In an effort to increase productivity and ROI, better reach and respond to customers and meet the demands of its e-mail based communication culture and widely distributed workforce, Russell Investment Group, a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual, has chosen Palm Treo smartphones.

More than 500 Russell associates will be able to use the Treo smartphones with Good Mobile Messaging to stay better connected. These employees are able to focus more on helping customers in a fast-paced business that manages more than $171 billion in assets for clients in 44 countries.

For more than 70 years, Russell has been delivering individual and institutional funds worldwide, while also performing continual research on the independent professionals managing those funds.

Greg Nelson, senior technology consultant at Russell, commented that the nature of the company’s business requires employees to be where the client is and that requires a much more distributed workforce. Russell must build out its infrastructure to meet that reality and the Treo smartphone is an important element of that strategy.

Russell chose the Palm Treo smartphone over competitors due to its ergonomics, small size and friendly interface. Good Mobile Messaging from Good Technology allows for encrypted data, password protection and the ability to wipe clean if stolen. With the Good Mobile Messaging feature, Treo smartphones are expected to give Russell employees a more effective tool for providing financial security to their clients.

Another added benefit of the Treo smartphone is that employees can uninstall old software, save personal preferences and install new software on their own in 20 minutes. In conjunction with Good Technology, IT managers can provision and deliver software updates to Treo smartphone users on an SD card. Software for the Treo includes Data Viz Documents to Go application for PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Tara Griffin, vice president of Enterprise Markets for Palm, said the company raises the bar on efficient business processes and high quality customer service. In the investment industry, it is essential to receive vital information rapidly and Palm Treo smartphones help an increasingly mobile workforce dramatically improve its productivity and customer satisfaction.

The Pam Treo is providing Russell employees with the tools that they need to perform their duties on the go. It is essential for these individuals to be able to be in close contact with their clients, as well as have the ability to conduct business where and when it is necessary. The added security features of the smartphone are a must considering the sensitivity of the information being handled.

The only challenge for Russell employees may be in remembering to distance his or herself from the Treo smartphone at the end of the day or during vacation time to prevent this tool from becoming an obstacle in the separation of work and life.

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Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.