Payroll fraud comes in many forms, and is well documented in the Construction industry. In a business where labor is often the largest cost on a project, this problem can really handicap a company's ability to be competitive and profitable. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the average payroll scheme goes undetected for over two years. Even once detected, cases are less likely to be reported and prosecuted in the construction industry, often due to a lack of evidence. 

The two most common types of payroll fraud that occur on the job site are falsified time and phantom employees, both part of the construction time and attendance process.  Over the last decade, more technologies are now available in the field to combat payroll fraud.  While it's possible to prevent certain kinds of fraud altogether, it is often even easier and more cost effective to deter the majority of cases. 

Sprint has announced that as of this past Sunday, the long awaited Motorola i1 is finally available through business, web and phone sales.  The i1 is the first touchscreen Android phone to also use Nextel Direct Connect.  This news is especially welcome to construction professionals who currently carry both a Push-To-Talk phone and a Blackberry or other smartphone for email.  

Even with its fairly rich feature set, the phone is priced competitively at $149.99 (with the obligatory 2-year contract of course), near the entry level price for a decent smart phone. It's no throwaway device either, earning the Mil Spec 810 rating for protection against dirt, harsh impacts and blowing rain. In other words, it'll last more than a day on your job sites. 

Developers of rural or suburban areas can tell you that national food and beverage chains popping up can be an early indicator of a looming building craze.   If fast food restaurants created "coverage maps" they would likely blanket more of the U.S. than AT&T and Verizon combined.  Oddly, they serve as a sort of basic infrastructure for those who work and live nearby.  This infrastructure is quickly becoming more robust as more chains add free Wi-Fi to the menu.  

Today, Starbucks announced that all 7,000+ company owned locations in the U.S. will offer free Wi-Fi access to patrons, with the added convenience of requiring no registration whatsoever. Starbucks is hardly the first to offer such a service. McDonalds rolled out free Wi-Fi nationwide to nearly all of its 14,000 locations in December 2009. Panera Bread also offers free Wi-Fi at most of its 1400 locations.