Census Bureau takes stock of its handhelds: agency starts to test new devices to gauge usability.(NEWS)

ABOUT 1,400 U.S. Census Bureau workers carrying wireless handhelds began fanning out across Fayetteville, N.C., and Stockton, Calif., last week in a dress rehearsal to see how the devices will be used during the 2010 census.

Initially, the workers equipped with the handhelds are verifying street addresses and adding or deleting the locations of homes that have been built or removed since the previous census. During the actual census, workers will also use the devices to enter answers to questions during in-person visits to the homes of residents who haven't sent in written questionnaires.

The handhelds are equipped with GPS mapping technology and biometric security features, and they can transmit information to central databases via wireless connections. Eventually, 500,000 census takers are expected to use the devices, said Mike Murray, vice president of the census program at Harris Corp., the lead systems integrator on the project.

The Census Bureau signed a contract for the project with a team of vendors led by Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris last spring. The agency plans to spend $600 million on the handhelds and related technology over the next five years as part of the rollout, which will involve 13 data centers and nearly 500 field offices.

The seven-week rehearsal will give officials a chance to evaluate the usability of the handhelds by a diverse workforce. "When you're hiring 500,000 people so quickly, you can't be too picky [about] whom you're hiring, and they'll have all kinds of technology backgrounds," Murray said.