In
my first column, I noted that the telephony industry has made important strides toward enabling a new kind of enterprise mobility. The piece suggested that making possible enterprise voice services (in addition to data communications) on mobile phones is an important step toward enabling enterprise communications everywhere.
After analyzing my own and others behavior recently, I came to a further conclusion: Mobile devices will soon become the central points for enterprise data and voice services.
From where did this revelation come? I was sitting at the desk in my office with both a computer and phone sitting only inches away when I felt a buzz on my hip. Without thinking, I picked up my mobile device to check my e-mail, then typed a short response and continued working.
Why hadn’t I simply pulled up my desktop Outlook window and checked mail there? I suppose as someone who’s on the road a good deal of time, I’ve just gotten used to screening, reading and responding to e-mail from my mobile. So when the device buzzes, my Pavlovian response is to reach for it.
Interestingly, it turns out I’m not alone. In an admittedly unscientific survey, several fellow road warriors admitted to exhibiting the same behavior most of the time. Their mobile devices serve as their central point of data communication whether they are on the road or in the office.
Even more interestingly, I’ve found this same phenomenon has extended to my voice communications. It’s true that as a CEO for a mobile communications startup I have access to more sophisticated technology that most, but I believe that once this technology becomes more pervasive, we’ll see the same exhibited behavior in the general mobile worker population.
Let me explain. My mobile device is loaded with software that provides enterprise communications features commonly found on IP PBXs. One of the things I can do with it is select pre-programmed answering points, depending upon where I am. So when the phone rings, I reach for my mobile to see who it is. If I want to speak, I pick up the call wherever I’ve sent it—the phone in my office, home, hotel room—or keep it on the mobile if I’m in transit.
I’ve become so accustomed to this that I don’t even think about it anymore. And that’s part of the beauty of it. I have one phone with consistent features and a single user interface wherever I am. I can assign multiple or a single phone number to access it. That way, no matter where I am, I always can have people reach me in the manner in which I’m most comfortable.
The same benefits hold true for outgoing calls. Even if I’m sitting at a desk or in my home office, I’ll grab the mobile and dial out the call. Because I have enterprise features on it, I can utilize speed dial, contact lists, conference calling and other features typical of an IP PBX. When dialing out, the software asks me which phone I want to converse on and then rings there when the call has been dialed. That way, I can use my familiar interface to originate all calls while carrying on a conversation on the phone of my choice.
There are excellent economic reasons for this approach as well. Using this mobile-centric approach, my business obtains a full call detail record of all calls and my accounting department can negotiate better carrier rates because all calls are going through the same network provider. And if you use dual-mode phones, you can make both WiFi (
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Alert) and cellular calls from the same device using the same user interface and with the same enterprise features available.
Making mobile devices the central point of communications for data and voice clearly makes me more productive. As a creature of habit, I love the consistency of the same features and user interface regardless of where I am. When calls or e-mails come in, I never have to think about how I’m going to handle them—it’s automatic because it works the same way every time, everywhere. In fact, there is more to this than enterprise telephony—but that’s a subject for another column.
So be prepared. If you’re already using a mobile device for data communications, you’ll probably find yourself gradually making that device the focus of your communications—if it already hasn’t happened. And when mobile devices with more robust voice communications features become pervasive, you’re likely to be part of this burgeoning trend of making them the command and control point for all of your communications!
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