Stanley Access Technologies has been manufacturing and installing automatic entry doors for nearly 70 years. These doors permit the hands-free entry and egress we have grown accustomed to at many of the commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings we visit nearly every day. Traditionally, field technicians were accustomed to programming and testing these doors using screwdrivers, ladders, and complex service manuals. Now the hottest tool in the box is an all-in-one smartphone.
In 2001, Stanley began using Palm PDAs to simplify the programming process. Combining Palm's open development platform with Stanley-created software and a custom serial cable, the PDA interfaces with the door's electronic control panel, allowing technicians to program and test doors from the ground instead of the top of a ladder. While using PDAs did eliminate a lot of the manual programming required in the field, according to Jeffrey L. Bonas, Stanley technical support specialist, earlier PDA models were prone to data loss, especially in the case of battery failure.
With more than 400 field technicians, many scattered in remote territories and often working from home, access to updated programming information was critical. Upgrading from Palm PDAs to Palm Treo smartphones allowed the company to meet this objective easily.
Source: Integrated Solutions, http://www.integratedsolutionsmag.com