What's a Cellphone For?
Businesses are finding all sorts of new uses for mobile devices
By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO
March 26, 2007 ; Page R5
Excerpt from article
Sales representatives at the ING Investment Management unit of ING Groep NV use a custom application built for BlackBerrys to look up information about brokerage and institutional clients -- such as records of previous sales calls and information about products the client has purchased from ING competitors -- in real time. Representatives can also close sales on the spot, sending the information back to a central database where, in the case of particularly large orders, the transmission triggers a follow-up from a senior ING executive almost instantly.
Companies have been turning to mobile technology for years, but often only with the aid of pricey, custom-built devices. Now, new technology and the proliferation of third-party developers of mobile software are making it possible for companies to transact a range of business on the same mobile devices they can pick up at any cellphone store.
Price is still something of an issue for mobile software platforms. For instance, Apresta Inc. of Campbell , Calif. , charges an installation fee of around $20,000 for its server and setup, plus an annual fee of about $200 per device. IQMax Inc., a mobile-software developer based in Charlotte , N.C. , that caters to medical professionals, charges between $200 and $2,500 per year per user. But demand for mobile technologies is strong despite the costs.
Another hurdle is that some companies are finding that mobile devices, no matter how convenient, can't fully replace their laptops. "There is only so much you are going to be able to do on a screen that is an inch and a half wide," says Todd Larson, vice president and director of application development for Boston-based Eaton Vance Management, a financial-services unit of Eaton Vance Corp. The company has equipped some 60 sales personnel with BlackBerrys that can tap into information about previous sales activity and management contact data. But it still gives sales reps laptops, too, so that they are able to complete more-complex tasks like drafting memos, creating PowerPoint presentations and logging their expenses. |
