Wouldn’t it be great if you could ditch that mountain of IT gear and carry as little as possible on your next business trip? So what among the space-saving gadgets are must-haves to pack in your travel kit?
By the myBusiness techblog team
1. Tablets and Ultraportable notebooks
One of the questions SMEs ask these days is – should they ditch the laptop for a tablet? As businesses start looking to the regional markets for opportunities, this usually means travelling extensively for leads. But if you don’t want to tax your small team of sales or marketing executives with bag loads of gear on the road, go tablet. The good news is, with hundreds of office and enterprise apps available these days for tablets, Forrester Research predicts that by 2016, “tablets will become standard tools for executives, sales staff, and many other information workers”.
Tablets can be pre-loaded with productivity and collaboration apps that make use of cloud-based services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. These apps allow SME mobile executives to liaise with their home office or to continue their collaboration with clients even when working in different continents and time zones. Built-in videoconferencing software such as FaceTime on the iPad makes it easy and cheaper to carry out face-to-face calls. And armed with the right accessories such as a snap-on Bluetooth keyboard, typing long word documents or reports on a touchscreen tablet is no longer an issue.
That said, if your mobile team is required to work on heavy-duty spread sheets and applications beyond PowerPoint, checking emails and surfing the Web, then an ultraportable business notebook may go a long way while still packing it light enough to cart along.
2. Smartphones and mobile data
Aside from a primary phone, it may be a good idea for businesses to arm their mobile team with a secondary smartphone. This allows your team to make use of prepaid mobile broadband services while overseas, which can save on expensive roaming costs. Depending on the mobile broadband plan, these can come with unlimited data access, which can be shared between the phone and laptop. Combined with software hotspot features on smartphones, this can help your business save on international data usage cost.
Once you have a mobile data connection, services such as i-PhoneNet can even allow your mobile workers to have access to a virtual PABX/IP PBX, allowing them to be contactable using their local number. The solution also makes call charges relatively lower and helps businesses save on voice call charges.
Plus having that backup phone will be a lifesaver if the main phone is lost or stolen, along with all the vital business contacts.
3. Hotspot PowerWireless access points
Although you may be able to use the smartphone’s hotspot feature to share a mobile broadband connection, what happens if the mobile signal is not satisfactory? You may require a stable and high-speed broadband connection for certain purposes such as conducting video conferences.
Another gadget that mobile workers should invest in is a wireless access point. If you or your mobile executives travel together on business, and encounters a hotel which offers one LAN connection in the room or charges for Wi-Fi per device, a wireless access point can act as a central transmitter for numerous devices. Certain models even have a repeater function, which allows you to extend the range of pre-existing Wi-Fi access points in the hotel, great if the room is not within optimal range.
4. Bluetooth headsets with VoIP
A growing number of notebooks now allow users to connect to standard Bluetooth headsets. Once paired, this will let the user Skype or use existing Internet connection to save your business money through cheaper international calls. However, make sure you are subscribed to a carrier that offers reliable Internet or broadband connection. There’s nothing worse than dropped calls and jittery voice quality that result in annoyed customers and lost business.
5. Wireless portable hard drives
If Web access is limited or not readily available for backing up important data to cloud-based storage solutions that your business has subscribed to, the next best thing is a wireless portable external hard drive. Executives travelling together can not only share a drive, it also makes it faster and more convenient for them to back up business reports or critical data simultaneously over Wi-Fi.
6. Portable Battery Pack
One thing any road warrior can never count on while on the road is the availability of power outlets. Look for high-capacity (at least 5,000mAh), USB battery packs that are compact and offer two USB ports. This will allow multiple devices to be charged at the same time. The high capacity allows larger devices, such as a tablet, to be powered up.
So there you have it, the essential gizmos you need to help keep you on top of your game. Which gadget do you think is indispensable on your business trips? Share with us