Medtronic, a medical technology company, offers services and products such as pacemakers. It has taken the Palm Treo to heart and deployed the smart phone among its more than 2000 employees. They use the phone for a wide range of tasks, including management of sales and purchase orders, checking inventory and product specifications, and tracking the shipping and delivery of products and services. Easy employee access to this information has improved customer relations by almost 40%.
Medtronic equips the Treo 650 with a range of standard and custom applications (see the figure). For instance, Good Technology's GoodLink provides integrated e-mail and calendar support. With its centralized enterprise management, the IT department can administer security and services remotely. The IT deparment also uses the Treo's SMS support to deliver forms and surveys to employees. The ease of delivery and the user's ability to quickly respond have raised average user response by 20% to 30%.
Tarra Griffen, vice president of Palm's Enterprise Marketing, noted that Medtronic uses a range of standard and custom applications. The pacemaker division uses one of these custom applications to track implanted pacemakers, which will ensure that patients receive the proper unit.