4 Benefits of Working From Your Smartphone

Smartphones are much more than simply a way to talk to and text your friends. Unlike the cellphones that came before them, we’re now relying on our smartphones to organize our lives, to keep us entertained, and to keep us connected to the digital world. But you might not realize your smartphone is also a powerful business tool. Whether you run your own business or regularly work outside the office, these are just some of the benefits of working from your smartphone.

 

Smartphones Make it Easy to Stay in Touch with Colleagues and Clients

 

Image Via Stencil

 

One of the biggest disadvantages of telecommuting is the isolation some workers feel. Smartphones help to bridge the gap by making it easy for users to stay in touch with their colleagues and clients. Of course you can use your smartphone to make voice calls. However, with the right apps on your phone you can also video chat and so much more.

Skype has set the standard; with nearly 299 million users, the people you need to connect with are bound to be members. Don’t be afraid to experiment with other video chatting apps too. Peer syncs with LinkedIn, so it’s a great tool for professional correspondence. Viber’s file sharing and group chatting functions are also really appealing.

 

Smartphones Allow You to Access the Internet Anywhere

Smartphones have become so ubiquitous that it can be difficult to remember the days when web browsing only occurred on desktop computers plugged in to modems. Wireless technology and laptops made the Internet more mobile, but smartphones expanded the Internet’s reach even more.

Suddenly we could search the web from a train, from a park, from a café, in fact anywhere with cellular coverage. This means that with your smartphone in your hand, you can work from anywhere, giving you greater flexibility and work-life balance.

Modern smartphones and their much higher data limits also ensure we can use much more of the Internet than we ever could before. Whether you need to access documents on the cloud, view a high-definition training video, or simply call on Google to answer a business question, your smartphone has you covered.

 

Your Smartphone is Several Devices in One

With a smartphone in your pocket, you can do away with so many of the other devices you used for your business. You don’t need a PDA any more; the right smartphone apps can organize your schedule and help you keep your appointments straight. Smartphones can do the job of e-readers, housing the professional guides you rely on to get your job done. You may not need the GPS you used to navigate to client meetings because there are apps to direct you there.

Jim Richardson, a photographer for National Geographic, has even used an Apple iPhone 5s rather than his usual DSLR camera on location. “What surprised me most was that the pictures did not look like compromises,” he explained. “They didn’t look like I was having to settle for second best because it was a mobile phone.” One reason is the iPhone’s innovative iSight camera with True Tone flash.

No matter what your line of work, you’ll find a smartphone allows you to consolidate your devices.

 

Smartphones Have the Best Apps

Just as people working on desktops and laptops require the best programs to get the job done, people working on mobile devices rely on the right apps. If you want the best, you’ll only find them on a smartphone. When the first tablets hit the market in 2010, manufacturers promised a wave of apps designed to take advantage of their larger screens. However, app makers couldn’t ignore the popularity of smartphones.

There are just a few hundred million tablet users compared to nearly two billion smartphone users, so it’s understandable that app makers focus their energies on the much larger segment of the market. Apps are made for smartphones first, and hit tablets much later if at all. Admittedly you can download smartphone apps onto tablets, but they never work as well as on the devices they were made for.

Smartphones may be compact, but don’t underestimate the business might of these mobile devices.