Mobile devices of all kinds offer alternatives to traditional ways of working, shopping, communicating, and socializing. From handheld scanners carried by customers in retail stores to specialized devices used in manufacturing and industry, mobiles assist in all kinds of tasks. Consumers around the globe commonly carry some form of mobile device nearly all the time, and they are increasingly interested in services that can be accessed on demand when they wish it. Everything from banking and finances to grocery shopping to physical fitness can be managed, tracked, recorded, and shared while on the go. Access to services, customer support, loyalty programs, coupons and discounts, and more are available from mobile devices — essentially, a business with a mobile presence accompanies its customers wherever they go.
Overview
In recent years, mobiles have evolved from pint-sized telephones into miniature computers. Innovative interfaces, GPS and wifi capability, and support for third-party applications give mobiles the ability to offer specialized services of all kinds. As a Gartner report predicted in late 2008 (Mobile Internet Devices, December 2008), the winning combination for mobile devices is a blend of communications support, a high level of personalization, and the ability to serve Internet-driven applications. That revolution is here: mobile devices now combine communication, customization, and connectivity.
Mobile technology is affecting business on many fronts: performance all along the supply chain, the way people communicate and do business, the length of the business day, and the retail experience are all changing as a result of mobile access. As devices become smaller, faster, and more feature-rich, the boundaries of the workplace are blurring. Managing relationships, supervising activity, instantly accessing customers, employees, and contractors, and much of the day-to-day work that once required “seat time” at a desk can now be done on the train, in airport terminals, at a business lunch, or waiting in line for a coffee. Mobiles are ideal for social applications, too; people can keep in touch with one another using social networking services while out and about without having to make phone calls.
Specialized mobile devices other than phones are already in use in many fields. Delivery services like UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service employ devices that track shipments and deliveries and capture signatures, relaying information about the whereabouts of packages almost in real time to a central system. Bloom grocery stores (http://www.shopbloom.com) provide handheld scanners to customers, who scan items as they are placed into their shopping bags or carts. The shopper scans a label at checkout that transmits the list to the central computer, then scans his or her loyalty card and finally swipes a credit card for payment.
Multimobile services — a term coined by Alan Livingston to describe services that can respond to user requests in a variety of forms such as SMS, email, phone menus, and the web — can provide links between customers and businesses without tying up staff time. A business can set up multimobile services that respond to customer requests for order tracking information, customer account data, up-to-the-minute inventory reports, and more, via the customer’s preferred method of communication from a mobile device.
More and more, people are taking care of email and tasks, keeping up with family and friends, shopping, and doing other routine tasks on the go. Increasingly, mobiles are the portals that allow these things to happen. Mobiles have even changed the perception of network news around the world: it is now common to see invitations for cell video submissions on major news stations. The people using the mobiles are also the ones making many consumer purchasing decisions: in 2008, 37% of mobile subscribers were between the ages of 35-54 years. A tremendous opportunity exists to reach this market with services and information, anytime and anywhere.
Relevant Applications for Small to Medium Businesses
Not long ago, Internet connectivity belonged to homes, offices, and the occasional café. Today, people expect the Internet to be available everywhere. This migration of expectations about the Internet experience is having a direct impact on small and medium businesses. Business products and services need to be found anytime and anywhere, and communication handled in, or near, real-time. As expectations about the mobile experience have changed, voice alone is no longer enough. Businesses can take advantage of this by establishing a mobile presence that makes them available to customers wherever they may be.
The earliest mobile applications delivered services for socializing, entertainment, games, travel, and leisure activities. Now, emerging business-oriented applications are available to assist with productivity, organization, time and information management, and access to all kinds of real-time data. The mobile counterpart of the salesforce.com website, for instance, delivers customer relationship management into the palm of a salesperson’s hand, allowing him or her to review key clients, the products they own and are interested in, problems and resolutions, and next steps just before walking into a meeting. Roambi (http://www.roambi.com) is a data visualization tool for the iPhone that displays the contents of a spreadsheet as interactive charts and graphs.
The convergence of mobiles and Internet access is also opening up possibilities for the development of new revenue streams. The advent of venues for mobile application delivery has created a market for delivering software under a micro-payment model; a typical iPhone application costs the user under a dollar in Apple’s App Store, with many applications offered free of charge. Similar venues exist for users of Nokia, Vodafone, Blackberry, and Android products. Many cloud-based subscription services provide mobile counterparts at no cost, increasing customer access; many free cloud-based services do the same. These include personal planning software such as Nozbe (http://www.nozbe.com), travel tools like TripIt (http://www.tripit.com), financial management programs like Wesabe (http://www.wesabe.com), and many others.
