Wireless Communication

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Introducing Two-Way Email, the Ultimate Solution for Mobile Access to Corporate Data

Today's mobile workers need highly summarized information from any corporate data source, no matter where that information resides or what format it is in. The goal is to move information closer to customers, closer to where the action is, closer to where business transactions take place.

This desire has spawned an incredible surge in wireless communication. According to the Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association (CTIA), about one-third of all Americans now have cell phones, and a new user signs up every two seconds – a year-on-year growth rate of 25 percent. The percentage of users is even higher in Japan and many parts of Europe – and not just for phone communication, but for wireless data services as well.

Two-Way Email, a new addition to Information Builders' WebFOCUS business intelligence solution, enables these mobile workers to retrieve corporate data from nearly any mobile device with one of the world's most reliable and familiar communications mediums: e-mail. Using standard e-mail messages, employees can query online information systems and receive information back automatically, without human intervention. Similarly, the information systems can push information directly to wireless users, once again using the familiar medium of e-mail.

"Email is currently a person-to-person phenomenon. Two-Way Email turns it into a person-to-system interaction," explains Gerald D. Cohen, president and CEO at Information Builders. "It uses a 'robot' to determine what a message is asking for – whether it's an inventory report from the warehouse information system or a customer record from the CRM database.

"We're not just broadcasting information, but automatically responding to user requests using a very friendly and incredibly far-reaching medium," Cohen continues.

Device-Independent Communication

Two-Way Email solves one of the most difficult challenges of wireless computing: exchanging messages and information among dissimilar types of mobile devices and networks. The problem stems from a lack of standards in the wireless arena. For example, your salespeople might use Palm Pilots while production managers have RIM BlackBerry devices, Handspring systems, or Pocket PCs. And while the industry as a whole seems to be moving toward something like the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), many of these devices work only with their own proprietary networks.

Two-Way Email doesn't care which devices your user base has now or might employ in the future – nor how they are enabled. One system brings everyone together – employees, customers, and business partners – whether they are connected by mobile devices, the corporate LAN, or the Internet. All you need is an e-mail address to send and retrieve data. "It's not just an email system," explains Cohen. "It's an information retrieval system that leverages your e-mail system to become device-independent."

Extending the WebFOCUS Pedigree

Information Builders has been adding wireless capabilities to WebFOCUS for some time, such as support for queries from many types of wireless devices. These devices merely need to connect to a WebFOCUS-powered Web site. From there, WebFOCUS dynamically generates information from any corporate resource and delivers it immediately to the device owner – on an alerted, event-driven, scheduled, or report-request basis.

Information Builders also provides solutions for integrating wireless devices with corporate transaction processing systems and production applications. These solutions give the device owner the ability to securely query and update data in corporate information systems, whether it's an inventory manager maintaining stock levels or a salesperson updating a customer's service status while on the road.

Based on this rich pedigree for wired and wireless access, Two-Way Email goes one step further. While WebFOCUS incorporates a broadcast facility that 'pushes' information to users, Two-Way Email lets users 'pull' information by querying corporate data sources directly. Think of it as a robot that is programmed to carry out requests. A simple e-mail message can invoke the full extent of these WebFOCUS capabilities, with replies sent automatically to the sender's e-mail address.

Two-Way Email also provides robust facilities for administering user profiles, security, and workgroup controls, using the WebFOCUS Managed Reporting Environment, ReportCaster catalog, and 128-bit encryption to verify each user's access privileges. And by leveraging the power of WebFOCUS, Two-Way Email can sort and summarize information into a wide variety of report formats.

For example, an HR manager might send a message to employees telling them about a report that delivers updated 401(k) information on demand. Employees who would like to receive the information are simply asked to reply to the mail message. Two-Way Email automatically handles each individual reply – finds the user in the catalog, lines up pertinent access privileges and delivers the pertinent information back by email.

In another instance, a sales manager might notify her staff about a series of 10 new reports she has just created from the customer database. Staff members are asked to tell her which reports they wish to receive (for example, '3,5,7'), and Two-Way Email does the rest, without further intervention by the sales manager.

Two-Way Email also supports e-mail templates, which users can fill out to request specific information. It doesn't matter whether the data is stored in a mainframe IMS database at headquarters or a Microsoft SQL Server database on a local PC. Two-Way Email can find the information.

Any Device, Anywhere!

True real-time information 'pull' requires Web-enabled wireless devices. Examples of the 'pull' approach include PQAs (Palm Query Applets) built for wireless Palm VII systems, RIM BlackBerry devices with Satellite Forms, digital cell phones and Pocket PCs. Data-ready cell phones and Pocket PCs can also be used to query corporate databases.

With Two-Way Email, you can also use these devices to send real-time queries to corporate information systems. For example, let's say a sales clerk is assisting a customer in a retail store. The customer wishes to purchase a blouse but can't find it in her size. The clerk could use his PDA to request an inventory report without ever leaving the customer's side. The WebFOCUS Two-Way Email robot gathers data from the back-end database and immediately returns it to the wireless device.

"We already have the security administration, the comprehensive catalog for user administration and access privileges, an extensive set of data connectors, and the industry's most robust solution for Web-based business intelligence," sums up Cohen. "To top it off, we have figured out how to convert e-mail messages into database requests."

A Comprehensive Solution for Workers On the Go

Fast-moving companies need to respond immediately to changes in business information, wherever that information originates and wherever the people who need it are located. These organizations need to automate the scheduled delivery of information. They also need to alert managers and key employees about critical events as they occur. Its no wonder that CTIA foresees a user base of 1.26 billion wireless phone users by 2005, a good percentage of them connected to the Internet.

Business users are the biggest drivers of wireless communication, as it becomes increasingly more valuable to be able to communicate with corporate information systems without a phone jack. At last, with Two-Way Email, they have the solution they have been waiting for.

Imagine entering an important order for a customer, and being able to show the confirmation of available inventory right on the spot. How about a sales rep accessing and updating the corporate lead-tracking system from a handheld device, or a customer service rep receiving detailed status information while on the road? Real estate agents who can call up property listings and view title documents from the front seats of their cars, or recruiting scouts who can request statistics on a particular athlete while sitting in the stands . . . the possibilities are endless.

"We allow a user sitting in an airport to query an information system directly," Cohen sums up. "There is no complex querying or programming required to make these scenarios possible – just a plain old ordinary mail message. That's what Two-Way Email brings to the table: simple, comprehensive two-way communication that is easy to deploy, manage and use."

David Baum is a freelance writer based in Santa Barbara, CA.