How smartphones are changing the business world

How smartphones are changing the business world

The smartphone revolution is changing the way we do business, no doubt about it. And smartphones have made it possible for people to get connected faster and presently they have the potential to augment every aspect of business, and even personal lives. With smartphones, it is now possible to discern new levels of connectivity, and this has in turn increased productivity and ROI. Every few years we have some technological shift happening on a global level, but this smartphone revolution has the capability to change the business landscape on a drastic level. The businesses that have adapted to the smartphone level will not turn obsolete, but the ones that don’t wouldn’t. Here is an example of a mobile gaming application called ‘Draw Something’ hit the mark of one million downloads within a time span of 9 days, while Facebook took nine months to hit the one million mark. Facebook itself has revealed that it has received about 73% of its advertising revenue from smartphones and tablets.

Why businesses should concentrate on the smartphone to reach out to their customers

According to an article published in The Time, and a research conducted by Lookout Study

• About 60% of the people check their phones at least once in a hour
• 54% of the people check their phone while they get up or just before they go to sleep
• 40% of the people check their phones while in the toilet
• 30% check during meal times
• 9% during religious services
• 1 in 5 immediately after sex

By looking at the study, you can come to the conclusion that if you want to reach out to your customers, this is where you go. – have a mobile friendly website and use smartphone technology to make an impact.

Other benefits of smartphone technology in business

Freedom to plan your activities

As long as there is smartphone, internet connection and a proper signal, you have no problems in catching up on your memos. You can even do your work while commuting on the train, plan your schedule while having breakfast and keep track of your employees while vacationing. Gone are those age-old days when you had to be tethered to the desktop to do your work.

Better networking possibilities

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you need to be connected to your potential customers through social networking. With the advent of social media, it has become imperative that you have constant communication with people. If you have a smartphone, you can be connected to them virtually all the time. This would help you build a rapport with them. Additionally, you can work on your business partnerships through LinkedIn and start conversations with potential partners/associates.

Communication processes have become streamlined than ever before

With mobile phones, you can call any person in any part of the world, as long as the person has a signal. With smartphones, you can make use of cheaper modes of communication instantly and more effectively (even face-to-face communication). Geographical barriers vanish when you are online with your smartphone.

During disaster recovery

You can make use of smartphones and social networking to implement disaster recovery plans. If there has been any sort of issue/complaint with/regarding any customer, you can solve it immediately, send notifications and activate open channels of communication so the emergency situation would be resolved quickly. This would help restore faith among customers. If they know that you are accessible and takes the responsibility to clear the issues, they would never go to a competitor.

Remote working and outsourcing

When you outsource work to agencies located in other countries, your smartphone would help you keep track of the business transactions and deals. On the other hand, if you are in a different country and you need to send an important file in your computer, you can just direct your employee; it works much better than the traditional phone as long as you have stable internet connection.

Good stress busters

Smartphone can carry a multitude of games that would work as stress busters. Though these wouldn’t benefit the business processes directly, they act as good stress busters because playing games would take them off the edge, increasing productivity in the long run. Playing a game is a stress buster for most.

Contains many advanced features

Smartphones have remarkable apps that would help you share important files. For example, you can access Google Drive and send your files without actually waiting to come to office. Saving your files in the cloud would also aid in their quick retrieval.
Here are some of the best business apps you can install in your smartphone to help with business continuity

• Microsoft Remote Desktop
• Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
• Microsoft Office for Tablets
• OneNote
• QuickBooks for Android
• Square Register
• Expense Manager
• Skype
• Google Calendar

Conclusion

Thus, there is no denying that smartphones are here to stay and they are the most reliable pieces of communication equipments when other systems fail. Smartphones are easier to carry than laptops and even tablets, so they are the most favored mode of communication for travelling businessmen. Smartphones play an important role in business continuity because you can save important files in your phone and look them up whenever you need them. When companies send their employees abroad for business purposes, these smartphones would help them keep in constant touch with them, inform them of business plans, or change in plans, keep track of them and so on.

Interesting links about the topic:
Smart Phones Are Changing the Way We live
How smartphones are on the verge of changing the world

Pictures: Flickr.com/ highwaysagency/ Jason Howie/ photos/lge

The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.