I am working on a SF project which will required some mobile devices for remote data.  This application is for a company that provide appliances repairs services for refrigerators and stoves.  The database MS-SQL will be hosted in an ISP location.

These will be the basic needs:

• Tech Reps on the road will need to have access to a pre-define service route list and when a service is provided the customer will need to sign the order sheet (electronically) as an acceptance of the job.
• The device most have live access to the database since the route list may change at any time, so this most be a live connection.

Couple of questions for SF Team:

• Can SF be used to develop the Mobile Device application?
• If not, could it be possible to create the Mobile Device application as a Web application? so it can be access online from the Mobile Device.  Still I need a way to capture the customer signature for an completed work order.

Please anybody with some kind of experience in this regard willing to share some information will be greatly appreciated, including any idea, even if it has a different path than the one outline above.

Thanks in advance!

StrataFrame isn't currently geared towards the compact framework. We've done a lot of work on PocketPCs and the like in the past, it simply isn't something we've thought fit StrataFrame for the immediate future. As such, you couldn't produce a winapp style program for your mobile device using StrataFrame. However, most of what you are wanting to do is pretty straight forward, so you may be able to get it done with vanilla .NET.

Barring that, you could (as you mentioned) always create a web app formatted to work with whatever device you are planning to use. You would still likely have to handle the signature yourself and then upload the resulting file, but the rest should be able to be handled no problem .

Well, I would need to Login to SQL using SF classes to authenticate the Mobile Device, could I use any of SF classes for this with the Compact Framework? if not is there any 3rd party framework you would recommend for Mobile Devices?

Barring that, you could (as you mentioned) always create a web app formatted to work with whatever device you are planning to use. You would still likely have to handle the signature yourself and then upload the resulting file, but the rest should be able to be handled no problem .

I am toward that approach, since the mobile application should be pretty simple with not a lot of rules, but before I commit to anything, I would like to get all possible recommendations since know how customers thinks, now they don't need much, but after they have it working they will keep asking for more

Thanks Dustin.

Sound like a web app is looking more and more like the way to go .