Love it or hate it, AT&T's mLife advertising campaign is bound to be effective. People are talking about it and going to www.mlife.com to see what it's all about. That's all AT&T wanted, and all they had to do was drop a few million in advertising during the Super Bowl to pluck a curious public and stick it in their hip pocket. Not so easy for peddlers of wireless POS solutions to grab so much attention though, is it? Well, it hasn't been, but that's all changing now.
Just like the spokesman in the commercial says, we were meant to lead a wireless life. While the umbilical cord reference might have been a stretch, VARs selling the first wave of wireless POS systems would have to agree that wireless is the way to go. The growth of mobile POS stations is chronicled monthly in Business Solutions, and in the past couple of months alone, one can see progress in the acceptance of wireless technology for POS applications.
Wireless Isn't For Tomorrow, It's For Today
Recently, I reported on Action Systems, Inc's (ASI's) wireless version of Restaurant Manager going live in restaurants in Washington, D.C. and Silver Spring, MD (February POS Channel News & Analysis). I relayed Hypercom's success with it's wireless ICE4000 handheld, which the company has been pushing as an answer to beat credit card skimming and network bugging schemes in restaurants (March POS Channel News & Analysis). I shared news of Casio's effort, side-by-side with WAV, NSA, One Web Group and Ameranth, to work its EG-800 handhelds into the hospitality market space (March POS Channel News & Analysis). Away from restaurants, I told you how One Source Solutions worked wireless POS into the mix at FedExField to help the Redskins peddle team licensed merchandise to tailgating fans in the parking lot (March POS Feature Story).
It's not that I think wireless point of sale is the next big thing in this industry, I think it's the big thing in the industry right now, and it's only getting bigger. I hear about today's wireless solutions on a daily basis as I talk to VARs, vendors, and end users. That's why you'll see more wireless coverage each month in Business Solutions. As a matter of fact, I'll be including a wireless sidebar that details a specific application for wireless at the point of sale in every feature story I write this year.
Something To Rally Around
Talking to ASI CEO Alex Malison about his Restaurant Manager software running on Compaq's iPAQ handheld at FS/TEC last October was like listening to Anthony Robbins after he's had one too many lattes. He couldn't contain his energy. At that point, he had two beta sites scheduled to test the program, which takes the wireless handheld for order taking a step further by introducing handwriting recognition technology. Today, ASI has given 30 of its resellers the green light to sell the product. Alex' enthusiasm is what the POS industry needs, and wireless technology is a cool catalyst for that enthusiasm. Wireless solutions are getting people more fired up than anything else in the industry right now. I don't think it's just because wireless is such a happening trend with consumers, either. The success of wireless at the POS is due to the real benefits it gives the end user and the end user's customers: face time, convenience, security, and freedom being a few of them. Can VARs feed off of these benefits and make money selling the solutions? I know some that have, and I'll be writing about them in upcoming issues.
Are you a VAR with an interesting (and profitable) wireless POS application? Are you a vendor with a hot new wireless product? Are you an end user getting value out of a wireless solution at the point of sale? I'd like to hear from you. If you're none of the above, I'd like to encourage you to cut the cord.