| Mobility and Technology |
From "Home Office"
episode HOF-105 |
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Pagers Reconsidered With the popularity of cellular phones, many people have discarded the pagers that they relied upon so heavily just a couple of years ago. You may want to consider the advantages of keeping a pager as a backup or ancillary accessory along with your cellular phone. Newer pagers can both send and receive lengthier messages than earlier-generation pagers, sometimes obviating the need to make a call on your phone. This can save you money in mobile-phone charges and can help keep you focused on sending concise messages, when appropriate, and avoid the temptation to talk longer than is necessary. For around $350, you can purchase a pager that can receive e-mail messages up to 16,000 characters long, download messages from a computer and forward them to another computer or a fax machine. Some will notify you when a recipient has received and opened a message that you've sent. Some even have mini-keyboards and scroll-bars for navigating on their small screen. Price for pagers varies considerably according to the features included, and service plans can vary widely also. The cost of a service contract may range from around $5 to more than $100 per month depending on area of coverage. You may be able to take advantage of bargain rates if you sign up for an extended service plan of 3 to 12 months.
Power In Your Palm If you think of the laptop as the final word in portable computing, then you may need to rethink. PDAs, personal digital assistants, are revolutionizing the way that people organize their time and access frequently-needed information. Starting at around $120, you can obtain a miniscule battery-operated device that offers a variety of calendar and scheduling options, a sophisticated address book, calculator and electronic memo pad. Most have synchronization capabilities so that you can share information with other PDAs and update files on your desktop or laptop computer. The screens on PDAs average around two inches by three inches, and the devices are powered by AAA batteries which provide charge for several weeks of use. In the middle price range of around $250, you also get a cradle that assists with synchronizing with your compute and transferring data. Some also come with software that will render them Internet-ready, and an optional keyboard that can be folded away when not in use. Reaching into the $450-range, you can obtain a PDA with voice-command recognition and voice-recording capabilty. You can also link up with your desktop PC from remote locations, retrieve email and download or upload data. The newer, more advanced PDAs are moving out of the realm of glorified organizers, and offering features that until recently were available only on full-sized computers. They are also readily upgradable. When new operating systems or new programs become available, they can generally be downloaded with ease from the Internet.
Setting Up an Appointment Using a PDA Using a personal digital assistant or PDA is simple. Here are a few steps to setting up a meeting. Remember that there are several brands and styles of PDA's to choose from, so this is an example from the PDA we used on the workshop. - Turn on your PDA
- Take the wand or stylus and tap the Date Book function from the main screen.
- Select your day and time by tapping a day and time displayed on the screen.
- Once you click on the time a set time screen will pop up.
- On this screen set the duration of your meeting and tap done.
- When you are back to the date screen , tap the stylus next to the time.
- To write "Meeting with Client" tap the keyboard and tap the letters with your stylus. (You can also use the Graffiti function where you write the words with the stylus. This technique takes some practice to master.)
- Tap "done." Your meeting is now set.
Tips for Choosing the Right Equipment for Your Mobile Office Hot products such as cell phones, pagers and PDAs are everywhere and they seem to be smarter and smaller than ever. Some tips to remember when choosing "toys" for your home office are: - Don't buy systems that have all the same features. It is unlikely that you will utilize all the features on all the products, and it won't be worth your money. Instead, decide which device you are most comfortable with and then choose other devices to supplement your initial purchase.
- Decide how much you would like to spend on mobile devices and don't forget monthly service charges.
- Do your homework so you don't get talked into something you don't understand or won't use.
- Think ahead. If limitations in memory or storage capacity could be an issue at some point, buy a device that is expandable.
- Don't sign long-term service agreements. You may not be happy with the service. Also be leary of extended warranty agreements.
- When you decide on a device, read all the directions thoroughly and understand the features so you may use them to your benefit.
RESOURCES :
homeworking.com
An informational site devoted to people who work from home.
Web site: www.homeworking.com
The Cell Phone Handbook : Everything You Wanted to Know About Wireless Telephony
Model: 1890154121
Author: Penelope Stetz
published by Aegis Pub. Group
The Cellular Connection: A Guide to Cellular Telephones
Model: 0471316520
Author: Robert Steuernagel
Published by Wiley-Interscience
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