Posted by
Tim Hunt on Mon, Feb 11, 2013 @ 12:00 PM
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The all new Panasonic Toughbook C2 is the Swiss Army Knife of Rugged Computers. Lightweight, semi-rugged, and highly versatile, the C2 is the first Panasonic Toughbook designed for the new Windows 8 operating system, and a must have device for mobile workers.
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There are so many improvements, it's hard to know where to start. Perhaps the biggest change is the move by Panasonic to take this device out of the Business Rugged classification the original C1 held, and redesign it up to being a bona fide Semi-Rugged device. This change allows for more reliability outside the four walls, in the field, where life's knocks and drops take their toll on mobile devices.
With the same functionality and improved reliability, the New Panasonic C2 can be the one device that meets the needs of your entire field workforce. Depending upon how they work, the Panasonic C2 has the flexibility to accommodate many different modes of work.
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What Mode Are You In?
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Notebook Mode
When you need a standard notebook with a full keyboard, the C2 is up for the job. This allows the skilled typist to bang away at full speed, keeping the work moving along. Medical narratives, spreadsheets, reports; everything you need in one Windows 8 Device.
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Tablet Mode
With the new Windows 8 operating system, you can fly through the work day without ever having to use the keyboard. Drop down windows, radial buttons, and up to 5-point gesture enabled touch screen give you the speed you need to power through projects. The screen is also available with a digitizer option that makes signature capture a breeze.
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Presentation Mode
Field sales will love the ability to turn the screen into presentation mode for impromptu product videos or powerpoint presentations. The touch screen easily navigates and controls the images on the screen, allowing for a more interactive presentation, drawing the prospect deeper into the pitch with vivid images and interactivity.
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Ergonomically Enhanced
Weighing as little as just 3.6 lbs., the all new C2 is light and nimble for all day use. The redesigned polymer hand strap allows you to keep a grip on the C2 without stressing out your wrist and forearm.
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When your send your mobile workers forth to conquer sales, work orders, field service, and presentations, arm your people with the most versatile, most reliable mobile computers you can get - The Panasonic Toughbook C2.
Posted by
Tim Hunt on Fri, Jun 01, 2012 @ 01:59 PM
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Some people are “techies” and really get into the nitty-gritty details of every electronic device they buy. Then there are those who can’t be bothered with the details, and simply choose based upon brand or some other aesthetic quality. Most of us fall somewhere in between. When choosing a television, we all know to get some sort of flat panel TV, with a High Definition picture, and we all know bigger is better. From there, we all usually go to the one thing we can understand – Price.
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In today’s blog, I’m going to change the way you select TVs for your business by letting you in on three big differences between the TVs you buy at consumer retail stores and the Professional Displays you can get from professional technology integrators. These three features take Price out of the equation and add in a new term –Total Cost of Ownership.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a fairly simple concept. You look at what your actual costs are over the expected life of the product you are buying. For example, if you buy Widget A for $5, and it is expected to last you one year, your TCO would be $5. However, if Widget A is expected to last for one year, but needs to be replaced at 4 months, your TCO would be [(expected life/actual life)xcost] or 12/4=3; 3x$5=$15. In this example, the TCO for Widget A tripled due to it’s not meeting the expected life cycle. There are several other factors like warranties, service, maintenance, and downtime to name just a few. All of these factors can add to the cost of a product over its service life and negatively or positively affect the TCO.
What follows are the Top Three Things to Consider when you purchase TVs for your business, and how they affect your TCO.
1. Heat & Operating Hours
Consumer TVs
All products, including consumer TVs, are engineered to meet not only the expected usage of the product, but also to be as inexpensive to manufacture as possible. What this means to the consumer TV market is that the TVs available at consumer retail stores are engineered and designed to be used only 4-7 hours per day. The components inside the TV will hold up to 4-7 hours per day for the expected life of the TV. Consumer TVs are not built to work a 13 hour day. When used in this manner, components inside the TV fail. This is why consumer TVs have shorter warrantees when used in business. The manufacturer is only warranting the TV for 4-7 hours per day, anything more is beyond the capabilities of the components.
Professional Displays
Engineered, designed, and built for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service, Professional Displays have upgraded components, better cooling design (some have fans), and some can even be used outdoors in the elements. The manufacturers know and expect the professional displays will be on and working every moment your business is open. They build them to meet these usage demands. As such, they can warranty them for years.
