Mobile phones in business have reached impressive new levels of practicality. Internal and external communications have been revolutionized in forward thinking businesses; information and ideas are shared instantly on both email and informal levels. The manufacturer who produces the best business mobile phones could end up with a huge prize once exclusive to companies like RIM.
The ability to sync your email and instant message is still inherently the prime purpose of any mobile phones intended for business usage, but now there is also the exciting world of apps which could inspire business leaders to venture further into using mobile devices to get better results.
The elephant in the room is now BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). This will determine the type of mobile phone you intend to use as you don’t want to compromise either your personal life or your business data. Earlier today, Samsung launched the Galaxy S 4 in South Africa, and one of the things that featured prominently was BYOD. The Galaxy S 4 comes with KNOX which allows you to have an office only section of your phone and a personal life on the same phone, this way your IT admin can control the way you do things on your phone without you worrying that they are interfering with your personal life. Whether you are on a mobile phone contract deal or without one you need to be sure you got the right product that will bring out the best in you.
Business mobile phones allow you to use ‘push email’ type services plus viewing and editing all sorts of Office documents so you need a big screen – perhaps the HTC 8X or the Nokia Lumia 920 could fit the bill with large screens and their ability to use Microsoft Office Mobile applications to great effect. For Windows phone, office documents are well catered for, document editing is not the same experience on the Android counterparts though. This is one area where Microsoft has still managed to hold an advantage in not having availed a good office experience for other non-Microsoft mobile platforms.
The Apple iPhone 5 (or even iPhone4/iPhone4s) could make the ideal business mobile phones given the fact that apps are so prevalent now. Some business apps are truly revolutionary in terms of communication, and those that may be skeptical need only do a bit of research. Windows phone devices like Lumia 920 and HTC 8x hold an edge in Office documents management while iPhones have the apps advantage. Android devices on the other hand have the flexibility and have a solution to almost every situation presented. I guess the open source nature of the OS makes them the average-person devices.
Whether you can leave the house with only the mobile phone at hand will depend entirely on what you do in your day job, but as days go, more innovativeness is going towards the mobile phone making it more and more productive by the day.
