Don't Know if this article would interest anyone but here goes
Wireless: Haves and have nots
By JIM MIDDLEMISS
For The Financial Post
Traveling business professionals who are looking to improve their productivity should get a portable phone and a laptop, say
their on-the-go colleagues.
A recent Financial Post/Compas survey found that 47% of business professionals say they currently have a cellular, wireless or
PCS phone and almost half said it helped them increase sales and made them more productive.
A further 46% take a portable phone with them when they travel, while 25% also pack their laptops.
"What we found is that basically business professionals on the move are creating a mobile office with
the notebook in one hand and a portable phone in the other. The two go hand in hand," says David
MacDonald, assistant vice-president at Compas. "If you're on the go, you need them. If you're not,
you don't."
While portable phones have traditionally been associated with hurried executives, that is changing, as
employees from all levels of an organization adopt the technology to help get them through the day,
particularly when they travel.
Managers led the way, with 62% surveyed saying they used a portable phone, followed by 54% of skilled and technical trades
people, 53% of supervisors and 44% of sales/service professionals. Of those who use a portable phone, almost half said it
helped increase their sales and productivity, with 16% saying their productivity "increased markedly" and 30% indicating it had
"some impact" on their productivity. A further 49% said a portable phone "made no difference in their productivity."
MacDonald says portable phones provide a link to the office for professionals on the move and keep them in touch with their
home base. The survey found that business people who carry a portable phone are more than twice as likely to keep in contact
with the office when traveling than those who don't have one. About 57% of people with a portable phone use it to keep in
touch with the office, compared with only 26% who use a conventional phone.
But portable phones are only one of the communication tools business professionals found helpful. The survey also found a
relation between wireless phone users and those who rely on a laptop when out of the office. Twenty-five per cent of portable
phone users also pack their laptop computer, compared with 11% of those who don't carry a portable phone.
"Overall, what we found was that if you're a business executive or a professional on the go [and] not tied to an office all day
long, then you need a portable phone and a portable computer," MacDonald says. The survey "confirms a lot of beliefs out
there that these tools are important and arebeing used more."
Portable phones also led the list when the survey respondents were asked what communication tools they would recommend
to a friend starting a business. Twenty per cent said they would recommend a portable phone, while 17% would recommend a
portable computer. Only 13% would recommend a conventional phone and 12% a fax machine. Those who didn't have a
portable phone acknowledged that there were times they wish they did, with 59% saying that had been in a situation where they
needed a portable phone. A further 17% said they could have used it on "many occasions."
Those occasions included car trouble (26%), a personal emergency(14%) or some other emergency (16%). A further 15%
said they wished they had a portable phone for business travel, while 13% wished they had one for other types of travel.
Those who think portable phones are too prevalent and used indiscreetly at restaurants or in meetings might be surprised to
find that a majority of users say they are not that rude.
More than 73% say they never use them during meetings, while 62% never use them during meals. Nonetheless, of those who
lack phone etiquette, 9% admitted to using their portable phone many times during a meal and 5% acknowledge using it many
times during meetings. The survey also revealed that a "surprising number of people fake bad reception to avoid speaking to
people," MacDonald says. About 20% of users admitted there have been times when they fake bad reception - and of that
number, 5% admit faking it "many times."
Compas interviewed 1,000 business professionals in the nationwide survey in October. The national sample is considered
accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points 95% of the time. The subsample of 450 portable phone users is
considered accurate within plus or minus 4.7 percentage points 95% of the time.
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