.FLYINGHEAD ENTERPRISE MOBILITY
.TITLE Cell phone technology and the business traveler: from office phone to mobile office
.AUTHOR Brenda Coxe
.SUMMARY In this interesting survey article, author Brenda Coxe explores the evolution of cellular phones and helps us consider how cellular technology can help keep mobile employees connected to their work, no matter where they happen to be.
.OTHER
The world that surrounds the business traveler has undergone dozens of changes just in the last fifteen years. Mobile technology began with the stationary car phone, a technology that first saw limited use in the 1950s.
In their early days, car phones could only be used within the range of the service provider, which often made them unreliable and subject to loss of service when traveling through several cell areas during a conversation. OK, so not so much has really changed!)
By 1970, technology had been developed that allowed a user to pass through several areas of service without losing the conversation. Later technology included a transportable phone called a "bag phone" that had a cigarette lighter plug that allowed the phone to be used as either a mobile or a portable phone. Figure A shows how phones have changed over the years.
.FIGPAIR A This photo, courtesy of Andy Norman, shows how phones have changed over the years.
.TEASER Tap here for the rest of this interesting article.
.H1 First generation
The Motorola DynaTAC8000X was the first handheld mobile phone that was approved for commercial distribution. The remainder of the 1980s included a proliferation of cellular phones that utilized cellular networks and used multiple base stations located close to one another.
.H1 Second generation
This era, in the 1990s, included the introduction of the first digital cellular phones and allowed for quicker signaling between phone and network.
At this time, technology began to trend away from larger phones and lean toward smaller, hand-held devices along with other advances such as energy-efficient and longer-lasting batteries that were made possible in part because of the higher density of cellular sites and increased levels of usage.
.H1 Third generation
As we entered into the 21st century, other changes in cellular service appeared such as text messaging, picture and video messages, camera phones, phones with MP3 players, V-cast technology for music downloads, Web access, Bluetooth-enabled wireless headsets, email-access, and much more.
What began as simple and basic car phone technology has now evolved into a generation of cellular phones that can double as hand-held computers. For the business traveler, this technology has allowed us to make the transition from sitting in our offices all day to spending more time on the road visiting customers without having to worry about missing important phone calls or emails.
It also has a way of preventing us from being able to get away from it all.
.H1 Taking advantage of modern cellular technology
Today’s cellular capabilities can best be described as "cellular technology, plus". With mobile devices that have the ability to not only send and receive calls, but videos, pictures, and emails, we business travelers of the 21st century is in a better position to devote time to our customers and less time sitting in the office attending meetings and attempting to reach customers from the office phone.
This technology is particularly beneficial for the sales representative who spends many hours of the road calling upon customers. No longer do you have to worry about being stuck in traffic and missing youe appointment with a customer — you can now use your hand-held cellular phone to notify your customer that you’re running late, and if necessary, reschedule the appointment for a later time that day.
This ability to contact customers and prospects while still on the road makes you appear more professional without the inconvenience of having to pull off the road and find a pay phone.
If you’re not certain where you’re going, some phones now have navigational devices on them. Even without those, if you have Web access, you have the option of obtaining directions that way. One amazing tool is Google Maps, running on EvDO-equipped mobile phones. Even without GPS access, you can immediately get detailed maps and directions, all downloaded off a fast Internet connection.
Better yet, if you have a Blackberry or email-equipped phone, you can ask your customer to send you directions in your email, which you can access on your phone. This is just one example. You can also send Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PDFs — and, on some phones, edit those documents and send them back.
In addition, having email access means that you can stay abreast of what is happening in your office and any important issues that you need to address before you return to your office. Your ability to do this enhances your ability as a liaison between your company and its customers as well as increasing your visibility within the business community, thus providing you with the potential to bring in new customers during your travels.
Cell phones of the 21st century also allow you access many of your office programs from your phone. How does that benefit you? If part of your job entails picking up payments from customers, and the billing is in a program such as Excel, you don’t have to print everything before you leave, you can access it from the road.
This is especially important if your customer may have sent in payment since you left-it will then be up to date when you access the file. Accessing your Outlook address book is another option that you have at your disposal, and an especially important one if you plan to visit potential prospects during your trip. More and more Web-based applications have a mobile interface, allowing you access to the "cloud" of data from nearly any phone.
Technology has advanced way beyond what any of us would have envisioned before the turn of the century, and it’s not showing any signs of a slowdown. Cellular phones have become more than phones — today they are mini hand-held computers that allows the business traveler to put down your office telephone and spend as much time as necessary making certain you serve your customers — and your company’s bottom line.
With the ability to create an Internet connection for your laptop through your mobile phone, and the technology of your phone itself, it’s difficult not to lose that sense of need about being in the office. If you make your living on a commission, you certainly want to spend as little time as possible sitting in your office, and in this instance, modern technology is your friend.
Look to the future because new capabilities are being added to mobile devices on a regular basis. For many people, mobile phones have replaced landlines and with good reason — their capabilities are far superior and sometimes more reliable. [Personally, though, that annoys me. Often, talking to people on cell phones means bad connections and poor reliability. — Ed.]
As this new technology arrives on the market, it will benefit more companies and their sales representatives and other travelers. The more you can stay in contact with your office while you’re on the road, the more of an asset you are to your company — and that always leads to solid career growth.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on the mobile form of Google Maps, visit http://www.google.com/gmm.
Special thanks to [[http://www.norman.cx/photos/showphotonew.asp_Q_path_E_20060108%20PAD%2C%20Andy/IMG_6075.JPG|Andy Norman]] for the use of the picture above.
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.BIO
