2 page Case Study - Posted 3/11/2009
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Pharmaceutical Consultant Saves Time, Boosts Clientele 50 Percent Using Mobile Solution
A pharmaceutical consultant with VCG & Associates, Randy Carpio needed a more effective way to respond to e-mail messages, access contact data, open documents, and communicate with clients and colleagues while traveling. Using a Windows Mobile® smartphone and a hosted Microsoft® Exchange Server solution, Carpio can now communicate quickly and efficiently wherever he is. Best of all, his clientele has increased by 50 percent.
Business Needs
The employees of VCG & Associates, a pharmaceutical consulting firm, live and work all over the United States. They often travel to visit the company's pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device clients as well as the healthcare insurance providers. "We're a virtual company without a central office," says Randy Carpio, a VCG consultant based in Scottsdale, Arizona. To manage contacts and other data, Carpio carried a large envelope with all his business cards, a cumbersome paper notebook, and a portable computer along with him while traveling. "It was getting ridiculous," he says. It was hard to keep information organized, and difficult to find anything quickly."
Additionally, VCG staff needed a way to quickly access Microsoft® Office Word documents and Office Excel® spreadsheets. "Sometimes we need to look at legal documents and get back to people very quickly—to meet deadlines for customers, for instance," Carpio says. "I might not have time at the airport to open my laptop, nor would I have enough battery life."
What's more, Carpio had no timely way to communicate with his clients or colleagues. "We talked via telephone and via e-mail, but often I could only answer e-mail a day or two after it was sent," he says. Some days, Carpio would have meetings all day long, starting at breakfast. "I couldn't look at e-mail until after dinner, when I would get to my hotel, connect my laptop and synch up; only to find over a hundred new e-mails I had received that day. I'd be exhausted, and not prepared to answer them all right away."
Delays in answering e-mail messages could be disastrous. "Timing is everything in the pharmaceutical business," he says. "If you’re not responding to clients or prospective clients first, somebody else will get the business."
Solution
Carpio decided he needed a way to make his information more portable so he could conveniently look up contacts and find other data as needed while on the go. He also needed a faster and more efficient way to send and receive e-mail messages, as well as a way to open and edit Microsoft Office Word and Excel documents while traveling. Carpio felt that a smartphone should be part of any solution he chose, but he was not a “technical guy" and was concerned about losing all his data if he were ever to lose his phone.
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We can conduct business in a timely, professional manner because of the hosted Exchange Server solution and [Windows Mobile] smartphones. Our clientele has increased over 50 percent since we started using Windows Mobile. |
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Randy Carpio
Partner, VGA & Associates |
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Carpio met with 4SmartPhone, a local mobile services company. "They told me about this technology where I could have all my contacts and data on my phone," he said. The technology solution was hosted Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, which 4SmartPhone hosts on its own server and makes available to small and midsized businesses. With this solution, client businesses don't need to buy or maintain their own Microsoft Exchange Server infrastructure. They can simply use a Windows Mobile® phone with an Internet connection to instantly access their e-mail, calendars, contacts, task lists, and files.
Carpio signed up for 4SmartPhone's service plan, and purchased a Samsung BlackJack, which uses Windows Mobile 6. All of the other staff members at VCG & Associates also use Windows Mobile phones.
The data on Carpio's phone is automatically synchronized with the data on the host server and all data is backed up by the service provider. "That means I could throw this phone away today, and get all my information back within minutes, so I have no fear of losing my phone," says Carpio.
Benefits
VCG staff members using Windows Mobile phones and a hosted Exchange Server solution save more time and have improved access to e-mail, calendars, contacts, task lists, and files. Best of all, says Carpio, his clientele has increased by 50 percent.
Saves Time, Speeds Responses to Clients
Carpio handles messaging much more efficiently. "It's amazing how much time I save by managing my communications throughout the day instead of going back to my hotel later to face a message backlog," Carpio says. "When I am finished with my day, I am really finished." Carpio estimates that the Windows Mobile solution saves him 10 to 15 hours a week. Clients appreciate the fast responses. "We recently were able to get a client what he needed very quickly versus another consultant," Carpio says. "We gained another research project from that."
Improves Data Access
Carpio uses his Windows Mobile smartphone to access important documents while on the go. "I can open up Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheets and Office Word documents on my phone, which is critical to our business because we’re making contracting decisions all the time," he says. "Now I can accomplish my work while on the move, without being tethered to anything."
VCG consultants find mobile Internet access to be especially useful for market research. "I use services that push information to me throughout the day from Wall Street, including drug approvals and clinical trials that are starting," Carpio says. "I can send it on to a client or prospective client as soon as I get it.”
Increases Clientele
Carpio credits his increased clientele to using Windows Mobile. "We can conduct business in a timely, professional manner because of the hosted Exchange Server solution and [Windows Mobile] smartphones," he says. "Our clientele has increased over 50 percent since we started using Windows Mobile."
