Mobile technology helps UPS ensure efficiency, reliability and reduce errors in more than 200 countries

April 2003, Atlanta, GA - United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) will use the first handheld computer to include built-in wireless connectivity options to ensure maximum data transmission flexibility for its extensive fleet of UPS drivers. The introduction of this wireless component will ultimately result in customers having the most up-to-the-minute tracking information available at all times. The multiple wireless connectivity options can support personal, local or wide-area networks.

Pioneer Status
UPS pioneered the use of handheld computers in the shipping industry in 1991 when it introduced the first Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD). Since then, each successive generation of the device has broken new ground, opening the door to the comprehensive package tracking UPS customers enjoy today.

The fourth generation of the Delivery Information Acquisition Device, or DIAD IV, incorporates new radio communication links that allow it to communicate almost anywhere, anytime; dramatically expanded memory, and a color screen that allows alert messages to be color-coded for drivers.

Each DIAD IV will feature wireless local area network connectivity (WiFi), a built-in Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or Code Division Multiple Access radio (CDMA) - depending on location and an acoustical modem for dial-up access. These will enable transmissions within a nearby UPS center. The device also features a Bluetooth wireless personal area network and an infrared port to communicate with peripheral devices and customer personal computers.

Best Customer Service
All of the new technology is focused on one result -- the best customer service. The DIAD IV also has a new link to Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) that will allow drivers to easily verify customer locations for pickup or delivery of packages, particularly outside the United States.

"This technology will enable our drivers to provide even better service to our customers," said UPS chief information officer Ken Lacy. "It will make us more efficient and reliable while reducing errors."

Thanks to wireless communications technology, the DIAD IV confirms deliveries almost instantaneously. Drivers simply scan the package bar code; collect the receiver's signature electronically; type in the last name of the receiver, and push a single key to complete the transaction and distribute the data. There is no need to activate a cell phone or return to the vehicle to place the device in a transmission cradle.

"This electronic data capture ensures that UPS customers have the most current package tracking information available to them anytime, anywhere," Lacy said. "Since its creation more than a decade ago, the DIAD technology represents the front line of a global IT infrastructure that now captures electronic data on about 90 percent of the 13.3 million packages that move through our system each day -- more than any other package delivery company in the world."

UPS announced it will begin deploying DIAD IV next year after completing extensive tests of the new device late this year. About 70,000 DIADs are used daily by UPS drivers throughout the world. The pioneering technology forms the core of UPS's wireless strategy and is an integral part of how the company conducts business.

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