InformationWeek

December 8, 1997

Symbol's Handheld Gets Wireless

Modem lets parking officers link to state databases

rivers in New Jersey who neglect to pay parking tickets may be in for a rude awakening. Meter readers in eight municipalities last month began toting handheld computers with wireless connections to databases of drivers' records on mainframes in the state's court system.

Together with a portable printer, the Symbol Technologies Inc.'s device is used by parking officers to write tickets. But by using an Ericsson Type III Mobitex-compatible wireless modem card, meter readers can also tap into the court's database to retrieve information on outstanding traffic warrants. The Mobitex WAN connection is through RAM Mobile Data.

If a driver has a backlog of unpaid tickets resulting in warrants, says Bob Jacobsen, project manager for the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts in Trenton, the parking officer can call a tow truck to confiscate the car and require the driver to pay outstanding fines when retriev ing it.

The 9.5-inch-by-5.5-inch portable computers, dubbed Symbol PPT 4631, are from Symbol Technologies, in Holtsville, N.Y., which specializes in handheld computers and bar-code transaction systems. Parking officers write tickets on the two-pound device with a stylus. They use touch-screen numbers and letters to input license plate numbers. All other information needed to write tickets is on pull-down menus that include all of the streets in a community and all makes, models, and years of cars, says Jacobsen. "When it hits the database, it will come back with information on the driver and warrants," he adds. Paradigm4, a New York City value-added reseller, developed the software.

"The unit has the capability of handwriting recognition," says Jacobsen. But for most functions, "It was easier to have drop-down menus because the handwriting can be hard to read." Illegible handwriting, he notes, is responsible for many tickets being thrown out of court.

The meter reader prints out a hard copy of the tick et from a printer carried on a shoulder harness or belt. "It's a synthetic paper that can't be torn and is waterproof," Jacobsen says. "The court gets a copy on the mainframe."

Eliminating Errors
Although the meter readers can learn to use the machine at least as fast as they can write tickets manually, the real value, he says, is in the elimination of both human error and the need for clerks at the courts to input data.

By next June, Jacobsen expects to have the devices in the hands of 263 traffic officers in 34 of the state's largest municipalities. To test the durability of the devices, Jacobsen says he dropped one of them several times on concrete from a height of seven feet.

Jacobsen says the system will pay off in several ways. Agencies collect on more violations because of the meter readers' ability to check databases of outstanding warrants and have cars towed to ensure that tickets get paid. He also says the system will result in a significant reduction in clerical work. But the syste m hasn't been in use long enough yet to calculate the return on investment, he adds.

Jacobsen paid $4,350 each for the computers, including modems and software. The printers are another $1,800 each. Symbol sells basic versions of the devices starting at $2,500 in volume purchases, says Barry Issberner, Symbol's senior director of product marketing. The devices are also used in the shipping and trucking industries for tracking packages.

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