Technology for the Traveling Professional

Employees are much more on-the-go these day, whether it’s working out in the field, working from home, or working away on a business trip. Nonetheless, you and your employees definitely need technology, or access to technology, in order to do the job. This doesn’t necessarily mean a mobile phone or a laptop (although those do not hurt at all), but the technology that’s not so obviously a requirement. Here are a few examples, and why it’s a good idea to get these implemented into your small business.

Remote Access

This one is particularly important for employees that don’t work entirely from their homes. Workers need a way to drop into the office remotely, and one way to provide that is with remote access to the phone system. With remote access, employees can check the office phone for any voicemail messages, whether it is after hours or while away on a business trip.

Call Forwarding

Remote access can also be enhanced with phone system features like call forwarding (to a cell phone or even a home phone) or voicemail to email. Call forwarding will automatically direct a call from the office phone to the mobile phone, so you’re always within reach to address any client or customer needs. You can also have voicemails forwarded with a voicemail to email feature. This transcribes any voicemails into email, and then sends them to your inbox. It’s certainly a lot easier than listening to a message a few times just to get the name and number.

Tablet

Tablets like the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy are much more portable than a laptop. They are perfect for checking work email, looking at trip itineraries, or passing the time in the taxi on the way to the hotel. They’re also a lot less bulky than laptops, so using all of those fun apps on the airplane won’t take up the entire fold-out tray. Granted, tablets aren’t quite yet content creation devices, so they’re not necessarily the best at getting work done. But, tablets are perfect for traveling professionals for those on-the-go purposes.

A Storage Device

Although cloud-based storage is much more preferable, when you’re traveling on business, sometimes it’s necessary to have a flash drive or an external hard drive for the trip. Technology, unfortunately, doesn’t always work. Internet may be out or computer network won’t let you in. Or, there’s the off-chance that you forgot the laptop charger at home. Bringing a backup of those important files with you can save you from looking foolish to the potential client, or creating that presentation just an hour or two before you’re supposed to present.  Whatever the case, having a backup of your files may just save the day.

Take Away

With more and more people traveling on business or working away from the office, technology can make it easier to check back in when necessary. Your employees can feel more connected to what’s going on and can remain in contact with co-workers on projects and sales statuses. Of course, don’t forget the laptop and mobile phone.

The Next Few Posts are Pre-Scheduled for My Convenience

I do leave for Las Vegas tomorrow morning, so while I'm out-of-town, I've scheduled some posts for the next few days. I don't want to worry about posting while I'm visiting family and playing poker, so I've posted some articles that I've written for previous clients a year or two ago. Might as well, right? These clients aren't using the content (at least not anymore, as a few of them have closed up shop) and some of it is great content. Although I'm not going to include these pieces into my portfolio, some of them are still relevant and could be valuable to a few people. So, I've scheduled a few posts, and will return to extemporaneous blogging on the 10th. Or, the scheduled posts will at least stop by the 10th, as I won't guarantee I will post something next Thursday.

The Topics Might Be a Bit Off

When choosing which posts to schedule, I went with articles that were written well, that were still relevant today, and that were about something that my current audience would find interesting. An article about Facebook Places doesn't mean anything today, and I wasn't a big fan of this article I did offering tips for an effective websites (it might be worth doing over and publishing somewhere too). So, with the exception of one article, the blog posts scheduled all have something to do with the Internet or technology. When I first started freelancing and blogging for money, technology was a niche. It still is, but it's much more strongly considered a business topic than previously. I don't write about the latest iPhone rumors, or computer code, or how certain technologies work. I more cover technology as how it relates to business and how business owners and professionals can use it.  You know, the practical stuff. Hey, it's what I got.

What to Expect After My Trip

Well, I'll probably do at least one post about the trip, probably discussing my poker escapades and what I want my future to hold for poker. After I get that out-of-the-way, I do need to tackle several other posts I've started and haven't finished. These include my list of things I suck at, what I would do if I were the CEO of AOL, my list of empowering songs, and my wrap up of what I've learned in U.S. history. I have made progress on this venture, but finding the answers in a book is a little tougher than I anticipated. I don't want to look up every single thing online, but I am looking up more online than I wanted to, as I don't want to do borrow several books just to answer those questions.

Once I finish those blog posts that I've started, I can get to those on my list of 50 blog post ideas that I haven't started yet, primarily those questions regarding politics and international affairs. Since I'll be at my office more often, I will have more consistent access to a printer and can spend time doing research. It will help if I get that file cabinet that I said I would get a few months ago, and it looks like I would be able to get it by the end of November. I do have one last payment to a vendor this month, so I will have that money in November if I can't do it this month. I do need to work on my niche and keeping up with it. I also need to work on blogging in general. I think it's best that I consider myself similar to a musician, who is always going out to find gigs and to build an audience. I should do that but with words.