Since location-enabling technology first became available, wireless network operators (WNOs) have been searching for location-based voice and data services that would help drive subscriber growth and revenues. Now, leading operators worldwide have found a location-enabled application that is not only promising, but also practical: Mobile Resource Management (MRM). Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which are the fastest growing segment of the business market, are driving demand for MRM and have the most to gain in productivity and bottom line results.

Market

Revenues earned on location-based services (LBS) will grow tremendously in the next five years with MRM leading the way. ABI Research projects total revenue from all location-based services will be $3.6 billion by 2010, with most of the growth coming from MRM. Frost & Sullivan estimates that businesses worldwide spent $250 million on MRM services in 2003 and will spend more than $1 billion in 2005. Based on developments in the market to date, it is safe to say that MRM will account for at least one-quarter of LBS revenues in the next five years.

What is MRM?

Mobile Resource Management is one of the proven ways for wireless network operators to launch location smart services that increase subscriptions and average revenue per user (ARPU). A good MRM service should empower any business with a computer network and Internet access to track and manage field personnel through mobile phone handsets. Unlike the GPS-based tracking utilized by large corporations, MRM doesn't require a huge investment of financial and human resources because it doesn't require any retooling of a company's IT infrastructure. An MRM service is simple to implement and deploy, and it should provide substantial privacy and security measures.

WNOs can offer fairly comprehensive functionality in their MRM services such as: the ability to locate and track workers in the field; assisting drivers with navigation to their next appointment; producing reports on workers movements; and communicating with field staff and other groups in the company. Start-up and training costs for business customers as well as on-going maintenance are minimal. Rapid deployment is the norm regardless of the type of industry in which a business operates.

Who needs MRM?

Not too surprisingly, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are driving demand for MRM. They have seen the complex GPS-based hardware- and software-tracking systems demonstrated at trade shows and want to enjoy the same gains in productivity and bottom line results without committing a disproportionate amount of their limited resources. Wireless network operators are rapidly responding. WNO-based MRM services offer SMBs with 5 to 50 mobile workers the same competitive advantages that previously were available only to large companies with massive amounts of capital and the sheer critical mass to weather long, disruptive implementation processes.

So who are these SMBs? In general, they are service-oriented private companies, with a high percentage of mobile workers. In addition, the public sector, including public health, safety, and transportation, represents a significant counterpart in this market. SMBs count on their mobile workforce, to sell and deliver their goods and services to geographically dispersed customers. In the United States, an estimated 20 million mobile workers are employed by SMBs, representing over half the American mobile workforce. These businesses, which range from delivery services to warehousing operations, place a premium on efficiency, which contributes directly to customer satisfaction and profitability.

An example of the type of company that would reap the greatest benefits from deploying an MRM service is a privately held plumbing and heating contractor operating in one metropolitan area. The company might employ more than 50 technicians and more than 15 equipment trucks. It provides 24x7 emergency service in addition to installation, repair, and replacement services for commercial and residential customers. With location-based MRM, the company's dispatchers have the information they need—real-time locations of technicians and trucks as well as customer sites—all at their fingertips on their computers. The technicians have the information on their cell phones. With this data, the dispatchers can send the technician who is available and in closest proximity to the next service call extremely efficiently—if he or she hasn't already taken the initiative and gone to the customer site. No time is wasted checking back and forth between dispatchers and technicians to determine the best course of action. Plus, customers can be kept informed of a technician's arrival time up to the minute. Now that's a competitive advantage.

The same benefits hold true for any company that is transporting goods or people or providing services to customers in the field. This includes companies with several sales people making multiple calls every day. Specifically, the markets that are well served by MRM include police and fire departments, ambulance services, trucking companies, taxi and limousine services, courier and delivery services, beverage and food distributors, construction firms and building material suppliers, insurance companies, healthcare equipment suppliers, commercial laundries, auto dealerships, and large appliance and furniture retailers.

How does MRM work?

MRM takes advantage of companies’ existing computers and mobile phone handset technology for exceptional cost savings. To deploy an MRM solution, all a company needs is a PC, an Internet connection, and mobile phones supplied by the WNO offering the service. There is nothing to install, and MRM appears as just another line item on a company's monthly WNO bill.

Using a simple, browser-based management system and obtaining a mobile worker’s location information from the wireless operator's network, company managers can determine who is closest to a customer or job site, send the most qualified of available employees, and track their progress. Managers can choose to receive alerts when a worker arrives at a given location, or enters or leaves a geographic zone. In addition, they can create reports of job status and route histories for individual workers and manage information sent to other groups inside the company. Using MRM, a manager can communicate with a worker or group of workers quickly by sending out a group text message.

While company management has practical reasons for wanting to know the locations of workers in the field, employees have a valid desire to maintain some privacy and freedom of movement even during working hours. In many countries, privacy laws and labor agreements place limitations and restrictions on the use of tracking services. With the needs of managers and workers in mind, it is easy to design MRM services to suspend the tracking specific employees during certain days or times of day such as breaks, lunch, or off-hours.

Regarding pricing, WNOs set the prices for MRM services according to local supply and demand. Some offer flat-rate services, which is preferable for most SMBs as they would like to be able to accurately forecast costs. Other WNOs price MRM services by the volume of messages sent, often with a variety of options to prepay for various quantities of messages. This pricing flexibility, combined with minimal start-up and maintenance costs, empowers SMBs to enjoy the same technological advantages as larger companies. In addition, the billing of MRM couldn't be easier. It appears as just another line item on a company's monthly WNO bill.

Benefits

MRM is easy to use. If you can surf the web, you're in business. Obviously, being in close communication with mobile workers is conducive to conducting business in an efficient manner. Using an MRM service increases operational efficiency and productivity for dispatchers and managers by providing critical information in a timely manner and streamlining communication with mobile workers. MRM can expedite changes in appointment times and work schedules as well as routes and destinations. Customer service problems can be addressed by the most qualified employee available, whether a call is for maintenance or an emergency. MRM also can assist workers in the field in locating the materials and tools they need for a specific job.

Companies utilizing MRM find that ROI improves whether the investment is in salaries, training, materials, or MRM itself. The ROI calculation is as simple as the services are to use. Each additional service or delivery call a mobile employee is able to make a week results in a $500 to $700 cost savings per worker each month. Given your average MRM service costs just $12 to $15 per worker a month, it’s a very attractive proposition for SMBs.

For WNOs, the benefits are twofold: increased subscriptions and average revenue per user as well as established technology that can be leveraged for future location-based service offerings. While large companies typically use several vendors to provide wireless services across the country or around the globe, SMBs typically want to use one provider. If an operator can provide the mobile resource management capabilities a small to medium-sized company wants, the same provider can be fairly certain that it will provide all the wireless services for that customer. Offering MRM services is an easy sell thanks to the simplicity of the product and the demand from end users. In addition, once an operator has installed the integrated network capabilities behind MRM, they can leverage that foundation for other location-based services for business and consumer customers. MRM offers a tremendous opportunity to create compelling and profitable services upon which WNOs can build lucrative, long-term businesses.

Joe Astroth is vice president and general manager of Autodesk Location Services, a division of Autodesk, Inc.

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