Mobile technologies have transformed the way we live, learn, work, travel, shop and stay connected. Not even the industrial revolution created such a swift and radical explosion in technological innovation and economic growth worldwide. Almost all fundamental human activities have been touched, if not revolutionised, by mobile. According to Ericsson, 3G and 4G technologies have reached 3 billion subscriptions, in less than 15 years - making mobile the most rapidly adopted consumer technology in history!
Just as the rise of the Internet in the late 1990s was marked by explosive growth and aggressive innovation, the shift towards mobile, from basic feature phones to high-spec smartphones, is once again reshaping the economic landscape, making Mobile a global success story. The days where your cell phone was merely a convenient tool used to call relatives, friends or colleagues are long gone, as rapid technological innovation has led to evolving customer demands. Smartphones have become just as powerful as laptops or computers, and it is therefore no surprise that today more than 85% of mobile usage relates to non-voice activities. Competition between top manufacturers continues to drive innovation to new heights, and technologies such as augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), holographic imaging and bendable screens are no longer science fiction.
Consumers and businesses are discovering new ways to use mobile at an astounding rate, and mobile devices have a "glueyness" unlike any other consumer commodity.
The very idea of leaving home or going on a business trip without a mobile phone ins unthinkable. This disruption of the mobile market has led EAI South Africa (Enterprise Application Integration) to research and explore opportunities where their company offering can add value to clients. With a strong traditional pedigree in integration and moving transactional data continuously between important business support systems, they recognised the need for this transactional data to also flow through smart devices on demand. This means that real-time information is more easily accessible, empowering decision makers to act more effectively and accurately than ever before.
EAI South Africa is an innovative ICT solutions (Information and Communications Technology) company and is motivated to create sustainable success for customers. The company specialises in a number of development technologies across a broad spectrum of different products and services, ranging from Enterprise Application Integration to Mobile and Web Solutions.
Founded in 2005, EAI South Africa brings more than 10 years’ experience of delivering exceptional products and services to the corporate, mid corporate and SME domains and having implemented numerous successful projects for clients, has an impressive track record.
“Our journey along this path has inspired us to evolve and improve our capabilities, as well as build relationships and look for partners who share the same vision and ideals. Teaming up with ACS-Embrace was inevitable as they too were looking to explore the potential of mobility and extend the reach of Embrace onto handheld devices, smartphones and tablets.
With a common vision to push the boundaries of each company’s traditional offering, the inspiration to put the power of ERP and comprehensive business support systems into the palm of the users hand quickly took shape,” explains Francois Flamengo, CEO of EAI South Africa.
Over the past 18 months, EAI SA and ACS-Embrace have successfully integrated a wide range of functionality and this natural progression has enabled us to tackle new opportunities that previously would have been too challenging for either company alone.
By integrating smartphone features such as cameras, scanners, geo location, push notifications and touchscreen into the power of workflow and integration… business operations will never be the same. Where business traditionally was worried about the impact of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), the smartphone can actually accelerate operations by empowering your company users to start doing their work from their beloved phones. The possibilities are endless, and with the correct mix of creativity and innovation, business can streamline processes and increase productivity.
Some of the notable features in the current Embrace mobile solution are the integration into the Embrace Customer, Pricing, Inventory, Sales Order and Service Order modules. While most of these features currently focus on enquiries, the functionality has been extended to enable users to maintain field service jobs and place sales orders while out in the field.
Future plans include the following:
Workbench - enabling customers to perform important workforce workflows from their phone. The business benefit includes faster end-to-end processing of specific workflows, as well as on demand engagement from important stakeholders to notify them that they have an action waiting.
mPOS - enabling customers to complete point of sale transactions immediately from their phone. The business benefits include on-the-spot processing of orders for customers who don’t want to wait. Sales teams can ensure that by the time their customer walks out the door, the sales order has already successfully been submitted for processing.
Reporting - giving stakeholders immediate access to important information. This will enable them to view and track performance, quickly measure and monitor identified Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to ensure business is on-track in reaching targets and goals - all from the palm of their hand.
Clients with other specific and unique requirements can also be assured that the Embrace mobile platform is extremely flexible and able to accommodate any bespoke functions. The platform has been designed to integrate and customise other “external” functionalities into the mobile solution.
The mobile era is changing business as we know it - don’t be left behind, embrace it!