​The Menu button has more recently changed to 3-vertical-dots in the Google Chrome web browser.  It used to be, and is still in most apps, the 3-horizontal-lines (colloquially, the "hamburger" icon).  You can see the original icon is still what we use in MRSweb, right at the top of the web page.


Click the Menu button to show the menu.  Note 4 menu items that we are most interested in to get started:

1. Refresh
   The Refresh button is the arrow-in-a-circle icon.  Click this icon to refresh the web page.  It sometimes happens that a page in the web browser does not load fully (for various reasons), which is why the Refresh button is there to ask the page to load again.
   
   
2. Bookmark
   The Bookmark icon, the star, is for saving web page addresses that you visit to the Bookmarks area of the browser.  This allows the User to quickly return to a previously visited address without having to type in the address again.
   
   
3. Bookmarks
   To get a list of previously saved addresses after using the Bookmark button, press the Bookmarks menu.
   
   
4. Add to homescreen
   To create the app-icon on your device's Home page, press the Add to homescreen menu option.  This creates a shortcut to the website right on the main screen of your device, making it very easy to return to the page.

Tip Using Bookmarks


When you create a Bookmark in your web browser, it is a shortcut to return to the web page your created it from.  MRSweb is designed in such a way that you can save a bookmark to any specific view screen in the application and that is where the bookmark will return you to.


Here are a couple of examples of how you might apply this nice functionality:

• I have a Project that I am going to be working on for a while, and I would like to have a way to just go right to it without having to go through the main menu, then find it in the list.  Navigate to the project, save a bookmark.  That bookmark then opens directly to that project.
  
  
• I like to have the Calendar as my "home" screen when I start the app.  Go to the Calendar, use the Add to Home screen menu option to create an icon.  Name the icon "MRSweb Calendar".  Clicking on that icon will start the app right in the Calendar screen.

Having an app load in the web browser does provide some interesting and useful options.  Try some of the other menu options such as "Share" to send someone (in your company) a link to a particular contact, appointment, etc.; or use the "Print" button to print out a Contact's details before going to visit with them.

MRSware Sync has been around since 2006 or so, providing a way for phones, tablets, and Outlook to synchronize Contacts, Appointments, and Tasks.  MRSweb was originally released in 2013 and provides access to the MRSware system in a format that works well on touch-enabled and smaller-screen devices.

Sync is based on industry standard formats like iCal and vCard that have in them relatively few fields compared to what is provided in MRSware.  The standardization bodies that put together these formats are trying to provide a set of fields that are readily available across many types of devices with different capabilities.  Sync creates copies of your information from MRSware into your phone; it also takes copies of what is already in your phone and puts them into MRSware.  Users can control what goes down to the phone from MRSware, but are not able to control what goes up from the phone (everything in the phone goes to MRSware).

MRSweb is a mobile-optimized web app that allows users to login and access their MRSware data.  As compared to Sync, there are many more fields available and functions that can be performed.  The data that is accessed via MRSweb is coming directly from MRSware -- it is not synchronized or stored on the device, instead being live and the same that you see in MRSware Desktop at any given moment.

Following is a table showing a comparison and discussion of what each tool does and where it fits in your mobile access plans:

You might initially look at this table and ask yourself "what is the point of sync if it is limited in the fields that it exchanges between device and MRSware?"  Well, it does have its uses, the primary of which is that it copies information into the primary apps that ship with the device.  Those apps, created by the manufacturer of the device, are (hopefully) designed to be the best experience that the device has to offer.  For example, the calendar is formatted to fit the screen just right and provide the right touch areas to respond best to the user.

On the other hand, MRSweb is designed to work consistently (the same) across many different device types.  Since it is consistent we can do training and support once and that information applies equally well whether a user has a tablet or a phone, iOS or Android.  However, also because it is the same across devices it is unable to take advantage of any special features one particular device has that another may not...  Perhaps there is a particular style of navigation that a device uses or special settings area that it provides that adds value but would not be available to a MRSweb-type application.

​In summary, Sync copies data to your device's native apps; MRSweb provides fuller access to MRSware features on all devices.

Each mobile device has the ability to add shortcuts to your favorite web apps to the Home screen of the device.  Here are the instructions for some of the most popular ones:

Safari on iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, iPod Touches):
1. Open up the web page you want to save as an app icon.  For example, navigate tohttp://demo.mrsware.com/htmlclient to open the MRSweb app (substitute your company's domain name in place of "demo").
2. Click on the share icon and select Add to Home Screen.
3. Click Add one more time on the Add to Home dialog.

Chrome on IOS
iOS does not allow any non-Safari browser to create icons on the Home page.

Chrome on Android
1. Open the web page you want to save as an icon.
2. Click the menu button and select Add to homescreen.
​
​Chrome on Windows
1. Open your web page.
2. Click the menu button and select Tools then Create Application Shortcuts... 
3. On the Create Application Shortcuts dialog you can select either or both to create the shortcut on theDesktop and/or the Windows Taskbar.
 

When you use these options to save an icon to the Home screen, and then use that icon in the future, you will find that the app now opens full-screen instead of in the regular web browser tab, making it appear the same as other apps on your device.

