It saves time to work on the move

More and more businesses want to access data through wireless technology, says David Wilford

It is not too many years since Murray Walker hysterically informed us that Formula One teams were able not only to diagnose electronic and mechanical problems during a race, but also to fix some of them remotely from the pit lane.

A few years later, and such abilities are becoming increasingly common in the business landscape, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's). The development of mobile data solutions is not only allowing mobile workers to keep in touch by accessing the Internet and downloading E-mails but is also enabling a software developer to fix and upgrade clients' computer systems without leaving his car.

More people are discovering that mobile technology is about far more than voice calls or simple text-messaging. As the UK mobile marketplace becomes increasingly mature, competition is focusing more and more closely on the provision of services that let business customers make their staff every bit as effective when mobile as they are in the office.

The marketing of such services is focusing on the competitive benefits of a better informed, more responsive and mobile access to up-to-the-minute information. For many companies, it is more prosaic operational advantages, such as replacing hand written orders, the post and the fax with electronic ordering via handheld devices, that appeal.

But according to Yvonne Thomas, director of SME business at BT Retail, the most important issue affecting smaller companies is that of time. "In the past", she says, "the only flexible working practice open to many was to do without sleep".

She quotes the experience of her SME customers (defined as organisations with up to 500 employees), who typically achieve productivity gains of 20 - 40 percent increases in time spent serving customers since introducing mobile data strategies. She is passionate about this impact on the SME sector, where she is seeing a trend towards replacing fixed-line telephony with mobile solutions. She adds: "On the whole, SMEs haven't made the massive fixed-line investments that corporates have, so they're managing the transition faster".

Microsoft predicts that next year will see the number of mobile Internet connections overtake those using a desktop PC. This is less surprising when the management consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates estimates that the average office desk is today occupied for a mere 45 percent of normal working hours.

Talk to the users of today's services and it's clear they have little doubt about the versatility of the mobile world. Peter Phillips has even based a new business, www.mobileoffices.co.uk, on the new freedoms that technology is giving workers. He has kitted out a fleet of Mercedes Benz people carriers with office accommodation for four people, including computers linked to a high-speed data network.

He developed the first for his own use with his main business Phillips Presentation Products (phillipspp.com), but soon realised that the concept may prove useful to other time-starved business people. This has proved to be the case, and he is planning to have ten vehicles operating in London by the end of 2002.

Customers hire mobileoffices, complete with DSA trained driver, resulting in what Phillips calls "amazing feedback. The only problem I've encountered is selling the concept. Once they've tried it, though, they fully understand the benefits of working on the move and have recommended it to other businesses".