On The Job With Pocket PCs

[Kati Compton]

Since I've been watching <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22801&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0">another thread</a>, I've noticed that a lot of people, while they use their Pocket PCs <b><i>at</i></b> work, don't seem to use their Pocket PCs <b><i>for</i></b> work.<br /><br />This surprises me, as it seems like a large proportion of our readers are in high-tech jobs. So now I'm really curious - is there anything you do for your job that is aided by the use of a PPC?<br /><br />Anything beyond the use of phone number look-up and appointments?

[Terry]

Although I run an IT department, I do not use my PPC directly for work for a couple of reasons:
Geek factor...I already have a pager and cell phone...I don't have room for a PPC anywhere. I wear a tie and suit to blend in with the other executives.
I can't think of anything that is work-related that a PPC is good for. Wireless is out -- not secure enough and runs through batteries.
A Blackberry works better for e-mail and when I'm in the office I'm near my PC.
When I'm in my office I'm near my PC.

[Don Tolson]

I couldn't survive at work without my Pocket PC. I use it to record voice memos and reminders, to take notes during meetings (with my XT keyboard!), draft documents when I'm away from my desktop, keep notes and 'ahas' when I'm in meetings (usually the aha is about a totally unrelated topic to the meeting!)

I actually use it less at home -- mostly as the only reliable family phone book, since my wife refuses to get one of her own!

[mike6024]

I write software for Pocket PCs so I use them all the time at work. I have my own personal one here and three others in my desk right now. :mrgreen:

[Brad Adrian]

I'm with you, Don! If it weren't for my Pocket PC, I wouldn't be able to survive at work. And, of course, when I'm away from my desk, it's my Pocket PC that lets me know exactly when I need to be back at it.

[Numsquat]

I use mine to edit and create docs and spreadsheets, doing PP presentations, Pocket Streets for maps of towns when I travel, Vehicle manager for keeping track of maintainance on a company vehicle, TreNotes for tracking projects, FlexWallet for keeping track of passworks.

[Gerard]

My work, my home... same place! But I use my iPAQ for lots of work stuff. I'm a luthier, with mostly a bunch of doublebasses to repair and adjust. It's not like a constant thing using the PPC to help with that, but it is useful for a lot of stuff in a sporadic way.

I get a lot of details sorted with clients by email, saving explanation time on the phone (phone calls take longer, no matter how I try for efficiency). Establishing appointments to drop off basses and other fiddles, pickup times, lists of what needs doing, preliminary estimates, those are all easier to deal with by email.

I write insurance appraisals and repair estimates with the iPAQ and Stowaway, printing them to my Canon BJC-85 by IrDA.

Photos and even short videos are easily grabbed with the HP CF camera, then I clean them up, crop, dumb down the filesizes, and send them along to clients during lengthy restoration jobs. It's reassuring to them to see progress, and at times they can give feedback on work when there's a choice to be made. Again, harder to do this on the phone (unless one has a video phone I guess).

I keep a shortcut on my Today screen (Dashboard) to my main spreadsheet, one with everyone's setup measurements listed. It's a breeze to search that while I'm talking with a client on the telephone or while they are there, checking things on the bass against my last record. If the instrument has been bumped (very common with the grand-daddy of fiddles), often a bridge position or soundpost placement can be different, making the feel and sound all wrong. Having a well-maintained list of such data is crucial, and since my PC is almost never on (and it's in the kitchen, not my shop), the PPC is the place to keep it.

FreqTune is another thing I keep a shortcut to on the front page. It's a great sampling tuner for all ranges of sound, and with my external microphone (PocketPCTechs did an experimental mic jack for my 3835) it's a lot faster to use than the internal mic, and less error-prone. I have a clip on the little mic, and attach it somewhere convenient and then quickly and accurately get a bass up to pitch after working on it. My 'perfect pitch' is slowly improving after 15 years in this game, but a lot of times I just can't get an a-440 to ring in my brain. Anyway, relative tuning is less reliable than absolute, and FreqTune's the best tool for that.

