Mobile Tech Moves Business Forward
July 29, 2010
Depending on the person you ask, constant connectivity in today’s workforce can be a blessing, a curse, or a combination of both, depending on the day. In the construction industry, there’s no denying mobile technology such as smartphones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and other productivity tools can be critical to a builder’s operations and therefore, the bottomline. On the other hand, some builders are still not fully embracing the potential of mobile technology in their businesses.
Today’s technology marketplace offers many potential solutions for the residential builder, ranging from hardware devices such as tablets to solutions such as smartphone apps, all of which can improve the line of communication among team members. The ability to exchange information remotely—whether it’s sending notes and photos from the field or accessing important documents in the cloud—is more than a convenience, it is an opportunity to streamline, organize, and maximize time and resources.
One communications solution, NextMail by Sprint, www.sprint.com, Overland Park, Kan., is dramatically expanding its footprint in the construction industry and beyond. In an announcement this week, the company says its voice-to-email service will soon extend across its entire footprint—a hefty 14 million subscribers.
NextMail allows construction workers to wirelessly dictate messages while on the jobsite or on the go. Users can send their recorded voice messages to up to 50 recipients from their Sprint phone as an email attachment or as a text message, with the push of a button.
The service allows urgent messages to be delivered instantaneously, and eliminates the need to type, text, or handwrite time-sensitive information. With data-capable phones, the Professional version can include GPS location and jobsite photos along with voice messages. When a recipient replies to a NextMail message, the original sender receives a text, and can use the “Push to Reply” feature to respond using their voice.
Robust reporting that improves worker productivity is just one example of how mobile is moving construction businesses forward in a more efficient manner, for those savvy enough to take advantage. And Sprint is not the only wireless carrier offering mobile solutions that can be tailored to the construction industry.
Subscribers of Verizon Wireless, www.verizonwireless.com, Basking Ridge, N.J., have access to a number of productivity tools on the open-source Android platform, whose rapidly growing app marketplace seems to be a breeding ground for innovation. AT&T, www.att.com, Dallas, Texas, the exclusive service provider for the iPhone and iPad, also offers a number of user-friendly apps that can ease business-process management, from timecards to onsite video sharing.
With the number of mobile technologies developed with businesses in mind, there is likely going to be a solution that can meet the needs of each residential builder looking for seamless communication no matter where the job takes you.