Panasonic Toughbook 52 Mapping Technical and Operational Challenges of Mobile - Page 7

"The ability to disinfect is huge. We have done-in our keyboards trying to apply just a little disinfectant to stop the spread of viruses" - IT evaluator for a homecare service provider organization • Field-based moderate: The hazards of the field based moderate environment align with field based harsh. Devices need to be designed to resist vibration, temperature, humidity, and altitude, along with wet and particulate laden environments. Yet, the degree of protection does not need to be as robust as conditions are less harsh. Vehicles are typically driven on smooth paved roads. Mobile workers will often choose not to work outside during extremely harsh weather conditions. Granted the solutions are still highly mobile, requiring strong protections against normal wear and tear, drops, and liquid. Key industries that deploy solutions to field based moderate environments include field sales, field service, professional services, trucking, DSD, and mail/courier. • Road warrior: Currently most road warriors use their devices primarily in carpeted office areas except for during transit. As a result, commercialgrade devices are the most commonly adopted platform. Integration of more durable components such as spill-proof keyboards and some form of hard drive protection received favorable reception from this community which is resulting in adoption of more business-rugged or durable mobile computing solutions. • Campus: Organizations that work in areas of tiled floors or concrete often demand more active workloads (namely not desk work). Devices need to be protected against shock to concrete or tiled floors from arm level. Depending on the environment, specifications may need to be specialized to withstand exposure to industry specific hazards. For instance, healthcare facilities require solutions that can be disinfected to prevent the spread of germs. Warehousing operations often require solutions that can withstand cold temperatures for use in freezer environments. Industries covered in this category include healthcare, manufacturing, warehousing, and retail. • Healthcare: In reaction to a lack of a "perfect" platform, hospitals have mainly adopted commercial-grade devices, stapling them to carts to prevent falls and enhance the ergonomics. Recently, increasing adoption of more sophisticated applications, such as e-prescribing and prescription verification, is demanding that computers be further integrated into the workflow. Subsequently, demand for truly mobile platforms is on the rise. To meet this new trend, vendors developed Mobile Clinical Assistants (MCAs) such as Panasonic's Toughbook H1, which is a tablet featuring rugged construction, disinfectable casing, and a competitive price point. Currently, MCAs have received favorable reception from the medical community, especially for the ability to disinfect, and are starting to be used in full scale deployments at hospitals. Indicators point to the MCA category as a successful new form factor due to the creation of platforms consisting of the distinct set of ruggedness and ergonomic features demanded by the healthcare environment. © 2009 VDC Research Group, Inc. 6