Otherwise my iPAQ sits on my desk beside the bench, always waiting to distract me from real work with some forum crawling. It's not the most obnoxious of recreations, and once in a while when I actually get to help somebody it's really satisfying. Sort of a companion to my luthiery; making things work is what I like best. My PPC use on the job isnt't so tech as a lot of folks', but it certainly does help.

[dean_shan]

I use it for taking jotting down quick notes (no more stickies for me). I don't use it too much at work. It's more of a at home device.

[dma1965]

I originally switched to Pocket PC from Palm because of work, mainly for Citrix. I now use it for everything I do day to day. I have to keep track of loads of passwords, IP configurations, logging of phone calks, as well as a GPS so I do not get lost. I use it much more then any other computer.

[Lday]

I do field service for Fujitsu, working on Point of Sale systems (cash registers and such) for many different customers. They all have different contracts, parts lists and such so I'm constantly referring to the specific Customer Information Bulletin for each. It's gotten so that fellow workers will call me for a part number or setting because they know I can instantly give them the answer, it saves them going out to their van, fire up their laptop, & dig out the answer. I just wish Pocket Word (or any other replacement such as Textmaker, ClearView, or Repligo) would handle embedded documents. The CIB's always contain a few, so each time one is updated I have to cut & paste the info from the embedded doc into the original so I can see it on my E755.

In addition, I have Tom Tom Navigator so I can find locations I'm not familar with. Some weeks I may be in Yuma, AZ one day, El Paso TX the next. Very handy.

Plus there's the WOW factor when I show a Store Manager a Divx video or play an MP3 for them.

[Anthony Caruana]

Gee - between listening to music on the way to work, managing email remotely, playing the odd game (Jewel Master from PDAMill and Handmark Scrabble), password management with eWallet and all the full set of PIM functions (using Pocket Informant) Spike, my 2210, is indispensible.

I was PPC free for about a month mid last year and I was totally lost.

[Andy Whiteford]

My biggest use of Pocket PC at work is for managing my work passwords which is approx 40 different passwords that are forced to change regularly.
I have been pushing Senior management to allow us to use WiFi access to our LAN but they still see this as a major security risk and we have never had any kind of connection approved. Should we be allowed to use WFi at work, I could use my device for much more such as remote checking up on the status of a server while doing my rounds in the office. This is the main reason I don't use my device more in the work environment.

[seeker]

I want to use my IPaq more at work but it is lack of a good understanding and thinking thru the applications and how they could assist that limits my use...

I have about 85 people who work with me, I have them spread around a 170,000 natural recreation area. I use a picture viewer to remember faces for quick reference.

I have my collection of required passwords, security access codes, and safe combinations listed in Excel.

I have a procedure manual for details about required actions listed in Word.

I have PocketInformant to manage my calendar, tasks, and business contacts.

Gerard, your exposition was very stimulating. You obviously make good use of the product.

We need a good guide to the application of our device and its software to the business basics.....

[that_kid]

I've been issued a company laptop and it has sat in the same spot that I put it when I got it(on the floor at home) cause I do everything with my pocketpc. I'm an RF field tech for a wireless carrier and I use my ppc so much that I just helped my boss pick up a 2215 and now everyone in my dept. wants one. We have a site data book that has all cell site locations along with all the information for that site. It's a really really big book, well it's also an access database. with a few clicks I now have that big book in my ppc. Using the info from that db along with my pharos bluetooth gps I can get to any of our sites even if I'v never been there (came in extra handy during the hurricane). We also have to do monthly inspections and maintenance on sites and while everyone else writes down their info an a piece of paper then comes into the office and copies it over to an excel spreadsheet I'm putting the info directly into excel then at the end of the month I vpn in out network and place the file on the shared drive. My boss asked me if I send e-mail from my ppc cause I'll be 60 miles from the office yet I'll e-mail him to let him know that I've just finished the antenna sweeps for a site. Oh and get this, Using a terminal emulator program I can access our 5ESS switch and cell sites from anywhere. This comes in very handy when I'm on call and there's no switch tech available or just when I'm at a site and I need to have a data link or something else restored i can do it myself. The only problem with that is now some of my fellow techs call me when they need help bu that's ok. After showing my boss this he was floored, now he wants me to help him do the same as well as the switch tech. I'm self contained now, I don't have to call the office for much as I can do all I need to do from my ppc. I even have a site log db on my ppc so I can pull up what I did at a site withouth going to the site and looking in the log book there. I take pictures of problems at sites and e-mail them back to people at the office so they can see what's going on. I use my ppc so much that I rarely go into the office. I even have the printers in both our switches mapped and can print things out while I'm 100's of miles away. My ppc has allowed me to work smarter and not harder at work and it's great when your boss like that and actually helps you(I used to work for verizon and it the opposite). Now that's just what I do at work, that doesn't include my side work which is a network admin 8O