How does Heat and Operating Hours affect my TCO?
It’s simple—professional displays will outlast consumer TVs in heavy usage environments like business. If you don’t have to buy a new TV for 3+ years, your TCO goes down. If you don’t have broken TVs in your business, you don’t have to spend time finding, buying, installing a new one. If you don’t have broken TVs at your business, your customers will be happier. Good TCO is Good for Business.
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2. Warranty
Consumer TVs
The TVs available at consumer retail stores are not designed for, nor warranted for use in a commercial environment. Most consumer grade TVs have warrantees that, once installed at a business, revert to a limited 90-day warranty. The manufacturer will not cover any problems beyond the 90-day window.
Professional Displays
Professional grade displays are designed for use in business. The manufacturers have built the displays to hold up in this environment. (see Heat & Operating Hours #1) As such, professional grade displays come with multi-year manufacturers warrantees. In fact, many manufacturers offer extended warrantees of up to five years on their professional displays.
How does the Warranty affect my Total Cost of Ownership?
Not unlike Widget A from the example above, the TV you purchase has an expected life span. If after being on for 13 hours a day, for 91 days straight, it goes dead, you have no warranty. Based upon the simple TCO equation above, your TCO on the consumer TV just quadrupled. If the consumer set cost you $400, was expected to last for 1 year, but failed after 3 months, your simple TCO on that TV is now $1600. However, on the professional display your warranty would be 2 years. If, after being on for 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 23 months straight, the professional display goes dead, the manufacturer will fix or replace the TV free of charge. Better warranty means lower TCO.
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3. Compatibility with PCs
Consumer TVs
With the right connector cable, you can hook up your PC to a consumer TV. That said, the consumer TV is not designed to support all the PC resolutions available. If you’ve ever hooked up your PC or laptop to your TV you will know what I mean. The image is there, but it doesn’t scale well, is partially off the screen, or is so small, viewing it at normal distance is impossible.
Professional Displays
Used in digital signage, professional displays are built to meet not only the TV/video resolutions from broadcast/cable/satellite, but also to display all the PC resolutions correctly. This includes wide format PC resolutions as well as portrait mode display options.
How does Compatibility with PCs affect my TCO?
If you are only using your TVs to show sports, news, or “regular” TV for your patrons, this feature may not SEEM important to you. What you have to remember is that IF you have professional Displays in your business, it’s a simple matter of networking them and some software to turn them into digital signage. You can still display the sports your patrons came in to see, but at the same time, run a small scroll promoting your goods or services. This added marketing can drive impulse or add-on sales, improve your bottom line, and offset the cost of the professional displays and software. Over time, it may pay for itself. Professional Displays are the first step to improving sales with digital signage marketing.
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I hope this blog has changed the way you think about television purchases for your business. You have a lot to think about now; considering what kind of usage the TV was engineered and built for, understanding how warrantees affect your TCO, time, and bottom line, as well as how using professional displays will give you better TCO and prepare you for a future digital signage marketing project. As a better informed business owner, you can make better business decisions. And remember Good TCO is Good for Your Business.
About the Author: CDCE Engineered Solutions supplies, installs, supports and maintains professional displays and digital signage networks. In business for 28 years, our excellent service, industry leading products, and experience help our clients to grow and improve. To learn more about professional displays or digital signage for your business, contact CDCE at (800) 373-5353.
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Posted by
Tim Hunt on Thu, May 24, 2012 @ 10:27 AM
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In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that roughly 1.7 million hospital-associated infections, from all types of microorganisms, including bacteria, combined, cause or contribute to 99,000 deaths each year.
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Nosocomial infection (nos-oh-koh-mi-al), also known as a hospital-acquired infection or HAI, is an infection whose development is favored by a hospital environment, such as one acquired by a patient during a hospital visit or one developing among hospital staff. Such infections include fungal and bacterial infections and are aggravated by the reduced resistance of individual patients.
