C2. Quick Fix Repair Systems

You are the assistant to Yin Chan, the service manager of Quick Fix Repair Systems. Quick Fix offers repair and maintenance services to homeowners throughout the tri-state area. Quick Fix service technicians are licensed and qualified to do minor plumbing, electrical, and carpentry work in addition to repairs on most major appliances. Yin wants to equip each service technician with the technology they need to report their time and materials usage on each job. Today, the service technicians carry a notebook computer for recording this information at job sites. They also each carry a smartphone to stay in touch with the office, order parts that they do not have with them, and keep track of their schedule. These smartphones are currently connected through a corporate wireless phone plan that provides free data transfers of up to 5 Gb per phone per month. Yin would like to ensure that service technicians have access to the Quick Fix main computers while they are on the job site so they can check supplies inventory and access Quick Fix service guides that help them make repairs in the most effective ways possible.

REQUIRED:

1. Investigate various options for giving Yin’s service technicians wireless remote access to the Quick Fix main computers. You should consider options that use the technicians’ notebook computers, their smartphones, or new tablet devices. In your report, outline the advantages and disadvantages of having the technicians use each type of device for access to the Quick Fix main computers. Be sure to consider whether the technicians’ needs could be met by having them carry only one device.

2. You should consider at least three options for connecting the device or devices you chose. Then select the best option and write an evaluation of your choice’s strengths and weaknesses.

3. Yin has been reading about the Internet of Things and is concerned that his technicians might begin encountering devices such as thermostats and lighting controls that are connected to the Internet or that include computerized components (such as an automobile’s onboard diagnostics system). Using your favorite search engine or your school’s library, identify at least one such device that is currently sold or likely to be sold soon and write about what technology Quick Fix technicians will need to deal with it.