OLR: Exercise 2 – Topic 3

Wireless technology: issues and opportunities for improved workflow

With the ever increasing availability of wireless devices from the standard laptop to new PDA and smartphones being wireless enabled there is an ever increasing opportunity for us to improve workflow.

I currently work as a desktop support engineer and having looked at my day to day work practices and procedures I could quite easily become more time efficient using a wireless device on campus. This could be through the use of Instant messaging, access to online resources and reference through wireless and being able to update support tickets in realtime and in situe would prove most useful. Cisco has a white paper (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns340/ns394/ns348/ns337/netbr0900aecd8050322c.html) regarding wireless application within the health care services. The article describes the main points for improving workflow as the following:

As these examples illustrate, location tracking of assets can save resources through three key business policy improvements:

• Healthcare organizations spend less time locating and collecting equipment within the facility.

• Improved utilization of assets under management reduces the need to order new equipment to compensate for poor utilization and availability.

• Staff can respond to patient needs more quickly because needed equipment is distributed more efficiently throughout the facility.

Wireless devices deployed through organisations can also pose a large security risk if they are not deployed, designed and implimented correctly. These unsecured wireless networks can allow literally any passer by can patch into the network.

Ultimately the workforce is moving towards more and more wireless devices enabling us access to realitme data and resources on the move. Enabling a much more mobile workforce allows for distributed and geographically diverse organisations.