 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific II 2008 |
| Article no.: | 9 | |
| Topic: | Smartphones, a smart answer | |
| Author: | Olivier Rozay | |
| Title: | Regional Director, Asia-Pacific | |
| Organisation: | Palm Inc | |
| PDF size: | 216KB |
About author
Olivier Rozay is Palm’s Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, responsible for the company’s business operations, sales and strategy across the region. Prior to this assignment, Mr Rozay directed Palm’s wireless business development for Australia and New Zealand, and worked at the company’s head office in the US. Prior to Palm, Mr Rozay held various positions in international business development at Handspring. Mr Rozay has more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, focusing on wireless networks and mobile products on both technical and marketing levels. He has also held positions at Alcatel in France and China, Globalstar in the US and Brazil, and served in the Microelectronics R&D Centre for Toshiba in Japan. Oliver Rozay holds a degree in electronic and computer science engineering studies from Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris, France. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin.
Article abstract
The use of smartphones by field workers has revolutionised the way many companies do business. They have saved countless hours of work by giving their field workers access to the same sort of information that in the past could only be accessed at the office. Increasingly, consumers are looking for the same sort of full-time-anywhere access to information and social networks they currently get on their computers; and smartphones let them access their favourite applications and information sources on the go.
Full Article
Generation Y, the click ’n’ go kids, the iGeneration and the echo boomers – these are the younger generations that have never known a world without technology such as the Internet, mobile phones and mp3 players. They have considerable influence over many adult consumer buying choices and a significant impact on the future of wireless technology. The future of personal computing is mobile computing. Whether it be phone, Internet, instant messaging, photos or music, business use or personal – as Generation Y grow older, they will not only expect but demand to have this type of technology at their fingertips. Wireless communication will need to meet these demands by becoming increasingly flexible, secure and adaptable. In addition, wireless technology will become cheaper and faster, with increased coverage and improved data plans so that the wireless experience is available to everyone. The wireless evolution is splitting off into two tiers, driven by technology developments focused on corporate and consumer markets. Many businesses that have deployed mobile communication solutions, such as smartphones, have seen significant returns on investment (ROI). This is because mobile workers can reduce costs, increase productivity and increase end-user satisfaction. Leading mobile handset manufacturers need to remain relevant to customers by ensuring their technology is flexible to meet the growing needs of their diverse customer base. Those handset manufacturers that support commercially available applications, that include corporate initiatives such as inventory databases and customised reporting – to more personalised applications such as weight-loss programmes and games – will be the winners. For instance, the benefits companies gain from implementing personalised applications and mobilising workers is evident in one of the fastest-growing real-estate groups in Australasia, Harcourts New Zealand. As the largest real-estate agency in New Zealand, Harcourts has 187 offices nationwide and employs more than 2,000 consultants. Harcourts devised a software programme, in conjunction with Telecom New Zealand, to streamline its consultants’ mobile communications. This Windows Mobile Agent custom software runs on smartphones, which enables consultants to access property and customer databases while on location. The endless paper sheets of property information required by agents are no longer necessary. Property details are now in digital format and can be conveniently e-mailed to prospective clients and colleagues. The smartphone’s Internet and software capabilities make accessing property databases fast and easy – agents instantly have the information they need at their fingertips. Consultants no longer have to return to the office to update databases or send clients property information. Harcourts estimates that this application saves each of its agents at least four to five hours a week on administration. This move to a mobile communication solution has saved Harcourts’ agents approximately 2,000 hours a week collectively. This significant decrease in time spent by consultants in the office has shown the potential of the system to create further huge savings in office space and equipment. The introduction of a mobile communication system has significantly improved the agents’ work structure, at the same time enabling agents to exceed customer-service expectations. More companies are realising the sound, holistic benefits made possible from mobilising workers and communication systems through devices such as smartphones. The increased demand for mobile business functionality means that smartphones need to become more flexible as well as compatible with many more applications. Not only can wireless technology provide a significant return on investment for businesses, it will also become instrumental in keeping professionals updated with the latest industry news. A recent example, which reveals the scope and functionality of wireless devices, is seen in the MIMS Australia solution. MIMS Australia is a supplier of independent, up-to-date medical information to Australian healthcare professionals. MIMS use wireless technology on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to provide brief reports on the potential interactions between all prescription, over-the-counter and herbal medicines available in Australia. Health professionals can search MIMS via their PDA by drug name, therapeutic class, action and indication, and company; it has become an integral part of the process for checking drug interactions at the time of prescribing. The opportunities for increased business efficiency through mobile communication are vast and wide reaching. Yet another example of this is the New York Life Insurance group in Hong Kong. Established in Hong Kong in 1988, New York Life Insurance Worldwide Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life International, LLC, the international arm of the New York Life Insurance Company, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States. The New York Life Insurance group established the ‘All in one handheld solution’, which is an in-house customer relationship management system. By deploying hand held devices to over 70 per cent of its 1,100 strong Hong Kong workforce, New York Life was able to revolutionise the way agents work by allowing them to connect to the corporate server and download the latest client information and data to their handhelds while in the field. The challenge faced by mobile insurance agents is to be able to quickly and efficiently satisfy customer queries. To do this, they need fast access to client policy information and payment status. They also need access to a customised insurance calculator, as well as scheduling and activity management functions. The hand-held solution developed by New York Life allows agents to access more than 900 types of documents, such as underwriting guidelines, lists of doctors and rate books, as well as to access client and policy information. What’s more, agents can perform sophisticated insurance calculations and activity management on their handhelds while out in the field visiting clients. However it is not only the customers who benefit from this solution – agents have found they can now use their commuting time to check client information and new corporate policies. As these three corporate initiatives show, the scope for improving and enhancing business through mobile communication is huge – and the benefits are evident. With flexibility becoming increasingly important in the workplace, and initiatives such as teleworking becoming the norm, company communication systems need to reflect greater versatility. Smartphone companies are embracing these emerging business solutions more and more, and are striving to provide an increasingly able platform to promote development and innovation in this area. There is a huge opportunity for the smartphone market to expand in the consumer space, for personal use as well. Ease of use is the driving force behind consumer mobile adoption and simplifying the smartphones’ user interface is becoming increasingly important for handset manufacturers. With so many portable multimedia devices on the market, such as laptops, mp3 players, mobile phones, smartphones and digital cameras, consumers are beginning to tire of lugging round so many devices when one device could do it all. Generation Y is accustomed to information being readily available via the Internet and expects to have access to this information regardless of where they are. For example, being lost in a city is no longer a real issue for this generation because they have come to rely on applications such as Google Maps to help them out. With today’s search engines and mobile technology, no matter what the problem or question is, technology can help find the answer. By using a device such as a smartphone, users can have the answers they need at their fingertips. Accessing social network applications at all hours of the day will also be important for Generation Y. Wireless devices have already made the consumer mobile communication experience richer, as users can now research information they need when they are away from their computers. The maturation of Generation Y will undoubtedly reinforce the shift of mobile devices such as smartphones into the consumer market, encouraging cheaper data plans, wider coverage, cheaper devices and faster connections. The wireless industry will need to evolve constantly to keep up with the changing demand for solutions as more businesses and consumers adopt devices like the smartphone, as this could easily prove to be the one converged device that both business users and consumers will ever need.
