Here is a common problem that businesses face during a recession… providing cell phones for employees is expensive. When the budget gets cut, cell phones must go.
So how does a business get in touch with its mobile and off site users when cell phones are not available? Hmmm
1. You can ask the employee to give you their private cell number (good luck)
2. You can email them and hope they get the message (maybe hours later)
3. You can provide pagers at a lower cost than phones (still an ongoing cost)
4. You can call the remote office or site and leave messages (if they check in)
5. You can have them call in at predetermined times from other offices (lol)
As you can see, many businesses find themselves in a real communication dilemma. In our modern fast-paced world things need to happen fast. You can’t wait hours to get a hold of someone. In the technical world, techs and programmers often need to collaborate as a group. Communication is a must.
I propose a simple solution. Provide your employees with a wireless iPod Touch and use Twitter to communicate. As long as your remote offices have a wireless internet connection, you are good to go.
Have your employees create their own private group on Twitter and use one of the popular iPod Twitter apps for notification. Communication will be quick and easy and everyone in the group can see what is going on.
Since the iPod touch also works with Microsoft Exchange Email, you can send private messages to users via email.
Use Twitter for group communication…
Use email for one-on-one or private conversations…
This simple setup can save businesses with offsite techs or consultants thousands of dollars a year. Now that more and more locations offer wireless internet connections, the opportunity to use this fixed expense system is expanding.
Here is the choice… a fixed one time expense of $300 for an iPod Touch or $100/month for a cell phone with a data plan.
Group Twittering may just be the answer!
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If you upload the Skype app and buy a cheap iPhone headset with mic and controller, the iTouch becomes a phone in wifi zones. I have Skype pro which acts like my land line for 72 dollars a year.
Thanks for the great idea, Bruce. I’ve used Skype before, but never considered it for the iTouch. In the right business environment, this could really be a great cost saving solution.