[Ken Mattern]

I write software for the Pocket PC for DoD. I love my job. Here's a photo of my current crop of Pocket PC's. You can't see the Axim5 or the iPAQ 5455.
http://esspc-ebooks.com/images/Image(48).jpg

[buckyg]

I use it for both work & play.

At work, most of the time it sits in the cradle to the side of my PC monitor, showing my agenda. So I can do my work but have a nice reminder right there, not taking up "work space".

Since I travel for work sometimes, it's a great travel companion, for weather, conversions, wireless access, etc. And of course to keep myself entertained on long flights.

A colleague and I are the unofficial PPC experts at our company. We setup an iPAQ with a sleeve & phone card for the boss to take on a trip. (That did give him a very favorable first-hand PPC impression, btw). Also, some of our field reps use a home grown app to collect some data in the field.

This isn't my work experience, but it's applicable... I just got cable modem service installed yesterday. The cable company tech plugged in the modem/wireless gateway and made sure it worked on my PCs. Then he whips out a Toshiba and starts surfing and music streaming with it. What a great way to test the equipment for a customer and expose them to a PPC!

[Andy Whiteford]

Hey, that pic takes me back to my Jornada 565. Fond memories not least because of that flip cover. Oops, didn't mean to open a can of worms there! ;)

[Jeff Rutledge]

I don't use my PPC "for work" per se. That is, I could definitely do my job without iPAQ (not that I'd want to). The main benefit my work gets from my using the iPAQ is that it helps me organize my time and priorities. One could argue that a pen-and-paper daytimer does the same. I would counter that the PPC is much more effective, especially because I'm heavily reliant on Outlook for my appointment and task organization.

Still, I would say my daily PPC use is about 50/50 between work and personal use. I live and breathe in PocketInformant (http://www.pocketinformant.com)for all of my scheduling and tasks (plus the occasional alarm note). That's mostly work-related, but all of my personal appointments and tasks go in there too.

For fun/entertainment purposes, I listen to mp3's on the bus to- and from work. I check my POP mail at home wirelessly with my 802.11b CF card, and surf the net in the evening the same way. I usually play a game before bed to help me wind down. Plus all of my TV watching is helped by PocketTV Browser (http://www.doublebit.com). I also track my spending with Pocket Money, keep track of many lists with ListPro (http://www.iliumsoft.com)(my DVD collection (http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=JR2002)for example), or read the occasional ebook.

All in all, my iPAQ has become an integral part of my daily life.

But is it something I need for work? I guess that depends on your definition of need. 8)

[MLO]

Notes at meetings.
Copies of tech articles (Repligo)
Copies of online technical tutorials (iSilo)
Keep track of time (notes)
Occasional PC inventory (Excel)


MLO

[KH]

I've used my Ipaqs with Calligrapher for note taking at meetings and conferences for years - Calligrapher 7 and my 2215 are a great combination, and everything comes out typed and ready to clean up for distribution. I have a company phone/location directory and Pocket Streets for help on the road. I carry documents and Powerpoint slide decks away to review - and I use strong Passwords and encryption.

I also use my Ipaq to develop presentations or draft design notes when I am away from the office and not at home.

