Archived Sloooow PDA's

[cihyfthedoor]

Network communication is standardized. Has been for awhile, for exactly this sort of reason. As for the applications themselves, this isn't 15-20 years ago, so the linux (android) to windows and back thing isn't too big a deal these days. Many people are competent in both, or at least work on a team with someone who is in one, the other, or both.

Oh, and I hope the 9200s are like the 9090s. You can turn the volume all the way down on the 9090s, but not on the 9060s. We need new PDAs bad. Half of our 32 PDAs have non-functional triggers; you have to use the yellow button on the keyboard/pad thing.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Great info, sarakeil! Has anyone notice the upgrade on the spot mobile app?

 

[Sarakiel]

Network communication is standardized. Has been for awhile, for exactly this sort of reason. As for the applications themselves, this isn't 15-20 years ago, so the linux (android) to windows and back thing isn't too big a deal these days. Many people are competent in both, or at least work on a team with someone who is in one, the other, or both.

Oh, and I hope the 9200s are like the 9090s. You can turn the volume all the way down on the 9090s, but not on the 9060s. We need new PDAs bad. Half of our 32 PDAs have non-functional triggers; you have to use the yellow button on the keyboard/pad thing.

To answer the first question, yes, the devices can become "mute", with the exception to the actual scan beep.

Is anyone capable of sending them in to the DRC (CompuCom)? Should be on the Workbench under Tools -> Equipment -> Equipment Repair. You can create separate tickets for each device and then ship them out to the DRC, and the creation process is step-by-step allowing you to select and fill out the form of what is wrong with each device. Once they receive the broken/damaged/non-functional devices at the DRC, they will ship out pre-repaired devices back to your store. This process covers everything technology/mobile related, including price scanners (damaged/missing buttons), card readers, hand scanners (attached to the POS's), and also PDA/LPDA batteries (these are created under 'Unknown' -> Battery/Cable/Misc -> Battery) and have your non-charging/damaged/quick draining batteries swapped out. The only thing the DRC will NOT swap out are Motorola Walkies as they are a store expense via SAP (formerly TIPP) and will not replace/repair these devices. Team up with your Chargebacks team member to acquire a UPS/Fedex shipping label as a tracking number will be required for the ticket creation process (and to ship out the devices obviously.)

On a side note, PDA's that have broken/missing front scanner glass or missing bumpers (the rubber boot molding protecting the PDA) should be taken out of service and sent to be swapped out, as they are more prone to damage (or injuring a team member with broken glass on the front) and can easily be replaced at the DRC. Nothing is considered 'too small' of a problem to send in; a missing letter or chipped key on the keypad, small crack on the screen, broken triggers, etc should be replaced.

 

[mrknownothing]

Has anyone notice the upgrade on the spot mobile app?

I did use it to check out this week's ad. I wasn't particularly impressed with the ad section, I liked the old one better.

 

[Pettjm54]

Sounds like Spot is here...

anyway.. the two pictures above. the first one is the new PDA.. same gun for the most part.. biggest difference is multi dimensional scanning.. example in stead of scanning straight on and seeing a red "___________" across the barcode you can now scan sideways.. upside down... on a tilt.. this will help greatly for sore wrists from all the rotating..

The new LPDAs are what you see they are a Motorola Voltron. am i the only one that is going to make sure the LPDAs actually stand for LEADER PDAs?!?! The condition our PDAs are in now there is no way i am letting them signing out the new LPDAs

 

[researchr]

Hope they weigh less..scanning 4.5 hours a day can make for a sore arm.

 

[Sarakiel]

The Voltron's/MC40 will have a very rugged rubber casing surrounding the whole unit, so physical damage to the shell isn't so much as a concern. The glass display... we'll see...

Pilot for the MC40 begins soon for 10 lucky stores.

Pilot for Flexible Fulfillment has begun... good luck to those stores that have begun testing it for the whole company.

