Until recently, the three groups of BT service, payphone and network engineers relied on hand-held equipment and lacked the support of up-to-date technology. Without independent communications allowing access to critical data, the field workforce of 30,000 – including 15,000 mobile engineers – had to depend on customer PDSN or exchange linesto report faults, order parts and schedule repair programmes. To find an appropriate solution that would not only increase efficiency of operations, but would simultaneously improve BT’s customer-facing image, a range of notebook, palm top and laptop options were considered. It was decided that a smart, easily  portable, full-screen device would best befit the engineer’s status and work requirements. The equipment had to be rugged enough to withstand external conditions and flexible enough to customise with integrated communications facilities. A robust laptop system with individual configuration capability answered the criteria, and with ruggedness being a priority, Panasonic’s Toughbook solution offered a natural choice amongst the systems available in today’s competitive market.