There’s no arguing that mobile devices,
mobile solutions, and mobility in general have permanently changed how
companies and workers conduct business. The harsh reality for companies yet to
arm their employees with mobile devices and solutions is that the longer they
wait to do so the farther they fall behind the competition. The following are
10 key benefits related to companies embracing mobility.
Whenever & wherever
Mobile
devices have the ability to provide employees to work at any time and from any
place
Arguably the most frequently cited benefit
of bringing mobile devices into the workplace is the ability it provides
employees to work at any time and from any place. Beyond the convenience this
provides employees in terms of working from a hotel room, airplane seat, home
office, and just about anyplace else where an Internet connection is available,
various research concerning business mobility topics strongly suggest companies
experience improved levels of worker efficiency and employee job satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of
adopting a mobile strategy is the enhanced service it allows employees to pass
along to customers. Here, benefits can include quicker responses to inquiries
from customers, partners, and suppliers; an ability to place orders, check
inventory, and access specific customer details remotely; implementing
mobile-centric customer self-service abilities, such as tracking deliveries;
visually presenting new products to customers; and immediately sharing notes regarding
customer visits with colleagues.
The cloud
For
business owners and IT, cloud services can offload the burden of various
day-to-day infrastructure responsibilities
Mobile devices and cloud computing services
go hand in hand in helping employees leverage devices to complete
business-related tasks. An online storage service, for example, provides
workers with an online space where they can upload, access, and share data from
any Internet-connected device. For business owners and IT, meanwhile, cloud
services can offload the burden of various day-to-day infrastructure
responsibilities so that they can devote more time and resources to planning
and launching new revenue-making initiatives, including mobile ones.
Enhanced management
Especially among smaller businesses, mobile
devices offer considerable potential when it comes to managing business details
while in the field. In addition to placing and tracking orders on mobile
devices, for example, users can access in-voices, contracts, forms, payments, and
other pertinent data related to clients, partners, and customers as needed.
Beyond reducing operating costs, such management abilities can improve the
accuracy of gathering and sharing of such information.
Improved communication
Customers forced to suffer through multiple
transferred calls, being put on hold and sent to voice mail, and other
obstacles to communicating directly probably won’t be customers long. In
addition to making employees accessible to customers at any time and from any
place, mobile devices and solutions give employees more way to communicate both
with customers and colleagues. This includes Web conferences on a tablet and
multiple-person conference calls on a smartphone.
Create & collaborate
Mobile
devices give employees a platform from which they can stay digitally connected
with customers and co-workers
Historically, being away from the office
has automatically meant becoming less accessible to customers and co-workers.
When paired with mobile solutions with sharing and collaboration support,
mobile devices give employees a platform from which they can stay digitally
connected with customers and co-workers. These solutions enable employees to
share calendars, documents, presentations, notes, Web pages, photos, videos,
and other files in real-time.
App access
The massive bank of productivity tools
available in the form of free and paid mobile apps helps workers do everything
from tracking expenses to organizing customer contact lists. In short, mobile
apps can greatly assist business users with location-based tasks (GPS
navigation, travel and event planning), organization (calendars, appointments,
expense tracking), booking accommodations and transportation (hotels, rental
cars, air travel), data gathering (voice memos, notes, photography), social
networking (public posts, internal social network up-dates), and more.
Mobile payments
Mobile
payment solutions increase opportunities for taking in revenue
Mobile payment solutions increase
opportunities for taking in revenue. They also bring convenience to customers
and eliminate the paper trails and administrative tasks traditionally
associated with on-site payments. So arming key employees with a smartphone and
a mobile payment solution that includes an attachment for swiping credit cards
makes it possible to accept and process payments wherever those employees go,
whether they are walking a trade show floor, making a service call, visiting a
customer’s office, or roaming the business’s own retail floor.
App control
Many companies don’t realize that improved
mobile app control is within reach. An increasing number of MAM (mobile
application management) and MDM (mobile device management) providers are
expanding their offerings to include solutions to help businesses create
internal app stores and thereby gain control over the apps employees use and
where company data is placed. Furthermore, an internal app store lets a company
more easily deploy updates for its fleet of mobile devices, as well as make
suggestions concerning what apps are best suited to their employees. Many
solutions include the ability to remotely locate lost or stolen devices and
wipe data if necessary.
Mobile business intelligence
Real-time
access to information is a chief benefit of mobility
Real-time access to information is a chief
benefit of mobility. The breadth and depth of company-stored information
available to mobile workers is increasing to the point that BI (business
intelligence) solutions are going mobile. No longer confined to big-display
dash-boards on desktop computers, mobile versions of BI solutions enable
traveling salespeople to keep tabs on every scrap of information available
about their clients. These solutions are also useful on the sales floor as they
allow employees to immediately access product information, check inventory,
provide add-on recommendations, and gather information based on customer
requests.
