It’s fascinating to take a step back and consider all the things that business people can do today with their mobile devices. Gone are the days of having to be in the office to update a business contact in a CRM system, call an 800 number to schedule a trip, or keep a manual business mileage log. Through technology, the business world has truly become mobile. You can receive an alert on your mobile device if your flight time has changed. One mobile application called AroundMe lets you search for the closest gas station, restaurant, or bank when you are on the road. Devices exist that use GPS technology to track business mileage, which can then be uploaded to the corporate office for mileage reimbursement. One of my favorite applications, TripIt, captures all the information about my business trips (including flights, hotels, rental cars, and more) in one spot for easy access. Two articles offer great ideas on business applications for the iPhone and Android mobile devices. How are you using mobile applications to enhance productivity and simplify business travel?
Greg Harper
President
Runzheimer International
As a business traveler covering a very large demographic area, I can attest to the tremendous power of the mobile device. I use another application called GoKivo to route me from customer to customer. I combine this with AroundMe to find a Mexican restaurant because that is what the client would like. I was recently taking a client to lunch and in a matter of less than a minute, I found the type of cuisine he was looking for, routed the trip and was advised of a traffic jam with an alternate route. I do not live in Houston but my mobile device allows me to appear as a local. What I am curious about is how much MORE can the device be doing for me and what does the future look like? It is exciting and scary at the same time.
Posted by: Valerie Myer | August 04, 2010 at 11:00 AM