Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have just one mobile phone device that could double as your office, and that could send and receive e-mails as well as texts? That beeped or vibrated every time you received an e-mail, and you could choose to respond instantly. In addition to this, a device that allowed internet access, either to your corporate server for downloading information, or for just general browsing.
Do you have a field sales, or field engineering team that may have to log, or record information via the internet or to the office server? Are you a business that would like to expand in another geographical areas but don’t have the free capital to set up a whole new office?
There are several solutions currently available that may be of benefit to you.
3G DataCard / mobile phones.
What is the difference between 2G and 3G? Essentially 3G allows data connections to be much faster, in the same way that on dial-up, you are limited to 56.6kb/ps, whilst broadband goes up to 2mb/ps.
With the advent of 3G, (3rd Generation – or more properly known as W-CDMA or
‘UMTS’) technology, the speed in which a mobile phone can send and receive information has jumped remarkably. Soon everybody will have 3G enabled phones or other device, that can connect to the internet anywhere you have a mobile phone signal.
3G allows video-conferencing and mobile TV, and although these services are predominantly aimed at the consumer market, it does bring along some very practical applications for the business world.
 A 3G Datacard in a laptop PC will currently allow up to 250kb/ps connection speed and by 2010 it is predicted to be closer to 2mb/ps. Most 3G datacards also allow Wi-Fi access (a wireless broadband connection, found in most hotels, brand name franchises, airports etc.
This means that a laptop user can connect to the internet whilst on the move in most countries in the world, and have access to their corporate e-mail.
A sales person in the field can show its customers a live video-referral from a satisfied customer, or a presentation on his laptop from the office server. Once the order has been gained he can obtain a purchase order, alter the proposal to fit, fill out an order form, then e-mail that back to the office to be ordered, invoiced and despatched, all before he has left the building. He can also cc-email to the customer so that all parties have identical, and up-to-date records.
An engineer can download specs from a central database and check them against the actual configuration. Using Video Conferencing technology he can show a problem to other engineers with more experience, or record problems to help train other engineers - trainees can watch him on the job without intimidating the customer to have a gang of engineers turn up on site.
 Once the job is finished he can use a PDA with signature capture software to record the fact that the job is complete and the customer is happy, which can then be uploaded to the customers database record. You can connect to a Bluetooth™ printer and print out a copy of the records for customer receipt.
Other advantages.
If your out of office team can stay out of the office, you can move to smaller premises. Why have space for 50 people if 20 are never there?
No internal office staff means less equipment; whether this be pens, paper or PC's.
A worker who lives in Bedford covering that territory, commuting to Leicester is an expensive commodity, not just in fuel but also non-tangible factors such as vehicle wear and tear, or time saved each day non-commuting.
You are based in the Midlands but want a London presence - local staff can be hired that live and work in London, with no need to rent or buy office space, hire new admin or other back-up staff if it is not required. At a later date if the business grows and a permanent presence is required.
Simply call the Welcomm Communications sales department on0800 064 64 64
Or to request a quotation or to arrange a free demonstration. |
An oddly named mobile phone device; the Blackberry™ has one staggering USP: with all other e-mail systems you have to create a protocol to log to your e-mail sever and pull your e-mails off to read them at set intervals. With Blackberry™ the software checks your e-mail server for you and sends out a copy of the e-mail to your device.
This negates the need to keep on checking your device to see if you have any new emails, reducing the data costs and battery time associated with the ‘pull’ method that constantly checking, and keeping open a GPRS signal creates.
In addition to this, most Blackberry™ devices also contain mobile versions of Excel, Word and Adobe, to view attachments while allowing you, if necessary to view and respond to documents pertaining to a client or proposal straight away – saving vast amounts of time and “when I am back in the office I will have a look at that” scenarios that add greater delays to any project.
Whilst it does'nt have the flexibility of purpose as a SmartPhone or PDA type device to support GPS Navigation software for example; it does feature (and in some cases calendar applications too).
The Blackberry isn't a jack of all trades, it's a master of a few.
Simply call the Welcomm Communications sales department on0800 064 64 64
Or to request a quotation or to arrange a free demonstration.
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