2012 TabTimes Tablet Strategy Conference

Jeff Moore Database Administrator Austin Convention Center City of Austin FileMaker 11 Certified Developer jeff.moore@austintexas.gov 512-404-4033

Austin Convention Center

880,000 sq ft City-Owned Facility 6 City Blocks 5 Exhibit Halls 7 Ballrooms 50+ Meeting Rooms 170 Conventions and hundreds of other events annually

Austin Convention Center

36 iPads in use by Exhibitor Services Staff

100 by the end of 2012 Application Delivery is the Driving Force

Planning for an Event

Service Orders arrive 2-3 weeks before an event Larger events having between 300-400 service orders (SXSW, TCEA, HITEC)

The Previous Process

USM (Utility Services Manager) FileMaker Pro desktop application The Blue Folder filled with paper workorders & floor diagrams Scraps of paper, pens and handheld radios

USM (Utility Services Manager)

USM Workorder List

USM Workorder Detail

USM Workorder Items

Paper Workorder

Choosing a Mobile Device

Initial attempts: Motion Computing, Dell Axim A screen large, easy to use Ability to secure and manage A mature product that has established relationships with third-party vendors (MDM, cases, adapters)

Mobile Application Requirements

Able to navigated with a single finger Turn on and go Limit number of taps to usage Able to use up-to-the-minute data from existing Workorder application Data Security

USM Mobile
USM Event List
USM Workorder List

USM Workorder Detail

Mobile Workorder Detail

Mobile Workorder Detail

Mobile Workorder Detail

Booth Diagram

Booth Diagram

Booth Diagram

Data Transfer Challenges

Needed COA Security Divisions blessing of our connection method No open ports, small subset of data, limited IP address access, internally instantiated connections

How to sync the data between the internal server and external server?

Server Deployment & Data Transfer

City of Austin Network

USM FileMaker Server (Win Server 2008)
External References to USM Mobile Tables

External Wireless Network

USM Mobile FileMaker Server (Mac OS)

Robot - Transfer data every 5 minutes between 7AM and 7PM

iPad Deployment Challenges

A new device never before supported by COA IT Configuration standards, security, OS and application installations & upgrades Short-term and Long-term management solutions

Benefits of using FileMaker Go and iPad

Rapid application development, short learning curve, no need to download app upgrades Estimated annual savings of $50,000 and 200% ROI

Work Smarter: Fewer errors, faster installations, work preview

Increased customer satisfaction: Line Busting, Incentive Program

Future Plans
More devices: 100 iPads (90% of Event Staff) by Q4 of 2012

Four more apps: 1. Room Configuration List 2. Security Incident Reports (similar to PMD Promotion) 3. Purchase Manager Receiving

4. Credit card transactions for on-the-spot orders

2012 TabTimes Tablet Strategy Conference

Jeff Moore Database Administrator Austin Convention Center City of Austin FileMaker 11 Certified Developer jeff.moore@austintexas.gov 512-404-4033