INFONETICS, Inc. • 1729 Gateway Circle • Grove City, OH 43123 • Phone: 614-875-2006
On the web: www.infonetx.com • email: info@infonetx.com • Fax: 614-875-7761
Deployment of our latest software upgrade, Version 2.21, has begun in earnest having passed beta testing with many compliments on the new features. Tops amongst those enhancements is a new screen printing utility that allows paging forwards & backwards, as well as searching for specific text in the stream of data. Also highly praised is the new "embedded" Serial Number/Lot Number features. This makes tracking those pesky lot/batch numbers, especially on medical gas cylinders, considerably easier and more thorough. The new INFOMAIL (integrated email) software is also in full gear with more than a dozen installations complete. This is the first new add-on module to be released in a number of years as most new features are part of existing software modules. Demand has been running higher than ever before and we're working hard at implementing each new request as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we get caught up with this backlog.
If all that new software wasn't enough, we're now moving into beta testing of our exciting new INFOPAD/tablet PC. Delivery of the first few units have arrived, after a 3+month wait on the manufacturer. Each piece we test and
assemble impresses us more and more with the quality and high engineering standards of this ruggedized tablet PC. We're truly onto something new and groundbreaking here, and it will revolutionize the way we think about mobile computing. Look for a write-up in this newsletter for more information.
Our upcoming trade show schedule has us at the FabTech/AWS/Gawda Pavilion in Atlanta, GA from Tuesday, October 31th through Thursday, November 2nd. Look for Jim & Brian in booth 13145 at the show. We'll also be presenting "No Wires Attached" in the Innovation Theater on Thursday at 12:15pm. Attached you'll find a complimentary coupon for admission to the show, so by all means please stop by and visit us.
We'll also be holding our third and final traveling INFOGROUP meeting of the fall prior to the AIWD meeting in Tucson, AZ on October 8th from 12:00-6:00pm. Please give us a call to register for this informative users group meeting.
On a personal note, I'd like to congratulate my wife, Mary Frea, on her recent completion of the 26.2 mile Columbus Marathon. She placed third out of all women walkers, and seventh overall in the walking division. With around 8,000 runners and 221 walkers, her accomplishment is truly amazing.
INFOPad Mobile Tablet PC
Mobile solutions and the welding supply industry, a difficult challenge indeed. Some devices have been too delicate for the rugged environment of the welding distributor, while others have been durable but not functional past simple data capture. INFONETICS has developed a mobile solution that allows you to connect to your system from anywhere!
ON THE TRUCK
Leave the clipboard and pen back at the office, as INFOPad will do everything the driver needs to do in the field. It's like having your favorite PC on the truck. In addition, the INFOPad is equipped with a wireless scanner for scanning inventory and/or serial number bar-codes, a GPS receiver and a copy of Microsoft Streets for mapping driver routes. A truck mount is available with a backlit keyboard for use in the cab of the truck.
USE WITH SALES FORCE
With INFOPad the sales force now has access to their INFONETICS system at a customer location, at a trade show, in their car (while in park, of course), or back at the office. No more calling back to the office to check stock, customer special pricing, or whether an order has shipped or not. All the information is now at the fingertips of the sales force with INFOPad.
USE IN THE OFFICE
Not only is INFOPad a great mobile device, it is an extremely versatile machine that can be used for everyday life in the office. INFOPad can seamlessly be added to your wired or wireless network in the office and serve many purposes. At the sales counter, it can be your point-of-sale device and capture handwriting/signatures. In the showroom, you can use INFOPad and the wireless scanner to take a physical count of inventory, or scan and add those hard to move items (e.g. welding machines) to a customer order. In the warehouse or on the dock INFOPad can be used for receiving, inventory, or any number of solutions where a temporary/mobile computer might be better than a permanently affixed machine.
ELECTRONIC HANDWRITING/SIGNATURE CAPTURE
Are you ready for a paperless system? Imagine your driver heading out without paperwork, pulling up their delivery tickets on the INFOPad, making the changes necessary to a ticket at the point of delivery, having the customer sign the INFOPad tablet PC, and then delivering a copy of that invoice via fax or e-mail to that customer's receiving/payables agent. No more deciphering handwritten changes made by drivers in a hurry, no more stacks of data entry at the end of the day or end of the month, and no more filling up filing cabinets with thousands of signed shippers. Now your customers' handwriting/signature is stored on your system as an image of the ticket they signed and can be faxed or e-mailed to the customer if/when they need a copy. It could not be easier!
The revolutionary "Dual Touch" screen toggles between use with a specialized stylus/digitizer, AND a touchscreen capable of being operated without the stylus simply by tapping on the screen with finger, pointer or stylus reducing the dependency on always using the tablet stylus. When paired with INFONETICS' INFONET-LXT "touch-enhanced" terminal emulator, the INFOPad quickly becomes the easiest "windows-like" user interface available in the mobile computing arena.
