One in three smartphones sold today is sold to the US market, and smartphones now account for more than half of all cell phones sold in America. And the growth of these devices isn't expected to slow any time soon - sales of devices, applications and accessories for the smartphone market will grow to an estimated $69 billion this year.
Because smartphones have become so integral to business, and because they are at the upper end of the price scale for mobile phones, selecting the right smartphone has become a critical business decision. And that can pose problems for a small business, especially an accounting firm. Because it is not simply a matter of looking through the dozens of smartphones on the market today and making a reasonable decision.
Selecting the phone itself should be the last thing you do.
This article presents the six major steps in the selection of a smart phone, with key decision factors for each step. While somewhat geared toward accounting professionals, the key points can be used in assisting clients and other business organizations as well.
Step One - Have a Plan
Planning is a critical first step because smart phones are expensive; because not everyone in the firm needs a smartphone; and because they are used differently by professionals in different age groups.
As with most technology, it is total lifetime cost of ownership that matters with smartphones. The phones themselves operate on roughly a two-year life cycle, so this total cost of ownership should include the cost of the phone ($350 to $500); the cost of a monthly voice service plan ($59 to $99 per month); a data plan ($35 to $50 per month); and the cost of tethering ($10 to $20 per month).
Tethering is an important consideration, because it allows the smartphone to act as a modem for a personal computer, laptop, netbook or tablet device. This means that a mobile worker can be connected to the Internet anywhere there is a cellular signal - avoiding per-day costs for Internet access on the road, and avoiding the security issues inherent in using an open Wi-Fi connection.
Three factors help to decide who in the firm should carry a smartphone. Obviously, mobile workers need one - not only for tethering, but for the ability to remain in contact with the firm and its partners when traveling. Beyond that, there is the factor of appearance - having an executive force using smartphones (even if additional training is required) will support the firm's reputation as progressive, in touch with the business technologies of the day, and connected to its clients. Finally, the offering of smartphones to younger employees, particularly the 21 - 35 age group, may be considered as important a perquisite as a good health care plan or retirement plan.
The life expectancy of a smartphone is two years. This is a fact dictated by advances in operating systems and features; and by the data plan cycles used by cell phone providers. So planning must include not only the purchase and use of the devices but how they will be managed when they become obsolete. These are computing devices - their storage must be wiped clean before disposal. There may be issues of toxic elements that require special handling. And records retention laws may come into play before the data on the phone is destroyed.
Step Two - Choose an Operating System
Smartphones are distinguished from the less-capable feature phones or cell phones by the fact that they are advanced computing devices. As such, it is important to consider their performance in computing terms - data storage, memory, screen resolution, etc. But these come in a later step. First it is important to consider the operating system.
In the early days of computing, the landscape was littered with operating systems, from DEC and Radio Shack to Apple, UNIX and DOS. It eventually settled down into two major systems, Windows and Mac. So it is with smartphones, which began with operating systems from Palm, Blackberry, Symbian and Microsoft, to name a few. Smartphones are still in the early growth stage of their development, so the marketplace has not yet settled in to two or three choices. There are, however, four major operating systems that should be considered:
• Apple's iOS. The core of the iPhone, this operating system was fairly primitive when the iPhone was introduced in 2007. In fact, many reviewers rated the phone as more a feature phone than a smartphone. But the iOS has evolved over the past four years, so that it now offers multi-tasking, threaded emails and other advanced features. The newest version, 5.0, is due to be released in late summer of 2011.
• Google's Android. This is an open source operating system introduced in 2008, and is rapidly gaining ground as the chief competitor to iOS. It includes not only the operating system, but "middleware" and core applications. Google acquired Android in 2005, and has since nurtured the system into a major platform with a corps of third-party developers that rivals the offerings of the iTunes store. Version 3.1 has been announced for 2011.
• Microsoft's Windows Phone. Microsoft first entered the smartphone market with a re-worked version of its Windows CE product, but has quickly shifted to the Windows Mobile platform and is now migrating to a specialized Windows Phone system. The system offers the familiar look and feel of Windows, and offers third-party applications as well as strong links to the Windows desktop and MS Office systems. Microsoft has stumbled in it development of this platform and has lost market share year after year. But the impending release of a new Version 8 of the operation system, combined with Nokia's decision to use this operating system, may breathe new life into it.
• Blackberry's QNX. Blackberry created its own mobile operating system for its phones, the primary strength of which has been its excellent integration with major email platforms that include Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. But with the introduction of the Blackberry tablet in the spring of 2011, the new QNX operating system will be used in all of the company's smartphones. QNX is a superlative operating system, but it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to reverse the downward slide in sales of Blackberry devices.
These operating systems may look and act similar to one another, but there are major differences that could impact how easy the phone is to use. It is critical that firms look at each operating system and make a determination as to which one to use.
