In government, this kind of tool can be really effective – especially for people who do inspections for large organizations. Getting reports that are time and location -stamped with GPS coordinates helps decision-makers get a big picture view of the services they manage. It’s a vast improvement over having to wade through mountains of spreadsheets.

The US National Weather Service is a good example of a service that uses the Freeance Mobile app with BlackBerry smartphones. They collect data on storms and tornadoes, for use by scientists, academics, insurance companies and the public. Storm damage can be spread out over many miles, and inspectors use to have to take manual GPS readings and write them down. Can you imagine having to hand-map those coordinates to get a real picture of the disaster area?

But with the Freeance Mobile app on their BlackBerry smartphones, all the data collected at a site is now automatically stamped with GPS coordinates and sent to the back-end database. Back at the US National Weather Service headquarters, this data is mapped so decision-makers can get a quick, easy-to-understand view of how a storm affected the surrounding area.

For Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI), collecting GIS information using a BlackBerry smartphone with the Freeance Mobile app is about efficiency. NSPI monitors the electrical grid for customers in Nova Scotia, Canada. This means that field service reps must travel long distances between power stations and lines and having to come back to an office at the end of the day to upload information was far too time consuming. So when they started using BlackBerry smartphones with the Freeance Mobile app to automatically report the data collected with GPS coordinates, their inspectors found that they saved travel time. NSPI also found it gained accurate information about the health of the power grid, so they could better predict outages and deploy crews.

For the Canadian City of Vaughan, GPS mapping with the BlackBerry smartphone and Freeance Mobile app is about delivering better customer service. The City of Vaughan sends inspectors to help ensure businesses – such as restaurants, stores and even taxis – are meeting local by-laws. With the Freeance Mobile app, they discovered that seeing dots mapped on a screen enabled them to understand trouble spots better than they could before. A series of inspection reports, mapped together, gave them a unique perspective on areas of the city that weren’t meeting by-laws. Knowing this helped them deal with the issues, often before the public complained.

What makes all these solutions impressive is the volume of information that can be presented on a map without excessive work on the part of the inspector. Since data is already being collected, these BlackBerry solutions show just how easy it is to get more value from the data coming from the field.

Does your organization use GPS-enabled BlackBerry devices? Do you have apps that take advantage of geographic context? Tell us how you’re integrating location into your mobile application strategy.

Police forces around the world have to keep up with technology – the bad guys certainly are! Law enforcement also has to ensure mobile solutions meet stringent security standards – ones that involve extra levels of authentication and encryption that prevent sensitive police records from unauthorized access. And policing is no more immune to budget restrictions than any other level of government, so cost-effectiveness has to be balanced with the real returns of making the mobile investment.

Let me share how accessing police databases while away from police cars is helping to revolutionize three police departments across Canada and the US: The Baltimore Police Department (Baltimore PD) in the US, and Chatham-Kent Police Services and Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) in Canada.

Police departments can leverage BlackBerry® smartphones to access police databases, helping to cost-effectively enhance frontline policing:

• Baltimore PD has 2,000 officers who use InterAct™ PocketCop on BlackBerry smartphones
• WRPS in Canada deployed 300 BlackBerry smartphones with MPANiche
• Chatham-Kent Police Services, also in Canada, built a custom application for 170 officers with their partner Mobile Innovations

What’s interesting about these apps is the obvious benefit of having critical police information in the officer’s hands versus having to go back to a computer in the police cruiser. This means an officer can verify if a suspect has a criminal record and if they match the mugshot. This allows greater efficiency and safety for officers in their daily work. And while we’re talking about safety, all three forces use built-in BlackBerry GPS technology to help pinpoint and map an officer’s location while away from vehicles – just in case they run into trouble while on foot.