MOBILITY VIA EvDO
With the introduction of EvDO (Evolution Data Only), the ability to take INFONETICS with you anywhere you go is now a possibility. EvDO is a wireless data connection provided by phone companies that is 10 times as fast as a regular modem and provides the user with a live connection to their system with INFONETICS' remote Internet terminal access (RITA).
RUGGEDIZED, RUGGEDIZED, RUGGEDIZED
You can't say it enough. RUGGEDIZED is simply a necessity when speaking of mobile computers used daily in delivery vehicles. The INFOPad is specially designed to withstand drops, spills and inclement weather.
INTRINSICALLY SAFE
Built as a sealed unit with an intrinsically safe battery, the INFOPad can be used in explosive environments commonly encountered by route drivers; Acetylene plants, propane plants and other fuel gas areas.
SMALLER IS BETTER
The 8"screen with a special "outdoor viewable"screen featuring 800x600 resolution is just big enough to do the job, but small enough to be truly portable. The integrated light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the LCD backlight to improve outdoor visibility.
Weighing in at less than 4lbs, the INFOPad is lightweight, easy to handle and comes with a convenient hand-strap that also doubles as a wrist strap to free both hands.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) RECEIVER
An integrated GPS receiver pinpoints the INFOPad's location whenever it is in range of the open sky. INFONETICS unique integration between its Customer Management System and Microsoft Outlook & Microsoft Streets & Trips means the INFOPAD is able to quickly map and locate all customers within the main INFONETICS server's database. Knowing where you are and where you're going couldn't be easier for your delivery drivers and salesmen. Integration to your centralized server based GPS tracking software allows you to know where every INFOPad is instantly.
WIRELESS BARCODE SCANNER
Using "Bluetooth" wireless connectivity, the high-resolution bar-code scanner can be used to scan UPC bar-code labels of products, or serial number labels of industrial gas cylinders reducing typing and increasing accuracy of all data entry.
LONG BATTERY LIFE
The smart 3200 mAH (40.0W) Lithium-Ion main battery pack is capable of 2.5 hours of uninterrupted operation, and can be augmented by a secondary battery attached to the back for an additional 2.5 hours of life. Both batteries are recharged whenever the INFOPad is attached to the truck or desk mounts. And of course, an AC adapter is standard for recharging wherever needed.
TRUCK MOUNT & KEYBOARD
When mounted in the truck, the INFOPad is charged and ready to go with a compact full-function back-lit keyboard and additional USB ports for connecting printers. The integral EvDO cell modem's enhanced antenna boosts signal strength for better connectivity in fringe areas. And, the backlit keyboard makes typing easy even when parked in early morning or evening darkness.
Optional Desk Mount is available for use in the office, or at the sales counter, with conventional full-sized keyboard & mouse.
Pointing Device: Digitizer Control Panel Touchscreen and Passive Touchscreen Standard
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
Software: Preloaded with INFONET/LXT "touch enabled" networking suite
Scanner: Wireless Bluetooth barcode scanner
Interfaces: PC Card slot for (1) Type I or II card with 32 bit Card Bus 2.1 Interface
Compact Flash slot for (1) Type I or II card
Built-in RJ-11 and RJ-45 jacks for integrated fax/modem and Ethernet
(2) USB 2.0 connectors
26-pin docking connector
External speaker and microphone jacks
Connector for expansion Battery
Audio: Internal microphone and speaker
PCI Audio with AC-97 compliance
Optional Integrated Wireless Communications: EV-DO (Sprint/Verizon)
EDGE/GPRS (AT&T/Cingular)
802.11b/g Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
Bluetooth Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN)
GPS (various combinations available depending on specific requirements)
Up to 3 RF modems and GPS can be integrated at one time
Hot Keys: Enter, Up/Down Arrows, Escape, Security (Secure Attention Sequence), Rotate Display Image (landscape/portrait), Function Key, Suspend/Power on/off, WLAN/Bluetooth on/off, On/off switch for all radio's
Options: Desk Mount with 15-pin external video (CRT) port
(2) USB ports, and expansion Battery Charger
Port Replicator
Vehicle power supply
Vehicle dock with optional backlit keyboard, lock, and serial, USB, and external monitor connectors
Hand strap and carry cases for system and accessories with handle and optional shoulder straps
Environmental: Die-cast magnesium for structural components
Operating temperature -20° to 60° C (-4° to 140° F)
Storage temperature -55° to 75° C (-67° to 167° F)
Intrinsically Safe/Hazardous Location Class 1, Division 2
26 repeated 3ft drops onto plywood over concrete per MIL-STD 810F, 516.5 IV
Blowing rain/water resistance at 4” per hour at approximately 40 psi for 10 minutes on all 6 axes per MIL-STD 810F, 506.4 II
Dust per IP-54
Vibration per MIL-STD 810F, 514.5 and ASTM 4169-99 truck assurance level II, Schedule E
Boot Temperature 0° C without Hard Drive Heater; -20° C with Hard Drive Heater (with external power)
CE Mark
COVERING YOUR BACK WITH IBACK
As everyone knows, the past several years have seen an increase in natural disasters that have had widespread affect on small and large businesses alike. And whether this increase is attributed to global warming or just the natural cycle of climatic conditions on Planet Earth, experts warn that Mother Nature is likely to remain active.