We've been asked if there are any tablets on the market where we could install MRSware and have full functionality?

The answer is any tablet that runs Windows will run MRSware (and any other normal Windows desktop programs). 

There are quite a few out there running Windows, some of which have been around for quite a while.  However, they are typically bulkier than the Android and iOS tablets, since Windows needs more horsepower to run.  The only thing you need to watch out for is to make sure it is running Windows 7 or Windows 8 -- they have a tablet OS (more like Android or iOS) called Windows RT, which is confusing in naming since it won't actually run any of your Windows desktop applications.

 
I did a little search for tablets that match what you are looking for, and it turns out Amazon.com has quite a list of them:
 
Windows 7 tablets
 
Windows 8 tablets
 
The Windows 8 ones are newer, of course.  You just have to make sure it is Windows 8 "Pro" and not "RT", such as with the Microsoft Surface Pro.
 
Also, it would be remiss of me to not mention the upcoming MRSware Mobile platform that we are beta-releasing in the next month.  This is the version of MRSware that will run in a web browser across a number of tablet and phone platforms, and is optimized for those screen sizes and operating systems.  The initial versions will have the most common functional points you would expect -- contacts, calendar, tasks, projects -- and we will be adding more as we go.  However, if full functionality is what you want, you are only going to find 100% of the features of MRSware in the existing Windows Desktop Client for a while.
 
I would be interested to know what you think of the Windows tablets, especially new ones like the Surface Pro, for taking MRSware and your other business applications into the field.  And, of course, please let me know if you have any questions that I can help with.

Texting has created a new language that you may find hard to learn.  Some of these acronyms are already part of our everyday experience, but others are not so easily remembered.  Following is a partial key to the code:

LOL      = Laughing Out Loud

LQTM    = Laughing Quietly To Myself

ROFL    = Rolling On the Floor Laughing

CSL       = Can’t Stop Laughing

G2G      = Got To Go

GGN     = Gotta Go Now

TTYL    = Talk To You Later

B4N      = Bye For Now

How to Choose a Tablet

Thinking about buying a tablet?  These may be some of your reasons:

• portability – easier on the shoulders and back than a laptop
  
• larger display – easier to see what’s on your screen than on a smartphone
• access to the Internet – most come with at least 1 way of getting on the web
• extended battery life between charges – works longer than a laptop on a single charge

Tablets may be used for business reasons - checking e-mail, browsing the web, video calling, video conferencing, note-taking, presentations, creating, viewing, or editing documents or basic spreadsheets – or for personal reasons - reading, watching movies, listening to music, viewing photos, or playing games. 

Whether you need a tablet or you just want one, you should consider these 6 topics:

1 – The Operating System

At the moment it’s really about Apple iOS versus Android.  But don’t forget RIM’s QNX for the Blackberry Playbook and later this year Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS.

Sometimes you find that you would like to fill in a PDF form, or just make a simple edit to a PDF file for which you don't have the original document.  

A new online web site offers just that ability:

http://www.pdfescape.com/

I used this the other day to fill in a PDF form, so that I could e-mail it back to the sender.  The other option would have been to print, fill in by hand, scan and e-mail/fax.  The ability to skip the printer and the scanner makes things a lot easier for me, and for anyone that is on the road.

In my previous post I talked about how our behavior is affected by the introduction of a stimulus (ringing  or vibrating of a cell phone or mobile device) bringing about a conditioned reflex (immediately answering the call or reading & replying to the message).   

In this post I want to offer some suggestions, for in-the-field reps, on how to manage the beast (remember Pavlov’s dogs) – our conditioned reflex – in all of us. 

First – the dilemma.  I was a manufacturers’ representative for 25 years and as such know when you’re in sales it is difficult not to automatically respond to a ringing or vibrating phone.  It could be a customer, prospect, end user, designer, or contractor looking for information on one of your products.  Who doesn’t want to be known for responding quickly to one of these opportunities?  The tricky part is managing the desire to respond quickly with the ability to be efficient and productive throughout the day.

Now that we all agree managing this conditioned reflex can create a challenge, let’s look at some suggestions that may help in the field reps to be efficient and productive, as well as responsive to customer’s, prospect’s, end user’s… needs.

Are you managing your technology tools or are they managing you?

You probably remember from your school days reading about Pavlov's dogs.  Pavlov ran experiments showing that introducing a certain stimulus to dogs could bring about a certain behavior in expectation of a reward (food in their case).  What he did was ring a bell (among other stimuli) and then measured the amount of saliva the dogs produced thinking about the food they were going to receive after the ringing of the bell.

The upshot was he showed introducing a stimulus brought about a conditioned reflex that affected behavior.

Now, fast forward 120 years - today's version of this experiment -

The stimulus - the ringing or vibrating of a cell phone (mobile device)

The conditioned reflex - answering the phone or reading the e-mail or text message (no matter what we are doing, who we are with)

The behavior - a slave to our cell phones (technology tool) 

Now ask yourself the first question - are you managing your technology tools or are they managing you?

My next post will go over some suggestions on "How to Manage Your Technology Tools".