Running a mobile workforce to the best of it's ability

Mobility is more than just equipping members of your business with a smartphone or laptop; rather, mobility solutions can leverage many technologies that enable your workforce to be productive in the field and on the road. In addition to implementing technology components, mobility requires strategic planning and cross-functional engagement to ensure that the solution can be managed and supported and that it is in compliance with security requirements.

For most end users, smartphones and laptops are the foundation of their mobility. But there are other devices that, because of their form factor or functionality, can enable greater productivity in the field and on the go, shorten sales cycles and even provide additional revenue streams.

smartphones

The mobile device of choice for consumers and business users alike is the smartphone, which, in addition to voice services, provides ever-increasing capabilities for accessing, viewing and sending data and working with enterprise and productivity applications. Most business mobility solutions today include smartphones for at least some of the organization’s workforce. The manufacturer and model selected will depend on such things as the speed and processing requirements of the end user, the convenience of the form factor to the intended use, as well as corporate security policies. Special categories of rugged smartphones exist for use in harsher environments.

laptops

The laptop computer is one of the original categories of mobile device for business, and it remains a critical component of most enterprise mobile solutions. Originally reliant on an Ethernet connection for Internet access, current models now come with built in modems for Wi-Fi network access. A growing subset today is also being offered by carriers and hardware manufacturers with mobile embedded technology for smartphone-like connectivity.

Tablet computers comprise a category that is still in its infancy as a proven business tool. The devices typically lend themselves easily to reading documents, business reports and executive dashboards, using email and calendars, and, of course, browsing the Internet. There are no doubt opportunities to use these devices as alternatives to laptops in sales force and field force applications.