Palm profile

For newspapers looking into a handheld productivity solution, purchasing a device like a Palm or a Softbook is a major consideration. Industry suppliers are beginning to offer software packages, but support for the Palm device itself will have to reside with the newspaper and this is a cost factor that should be considered carefully.

All it takes to destroy a lot of carefully constructed data is for the device to take one good fall to the ground. But aside from actual droppage, the Palm is fairly reliable and dependable (as long as the batteries are fresh).

The other key is to synchronize the device regularly, but that workflow is probably already in place. Carriers and dealers get their information before the route and return their information after the route. A salesperson visits the office both before a sales call and after. Wireless technologies make a visit to the office almost unnecessary. A handheld productity system just eliminates the need for paper and oftentimes indecipherable handwriting.

With the information being returned by the newspaper worker into a paper's various systems, invaluable information for analysis is provided. Each day, management would have business-critical information on their customers right in the system and at their fingertips.

As businesses move further away from the handling of paper for internal business, the key to its successes will be in using the right tools. Whether it's a laptop, PDA, Web-enabled phone or the gadget that hasn't been invented but is just over the horizon, getting these kinds of tools into the hands of people in the field is essential.

-- J.Z.

See also Handhelds make their way into circulation, sales departments and Dewar profile.

From THE COLE PAPERS, April 2001, Copyright © 2001, All Rights Reserved.