Having a way to more securely access police databases like NCIC, MVA and CPIC from a BlackBerry smartphone is a huge improvement over in-car computers and radios – and it’s all done with the kind of security police forces demand. Chatham-Kent Police Services even uses an enhanced BlackBerry security tool like the BlackBerry® Smart Card Reader as well as SafeNet® Smart Card technology to enable multi-factor authentication, which means that the officer must confirm their identity through multiple sources before the information can be accessed.

In some cases, BlackBerry technology may even lower operational costs as compared to outfitting vehicles with hardwired laptops.

When it comes to public safety, BlackBerry is making an obvious impact – for the officers, for IT teams who need to ensure security, and for the communities the police are sworn to protect.

Have you seen a police officer use a BlackBerry smartphone on the job? Share your story.

Charles, just to lay the ground work, what exactly is ActivateIT?
ActivateIT is a joint venture company between Tech Data and Brightstar, with its primary charter being the enablement of activation for embedded cellular products via the technology value-added reseller channel. The logistics capability of Brightstar and the channel reach of Tech Data, together with ActivateIT’s experience in the cellular/VAR supply chain, bring an unparalleled offering to the marketplace.

Can you expand a bit on what exactly ActivateIT is bringing to market?
ActivateIT offers a complete array of supply chain solutions that allow the VAR community to easily sell the various offerings from wireless carriers and mobile vendors. With CellManage and TDActivate, we provide the VAR with a simple way to resell wireless products and services, either via a managed service model (CellManage) or an automated supply chain to complete activations (TDActivate). Additionally, we offer mobile software and accessories, notably BlackBerry® products. Paired with CellManage and TDActivate, these provide more value-add services to the end customer. Finally, we offer a complete suite of back-office services, enabling wireless carriers to easily engage and sell products and services that are outside their normal portfolio through this channel. Supporting VARs, Carriers, and Vendors, these offerings ultimately provide more flexibility and choice for the end-customer.

How does this suite of offerings differ from the carrier’s or mobile device vendor’s traditional sales model?
This offer is completely unique from a supply chain perspective. We have taken the complete offering of carrier products and wireless service and simplified the supply chain to sell those products and services in exactly the same manner that VARs sources everything else from Tech Data. The ability to deliver these items, combined with our managed service offerings, makes this the first viable supply chain for the wireless carriers to reach the end customer organization through the IT VAR community.

What was the impetus in launching this venture? What need does ActivateIT fulfill?
Mobile technology is increasingly common as part of the IT lineup and now, more than ever, general technology purchases are tied to some aspect of a mobile strategy. This convergence of general technology and mobile products has reached critical mass, causing end user customers to demand more unified purchase options. This created an opportunity for tech distribution to play a bigger role in driving the connected world. The challenge, however, was that the VAR supply chain for mobile services and other mobile cloud offerings was almost non-existent. ActivateIT’s ability to work with the world’s largest mobile distributor and one of the world’s largest tech distributors to deliver the first effective mobile solution supply chain to the VAR community is a unique, and much needed, offering.

How does this fit into the larger RIM solution/ecosystem?
RIM is the dominant player in the commercial and government marketplace. The pervasiveness of mobile connectivity in these communities, however, has created a nightmare for IT buyers and IT managers everywhere. This channel represents an opportunity for RIM to provide a “one-stop-shop” for enterprise organizations to access a holistic solution. Our VAR partners are equipped to sell complex solutions and put together the components of an entire mobile strategy including the BlackBerry components such as BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System, BlackBerry® Enterprise Server installations and 5.0 upgrades, Microsoft® SharePoint® access, smartphones and tablets, as well as other 3rd party components and services. Overall, we are closely aligned with RIM to help augment the existing RIM channel business with activated handhelds in addition to the software and support lines.

Well Charles, this certainly sounds like a much needed compliment to the carrier and retail channels already in place. Clearly each customer’s needs vary a great deal, and ActivateIT should be very successful in supporting IT organizations’ demands. Best of luck with your new venture!

How do you procure your technology products? Do you have a single VAR or do you use multiple providers? Is your VAR providing mobile solutions and advice? Should they be? Let us know your thoughts!