Of course, as a welding supply distributor, when you stand in the middle of your warehouse and look around it is easy to assess the amount of product and assets that would need to be replaced should a catastrophic event such as fire, tornado or hurricane find it. You carry insurance to protect those assets and although it would take some time, your losses would be minimized and you'd stay in business. But, although your insurance would replace your computer system, it doesn't protect what's inside - your data. Your data is a tremendous asset that can easily be undervalued until it is gone. With INFONETICS' capability to store virtually unlimited history, the more of the system you're using, the more current and historical data is at risk.
Whenever we install a new system, we spend a fair amount of time acquainting our new customer with our recommended approach to data security. That is to make or allow the system to make a back-up copy of the entire database every business day and to remove that copy from the premises. We have found that fireproof safes are not flood-proof. Also, fireproof safes are often rated as "fireproof" for paper documents but not necessarily for plastic-based recording media. INFONETICS official position on safeguarding your data has always been and will always be to take the most recent copy off-site.
But what happens when "off-site" is in as much jeopardy as the store? As we saw with Hurricane Katrina, it is possible to sustain devastation so widespread that even off-site storage might not be absolutely secure. As much as we all hope and pray it wouldn't/couldn't happen, INFONETICS, as the IT provider to over 260 welding supply companies needs to offer procedures and solutions for worst case scenarios.
The Internet, which was conceived and created by the Military to survive the most devastating of natural and man-made disasters, can work for our customers as the final back-up or safety net for your data. INFONETICS can now offer an off-site data back-up service to our customers looking for absolute data security. Called IBack (for Internet Back-up), the service automatically sends a copy of your data to a server anywhere in the world running Red Hat Linux. This server could be a server at another warehouse; the owner's home, relative's home, etc., or even here at the INFONETICS office near Columbus, Ohio. This strategy would provide a complete back-up copy of your data to be stored in a entirely separate geographical location and isolated from the risks your main server may be under.
When the data is stored on our servers in Grove City, Ohio, the IBack service is priced in increments of required server space and billed quarterly. For example, IBack service for 100MB of data (the size of a typical back-up tape cartridge) would be $150 every three months. If the customer provides a server (maybe an INFONETCIS server that was replaced by an upgraded model) or otherwise designates a target server for the back-up to be directed to, there is a one time fee of $495 for our technicians to set it up.
Once in place IBack runs much the same as your regular INFONETICS back-up system, automatically starting at a predetermined time, finding the server on the Internet and copying each data file to it. With the aid of an INFONETICS support specialists data recovery would be just as quick and easy if needed. In fact, if the solution to your hardware problem included a replacement or loaner server from INFONETICS, that server would arrive with your data in place and ready to go when the machine is powered up.
For more information or to get IBack backing you up, give us a call at 614-875-2006.
INFOTERM-62933X FIRMWARE UPDATE
A new BIOS update is strongly recommended for all INFOTERM-62933X purchased since October of 2005. A flaw in the Intel motherboard firmware can cause these INFOTERMs to freeze unexpectedly, often within minutes or hours of turning the computer on. If you are experiencing this, follow the below instructions for upgrading your firmware.
To proceed with this update, your INFOTERM needs to have Internet access. To verify what model your INFOTERM is, look for a white sticker on the back of the INFOTERM. If you are unsure about anything, please contact INFONETICS for assistance, or alternate installation methods.
(If you do not already have this on paper, print this document, so that you can follow the steps while you update your computer.)
DOWNLOAD THE UPDATE
Close any windows you have open. This process will eventually restart your computer. Click on the following link to launch the update. Or, Click on Start, then Run and enter the following address;
and click "OK". You will be asked if you want to "Run or Save" this file. Choose "Run".
RUNNING THE UPDATE
If you get a security warning stating that the "publisher could not be verified", click "Run". The Update Setup Wizard will eventually open. Click "Next" to start the wizard. Click "Yes" to agree to the license. Click "Finish" to update your system BIOS. Your computer will shutdown, restart, process the upgrade, then restart again. This entire step can take up to 10 minutes.
COMPLETING THE UPDATE
When the update is completed successfully, a window will display announcing that it is done. Click "OK". Update finished!
INFONETICS, Inc.
1729 Gateway Circle
Grove City, OH 43123
INFONETICS, Inc. • 1729 Gateway Circle • Grove City, OH 43123 • Phone: 614-875-2006 Page
