Mobile communication is progressing at a speed that is rapidly extending the range of possibilities that can be achieved through mobile technology. This is beneficial to small businesses due to the enhanced communications that mobile phones now have to offer, ranging from talk to Internet access, and soon to video.
The latest technology advances are orientated to provide business solutions, but many people are not aware of their availability and further, do not fully understand their capabilities.
Since the first mobile phone was released, about twenty years ago, all walks of life have become dependant upon them: as we know, the younger population has taken to the device with fervour.
We all need to acknowledge that mobile phones can play an integral part in business, and regard the technology as an important business tool at that.
The following article will give an insight into the more popular functions of mobile phones and will show the benefit to small businesses. Plus, what you can expect future technology to provide: we all need to understand what the technology is about and ensure that we have sufficient knowledge when technology does progresses and becomes more common in the work-place.
Mobile Communication in Small Businesses
You may not have considered the need for mobile phones in your business but have you ever needed to contact a member of staff when they are away from the premises? Have you ever needed Internet access when you do not have your desk top PC available? These are just a couple of examples but as you will find out from reading the article, mobile phones can offer you a range of solutions.
Mobile phones were introduced so we could communicate when "on the move" and the capabilities have now expanded beyond their initial function for talk: you can now use mobile phones to access/receive a range of information wherever you are.
Until recently, the use of mobile phones had been restricted to the country that your network lies in i.e. if you are registered with a UK network, say, O2, then you could not use the phone outside of the UK. The introduction of dual-band connections has allowed phones to be used in the rest of Europe and tri-band/quad-band connections have allowed usage in the US, Asia and other countries: this is a welcome benefit for people that go abroad for business purposes.
PC Windows applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel are now being introduced to mobile phones allowing work to be completed when away from the business premises. To compensate, the size of the screen has been enlarged on the phones that use these applications. These phones are usually the larger of the phones available.
What are SIM Cards?
SIM (Subscriber Information Module) cards are around 1cm x 2cm in size and fit in the back of your mobile phone handset. These cards (that have a small chip) are your authorization to use the mobile network and store any information that is used on the mobile phone handset such as text messages and phone settings. The SIM card also holds your unique phone number and any security settings such as network pin numbers.
Some SIM cards can be used in other handsets and so you will take with it any information that has been stored on the card including your telephone number. If you ever decide to change handsets then you should contact your service provider (Orange, Vodafone, etc) for details on the compatibility of your SIM card with other phones: some handsets will not be compatible with certain service providers.
Some phones can hold more than one SIM card so that you can use different services (free minutes, free SMS, etc) that are provided by different service providers on the same phone. By doing so, you can switch from one SIM to another at the press of a button without having to manually change them around each time. Each SIM card will have a different telephone number and therefore each time you change your SIM card, you change with it your number.
Talk
Since the beginning, the most common function of a mobile phone is for talking: you can contact other phones (both land and mobile) by dialling the appropriate number. In addition, you can be contacted by having your own unique mobile phone number (stored on the SIM) that can be dialled from any other phone (both land and mobile).
There are certain limitations to when a call can be made or received:
You must have available credit to make a call (incoming calls are free) but this only applies if you use a pay-as-you-go service. 'Contract' services have unlimited credit that is paid off monthly
You must have 'reception' to make and receive calls: all service providers cover approximately 99 per cent of the UK but the quality of the reception will vary from place to place (even different rooms in a house can affect the reception quality!)
Short Message Service (SMS): Text Messages
SMS allows text messages to be sent and received from one mobile phone to another mobile phone. These messages could deliver information to a member of staff who is away from the premises, say, a customer address or a change in meeting time. SMS is considered as the cheaper alternative for delivering short pieces of information as it is usually cheaper than making a call. The other advantage of SMS is that messages are delivered within seconds of sending them assuming that the receiving phone:
Is turned on
Has reception
Has available space in the phone memory for the message to be received
The disadvantage is that the length of the message is limited to 160 characters due to technical restrictions: hence the term 'Short Message Service'.
Text messages can be sent directly from PCs to mobile phones by using the on-line services available at many sites such as Lycos for example.
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