Tips for Better Battery Management
THE INSIDE SCOOP ON SIMPLE MOBILE POWER PLANNING
JR RODRIGUES
VP of Marketing
Global Technology Systems, Inc.
For nearly two decades, GTS has been providing advanced mobile device batteries and chargers to retailers worldwide to help dramatically cut their labor, service, and mobility spending. GTS also offers unique mobile power management solutions that optimize the efficiency and use of retail’s most mission-critical mobile devices.
Q. The next-gen store runs on mobility. What can retailers do to ensure their mobile devices are always ready to go when needed?
Retailers should begin by understanding the problems mobile device batteries can cause. All batteries go bad over time and lose their ability to fully charge. Bad batteries that can’t last a full shift cause significant productivity loss and additional mobility spending that can be avoided with better battery management. In the following instance, productivity loss and added costs weren’t the only challenges caused by bad batteries.
A Top 5 retailer with 500,000+ mobile devices did an intensive study and discovered that over 100% of their devices were sent-in for repairs annually. Upon further analysis, they discovered that 30% of these service repair requests were returned as NTF (No Trouble Found) – because, as it turns out, they were battery problems, not device issues! When GTS helped this major retailer solve their bad battery issue, their service requests quickly reduced by 30% and their Help Desk calls diminished by 64% too. This is why it’s so critical for organizations to maintain healthy battery fleets and have a mobile device battery management plan in place.
GTS offers multiple solutions that both eliminate bad batteries and help retailers more effectively manage their mobile power. Test & Replace™ consists of a mobile app and compact, patent-pending tester that allows anyone onsite to accurately test (it only takes 3-5 seconds per battery) and identify all the mobile device batteries that need replacing. Additionally, GTS’ Battery Color Coding™ allows clients to buy batteries in different colors each time they refresh their battery populations (typically annually or biannually, depending on usage). These color-coded batteries allow retailers to easily observe the aging of their battery fleets and quickly identify the batteries that have exceeded their recommended usage.
Q. How can retailers best dispose of old mobile batteries?
Mobile (usually Lithium-based) batteries require proper recycling. These batteries are made with environmentally toxic materials/chemicals that can even become volatile at times. Due to this, battery removal and transport are heavily supervised by government agencies, and regulations are continuously updated to help protect ecosystems from improper battery disposal.
To aid retailers in the responsible removal of their bad mobile device batteries GTS now has a Free Lithium Battery Recycling program available to all customers. A carboard recycling box is provided to each client location. Once the box is filled with bad batteries, a call is placed to the 800-number on the box and a service comes to the facility to pick up the bad batteries while another empty box is left in its place. This is a hassle-free and safe way to dispose of Lithium batteries while also enabling organizations to comply with organizational green initiatives. The best part is that participants of GTS’ Free Lithium Battery Recycling program will have a $0.50 credit applied toward the purchase of a replacement battery for each battery that they recycle!
Q. What does the future hold for mobile power?
Our goal is simplicity – GTS continually strives to innovate the most convenient ways for organizations to manage their mobile power. In this effort, GTS has also begun offering Batteries as a Service (BaaS) to clients so that they can stop buying batteries one-by-one and simply pay a monthly fee (like they do with electricity) for their mobile device battery maintenance. With BaaS, GTS guarantees a participating retailer’s operations will always have healthy batteries, allowing the client to better budget and predict spending for future company needs.