Technology for business on the move

It’s WfHTechWeek

And today we have a sponsored post from Vonage

on keeping in touch while attending to business on the move:

Technology can make the planet seem a smaller place; it also opens up a whole new world. It’s hard to imagine how business owners travelled internationally and stayed in touch with the office before the days of the smartphone.

New technology makes keeping in contact so much easier, and a whole lot cheaper. Here’s a look at the technology that can help you stay in touch for less whilst you do business on the move.

Forget the hotel phone and roaming charges

That hotel phone is going to do your bank balance no favours, and using your mobile will give you freedom to roam but has hidden roaming charges. You’re going to have to think a little smarter than the smartphone alone…

The low down on downloads

There are some handy apps that the travelling businessperson should always keep to hand. But don’t forget to disable automatic notifications from your apps and to stop automatically receiving e-mails or you’ll be hit by shocking data charges.

Using apps widely available from services such as Skype, you can make calls on a tablet or smartphone over the internet rather than through the telephone line. This means you can roam without the roaming fees and enjoy free or very low cost calls to anywhere in the world.

You can make calls directly over the Internet as long as you’re in a Wi-Fi hotspot. If you’re not, your device will default to the local GSM 3G network and this could end up saddling you with data roaming rates for your calls. A way around this is to purchase a local SIM card and install it in your phone.

Call in a temp

You can rent a wireless phone locally for your trip or simply buy a cheap throwaway mobile to keep in touch without having to pay a premium. The only problem is you’ll be operating on a new number and this can cause confusion – similar to installing a new SIM in your existing phone.

Stick to the hotspots

You can instant message, link in or post to social walls on smartphones as often as you like for free as long as you’re in a hotspot where you can connect to the internet wirelessly. Skype offer free video conferencing which is another way to keep in touch internationally.

Travel with your office

One of the best solutions is phone over internet connection. Companies like Vonage allow you to take your office phone with you when you’re doing business on the move. You can make or receive calls at the same low-cost price plan that you have back home and you can travel with the same phone number.

All you need to do is unplug the box that connects your broadband supply to your phone in your office and plug this box into another phone and broadband supply abroad. You can now continue to receive and make calls from your office phone for a fraction of the cost of using a mobile.

What’s more, you can divert calls to any other phone, email text transcriptions of voice messages and pick up your missed call messages from any phone in the world.

Keep in touch

There’s no longer an excuse for being out of the loop when travelling on business. Whether you opt for the great solution offered by Vonage, rely on an app or combine video calls through your tablet with a locally purchased phone, new technology makes it easier than ever to stay in touch.

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