Q. I hear a lot about ‘the mobile office’ and am sure I could be operating smarter and more efficiently, but don’t know where to start. Can you give me an idea of the main offerings and what the clear business benefits are? What should my business be looking at? For instance, what are the benefits of WiFi, 3G cards, PDAs, etc?
 
John Coulthard of Microsoft writes:

Mobile technology can benefit your business in a number of ways. Providing sales staff with access to emails and company files while they’re on the move can give the business the same boost as a new member of staff. Mobile workers can make better-informed, quicker decisions and share information more effectively. Equally, by enabling faster responses to queries mobile technology can inspire customer confidence. It can also play a part in improving work/life balance by helping employees to reclaim ‘dead time’ while on the road.

Smart phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) may better serve your business needs than laptops. These devices provide access to email, client contacts and calendars, information can also be synchronised with the office PC and company network. This may be just the level of mobile functionality the business requires. To get the most out of them, mobile devices should be capable of reading attachments, as with the XDA II and i-mate Jam. Always remember to back up information held on these devices.

If workers need full PC functionality on the road, 3G data cards or wireless hot spots (WiFi) may be the answer. 3G data cards slot into laptops to provide internet connection over mobile networks, good in rural areas, while an increasing number of cafes, hotels and stations provide access to emails and company files in urban areas by using local wireless networks.

Laptop battery life, readability of the screen outdoors and weight are other important considerations when selecting a notebook PC. But above all think about the solution as a whole, in particular its costs, devices that just access email, rather than act as a phone as well will add more costs than you need.

In assessing what the mobile office could do for you business, walking into a mobile shop is often not the best answer. Find a technology supplier, present them with the problem you have, and work with them to find the most appropriate mobile solution that fits your business, remembering that you may have different solutions for different roles in your business.