Two significant changes are imminent in the mobile and mobile apps area. First, during the summer of 2009, the first Flash-capable Android device was launched (the HTC Hero). This opens the mobile platform to products and services created by the Flash developer community, including those that are already in place online. Second, the trend towards cloud computing includes mobiles as well as desktop systems; mobile access to cloud applications will bring many more capabilities to the devices in the near future.
- Health Care. Sybase iAnywhere is a mobile platform designed for healthcare organizations. The suite of services provides a secure system for caregivers to access and review patient information, keep records of diagnoses and billing information, consult reference materials, and synchronize data with central systems from a variety of mobile devices wherever they happen to be working.
- Marketing. JetBlue posts deeply discounted flights on its Twitter account, JetBlueCheeps, along with a text messaging (SMS) address. Mobile customers send a text to the address for complete information about the sales. Ashley Furniture has run 12-hour private sales, advertising them solely through email and SMS, and sponsored contests that customers enter by texting keywords to a certain address.
- Real Estate. The real estate website Zillow.com offers a free mobile app for the iPhone that allows clients to view information on a home as they walk through or drive by it. Zillow pinpoints the location of the phone (or accepts an address) and displays information including a home’s square footage, current value, and value over time. Listing agents or homeowners can be contacted through the application as well.
Mobiles in Practice
The following links provide examples of mobiles in business settings.
Instant Mobilizer™ from Dotmobi
http://www.domainmonster.com/mobi/mobilizer-faq
Designed for small and mid-sized businesses, this service converts a company’s website to a mobile-accessible site. The mobile site automatically updates with changes to the main website.
Intuit Unveils Mobile Phone Credit Card Processing
http://mobiles.techie-buzz.com/intuit-unveils-mobile-phone-credit-card-processing.html
(Mobile Buzz, 22 May 2009.) A new product from Intuit allows merchants to process credit cards from their mobiles, enter the information into QuickBooks, and print a receipt.
Learn the Basics of Social Media
http://www.entrepreneur.com/techadvisor/article198860.html
(Jennifer Shaheen, Entrepreneur, 25 November 2008.) Social marketing is ideal for small businesses which are already focused on personal service. Decide which avenue of social networking is right for your business.
Mobile Phones: A Pocketful of Marketing
http://smallbusiness.aol.com/verizon/_a/mobile-phones-a-pocketful-of-marketing/20070412151909990003
(Leigh Buchanan, Max Chafkin, Ryan McCarthy, AOL Small Business.) There are several ways to use mobile phones in marketing your small business. Learn how to market, what to expect cost-wise, and where the technology is headed.
Square iPhone Payment System Turns Your Phone into Credit Card Reader
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/03/square-iphone-payment-system-turns-your-phone-into-credit-card-r
(Vladislav Savov, engadget, 3 August 2009.) The tiny Square credit card reader plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone or iPod Touch. After you swipe your card, the seller enters the purchase amount on the phone and you sign on the touch screen, generating a geotagged receipt that is emailed to you.
For Further Reading
The following articles and resources are recommended for those who wish to learn more about mobiles.
Critical Mass: The Worldwide State of the Mobile Web
http://www.nielsenmobile.com/documents/CriticalMass.pdf
(The Nielsen Company, July 2008.) This report offers statistics about who is using the mobile web and for what purposes.
De-Clutter: How I Used my iPhone and Evernote to Travel Light
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/10/de-clutter-how-i-used-my-iphone-and-evernote-to-travel
(Dave Caolo, TUAW: The Unofficial Apple Weblog, 10 June 2009.) Using an iPhone on your next business trip can eliminate paper clutter. In addition to organizing travel arrangements and local maps, users can store flight confirmations, hotel information, and more.
How Windows Mobile Can Help Your Small Business
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/business/solutions/windowsmobile-helps-small-business.mspx
(Tyson Greer, Windows Mobile.) Check emails, do time tracking, update a contacts list on-the-fly, and more with Windows Mobile, Microsoft’s version of smart phone technology. Easily sync your smart phone to your PC to keep your schedule up to date.
A Mobile Future
http://www.entrepreneur.com/techadvisor/article191420.html
(Steve Cooper, Entrepreneur, 17 March 2008.) The advancement of smart phones offers a huge opportunity to the small and mid-sized business owner. Many examples of innovative technology accessible to a mobile phone are discussed.
Small Business Labs: 2009 Top Ten Small Business Trends
http://genylabs.typepad.com/small_biz_labs/2008/12/2009-top-10-small-business-trends.html
(Small Business Labs, 29 December 2008.) Mobile computing, online marketing, and cloud computing are among the top ten trends predicted for this year. More small businesses are turning to mobile computing to save money on tech resources.
Delicious: Mobiles
http://delicious.com/tag/hz09biz+mobile
Follow this link to find additional resources tagged for this topic and this edition of the Horizon Report. To add to this list, simply tag resources with “hz09biz” and “mobile” when you save them to Delicious.
Posted by NMC on September 29, 2009
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