Go Portable

When it comes to communications technology, builders and contractors traditionally have been reluctant adopters. However, in recent years, with growing demand for faster completion of projects and greater efficiency and customer service, things are changing.

Portable Profitability
More and more construction management and contracting companies realize the value of portable communications technology devices. In an industry where project margins are traditionally narrow, they appreciate the fact that wireless handhelds and smartphones cost less than ever. And they're easier to use. They can even use them to set up wireless hotspots in model homes and construction trailers.

It's a new way of doing business, as builders and contractors embrace wireless technologies to track the progress of their projects, facilitate communication and ease collaboration.

Treo vs. BlackBerry
The Palm Treo 650 smart phone, a combination cell phone and PDA, and the RIM (Research-in-Motion) BlackBerry, both offer wireless e-mail, phone and Internet access. Rudolph and Sletten, a leading West Coast builder based in Redwood City, Calif., equips its mobile workforce with both devices.

Company CIO Sam Lamonica has made it his mission since he joined the firm two years ago to put computer power into the field. "The biggest bang for the buck is the mobile capabilities that it brings our people from an e-mail contact and calendaring perspective," he says. "The Treo 650 also allows employees to do some interesting things such as open attachments, which is an ability we didn't have when we started rolling out the RIM technology."

Who Uses What?
While it's becoming harder and harder to tell the BlackBerry and the Treo 650 apart, some believe that the BlackBerry does e-mail better, while the Treo offers a great display for viewing Web pages and documents.

Who uses what at Rudolph and Sletten? "We find that a lot of the people who are less comfortable with technology tend to stay with the BlackBerries because they're fairly basic, and it's pretty much just text e-mails that are being delivered to them," Lamonica says. "The people who are more technologically inclined are comfortable using the Treos with all their features and functions. With the 650, you can get Internet access. It also allows you to take pictures and movies. One of the applications that we use it for is dealing with safety concerns and safety violations, or to keep track of progress on a construction site."

A Portable Future
Wireless technologies like the Treo and BlackBerry are changing the ways that builders and contractors communicate and collaborate. A proliferation of new devices abound, with more on the horizon, with seemingly endless combinations. Here are just a few:

Cellular/landline. Industry insiders call "hybrid cell phones"—cell phones that will switch wirelessly to voice over IP (VoIP) in residences and office towers—a viable alternative to the PC for cellular/landline convergence.

PDA/laptop. New ultralight laptops offer the best of both worlds—the lightweight portability of a PDA in a fully functioning notebook.

BlackBerry Plus Coming soon is the Motorola Q, a device that combines the sleek, thin look of the RAZR with features that include a QWERTY keyboard, 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, digital audio, video playback and Windows™ Mobile 5.0.

Communications in Your Toolbox
With cell phones the size of a credit card and PCs the size of paperbacks, the trend toward miniaturized gear is putting new mobile communications power into the toolboxes of today's contractors. "With wireless access to e-mail, contacts, calendars, voice and the Web, it provides all the functionality I need when I'm on the road," Lamonica says.