There are no good guides to selecting the operating system. While I personally have no favorite to recommend, research firm Gartner has predicted that the Android operating system will overtake iOS in 2012 to become the most commonly used.
Step Three - Select the Features
The market for cellular phones - including smartphones - is a culture of youth. Phones are marketed not for their functionality but for their "skins," or covers. Their ringtones. Even their ability to play YouTube videos and television shows. All of which are nearly worthless criteria when it comes to business evaluations of feature sets.
Blackberry made a brief stab at dominating the business market, only to find its share of the overall smartphone market sliding into nothingness. The iPhone was initially rejected by most IT departments because its features for business were so scant.
Likewise, there are features that may make little or no business sense. Using a web browser on a smartphone is a major feature, but is that tiny screen really usable? And are you locked into a single search engine? A camera is only useful if you are involved in photography - and may create problems if you have clients in sensitive defense work or law enforcement.
So what are the features that count? There are six:
• Basic business applications. These include email, word processing, spreadsheets, and the ability to view PowerPoint presentations. At a minimum.
• Synchronization with the desktop. It is amazing that so many smartphones are so cumbersome when it comes to synchronizing calendars, contacts, email and other files between the phone and the desktop. This rule is simple: if the phone does not synchronize easily and completely with the CRS system used by the firm, it should not be selected.
• The ability to handle common file types. If the phone cannot display PDF and JPG files, or handle Java scripting on web sites, its functionality can be cut in half.
• Customization features. There are few things more irritating than having to wade through screen after screen of unwanted programs and crapware to get to the programs and features you actually use. If the screens and menus cannot be easily customized for each user, the smartphone is a marketing platform, not a business device.
• The ability to change font and screen sizes. It would be a lovely world if we all had perfect vision, but we do not. And there are few things more frustrating than having to hunt down reading glasses to read your own smartphone. Font sizes should be flexible. So should the screen view, so that the tiny browser windows offered on most smartphones can actually be used and read.
• Voice command support. Most states now have laws against using a cell phone that does not have hands-free operations. This makes the ability to use the phone via voice commands an essential feature. At a minimum, you should be able to dial, answer and navigate the menus of the phone without touching a screen or button.
Step Four - Check the Physical Features
By now the process has narrowed the selection of phones to a handful, and it is time to consider the physical format of the phone.
Is it compact, with a smaller screen, or broad and wide for easier viewing? Does it offer both car and outlet chargers at no additional cost? Are there available vehicle mounts and hands-free systems?
Many of the features are matters of personal preference rather than business necessity. Touch screens, slide-out keyboards, music and video support, and the layout of the menu system are all important to users but vary widely in importance from one person to another. These are personal choices that will require input from those who will actually use the phones.
Battery life is less of an issue than it used to be, but the amount of RAM memory and the physical storage available (some smartphones can still only handle relatively small external memory cards) may be important selection factors.
There are practical issues related to touch screens, which are growing in popularity. These relate to both appearance - the smudgy fingerprints that are common to these screens - and their functionality. There are few things more frustrating than a touch-screen that is miscalibrated or that stops working.
The best route through this step is to get samples of the phones and try them out. For corporate accounts, the cellular companies will generally lend samples of the phones for a trial period. For small firms and individuals, it will be necessary to visit a cell phone store.
Step Five - Select a Plan
There are four major cell phone companies - soon to be three, once AT&T finishes acquiring T-Mobile. And while each has similar plans for voice, data, tethering and other services, these plans vary from one to another.
Some vendors allow tethering, others do not. Some charge for tethering. Some have limits on the amount of data you may download. Some are truly 4G capable, while others are not. As with vendors for any other service you use, you will likely need to interview representatives from each of the four companies to determine what their plans entail, whether your choices of operating system and features are available, and the limitations that may hamper use of the smartphone.
Step Six - Select A Phone
And so it finally comes to this. You can select the smartphone to use. But by now, your choices may be very limited. By selecting a vendor and plan, about half of the phones have fallen by the wayside. The choice of features and operating system go hand in hand, but these likewise act to limit the available choices.
One the phone is selected, pay attention to the return period. For all of your work, you may find that the smartphone is clumsy, hard to use, difficult to read, or suffering from other limitations. You generally have a 30 day time period to try the phone, but this limits with each vendor.
Smartphones have been around for 18 years. But in a very real sense, this market was reborn in 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone, and again in 2008 with the introduction of the Android operating system.
In the past year, the phones themselves have been augmented with the introduction of tablet devices designed to match and enhance the phones. These have included the iPad, the Blackberry Playbook, and the Samsung Galaxy - with the field still expanding.
Whatever the choice may be, and whatever operating system, feature set and plan that may be selected, the reality is that the smartphone you buy today has a two year life span.
Choose accordingly.
