Donuts, good BBQ, and a Celio REDFLY – the essentials for the Memphis Police Department (MPD) in Memphis, Tennessee. The MPD has reportedly snatched up a whopping 1,2000 Celio REDFLY Mobile Companion units in a bid to make their smartphone-wielding officers more efficient and better connected in the field. The adoption of the Celio REDFLY, which essentially works like a dumb-terminal – connecting to and using your WinMo handset’s CPU, memory, and wireless data connection – for your Windows Mobile smartphone, is a boon for Celio’s move to push their Windows Mobile companion hardware.
The jump to the Celio REDFLY was a logical next step for the MPD. While more advanced law enforcement agencies around the country use in-vehicle computer systems linked up with a central database, the BBQ-loving Memphis PD set about their daily duties with smartphones in hand. Officers would use their smartphones to connect wirelessly to the Watson Field Reporting Suite and their own MPD web-based database, allowing them to log reports and check information in the field.
But, with a tiny keyboard and limited screen size, many officers’ weren’t tapping out quality reports on their smartphones. The Celio REDFLY answered the call for larger displays and a more comfortable keyboad to use with their Windows Mobile smartphones.
“We noticed that when officers use only their smartphones, reports had typos and the quality of the narratives were not as detailed as they needed to be,” said Major Jim Harvey. “The larger screen and keyboard has given our officers what they need to bring up mug shots and individuals’ information from our databases, as well as implement a new Paperless Reporting program to submit incident report narratives. Now they can do their jobs more effectively and are very comfortable using their smartphones to file their reports.”
So, the next time you see a Memphis police officer casually tapping away at what looks like an impossibly small laptop, make sure to not bother him – he’s probably writing up a report.
[Via: WMExperts]