How do I use it for entertainment at work?? If I get writer's block or coder's block - or a boring teleconference - time for a couple of quick rounds of 'Mars Needs Cows' or a word game to break things loose...

[WindWalker]

I have been working my way into the commercial/industrial voiceover field, and my Axim has been an important tool for me. I use it in conjunction with ListPro, having created a nice little "database" that I track all the jobs and auditions I do, the invoices and dates, mileage, anticipated pay date, and have it set an alarm for the date I should have received a check. Clearly, I could do all this in another way, but this is so convenient, I'm pleased with it.

[dazz]

I use my PDA for contact management, project management, conference planning, expenses, time sheet, development projects, travel agenda and more.

I am using HanDBase exclusively for all of these. :D

I also use Mapopolis for when I travel to other cities and use Avantgo for keeping up with the latest news.

Darren Humphries
DDH Software, Inc.

[andbrown]

My trusty Pocket PC has been a constant companion at work for several years now. Why haul a laptop to a meeting for light note-taking? I check my e-mail everywhere, use a little Excel spreadsheet to note down all my To-Do items, and of course track my many meetings using Calendar. I've even ditched the laptop for some of my business trips - if all I have to do is keep up with e-mail and work with simple Word docs, there's no reason to pack a PC along.

So, yes, my Pocket PC is very useful in my daily work! :mrgreen:

[rmasinag]

PI runs my life and schoolwork

Passwords

Beats stickie notes

The only photo album I have and for viewing my photos I just taken

Voice recording, allows sleep in lecture, esp in genetics :mrgreen:

mp3 player, ebook reader, audible book player - allows ignoring the real weird ppl on the bus, and occasionally for running

BT to beam files, etc, to co-workers

Overall very useful to me and I panick if I don't have my 2210 esp. in the middle of the semester.

[Len Egan]

I am a pension consultant for not-for-profit agencies. I use the scheduler and contact functions all day. Pocket informant is critical to my organization. I also use my GPS to get to my appointments as I am in the field 65% of the time. I also use spreadsheets, word and Mastersoft Money to track my many business expenses. It has really become an integral part of my work over the last two years.

[minimage]

Mine is used at work for work (PC Support for a hospital and satellite clinics and offices) and play.

Software installation instructions and mileage tracking in Word (but I use TextMaker)
Notes hold my software licensing keys, and I jot down info for that danged work log, because I will often forget all the steps I've taken to resolve a help desk call, and TPTB are checking
Spreadsheet listing PC user names, IP addresses, serial numbers, asset tag numbers, etc for a large pc upgrade project
Email (server ActiveSync comes in handy)
Appointments (because I WILL forget who I promised to install a pc for on, say, Tuesday)
Tasks (when my co-workers ask me for a favor, I tell them to send me a task)
Contacts - got to have my co-workers' phone numbers and pager numbers, when I need something that falls out of my realm of support

Ebooks, Audibooks, games and music for those waiting periods and other downtimes; you have to have downtime!

[DVD]

Self-employed computer/networking consultant. iPaq 5550.

General PIM functions: diary, task list, address book. Various lists. Notes of client configuration details. Keep my private life and business separated by liberal use of categories.

PasswordSafe for all my passwords (personal & business).

Replying to emails (conduct much of my business by email) and writing other documents.

In my toolkit I carry a CF Plus expansion jacket, Pretec LAN card, and 2 cat-5 cables: straight & cross-over. (I use the 5550's wi-fi within my home/office; but few of my clients have wi-fi.) This is not so much so that I can use the client's network to access the internet; rather I can use the 5550 (and vxUtil) to test the client's network. The LAN card and expansion jacket paid for themselves within months.

Basically the iPaq saves me carrying a laptop around. Never leave home without it -- belt-holster (yes, I'm a geek, and proud of it).

[maximus]

I would be lost without my axim. All the schedules, contacts, passwords, PINs, emails, ICQs, SMS-es ... The axim is also the main method of communication with my future spouse ... the horror of not being able to chat with her in realtime ...