Mobile technology
Here's how I run my business while out on the road
Jerry Harwood is managing director of Technology Packaging, a Middlesex-based company which provides corrosion-preventive packaging to manufacturers. Most of his team are what he calls 'virtual assistants', working from different parts of the country, and he's out and about for work three days a week. Remote working is essential to the success of his company, which is growing at a rate of 40 per cent a year.
What I did
Buy a contact management system I can access from my laptop
"As I'm out on the road and most of my team work from different locations, it's essential for us to keep in touch with our customers - and each other. I researched our software options carefully and decided on a contact management system called GoldMine. We use the software to keep all the details of my suppliers and customers on it.
I use emails all the time to keep in touch and GoldMine has its own email program. So I can go back to my car after a meeting, grab my laptop and enter the details of the meeting into the program. I then connect to the internet using my mobile phone and the software synchronises with the server via the internet. When my PA synchronises his system, he can see the details of the meeting I've entered earlier together with any actions required. The details I enter are also stored alongside the customer's contact details so I can see what's been done and when it's been done. I get copies of everything and anyone in the business can see the latest records of customer activity, regardless of where they are."
Arrange seamless diverts on my telephone system
"It's very important people can contact me or my office whether or not I'm in. With a small business you don't want people ringing up and nobody being around.
I chose the BT Homelink system when I set up. This gives me three numbers - I use one as a DDI (Direct Dial Inwards) number and I use another as a standard office number. When I go out of the office, I divert the office number through to our answering service. My PA can access any messages left with the answering service, so we are able to respond to messages quickly. I also divert my own DDI number to my mobile. With these combined, customers can contact me quickly and easily, wherever I am."
Find software to create documents on the road
"I have Adobe Acrobat on my laptop so if I'm creating documents while I'm out of my office I put them into PDFs and attach them to email. Using this software means that the recipients will be able to read the document, even if they use different systems to us. All they need is a free program to read the PDFs."
What I'd do differently
Update our antivirus software more frequently from the start
"Good antivirus software and a good firewall on your system are essential, even working remotely. We had one virus that got through - which considering the amount of emails we receive isn't bad - and we did delete it very quickly with Norton AntiVirus. However, now I update our antivirus software on a daily basis using its internet-based automatic updating function."
Subjects covered in this guide
- Introduction
- What is mobile technology and what are the benefits?
- Laptops and PDAs
- Mobile telephony devices
- Mobile networking devices
- Managing the use of mobile devices
- Here's how I run my business while out on the road
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Jerry Harwood
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