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Preventing nosocomial infections has become a white hot issue for hospitals and clinics. The cost in lives, as well as the cost in revenue associated with treatment and care, has made prevention the mantra for health organizations. You see, most health management organizations (HMO) are no longer reimbursing hospitals for the costs of treating infections acquired in the hospital. This change to the reimbursement practices has spurred sweeping changes within hospitals and clinics. Hospitals have entire departments dedicated to finding new ways to eliminate hospital acquired diseases. These departments regulate new sanitation regimens within the hospitals, develop new practices, as well as find and implement products that aid health workers in combating hospital acquired diseases.
Nosocomial diseases are spread through infectious material on people and equipment. People simply sanitize their hands, but many devices in the hospital room are not designed to be sanitized. Although several feet away from the patient bed, the in-room television, for example, has two things bacteria need to grow and thrive; surfaces that can't be cleaned and heat. Harmful pathogens can find their way into the speaker grills and around the control buttons on a television. Then, over time, these pathogens grow unchecked. Anyone who touches the television to turn it off, adjust the volume, or tilt the screen, comes in contact with those pathogens, and have the potential of spreading them throughout the room and hospital. This could be a care giver, a visitor, housekeeping – anyone. On a standard television, even those designed for hospital use, there is no way to properly clean and sanitize these contact areas.
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One of the nation’s leading healthcare grade television manufacturers, HCI, has found a way to take the in-room patient television out of the hospital acquired disease equation. The new HCI Infection Control Series hospital grade televisions feature a specially treated, solid glass front which allows hospitals to use the strong cleaners and disinfectants they need to ensure they are killing any pathogens on the surface.
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The addition of flat, resistive touch controls onto the front glass of the HCI Infection Control Series television allows health workers to sanitize the button controls. These flat buttons eliminate the potential for hazardous material to gather in the gaps found around the control buttons on normal televisions. When sanitized at proper intervals, these two features of the HCI Infection Control Televisions help to eliminate the spread of diseases throughout the hospital or clinic.
Can an Infection Control Television save your life?
Only if the facility you are in is using them.
| Learn more about the new HCI Infection Control Televisions by calling CDCE and speaking with our Healthcare Team. We can be reached at (800) 373-5353, or simply follow the links within this article to the HCI pages on our website – www.cdce.com |
Posted by
Tim Hunt on Mon, Apr 02, 2012 @ 01:38 PM
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Let’s face it, mobile computers and tablets are awesome until they break. Then, those of us who rely upon them to do our jobs are pretty much worthless. If your organization has or is going to replace pen and paper with a mobile computer, you are going to need to find a mobile device with the same reliability. That, or do battle with the Blue Screen of Death and pay the price of all the costly downtime that goes with it.
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The costs associated with employee downtime can be huge, and often overlooked when deciding upon which mobile device to deploy. Upfront costs for non-rugged consumer devices seem like a bargain when compared to enterprise rugged devices, but once you look into the total cost of owning the device for its lifetime, the consumer devices end up a drag on your financial resources, time, and productivity. When downtime and repairs are figured into the lifetime costs of ordinary laptops and tablets, the ultimate price of those devices increases substantially.
Not only are the costs of computer failures substantial, but also the negative effects on business processes are often under-reported. While most organizations are cognizant of the direct costs of mobile computer repair, few organizations understand the indirect costs to the IT organization and the opportunity costs to the enterprise.
PC Magazine, in its September 2009 issue, reported an industry average failure rate of 21.0%. Panasonic Solutions Company, manufacturers of the Panasonic Toughbook line of rugged mobile computers, has service records (as of September, 2009, for units in and out of warranty) that show an average annual failure rate of only 2.99% for their Toughbook mobile computers.
A comparison of the data presented in the below Venture Development Corporation (VDC) chart highlights the difference in reliability between rugged and commercial-grade notebooks and tablets. By the third year, the number of commercial-grade units that need to be replaced is over 60% more than rugged notebooks and tablets.
The Venture Data Corporation (VDC) chart below illustrates the difference in total cost of ownership between rugged computers/tablets and commercial-grade computers/tablets over a 5 year period. After 5 years, commercial-grade computers/tablets cost 55% more to own and operate than rugged computers/tablets due to increased downtime and the need for hardware replacement.
Learn more about Total Cost of Ownership, and how to avoid the hidden costs associated with consumer grade mobile computers in our Total Cost of Ownership White Paper prepared by VDC Research. Download the White Paper HERE.
