Tag: small businesses

How Mobile Communications Can Help Small Businesses Grow

There’s a lot to think about when starting a small business and a lot of investment to be made when you start to grow, but with the internet and many technological advances in recent years, business expansion may not follow the traditional patterns you’ve in the past. Being able to connect wirelessly to work resources nowadays means a larger office space is no longer has to be a top priority when your workforce starts to expand. An increasing number of businesses are employing remote workers that use telecommunications to work with colleagues and clients.

There are numerous benefits to using remote workers over in-house office employees, they are usually more productive and will stick around for longer periods of time as they will they have a better work-life balance than those who have to commute every day of the week. They will also save your business money as they will not need to use office facilities or utilities on a daily basis, something that does add up over time. Cutting down on commuters will also reduce your business’s carbon contribution to the environment and you will be able to source employees from all over the world.

The software and mobile communications that supports remote working within business is always advancing and expanding, so there should be programs available to suit your business needs. From using Google Meet to host conference calls with project team members to installing apps such as Harvest to monitor working hours, all bases can be covered remotely and online.

You don’t even necessarily have to provide workers with a separate, dedicated mobile phone as communication systems like RingCentral provide a mobile system that can connect wirelessly to your office’s telephone infrastructure. Downloading the App onto a smart phone will provide users with all their usual office extension numbers and a business number to dial out from straight from their phone. You can set up a work voicemail and include features such as fax, text and conferencing if you wish.

One area to think about when deciding to use a remote working infrastructure instead of a traditional office environment is the protection of your business data and information when using mobile communications. Depending on how large your company grows, you may wish to seek out legal advice from cell tower lease consultants such as Telecom Tower Attorneys who can advise you on how best to structure the wireless and broadband needs of your business. It is important to adhere to government rules and regulations when it comes to data protection so it is always best to seek guidance from the professionals.

When your online infrastructure is up and running, it will be easy to expand your workforce and watch your business grow. Employee interview can be conducted via Skype and Google Documents can be used for training materials. When you have a procedure in place, new starters will find it easy to learn about the daily routines and jobs that need completing with the remote office environment.

 

Mobile technology is generating massive savings for small businesses

Smartphones have become the standard in smaller companies and are generating $65 billion in annual savings.

It has now reached the point that nearly all small businesses are using mobile technology in the form of smartphones, with 94 percent claiming that they are using them, this year, which is still a notable increase over the high level that was recorded last year, at 85 percent.

Millions of small to midsized businesses (SMBs) across the United States are taking advantage of the tech.

These SMBs are using the smartphones to be able to save a considerable amount of time and money. A recent survey which was commissioned jointly by AT&T and by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) estimated that every year this mobile technology is saving SMBs $67.5 billion. This includes not only the use of the mobile devices, themselves, but also tablets and apps.

The survey looked into both the time and the money saved by the use of mobile technology.

Among all of the different types of mobile tech, smartphones alone are saving small to midsized businesses the largest amount of money ($32.3 billion) and even time (at an estimated 1.24 billion hours). Tablets came in second, with a savings of $19.6 billion per year and an estimated 754.2 million hours. Mobile apps are saving $15.6 billion per year and an estimated 599.5 million hours.Mobile Technology for small businesses

According to Karen Kerrigan, the CEO and council president of SBE, “Clearly, we are at a point where entrepreneurs now look first to communications technologies and innovations for solutions to improve productivity, cut costs and better manage and engage with customers.” She added that this is money and time that can all be redirected back into the business and improving market innovation while boosting sales.

The report on the study showed that over half of all small businesses say that they are currently using mobile technology in the form of apps. Among those who are using applications, 91 percent say that they use them for time savings, while two out of every three claim that money is being saved in this way.