Service providers sense they are on the cusp of a new market. "We definitely see ourselves getting into more managed services for our business clients," says Mike Willsey, director of enterprise segmentation for Verizon Wireless. "It's not about just plain connectivity anymore."

Lloyd's considered a half-dozen mobile-productivity software suites before settling on eTrace, which happened to come from a company called GearWorks based just across town. Not only was GearWorks local, but its software worked on Sprint Nextel's i560 and i850 phones, which are aimed at the construction industry. Lloyd's had already started buying these push-to-talk phones to wean workers from their dying radios. Allie, who also runs the company website, supervised the eTrace installation. Immediately, there were troubles with technophobic staff. Employees had to be guided up a steep learning curve in order to master even basic features on their new phones. For 18 months two systems ran side by side: eTrace as it was phased in, and the old paper-and-pencil system as it was phased out. Accounting inconsistencies quickly crept in. "It got pretty confusing," says Allie.

And eTrace gave rise to a delicate labor problem. The software featured integrated mapping and travel data that showed the real-time locations of all company assets. To their chagrin, the Lloyds discovered that those assets were spending too much time parked outside the same lunch spots ones that were not on prescribed routes. Stephanie was sympathetic to workers' needs for breaks "we've all worked demolition here," she says but quickly clamped down on unauthorized ones.

GearWorks' CEO says the challenges Lloyd's faced are to be expected. "All these products operate under the ominous pendulum of challenge and opportunity," says Todd Kraut-kremer, 47. "But our software does a good job of letting the customer control that rate of change in the business."

Once the deployment dust had settled, the savings became clear. The company employs 12 drivers, 22 foremen, and seven office workers who use 41 phones running eTrace. The company buys an unlimited data package for each phone, which totals about $4,000 a month. Add other networking charges, and Lloyd's spends about $50,000 a year for a complete business, accounting, and communications solution. Before eTrace, the company paid an accountant 40 hours a week to do the books. Now that person comes in one day a week for six hours, saving roughly $1,000 a week.