Cell phones rule business travel market
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Modern travelers will use cell phones in the car, on the street and even while standing beside another telephone.
That is one of the conclusions of a new survey of the technological habits of 1,000 business travelers conducted by the research firm Greenfield Online.
A cellular telephone is the No. 1 piece of electronic gear carried by travelers, with seven out of 10 travelers surveyed toting one.
The vast majority, 94 percent, of those who carry cell phones use them in cars. Nearly two-thirds, however, said they make calls while walking.
Half of those surveyed make calls on their cell phones from offices, hotels and airports while traveling, although wired phones are plentiful.
Margot Turk, Greenfield's director of NetReach Services, said respondents were not asked why they make cell phone calls from places where other phones are available.
"We think that it's convenience. If you use your cellular phone, you don't need to worry about the 15-digit calling card number. You don't need to wait in line for a pay phone," Turk said.
Only about half of the business travelers surveyed carry laptop computers on business trips, a figure that surprised Rudy Nadilo, Greenfield's chief executive.
"Obviously, e-mail still has a ways to go in being the mainstream business communications tool," Nadilo said.
Only about 36 percent of the respondents own pagers. And hand-held PC/personal digital assistants have not reached high levels of usage among business travelers.
One in 10 surveyed take such a device on trips. However, among those who own such devices, 92 percent take them on trips.
And the survey found that the most popular device was Palm Computing's organizer, owned by 77 percent of those surveyed who owned a hand-held PC.
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