Mobile has not only changed the way we live, it’s changed the way we work. Smartphones, mobile applications, WiFi and huge increases in mobile broadband speeds have expanded the workplace, making it anywhere you are. Gary Disley (pictured), Marketing Director at eircom Business Solutions, looks at how SMEs around the country can exploit this flexible working trend.

No business can ignore this move towards mobile working. As smartphones and tablets become more sophisticated, business applications continue to enhance productivity, and mobile broadband speeds get ever faster, mobile working isn’t just a choice companies need to consider, it’s an inevitable shift in how we work.

Mobile devices: more than just a handset

Smartphone ownership has rocketed in the past few years. In Ireland, almost two-thirds of us owned a smartphone in September 2014, and this figure has likely increased since then. The rate of adoption grew by 14.7% between June and September, which highlights a rapid upward trend. Tablets are also becoming increasingly popular, and 40% of Irish people now own a tablet device.

It’s little wonder smartphones and tablets have become such a must-have. Packed with huge computational power, they have become our communications device, our camera, our music player, our games console, our TV, our fitness tracker, our email client and our PC, all rolled into one portable device.

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Mobile apps: boosting productivity

The hundreds of business productivity applications that can be easily downloaded (many of them for free) mean that mobile devices now have all the functionality of a high-performing PC. Business applications like Evernote, Dropbox, LogMeIn and DejaOffice make file sharing and accessing critical data from your mobile device a straightforward task. The key with many of these apps is that they play nicely with established applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce CRM, and Excel, which means all data can be synced in real-time, ensuring that any mobile worker is as productive as an office-based employee.

WiFi and 4G: providing the necessary connectivity

The growing WiFi network around the country, coupled with superfast 4G mobile broadband speeds, mean mobile workers can take full advantage of these productivity apps. Sharing files or downloading emails or data via their mobile devices has become seamless thanks to super-fast connectivity. And, mobile device management (MDM) solutions can provide the security businesses need to keep their data safe.

This widespread availability of WiFi and faster broadband connectivity helps people work effectively on the move. They can easily connect to their office, check their emails, process orders and sales, and keep in touch with colleagues, suppliers and customers, from wherever they are. At eircom Business Solutions, we’ve recently launched Advantage WiFi, where businesses can now offer their visitors a business class WiFi solution to enable remote workers work in their premises. Hotels, restaurants, cafes and public bodies are keen to offer connectivity, which in turn gives mobile workers more options to work away from the office.

Mobile working in practice

Businesses all over the world are recognising the benefits of this flexible working environment. An interesting feature article on the Forbes website caught my eye recently. The article looked at three multinationals who are considered pioneers in flexible working practices: Dell, Xerox and Aetna. By implementing flexible working practices they have been able to attract top talent from around the world, retain key staff, boost employee satisfaction and engagement levels, and increase staff productivity. From a cost perspective, these three corporations have also been able to dramatically reduce their carbon footprint and save costs on business travel.

Granted, these are large multinationals with thousands of employees, but companies of all sizes can realise significant benefits from embracing a flexible approach to working. A 2015 survey by ConnectSolutions showed that 77% of employees reported greater productivity when working remotely. Thirty per cent of respondents claimed they accomplished more work in less time, and 23% said they were willing to work longer hours than they would when on-site to do more work.

SMEs embracing flexible working

Certainly we’re seeing a number of customers taking full advantage of smartphones, WiFi and superfast mobile broadband to roll out smart flexible working strategies. Codex Office Products has equipped its 10-person sales team with smartphones. The sales team work mainly on the road, coming into the office just once a week. With the sales team on the road for the majority of the week with no access to their desktops, being able to get their emails via their smartphones is essential.

“Our sales team have their email synced to their smartphones so they can check their mail when they’re out and about,” explains Olivia Doyle, IT Manager with Codex Office Products. “This is critical as most customers email the sales reps directly with new orders. Dealing with those emails via their phones means the reps will never miss a sales opportunity. It also improves customer service as the reps can reply immediately to all mails without having to come back to the office.”

Another eircom Business Solutions customer, sales company CPM, which employs over 800 people across Ireland, says the ability to connect to its workforce in the field is essential to its business. CPM says it is increasingly relying on mobile technology to carry out day-to-day business activities.

There’s no doubt that employees have become used to the high level of functionality on their smartphones and tablet devices and are eager to transfer that to their professional lives. This so-called ‘consumerisation of IT’ is likely to continue to push businesses to take a more flexible approach to working practices and encourage employees to work wherever they are.

It’s a fast moving, mobile world and smart SMEs are jumping on board, because this is one trend that’s not going away.

See here for Gary Disley, Marketing Director, on eircom Business Solutions