Wireless networking is applicable to all industries with a need for mobile computer usage or when the installation of physical media is not feasible. Such networking is especially useful when employees must process information on the spot directly in front of customers, via electronic based forms and interactive menus. Wireless networking makes it possible to place portable computers in the hands of mobile front line workers such as doctors, nurses, warehouse clerks, inspectors, claims adjusters, real estate agents, and insurance sales people.
Installation In Difficult to wire Areas
The implementation of Wi-Fi networks offers many tangible cost savings when performing installations in difficult to wire areas. If rivers, freeways, or the other obstacles separate building you want to connect, a Wi-Fi solution may be much more economical than installing physical cable or leasing communication circuits, such as T1 service or 56Kbps lines. Some organizations spend thousands or even millions of dollars to install physical links with near by facilities. If you are facing this type of installation, consider wireless networking as an alternative. The deployment of wireless networking in these situations costs thousands of dollars, but will result in a definite cost savings in the long run.
A Wi-Fi solution in an Historic Building
An observatory in Australia has provided stargazing to astronomy enthusiasts for nearly 140 years. Built in 1858 the observatory is classified by the National Trust as one of Australia’s historical buildings.
When the observatory began investigating ways to share these views of space with a much broader audience, the obvious solution was to download images to multiple PCs and large screens via a local area network. Due to the historical nature of the building however cabling was not an option. Very thick sandstone walls and historic plaster ceilings could not be easily drilled into and strings of cable would have been unsightly and unsafe to the public.
The observatory installed Lucent Wi-Fi radio cards in each of their eight PCs and the network server. Telescopic images are downloaded from the Internet or from electronic cameras housed in the observatory’s telescopes. These images are then displayed on the various PCs for individual viewing or on larger monitors for group viewing.
Retail
Retail organization need to order, price, sell and keep inventories of merchandise. A wireless network in a retail environment enables clerks and storeroom personnel to perform their functions directly from the sales floor. Sales people are equipped with a pen based computer or a small computing device with bar code reading and printing capability, with the wireless link to the store’s database. They are then able to complete transactions such as pricing, bin labeling, placing special orders, and taking inventory from anywhere within the store.
Warehouse
Warehouse staff must manage the receiving, putting away, inventory and picking and shipping of goods. These responsibilities require the staff to be mobile. Warehouse operations have traditionally been a paper intensive and time consuming environment. An organization can eliminate paper, reduce errors, and decrease the time necessary to move items in and out, however, by giving each warehouse employee a handheld computing device with a bar code scanner interfaced via a wireless network to a warehouse inventory system.Upon receiving an item for storage within the warehouse, a clerk can scan the item’s bar coded item number and enter other information from a small keypad into the database via the handheld device. The system can respond with a location by printing a put away label. A forklift operator can then move the item to a storage place and account for the procedure by scanning the item’s bar code. The inventory system keeps track of all transactions, making it very easy to produce accurate inventory reports.
As shipping orders enter the warehouse, the inventory system produces a list of the items and their locations. A clerk can view this list from the database via a handheld device and locate the items needed to assemble a shipment. As the clerk removes the items from the storage bins, the database can be updated via handheld device. All these functions depend heavily on wireless networks to maintain real time access to data stored in a central database.
Healthcare
Healthcare centers such as hospitals and doctor’s offices, must maintain accurate records to ensure effective patient care. A simple mistake can cost someone’s life. As a result, doctors and nurses must carefully record test results, physical data, pharmaceutical orders, and surgical procedures. This paperwork often overwhelms healthcare staff, taking 50 to 70 percent of their time.
Doctors and nurses are also extremely mobile, going from room to room caring for patients. The use of electronic patient records, with the ability to input, view, and update patient data from anywhere in the hospital, increase the accuracy and speed of healthcare. This improvement is possible by providing each nurse and doctor with a wireless pen base computer, coupled with a wireless network to databases that store critical medical information about the patients.
A doctor carrying for someone in the hospital, for example can place an order for a blood test by keying the request into a handheld computer. The laboratory will receive the order electronically and dispatch lab technician to draw blood from the patient. The laboratory will run the tests requested by the doctor and enter the result into the patient’s electronic medical records. The doctor can then check the results via the handheld appliance from anywhere in the hospital.
Another application for wireless networks in hospitals is the tracking of pharmaceuticals. The use of mobile handheld barcode printing and scanning devices dramatically increases the efficiency and accuracy of all drug transactions such as receiving, picking, dispensing, inventory taking and the tracking of drug expiration dates. Most importantly, however, it ensures that hospital staff can administer the right drug to the right person in a timely fashion. This would not be possible without the use of wireless network to support a centralized database and mobile data collection devices.
Real Estate
Real estate salespeople perform a great deal of their work away from the office, usually talking with customers at the property being sold or rented. Before leaving the office, salespeople normally identify a few sites to saw customers print Multiple Listing.
Service (MLS) information that describes the property and than drive to each location with the potential buyer. If the customer is unhappy with the round of sites, the real estate agent must drive back to the office and run more listings. Even if the customer decides to purchase the property, they must both go back to the real estate office to finish paper work that completes the sale.
Wireless networking make the sales of real estate much more efficient. The real estate agent can use a computer away from the office to access wireless MLS records. IBM’s Mobile Networking Group and Software Corporation of America, for example, make wireless MLS information available that enables real estate agents to access information about properties such as descriptions, showing instructions, out standings loans and pricing. An agent can also use a portable computer and printer to produce contracts and loan applications for signing at the point of sale.
Hospitality
Hospitality establishments check customers in and out and keep track of needs, such as room service orders and laundry requests. Restaurants need to keep track of the names and numbers of people waiting for entry, table status and drink and food orders. Restaurant’s staff must perform these activities quickly and accurately to avoid making patrons unhappy. Wireless networking satisfies these needs very well.
Wireless computers are very useful in the situations where there is a large crowd such as a restaurant. For example someone can greet restaurants patterns at the door and enter their names, the size of the party and smoking preferences into a common database via wireless device. The greeter can then query the database and determine the availability of an appropriate table. Those who oversee the tables would also have a wireless device used to update the database to show whether the table is occupied, being cleaned or available. After obtaining a table the waiter transmits the order to the kitchen via the wireless device, eliminating the need for paper order tickets.
Utilities
Utility companies operate and maintain a highly distributed system that delivers power and natural gas to industries and residencies. Utility companies must continually monitor the operation of the electrical distribution systems and gas lines and must check usage meters at least monthly to calculate bills.
Traditionally, this means person must travel from location to location, enter residencies and company facilities, record information and then enter the data at a service or computing center. Today, utility companies employee wireless networks to support the automation of meter reading and system monitoring, saving time and reducing overhead costs.
Kansas City Power and Light operates one of the largest wireless metering systems, serving more than 150,000 customers in eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. This system employs a monitoring device at each customer site that take periodic meter readings and sent the information back to database that tracks usage levels and calculates bills, avoiding the need for the staff of meter readers.
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