In the early days of Apple, Mac computers faced stiff competition against PCs in the business world. Today, many people find Apple products to be just as potent as any other business tools — or more so.
Apple fans will attest to the fact that the company’s devices are no less than life-changers in many ways. The iPhone alone has the power to perform a wide array of business functions anywhere, at any time.
Why Be Harnessed to a Desk?
The iPhone makes business possible, whether your work takes you on the road to visit customers, or you just need to run a few personal errands without losing touch with your office. The following are just some of the applications that your iPhone can perform right out of the box, or with a low-cost app or two.
#1. Communicate
Obviously, the iPhone is a great way to talk or text, but you may prefer your personal number to remain private. Many company phone systems now allow you to transfer business calls from your desk phone number to your mobile number. Additionally, check out some of the available iPhone apps that let you return calls and texts while keeping your personal number private.
#2. Run Presentations
The need to deliver presentations at remote sites used to be a cumbersome experience. First, you had to make arrangements to ensure that equipment was available. Then, unless you dragged your laptop with you everywhere, you had to get your presentation loaded from a thumb drive onto an unfamiliar computer. Let’s not even discuss what happened when the remote equipment didn’t work.
No need to carry your laptop or tablet on the road just to show presentations. There are many ways to do it from your iPhone. You can connect with wires to most video displays, and some even accept wireless connections. You may still need to make some advance arrangements, but with the right app and a fully-charged phone, the process is easier than ever before. Still, it’s probably wise to bring your charger along, just in case you need a power boost.
#3. Attend Meetings
It makes no sense to schedule an expensive trip just to attend a two-hour meeting. In the old days, you could call in to get the audio, but visuals required a fair amount of coordination.
A better option is to attend remotely using an app from your iPhone. You’ll be able to see the same visuals shown to physical meeting attendees, and you’ll also get to see the people, complete with facial expressions and body language. Of course, those people can probably see you, too, so don’t wear your PJs and fuzzy slippers.
#4. Print on the Fly
At some point, you’re going to need a hard copy of something when your office computer and printer are not available. Luckily, there are a number of iPhone apps that let you pull out your phone and print wirelessly.
In many cases, today’s printers support Apple’s AirPrint functionality, which means that you can use your iPhone to send print jobs with ease. Even without AirPrint, however, you can probably print to wireless or USB printers by choosing the app that best meets your typical printing needs. While some setup may be involved, you won’t have to be a techie to get it done.
#5. Fax
Like it or not, faxing is not dead. You need the capacity to send and receive faxes to conduct business with some industries or meet certain regulatory requirements. Why get nailed down to a physical machine when you can perform needed functions using an app on your iPhone? To identify some alternatives, check out FaxCompare.
Online faxing has a number of benefits over old-style fax machines. You can send and receive faxes from anywhere, and you can keep them better organized. If you’re concerned about security, keep in mind that traditional fax pages can be seen by anyone near the machine. Online fax services typically incorporate robust security that helps ensure that your transmissions are more secure.
#6. Carry Plenty of Data
It’s easy to misplace a thumb drive, but your iPhone has enough space to store documents, data, and even pictures. Plus, you can choose phone upgrades to help provide you with all of the capacity that you need. You also have the option to buy adapters that expand your phone’s storage capacity even further.
Even More Business Operations Will be Possible With Ever-Improving Technology
iPhone technology has advanced exponentially since the first model was shipped back in 2007. Today’s versions can do just about anything that you might do on an office computer even though the small screen size might be an impediment to serious iPhone computing.
Of course, the people at Apple are business people, too. Rumor has it that they plan to buy folding screen technology from Samsung — and then probably improve the heck out of it after that. It seems like only a matter of time before office desktop computers will find their way to the trash heap.
