The smarter phone

"Doing things smarter, not harder" is a mantra most of us in business have been hearing for a decade or more. Lift your productivity. Think outside the box. Work less, but more creatively.

Do the smartest, most revenue-earning, most customer-pleasing and profitable things in your business. Great. We know what those things are, so now the problems are solved we can all sit back and collect the dollars.

Easy! Okay, well, back in the real world, you (and I) are faced with all sorts of decisions about how we can improve our business, in a world that demands more and more things 'of the instant'. So it's crucial to be able to manage things on the go. Things like voice and texts, sure. But now, people – your customers – want more interaction.

For example, if you are an architect or a builder working on a commercial or residential construction, they might want plans, photos or permits sent to them. If you are a real estate agent out on location, you might want to take and send images of a property you're selling. Or you might want to send or receive farming, forestry or fishing reports.

This is where "smarter, not harder" really comes to the fore – meet the smartphone! Smart phones are mobiles that do way more than just voice and text – they're basically PCs or Macs on the move. They include the well-known and respected BlackBerry brand and the smart, new Nokia E72; both brilliant devices for businesses.

There are others, including the oft-talked about iPhone. All these and many more out there can link you to your work in simple but very effective ways. What many of our customers want is a seamless welding of their email, contacts and calendar, and the ability to do small amounts of internet browsing. Other more sophisticated users run clients for specialist applications; for example, Salesforce or to access in-house systems on their company network.

Depending on IT infrastructure the customer already has in place, this can be a quick handset configuration exercise, or may require advice on the installation of back-end systems. Digital Island is also currently going through the process of becoming a fully authorised Google Apps provider.

This means easy access by users to shared documents, calendar, email, video and other applications wherever and whenever.