 

[Pettjm54]

Pilot this pilot that.. So by the time all stores get the new equipment.. Those will be a dead technology haha. It's embarrassing when a Home Depot employee comes in and pokes fun at our PDAs. Ill be an STL by the time I'm pleased with Targets technology. It's a shame really. Target spends so much time on pleasing the guest which is all fine and dandy but they lose sight of the operational detail of it. Like the mobility team I wish could work a day in my store and see how sluggish our systems are.. Registers.. PDAs... Workbench.. Believe me. It's a joy on Monday mornings when I need to set stuff but Online Planogram just doesn't load. Even guests make comments. Like isn't Target a multi billion dollar company? I roll my eyes.. Sigh and say yea.. It is.


End rant.

 

[sigma7]

Home Depot makes a lot more moolah than spot. But that's still no reason we have slow systems and old equipment that just slows us down.

But once we have faster guns we'll see more hours cut I'm sure lol.

 

[Pettjm54]

Home Depot makes a lot more moolah than spot. But that's still no reason we have slow systems and old equipment that just slows us down.

But once we have faster guns we'll see more hours cut I'm sure lol.

ugh you are so accurate sir.

 

[seasonal]

Hopefully my store can get these.

 

[nyg245]

I find rebooting the PDA when I grab one helps speed it up

 

[Santee]

Our PDA's have been slow for over a year now. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Guest Wi-Fi? I noticed when they brought some people over to set it up a while back, the PDA's began to have lag issues.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Find out the weakest areas for wifi are, could be the boosters aren't working for signal.

 

[Santee]

It seems to be Android base?

I want one!

 

[JustJoe]

Personally, I would LOVE to see something like the Motorola SB1 rolled out to stores to complement the existing fleet of handhelds. TMs who need functionality other than locating items would use the handhelds, while other TMs who just need ready access to a scanner to check prices/aisle locations would use the smart badge.

http://www.motorolasolutions.com/US...+Computers/Handheld+Computers/SB1_Smart_Badge

 

[Gamer]

Our PDAs slow down the further to the back of the store we get. When we are up front, close to the front lanes they are pretty fast. It might be the wireless signal.

 

[GSTL]

Right now there are 40 stores currently in pilot for the new Motorola MC9200's, and there are 100 more stores slated to be added to the pilot in June. After the pilot is over, all stores will convert to the MC9200's, effectively replacing the MC9060's and 9090's that the stores use. What's different about these? They run 10 times faster for Web applications (making search and application functions near instant) and also have a slight boost to RFAPP's. RFAPP's never really saw a huge increase to overall speed and performance to it, but that's because the eventual plan is to move everything to Web-based applications (way down the pipeline.) There is no laser anymore, they are LED-based cameras/imagers with cross-hairs that can read both barcodes and QRC's. The overall design/shape of the PDA has remained the same.

This one I won't say much about as it is still in beta... lets just say it is the eventual replacement to your beloved LPDA's...

From what I have read spot is using a hybrid of Android.

 

[Sarakiel]

Next batch of stores are currently getting theirs to join the pilot, and later in the quarter all stores will lose the older 9060/90's and transition over to the new devices (92's that is) once the final production fusion client is ready to be pushed out. Ideally everyone should have the new guns by the beginning of 4th quarter unless some drastic unforeseen event unfolds; current build is at 131.1.7 right now.

Here's a couple tips for those who are already in pilot or soon to join, or for further down the road when everyone transitions over:

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You can control how the imager behaves in scanning barcodes. The device by default is set in Cross-Scan mode, which means it will only scan/register barcodes that are in the middle of the cross-hair or ' + '. This is mode is great for accuracy and tasks like sign take down for your resets. If this mode needs to be re-enabled, first press the Blue Function key and then the Green Key. A Windows message will pop-up to alert you that this mode has been enabled.

