Computerworld - VCC, a nationwide retail construction company, was forced to diversify when the recession struck. The company found that giving project managers smartphone access to customer data was a big boost in attracting new business.
Little Rock, Ark.-based VCC deployed an application called Mobile Edge, from IBM business partner iEnterprise, to connect about 80 project managers mostly using BlackBerry Bold smartphones to a custom-built customer relationship management application. VCC runs IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 and also deployed iEnterprise's product for extending CRM data, called iExtensions CRM.
The mobile access to CRM data is "a great force for us," said VCC Vice President Wayne Alley in a telephone interview.
While not every bit of CRM intelligence is available from a mobile device, the system has helped streamline access to customer information across six nationwide offices, Alley said.
"We can see what business has been done with a client in the past," as well as organize data for greater business intelligence, he said.
About 12 project managers switched to iPads instead of smartphones for accessing the CRM data so they could view the information on the tablet's larger, 9.7-in. screen, Alley said. "Viewing a 20-page PDF on a 4-in. [smartphone] screen is not the most friendly way of viewing that information," he said.
The Mobile Edge application has helped VCC diversify beyond its traditional role as one of the largest managers of retail construction projects to include projects for health care and other institutions, Alley noted.
The application "helped us attract new clients in a field where we'd not worked before and became a useful tool," Alley said. He estimated that because employees can work more efficiently, the investment in the Mobile Edge software -- less than $10,000 -- was recouped in less than a year.
"Time is money, and we were able to access information faster, organize it better and manipulate it to our benefit in more business," Alley added.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at 
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