The Right Mobile Phone For You
It’s good to talk! Especially as choosing the right mobile phone can save your business money, improve the efficiency of your staff and streamline your company's workflow.
In last month’s e-zine, we looked at laptops, netbooks and smart books. In this issue, we discuss the pros and cons of the most common mobile phones on the market today (with thanks to www.ebusinesslive.ie)
Standard mobile phone
Even the most modest of phones are packed with features these days. This is good news for those who have a limited budget and only need their mobile device for calls, sending and receiving text messages and accessing email. Many budget phones will also allow you to surf the web.
Bluetooth functionality means that transferring contacts from one device to another is easy. Meanwhile, if the phone can be connected to your PC, you can back up your contacts to your desktop, which will minimise the damage to your data should your phone be lost or stolen.
If you are going to be using email and browsing the web, keep in mind that this will affect the type of price plan you choose. Most contract phones will include some sort of data usage at a reasonable rate per month. If you decide to go for a pay-as-you-go plan, however, expect to pay a lot more for data services.
Ideal user: An entry-level mobile device is a good fit for users with limited demand for email and the internet.
PDAs and smartphones
The next step up the ladder in terms of functionality is the Personal Digital Assistant, or smartphone - devices that are usually packed with useful features.
Smartphones allow you to access and edit emails, keep a calendar, browse the web and edit business files such as Excel spreadsheets and Word documents. Smartphones can also connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, which makes for a much more robust and sophisticated internet browsing experience.
Another big plus for smartphones is the number of business applications available online for download as add-ons. These range from cost trackers to spreadsheets.
With most models featuring GPS functionality, they also double as useful mapping devices for travelling salespeople and other staff that frequently venture into previously unknown territory.
These phones are essentially pocket PCs, but compared to other mobile devices - and, of course, your desktop or laptop - they have limited memory and processing power.
Ideal user: Those who require intensive web browsing and need to synch data with corporate applications like CRM and email.
BlackBerry
The Blackberry range of mobile devices deserves a special mention, due to their popularity among business users. Manufactured by Research In Motion, the Blackberry has long been the mobile device of choice for those who want email and internet on the move.
While Blackberrys possess some document-editing capabilities and can view a wide range of documents including PDFs, editing is not a strength and the Blackberry is very much an email-focussed device. Blackberry devices come with 'push' email, which means that email is automatically downloaded to your device without having to request it.
One of the latest iterations, the Blackberry Storm, is a touch-screen phone designed to rival Apple's iPhone. It's a 3G smartphone with multimedia functions and an on-screen keyboard.
Ideal user: Someone who needs intensive email and web browsing, (limited) document editing, and to synch data with corporate applications.
iPhone
The iPhone also deserves a special mention due to its popularity and iconic status. However, there is some debate as to whether the iPhone is truly a business phone or more of a luxury entertainment device.
Certainly Apple has gone to some lengths to argue that the iPhone can be used for business, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of business users still the prefer the more formal Blackberry.
In the iPhone's favour, however, is easy-to-use email and web browsing. Built-in GPS makes it a good navigation device too. While some document-editing is possible, it's not really one of the iPhone's strengths.
Probably the best thing about the iPhone is the App Store, which provides an ever-growing multitude of applications, many of which are free to download. While most of these are purely for entertainment purposes, a wide range of business applications is also available.
For intensive smartphone users who demand a no-frills business mobile phone, the Blackberry probably comes out ahead. But there's no doubt the iPhone makes a stylish statement and definitely has a 'wow' factor.
Ideal user: Those who want multimedia, email, web browsing and (limited) corporate application functionality.
Source: Enterprise Ireland (www.ebusinesslive.ie)