The 2nd mode is having cross-scan mode disabled which drastically changes how the imager now behaves. So with this feature disabled, the first barcode that is readable and in range of the scanner will be picked up. This mode is great for speed and for reading scuffed location barcodes for the backroom shelves. The downside obviously is that if you have two barcodes sitting side by side in proximity of the imager when you start scanning, it will most likely scan the incorrect one (DC Labels would be the best example for this, as it will usually try to read the DC barcode first due to its much larger size.) The trick around this is to scan more off to the side of the barcode that you want it to read to avoid it picking up any other close proximity barcodes. To disable cross-scan mode, first press the Blue Function key and then the Red Key, and a Windows message will pop-up prompting you that Cross-Scan Mode has been disabled.

You can freely switch back and forth between the different modes in any application at anytime, and WebApp's and RFAPP's will have separate sessions of the modes (meaning if you disable cross-scan mode in RFAPP's, it will still be enabled in WebApp's until you disable it there too.) Cross-Scan mode will always default back to being 'ON' after a COLD BOOT, so be warned you may pick up a device that was previously used by another team member that had the imager in a different setting if the PDA was never cold booted from one team member to another.

The one exception is the PUSH application, Cross-Scan mode is DISABLED by default for this application for the larger barcodes, but can enabled if desired.

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Sometimes the WebApp pages won't load properly and hang (like browsing a site online.) By pressing CTRL and 5 (basically an F5/refresh function), the PDA will emit a short chirp and you will force the page to refresh and it should load. Pressing the 'Toggle' button will sometimes work as well.

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RFAPP's freeze on you again? Here's a feature that actually was added to the recent 131 update that even the older 9060/9090 devices have and you can currently use. When RFAPP's becomes unresponsive, press Ctrl and the Blue Function Key twice in a row ( Ctrl, Blue Key, Ctrl, Blue Key ). A window will pop up in the upper left hand corner with several options: 'HELP' 'ABOUT 'EXIT'. Select 'EXIT' and the RF application will force close back to the Main wrapper screen. This is a great way to avoid rebooting your devices and to get back to being able to using the application. Please note, this will not force log you out of any CAF/Autofill batches that you may be in as that is server controlled, so a 'ghost' user will still be in the batch. Again, this feature terminates sessions, closes and logs you out of everything, so you will have to log back in through the WebApp main screen and start over. Sadly, it cannot be used to drop associations with O'Neil printers as again, that is something controlled on the server side.

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Forgot to mention, no more rotating the PDA's to scan things as it can capture the barcodes at any facing/direction/angle.

 

[Santee]

Can't wait to get new PDA's! Sad how excited I am for them. :rofl:

 

[arkangel]

Our stores PDA's are not only slow they constantly log you out so you have to log back in by typing in your store number, waiting for it to connect to the network, typing in your member id, and confirming your position every single f&#$% hour

 

[thulsa doom]

half of ours are garbage, don't scan or bad trigger!

 

[anathema]

Does anyone have an issue where the PDAs will beep really quietly while scanning during truck unload? Seems to not be isolated to one PDA and I'm wondering if this is a known issue or just us. I hope the new PDAs will not have this problem.

 

[Sarakiel]

Does anyone have an issue where the PDAs will beep really quietly while scanning during truck unload? Seems to not be isolated to one PDA and I'm wondering if this is a known issue or just us. I hope the new PDAs will not have this problem.

Known and fixed issue, your store is probably running 131_1_6 with the older fusion client. The next update should be coming out very soon which will return it to a much higher volume. It turned out another team was tinkering around with the Naurtech server which resulted in the lower volume. Oh, and the initial 'Beep' that emits when the PDA acknowledges that it scanned something was also adjusted to be louder again (but not as loud as before for those that had the pleasure an earlier version that would make your ears bleed from it.)

As far as the disconnects, a very well known issue and still trying to reach a solution to meet or exceed the reliability of the 60's/90's.

 

[anathema]

Ah! Very helpful, thank you. Are updates like that automatic or do we have to rely on someone to update software in the store?