Android Based Mobile Order Management System

Abstract

Android Based Mobile Order Management System Abstract

Currently, some businesses’ employees engaging in outside sales use specialized tablet computers, and particularly use them to place orders. Unfortunately, this approach has a number of shortcomings; the tablet computers can be very costly to upgrade and maintain and usually have a short battery life. Wireless is an emerging communication technology frontier that offers the possibility of instant mobile communications. Given advances in mobile computing technology, the role of hand-held devices seems certain to grow exponentially as more computing power and communications capability is included. It is in the best interest of business and information managers to take advantage of mobile technology to transform overall business strategies, operational efficiency, and information availability. It is essential to streamline business processes with mobile devices to maintain competitiveness and increase responsiveness in today’s market. In this paper we argue that there is an enormous potential benefit for these businesses from use of mobile devices like smart phones to assist in recording sales orders and synchronizing with existing software, anywhere at any time. The Smartphone device chosen for this purpose is based on the open source Android platform. The key factors in choosing Android are its capacitive touch- screen, embedded database file system, total cost, and much more. This paper describes an application that is designed based on a client-server model, with central database serving as a repository of data relating to customers and product information. Another important feature of this application is its network connectivity needed to pull real-time data from a backend server. In addition, it is possible to use the application in an off-line mode. The mobile application developed presents a mobile application solution for the main entry point allowing the sales force to capture customer orders in the field on a handheld device that can communicate with the laptop and then submit the orders to the business system via the Internet.