At the end of the day, vWork works straight out of the box with any iPhone you can get your hands on. However, there are a few accessories that will make your life easier and can improve performance.
Power
The first and most important thing you need is a way of recharging your iPhone out in the field. This is especially true if you want to take advantage of the iPhone’s GPS tracking capability. (The default vWork settings only turn the GPS on when you have the phone plugged into a power supply.)
The easiest way to achieve this is with a cigarette lighter adaptor. These are cheap, easy to buy, easy to use and can be moved between vehicles at a moment’s notice. We supply the Cellnet brand charger as they work in both 12V and 24V vehicles and they have a dock connector compatible with a ruggedised case.
Case
Many people choose to protect their phone with a ruggedised case of some sort. These can range all the way from a cheap silicone shell all the way up to the cadillac of cases, an Otter Box Defender series case. We have abused the Defender cases quite badly and have been thrilled with the results. We were so amazed we even made a video about them.
Just make sure that whatever case you buy allows you to plug in your other accessories without having to remove the case. Again, we recommend the Otter Box Defender cases combined with the Cellnet car charger.
Cradle
There are a number of cradles out on the market, but most of them are made for specific models of phones. They generally don’t allow you to use a ruggedised case with the cradle. At this point, we recommend that you either use a case or a cradle but not both. If we find a solution to this, we’ll let you know. We’re still looking.
If you are going to use a cradle, a popular choice is the Bury brand. They offer a modular system that allows you to mix and match components for the features you need: Bluetooth Hands Free, Wired Hands Free, Charging, Cradle Only, Music Playback, etc…
Stylus
The vWork application allows you to collect signatures from your customers using our sign on glass feature. You can simply sign with your finger, but for a more professional look you should consider a capacitive stylus from either Pogo, Griffin or Just Mobile. These styluses allow you to collect signatures just like the large courier companies. We prefer the Pogo Sketch as it includes a clip and loop that makes it harder to loose.
If you need assistance obtaining any of these accessories or have any recommendations for us, please drop us an email.
