Mobile phones and smart handheld computers have already become indispensable in many small businesses, particularly for staff who frequently work outside the office. It has become as commonplace a workplace utility as the PC and the fixed line telephone.
Choice of technologies
The virtues of a mobile communications strategy speak for itself when you take into account the myriad of wireless data connectivity options available, including GPRS, 3G, Wi-Fi and hotspots, as well as the variety of mobile devices that can be used. These include laptops, PDAs, smartphones and Blackberrys. In some cases, it may well be that one single connectivity option may be enough for your day-to-day needs, but more firms are seeing the advantages to using a combination of GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi. This is where Vodafone’s Mobile Connect wireless cards come in. They have been on the market for some time now, and it has recently introduced a 3G version that roams between GPRS and 3G networks, depending on coverage. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that Mobile Connect can be a very costly service if not used correctly. Are there control mechanisms within the cards to prevent users from spending on it excessively? Paddy Collins, Vodafone’s Head of Business Solutions, says Mobile Connect cards have a ‘dashboard’ usage monitoring facility that loads on to your laptop. “On that dashboard, you can call it up and see what usage you are using on a monthly basis. You can see how many mbytes of data you have downloaded in the month and at the end of the month, it turns back to zero and you can start again.” But is this enough to prevent costly over-usage? Anything is possible, says Collins. Some users might be using the car to download loads of music from the Web for personal use, for instance. This means that the business needs to define a correct usage policy. “It comes down to personal accountability and personal responsibility,” he says.
Tariffs to fit
As most businesses will have different connectivity requirements and usage patterns, Vodafone has a number of different tariffs designed to fit in with the customer’s usage profile and thus provide the most cost effective package. “What we find is that a lot of people start with the standard service and after a month or two we review their usage and we sit down and discuss with them what would be the most appropriate profile and tariff to go on.” Another cost-saving option is that rather than have a card account for each individual user, you can pool all your cards and secure a more favourable rate, says Collins. But he also suggests that customers consider carefully the reasons why they have the cards in the first place and what benefits will they get out of it. He points to various data from the likes of research firm IDC, which posits that a typical mobile professional has roughly an hour of ‘downtime’ per day. In other words, they’re stuck in traffic or their flights delayed. Therefore, of course, being able to access corporate systems or e-mail remotely using a mobile device can enhance productivity by up an hour day on average. Such an advantage seems clear to sales people as it means they can spend more time visiting customers without having to check back to the office. Collins cites one example of an insurance company that bought mobile connect cards for 200 people. Their sales ‘hit rate’ rose by 30 per cent, leading to a return on investment within six months.
Wi-Fi will be big
Looking at the potential for using public Wi-Fi hotspots in places like airports, hotels, various coffee shops and other public areas, it’s clear that Vodafone views the role of hotspots in an average mobile communications strategy as peripheral at best. The question of how you can use hotspots in a mobile strategy is ‘kind of putting the cart before the horse’, says Collins.
All of the enabling technologies that allow people to work outside the office, including Wi-Fi, GPRS/3G and DSL are all complementary rather than competing mainly on account of the need to balance convenience, cost and speed of download. “It’s rarely the case that a customer will use Wi-Fi exclusively,” notes Collins, adding that it is not yet possible to move seamlessly on Vodafone cards from 3G/GPRS and Wi-Fi, although this function should soon be available, he said.
So given these current limitations, the issue is to decide what combination of technologies, including hardware and connectivity, offers the best support for workers who are frequently outside the office. “Hotspots and Wi-Fi would be seen as complementary,” says Collins. “It’s very much OK for someone who works in a specific spot, but if they move about different areas, then they would need GPRS or 3G.” In addition, the choice of device also depends on their individual needs and usage. In this way, devising a mobile communications strategy means finding out what is the role of workers working away from the office, and what are the IT applications and business processes that they need to use. Even work-life balance issues come into play, as well as correct usage policies. “It’s important that the company employs these solutions constructively, so that it’s a win for the company because it increases the productivity of their remote workers and a win for the mobile worker because there’s more flexibility in how they work. They don’t have to return to the office to retrieve e-mail, for instance.”
Outside of Mobile Connect cards, Collins says that another strand to a mobile communications plan can be found in removing fixed landlines and replacing them with a mobile phone-only system for all employees.
Vodafone’s offering in this regard is called Wireless Office. “We’ve had great take-up, great traction in the marketplace with that.”
In this situation, company mobile phones become the core of the telephone system, thereby eliminating the need for a desktop phone in most cases. The package provides for free internal calls between mobile phones, good PABX-type functionality including call transfer and call conferencing, and free extensions.
Collins reports that the package is particularly popular among companies that frequently find themselves on remotes sites, the prime example being construction firms.
Addictive e-mail device
While Vodafone can enable data connectivity to a variety of devices, the Blackberry e-mail device has proved particularly popular. “It’s really taken off in Ireland, it’s a real revolution in mobile device,” raves Collins. “Simple to use, simple to deploy, and is the sweetest spot for mobile data usage anywhere.”
For those who’ve never seen one, the Blackberry is small portable device with a large screen and full QWERTY keyboard that is used primarily for easy and quick access to e-mail on the move. The earliest versions were e-mail only, but a new version also doubles as standard mobile phone. The running costs ranges from EUR*25 a month. “It lets you manage e-mail rather than the other way around.”
Granted you can use lots of devices to access e-mail on the move, but it’s the simplicity of this device that appears to be winning many converts. The key thing is that it only takes a couple of seconds to turn on and turn off, whereas a laptop – well takes considerable longer to do so.
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