Posted by
Tim Hunt on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 @ 04:55 PM
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If you own or manage a small business, there has never been a better time to implement a paperless mobile computing solution. Any small business that uses paper and pen to document work and produce invoices, and has more than one employee performing work outside the office should be taking the steps necessary to go paperless.
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Here are the Top 3 Reasons Why Your Business Should Go Paperless:
1. More accurate and complete work tracking
Checks and balances within the software automatically alert when discrepancies arise on the electronic forms, eliminating unbilled parts or services, labor hours are automatically tracked, and it eliminates illegible handwriting issues that cause delays in billing or create costly errors when ordering parts.
2. Faster Service and Better Inventory Control
GPS enabled mobile computers help guide the service representative along the most efficient route, saving fuel and time. On-time arrivals and fast service are two big factors in customer satisfaction. Digital inventory and parts ordering also help to locate the needed parts in mobile inventories on service trucks, or in the warehouse, saving time and eliminating the need for service reps to spend hours making multiple phone calls locating and ordering the correct parts.
3. Faster Billing Means Better Cash Management
Electronic work orders create accurate billing invoices which will eliminate the need for all the delays caused by retyping the entire paper form into your office computer by a data entry person. Once the work is completed in the field, an electronic invoice can be generated and emailed or printed and mailed that day, eliminating the weeks-long delays often found in a paper invoice environment. By shortening the time between service rendered and accounts received, small businesses free up their cash flow, allowing for funds to be directed where and when they are needed.
These three reasons are just the icing on the cake. There are many other benefits. The only drawback for most organizations is finding one technology integration firm that has the experience and products to create a mobile computing solution that fits their company’s needs. Just buying computers and then finding software, does not guarantee the two are compatible. To ensure the success of your project and to optimize your return on investment, work with a technology integration firm with the experience, product selection, and support options you need.
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Take the first step to going paperless! Call CDCE (800) 373-5353
About CDCE:
CDCE is a technology integration firm located in Yorba Linda, CA. We specialize in creating reliable and efficient mobile computing solutions. With our years of experience and long list of technology options, we provide complete hardware, software, integration services, training and support all tailored to meet our client’s unique needs. To learn more about deploying a mobile computing solution for your business, call us at (800) 373-5353 or visit us on the web at www.cdce.com
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Posted by
Tim Hunt on Tue, Mar 20, 2012 @ 08:01 AM
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In a down economy, every business is looking for ways to increase revenue, cut costs, and make the most out of the capital equipment they have. In this, the very first edition of the CDCE Blog, we will be discussing the economic advantages of extended warranties for rugged notebooks, and how organizations who utilize them are better managing their limited budgets.
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Everyone should be familiar with the idea of an extended warranty, but here’s the premise in a nut shell; extended warranties are put into place to ensure the rugged notebook they cover remains functional for the duration of the warranty term. The understanding is that, as a rugged notebook ages, a repair or replacing a complete unit will cost more than the extended warranty. With budgets being slashed and fuel costs soaring, doing more with what you already have is the business mantra today. Extended warranties allow you to accomplish this goal.
The economics of extended warranties for an existing fleet of rugged notebooks versus replacing that fleet are simple to understand. To replace a fully rugged notebook, an organization would need to spend roughly $3500.00, while a No-Fault extended warranty on an existing fully rugged notebook may cost as little as $200.00 per year. Multiply those numbers by even as little as 50 computers and it quickly adds up to every municipality, agency, and private company that has an existing deployment of rugged notebooks looking to extend the life of their fleet and preserve their budgets through extended warranties.
| A word of caution: an extended warranty is only as good as the company backing it. When selecting an extended warranty, find a company that is authorized by the manufacturer for repairs, has a solid business that will not close its doors and leave you high and dry, and try to find one that you may already be doing business with as your prior relationship may net you a better deal on the extended warranty purchase. |
About Us: CDCE is an authorized Panasonic service and repair facility located in Southern California. An award winning Panasonic TP3 reseller, CDCE provides Panasonic Toughbooks®, integration services, as well as extended warranties for Panasonic Toughbooks®. If you would like more information about our suite of extended warranties, products and services, or would like to discuss your organizations needs, contact us at (800) 373-5353 or visit us at www.cdce.com.