Productivity is in Your Hands

Many businesses are realizing the impact of staying in close communication with their customers. In most cases, this is accomplished by a regular visit to the clients’ office and a lot of hours on the road.

If you’re one of those mobile professionals, how do you stay on top of your schedule, remain close to your contacts’ information, and have access to your database application while racking up the miles on your car?

The answer this week: PDA.

PDA’s, or personal digital assistants, can be a life saver for the mobile professional. Think of it as a regular desktop computer condensed into a palm-sized device.

Now, a lot of people have heard of the generic phrase ‘palm pilot’ but fail to realize that ‘Palm’ refers to a company brand. PDA’s are offered by a company called Palm but they are also sold through Dell, HP, and Toshiba (to name a few) and run a variety of software platforms.

The 2 most widely used operating systems are Palm OS (operating system) and Windows Mobile. Both of these operating systems give you an easy to use interface for managing your calendar, contacts, and notes.

Today’s devices come with all sorts of great software and hardware. All of the PDA manufacturers offer hardware bundled with personal and business productivity applications.

Some of these applications mimic software programs you see on your desktop such as: Microsoft Pocket Word, Microsoft Pocket Excel, and Microsoft Pocket PowerPoint.

Some devices leverage the small form factor by providing just enough resources in an extremely small package.

Other devices are slightly larger but offer connectivity options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (short range wireless) as well as expanded storage space.

Most brands allow you to ‘dock’ or connect the PDA to your desktop or laptop computer. With this connection, you can synchronize your email, contacts, and other data with the popular program Microsoft Outlook.

Some PDA’s are integrated with cellular service and are most commonly referred to as SmartPhones. These SmartPhones give you the small size of a mobile phone with the added benefits of email, contacts, notes, and Internet access. (You may find it helpful to consult your wireless phone representative for their latest devices.)

In any case, PDA’s can be useful to anyone looking for easy access to their valuable data while on the road.