Radio Active

Using Mobile Technology Can Make Job-Site Communication Easier, and More Seamless

By Bridget McCrea, Contributing Editor -- Industrial Distribution, 5/1/2006

Creating lines of communication among a mobile workforce, its physical locations, and the job sites that it serves, is of utmost importance for HUB Construction Specialties of San Bernardino, Calif. With 15 branches and more than 200 employees, this distributor of concrete accessories, fasteners, contractors' tools and supplies, spends much of its time working with construction, highway and heavy engineering customers—all of whom need their orders "yesterday."

"Our customers show up at the job site, and many don't even have phone services," says Malcolm Carter, HUB's IT director. "They don't have computers, fax machines or any other way to communicate with us."

HUB's own mobile workforce has traditionally connected via Nextel phones, with most job-site communications handled through face-to-face sales calls.

"There really weren't any other systems out there to replace the land line," says Carter.

Recently, the firm invested in Wrouter, Inc.'s mobile, high-speed data solution.

Calling it the "Road Warrior" program, Carter says the system allows customers to set up their communications systems at the job site within a few minutes, hooking up everything from computers and fax machines to high-speed wireless connections. Now being tested by HUB in beta format, the system also will allow the distributor's mobile workforce to communicate with one another, their subcontractors, material suppliers, and the mother ship.

"Our team will use it to take orders, quote prices and check stock right in front of the customer," Carter says. "It all connects back to the proper recipient at the company."

As part of the testing process, Carter says, HUB recently opened a new location using the system, which is being placed in company trucks and in the hands of sales managers and sales reps.

"We're in the initial stages, but it's working out well so far," says Carter, who sees a time when HUB's outside sales force is able to interact seamlessly through the system, with the distributor's physical locations and its customers and subcontractors. "We've always considered ourselves a leading-edge company," he says, "and this gives us another tool to take to job sites and get involved from the minute the trailer arrives."

HUB may have its act together when it comes to job-site communications, but as a whole, the construction industry has been slow to adopt technology out in the field, where cell phones still reign as the most popular communication tool.

With technology advancing quickly, however, a number of new tools are emerging to help solve the issue of poor job-site communication between sales reps and their home bases and customers. The tools range from digital cameras and voice-recognition systems, to bar coding and handheld PCs.

Gary Wooten, sales manager—national business radios for Kenwood Communications, a Suwannee, Ga.—based provider of mobile and portable radios and custom systems, says distributor interest in job-site radios is higher than ever right now, with companies looking to integrate such tools for their own use, and for use by their construction, utility, government and industrial customers.

According to Wooten, many are turning to two-way radios as a solution.

"With these products, users gain greater efficiency, higher security and better cost control than the wireless communications offered through a public or subscription system," explains Wooten, who sees the radios assisting with logistics, control of physical resources and personnel management. "Efficiency in a distributor's business means lower cost of operations and administration and improved customer service."

The fact that distributor sales teams are stretched to the limit also necessitates automation at the job site, where reps spend more time putting out fires than selling on a proactive basis.

"When they go somewhere, it's usually for an emergency," says Troy Ebbert, vice president of sales and marketing for manufacturer's rep firm Ebbert Co., in Fountain Valley, Calif., and distributor of Eva, a contact management software program for construction distributors.

Using a cell phone, the Eva program allows on-site sales-people to use a voice-activated system to record sales calls, which are routed to a data center, encrypted and made accessible to other employees within the company.

"Coupled with a strong sales manager," says Ebbert, "our product forces the sales team out of its comfort zone, and into more prospecting."

In this information age, everyone from Microsoft and Motorola to mom-and-pop outfits is looking for ways to improve business communications. The trend bodes well for distributors, says Ebbert, who sees an influx of new products coming on the market over the next few years.

"It's one of the fastest growing business segments right now," he says, pointing to Motorola's new two-way radio as proof. "Before that came along, everything was based on old, analog technology. Now distributors have digital, two-way radios to work with."

Shon Taylor, chief technology officer at Las Vegas—based Wrouter, says the construction services industry has some catching up to do if it wants to be on the leading edge of such innovations.

"This industry tends to be at the tail end of the high-tech innovations," says Taylor. "So while availability of these solutions may increase, I really don't see rapid adoption. They'll simply exist, and companies will be free to apply them to areas where they see fit."

One distributor that will keep its eye on such innovations is HUB, where folks like Carter work daily to ensure that the firm maximizes its use of communication tools and related technologies.

"Being able to use technology to work amongst ourselves, and to coordinate everything with our customers and subcontractors, is a great benefit for us and for our customers," says Carter. "In construction, time is money. With proper coordination, jobs get finished on time and everyone makes money."