RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. continued to pursue the construction market with two announcements Wednesday.
The carrier launched Construction Manger, a location-specific service from global positioning system technology provider Trimble that allows users to manage assets at construction sites via their handsets. The application includes downloadable maps and site designs and job site boundaries, and can record worker movement into and out of a specified site.
Trimble’s application also includes an in-vehicle component that can identify on-site bottlenecks, monitor driving speeds and measure vehicle idling times. The service, which uses Nextel’s iDEN network, is available on eight handsets.
In a separate announcement, Nextel announced it has deployed nearly 1,000 BlackBerry handsets with Skanska USA Building Inc., a general contractor and construction management company. The 4,100-employee company is a subsidiary of Skanska AB, a Swedish firm that claimed $17 billion in sales last year.
“We want our employees to be connected and on the same page, communicating effectively,” said Chris Stockley, chief information officer at Skanska USA Building.
