Want to Improve Your Postal Service Operations? Be More Proactive with Your Mobile Device Management

Editor's Note: This conversation was first started by John Wyer in 2021. Steve Mulroy picked it up in 2024 and added some new perspectives and recommendations for your consideration.

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I know your mail carriers are probably using mobile devices for everything these days – or supposed to be, anyways. Yet, in speaking with them casually, they’ve expressed three concerns about their current mobile technology:

1. Outdated devices or software.  Many carriers are working with old technologies that lack the communications and data capture toolset needed for real-time routing and reporting requirements.

2. Assumed reliability of new devices. Even with the latest devices in hand, things can go wrong, like a dead battery in the middle of a delivery round. It’s preventable, but often overlooked by those who aren’t in the field every day.

3. Tech preferences. Some carriers want to be able to connect their personal wearables for easier use while they’re on the move. They don’t like carrying them all day while they’re also trying to handle letters and parcels. Yet, they say they’re not allowed, which is frustrating and sometimes impacts device use.

Each of these scenarios presents a host of problems, many of which postal leaders are unaware of. Without the ability to monitor device utilization because you have no way of seeing what’s happening with that device unless a carrier reports an issue, then you have a bigger problem than just needing to fix or replace a tech tool.

At the highest level, you should…

1. Equip carriers with highly secure, well-connected, custom-accessorized mobile devices that strike a balance between ruggedness and consumer-friendly design. They must be lightweight yet durable enough to work well on snowy, rainy, and dusty days as well as they do on clear sunny days. They also need to work whether the carrier (or customers signing for the parcel) are wearing gloves, using a bare finger or holding a pen. To ensure comfort and efficiency, postal workers should be able to customize their setup with accessories like headphones for voice communications or wristbands to keep their hands free for scanning and delivering.

2. Integrate the right software to support both back end operations and frontline workers who need real-time guidance on delivery changes and status updates. If they need to receive and process payments on their route, they’re going to need a way to do mobile dimensioning and accept mobile payments.

3.  Train carriers on how to use the devices and provide on-demand resources to help refresh their memories on new or less-frequently used features. It will help tech novices become more comfortable with the devices and drive greater adoption. It also helps to show them the self-diagnostic tools that are available should they suddenly lose a wireless signal or accidentally press the wrong button and change a setting.

4. Monitor device usage and performance. If you don’t know how or if your postal carriers are using their personal mobile devices, it will be hard to know there’s a problem, much less how to fix it. For every carrier who is not using a mobile device, there are countless customers left in the dark about their letters and parcels. So, if you’re not conducting daily wellness checks across your fleet, you'll remain stuck in reactive mode, watching your IT ticket queue—and costs—grow. A small issue can quickly escalate, turning a low-cost device into a high-expense problem. You'll face IT labor costs, potential device replacements, configuration expenses, and the potential revenue loss from missed packages or failed payments at pickup.

In my opinion, this last action item – centrally monitoring the usage and performance of every device in your fleet – is the most important. It’s how you control the amount of money you make, save, or lose as the result of your mobile technology spend.

If you can monitor which devices aren’t being used or charged properly, you can take proactive steps to get the situation sorted. Same goes with device performance. If you (or your IT team) are alerted to a potential battery, security, or connection issue early on, you can troubleshoot and resolve it before it becomes truly disruptive. Preventative device maintenance and management is always the best strategy, especially when those mobile devices are the only way you can:

· provide accurate navigation guidance based on real-time traffic, weather and operational factors.

· implement dynamic routing.

· communicate in-flight delivery changes to postal workers.

· enable real-time tracking for customers.

· execute doorstep services and mobile payments.

· facilitate voice communications between carriers, postmasters, and customer service teams.

· ensure first-time, on-time delivery for complete customer satisfaction.

· coordinate alternative pickup arrangements if first-time delivery fails.

On the other hand, if you have no visibility into what’s happening in the field or with that device, is that device really helping? Or did you just waste money buying something that’s never going to help you save, much less make, money?

So Many Regrets…So Much Time Spent Righting Wrong Decisions

I’ve spoken with several postal service providers who made the mistake of purchasing mobile devices based on price alone. Without a proactive support system from the manufacturer, they were left to troubleshoot on their own. As a result, postal carriers had to work offline or use unsecure personal devices that were unable to take payments in the field or access mobile dimensioning tools to properly process parcels they were picking up.

To make matters worse, these postal service providers learned the hard way just how much money and time they lost from having to replace devices they couldn’t get fixed. Even though some had a full-coverage warranty plan for a 1:1 device replacement, they had to bring someone in to configure and administer each new device once received.

They also had to jump through hoops to get the device ‘cleared’ for replacement, often sending it into a service center first. Since the device couldn’t be repaired, they had to then wait for replacements or fork out extra money to buy spares just in case things like this happened because, as I’ve already mentioned, letting a postal worker go even a day without a mobile device in hand was equally expensive.

So, I encourage you to explore the benefits you’ll get from a proactive managed services solution (that can integrate with your enterprise mobility management/mobile device management dashboard, if desired). Then weigh them against the benefits and risks of sticking with a more reactive device management approach. Talk to other companies about their experience with different types of device management solutions, particularly end-to-end managed service models. Ask for their honest feedback:

- Did they get the ROI they expected?

- Were they able to reduce device losses and failures?

- Do they see better cost containment after deployment?

- Was the user experience improved through proactive device management?

- Did they have access to end-to-end services and support, including application testing and validation, OS and security management, intelligent/proactive analysis and reporting, and training?

- Could they – and their end users – access a helpdesk 24/7?

- Did the managed services provider also offer a fully integrated mobile management platform and back-end repair infrastructure?

Getting answers to these questions will help you weigh your options and ensure you are making the right choice for your business.

If it would help, I'd be happy to connect you with some of Zebra’s customers to learn about their experiences with these sorts of integrated maintenance/support services and proactive device management tools. Reach out anytime.

Until then, you might be interested in these other insights and perspectives:

• If Your Front-Line Workers Complain Their Mobile Devices Aren’t Working Well, You Probably Just Need More “Context” on Your Device Analytics Dashboards
• Three (Really Good) Things That Happen When You Login to VisibilityIQ Foresight Every Day, According to Two Customers
• 8 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Mobile Dimensioning (But Should If You Accept or Process Packages)
• Everyone in the Shipping Chain Stands to Benefit from Mobile Dimensioning. Here’s Why.
• Do You Have the Right Type of Protection Plan for Your Business’ Mobile Devices, Scanners and Printers? (I Only Ask Because Most Organizations Don’t.)
• Your Device Analytics Solution Should Be Able to Ingest and Analyze These 250 Different Types of Data (at a Minimum)
  
• Do Not Get Caught Off-Guard, or Offline: Have a (Battery) Back-Up Plan
• Three Tips and One Tool to Keep Your Company’s Mobile Devices from Disappearing