S3 Blog

Any business today that wants to maintain an online presence needs to be proactive and take certain steps to maximise this presence. Whilst it is easy to be online during office hours or at home on a PC it is difficult to keep this up when you do not have access to a PC and internet connection. This leads to gaps in availability and could result in vital business being lost due to not having the facility to check emails, update a blog, respond to customer queries, check orders and so on.

Mobile technology providers have recognised this need to be connected to the office, albeit virtually, and have designed something to enable business owners and individuals to be able to access the internet and make phone calls all from one device – the Smartphone. Smartphones are mobile phones which offer advanced features which are likened to that of a PC. For example certain Smartphones enable the user to add additional applications that will allow them to perform certain functions such as data processing. In addition to this there is full internet access, email capabilities, PDF readers, media software and even the ability to access secure networks such as company emails. Smartphones are also designed in such a way that they also incorporate a mini QWERTY keyboard so that writing emails is made easier and they sometimes have a touch screen or D-Pad.

When you are choosing a Smartphone you must first decide what features you would like it to have, for example if you only need one to be able to access and reply to business emails you should opt for one with these features as standard. If you are looking for something that is a little more advanced and that is able to support more features choose one that allows third party applications to be added to it such the Blackberry. All Smartphones run on their own operating system so check which applications they allow before deciding on one. Microsoft Smartphones for instance will allow all Microsoft applications to run on them but will not support all third party applications which can cause problems if you work on a particular application in the office and need access to this regularly.

Another advantage of using a Smartphone is that unlike a traditional mobile phone which limits the number of contacts that can be stored in it, the only limit with a Smartphone is its memory, so you can add contacts on the move and then transfer details to your PC when you are back in the office. If you are in a business where contacts are important choose a Smartphone with a large memory so that your contact list is not limited.

So to ensure that you get a Smartphone that is right to maximise your presence online do your homework and find out what features you need. Then you can check the market and see which Smartphone best suits your needs and go ahead and get connected.