and from its tow trucks.

Re-Pros eliminates paperwork between all parties and provides real-time recovery status to CCI and its customers, says Walt Camping, the company’s president and CEO. To date, the system has improved driver productivity by more than 50 percent and office productivity by 30 percent, he says.

Before implementing Re-Pros, drivers came to the office every morning to get the paperwork for the current day’s jobs and transcribe their notes from the previous day. As a result, drivers were spending about three hours a day at the office, Camping says.

Drivers no longer come into the office. When they turn on their laptops, the Re-Pros software automatically syncs and downloads the jobs into a queue that is updated throughout the day — including when jobs are canceled due to vehicle owners making last-minute payments, Camping says.

In addition to having a real-time job queue, drivers can bring up information on the spot without looking through paper folders. They can review the original faxes from lien holders and download and print documents from Pentax portable printers to show to an irate vehicle owner. When drivers deliver repossessed cars to auctions, they can scan-in a delivery receipt to update the system as well as enter any notes.

CCI’s drivers are given an allowance to have cell phones, which they use to call the local police to notify them when cars are taken into repossession. But the company is working with law enforcement to accept e-mail instead, Camping says. Since CCI’s drivers are paid a base salary and commission, the productivity gains as a result of the paperless system have helped to increase driver pay by more than 50 percent.

“Every time a driver touches a file in the truck and does work, it automatically e-mails and updates the system,” Camping says. “We have documented evidence that we have had a job completed within 18 minutes of having a job come in and checked out. That’s the name of the game.”

Despite the competitive advantage the company has gained through its use of the new wireless applications — including an increase in revenues by 20 percent — Camping isn’t keeping the Re-Pros software a secret. He’s looking to sell software licenses to other “repo” companies.

“When we did this, we found out that we were the only one in the world with a system like this,” Camping says. CCI has proven the worth of high-speed cellular networks by creating mobile, paper-free offices on wheels.

© Copyright 2004 etrucker.com

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