Page 134 - Electronic Commerce

Technology Infrastructure: The Internet and the World Wide Web

C2. Quick Fix Repair Systems
You are the assistant to Yin Chan, the service manager of Quick Fix Repair Systems. Quick Fix
offers repair and maintenance services to homeowners throughout the tri-state area. Quick Fix 109
service technicians are licensed and qualified to do minor plumbing, electrical, and carpentry
work in addition to repairs on most major appliances.
Yin wants to equip each service technician with the technology they need to report their
time and materials usage on each job. Today, the service technicians carry a notebook com-
puter for recording this information at job sites. They also each carry a smartphone to stay in
touch with the office, order parts that they do not have with them, and keep track of their
schedule. These smartphones are currently connected through a corporate wireless phone plan
that provides free data transfers of up to 5 Gb per phone per month.
Yin would like to ensure that service technicians have access to the Quick Fix main com-
puters while they are on the job site so they can check supplies inventory and access Quick Fix
service guides that help them make repairs in the most effective ways possible.

Required:
1. Investigate various options for giving Yin’s service technicians wireless remote access to
the Quick Fix main computers. You should consider options that use the technicians’ note-
book computers, their smartphones, or new tablet devices. In your report of about 200
words, outline the advantages and disadvantages of having the technicians use each type
of device for access to the Quick Fix main computers. Be sure to consider whether the
technicians’ needs could be met by having them carry only one device.
2. You should consider at least three options for connecting the device or devices you chose,
writing no more than two paragraphs for each option. Then select the best option and write
a one-page evaluation of your choice’s strengths and weaknesses.
3. Yin has been reading about the Internet of Things and is concerned that his technicians
might begin encountering devices such as thermostats and lighting controls that are con-
nected to the Internet or that include computerized components (such as an automobile’s
onboard diagnostics system). Using your favorite search engine or your school’s library,
identify at least one such device that is currently sold or likely to be sold soon and write two
or three paragraphs about what technology Quick Fix technicians will need to deal with it.

Note: Your instructor might assign you to a group to complete this case, and might ask you to
prepare a formal presentation of your results to your class.

For Further Study and Research
BBC News. 2010. “Over 5 Billion Mobile Phone Connections Worldwide,” BBC News, July 9.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10569081)
Bergman, M. 2001. The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value. Sioux Falls, SD: BrightPlanet.com.
(http://brightplanet.com/technology/deepweb.asp)

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