Business by Phone

There’s not much you can do on a personal computer that you can’t do with a modern phone handset. Today’s mobile phones are often as powerful as PCs. Their processor chips often outgun the CPUs running everyday desktops and laptops. 

It may sound odd given the small size of phone screens, yet phones often have more powerful graphics than business computers too.

Screens aside, a phone’s small size is a huge plus. Most people carry a phone everywhere they go. You couldn’t stick a laptop in a pocket or elegant small handbag. Even the biggest phone is easy to carry. 

Most of the popular applications used in business have versions that run on Apple or Android phones – and running cloud apps is rarely a struggle. 

Despite all these advantages, few people think they can do everything required to run a business from a phone. However, a lot of small business owners could actually be better off if they switched to doing everything on a single, handheld smartphone. 

OK, there are barriers. As mentioned, for a start phones have small displays. They don’t show a lot of information at once even for people with great eyesight – and for those who struggle to read small print, a phone can be hard work. 

Another barrier is the lack of keyboards. A decade ago business phones from Blackberry had small QWERTY keyboards that made finger typing a breeze. Today you have to painstakingly tap out words and numbers on a small glass keyboard. It’s doable at a pinch, but gets tiresome fast. You could go crazy if you need to do more than write short messages. 

The good news is that both these problems can be easily overcome. 

Running a business from a phone depends on two things. First, the kind of work you do is important. You wouldn’t want to have software developers writing apps on a phone. Nor would it be the best tool for an architect drawing up house plans. From experience I can tell you a phone is not the ideal choice for someone who writes words all day for a living. 

On the other hand, a phone is ideal for entering data while on site. They are, surprise-surprise, great communications gadgets. Having a built-in camera, torch and road map means they can do things everyday computers struggle with. If you can manage filling in forms by ticking boxes and pulling down menu items, then you’ll be able to power through paperwork on a phone. 

Running a business this way also depends on the kind of phone you use. You will need to spend money on a more powerful than usual, modern handset – one with a reasonably large screen. 

Samsung’s newest premium phone, the Galaxy Note 9, ticks all the boxes for running a business. If the name sounds familiar it’s because the last-but-one Galaxy Note, the 7, had a habit of catching fire. Airlines would warn passengers not to carry them on board. Thankfully those problems now appear to be in the past. 

Is it a phone? Is it a tablet?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is one of the most powerful Android phones money can buy. 

More important, it has a huge screen. At 6.4 inches across the diagonal it is more like a small tablet than a phone. You may hear it called a ‘phablet’ – the name for a device that straddles the ground between a phone and a tablet. 

There are two other features that make the Galaxy Note 9 especially interesting for running a business. This phablet comes with a small stylus, which Samsung calls an S-Pen. You can use it to write and draw on the screen. I’m told it’s wonderful for people who need to type Chinese characters, but it does a good job with English too. The S-Pen goes a long way towards solving the keyboard problem. 

The Note 9 also has something called the Dex Mode. This is a quick and easy way of turning the phone into a desktop computer. Samsung already has Dex docking stations for the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9 phones. 

You sit your phone on the docking station and can then plug in a big screen and a keyboard. The screen then displays a full computer-style desktop. It looks a little like Windows, but it actually runs on Android. There’s no need for a mouse either – you can use the phone’s screen like a touchpad to move the cursor around the big screen. 

The Dex Pad docking station for the Galaxy S9 smartphone costs $180. All-in-all it’s an impressive set-up.

However, the Note 9 version of Dex is a far simpler arrangement. All you have to do is get a cable to connect the phone’s standard USB-C port to a monitor. You can still use the phone as a touch pad and, if you like, the phone can also work as a keyboard. This makes the Galaxy Note 9 a great device if you turn up at someone’s office and need to give a presentation. It also gives you an emergency computer to use when staying in a hotel or motel where it can plug into the flat screen television. 

Another useful aspect of the Galaxy Note 9 is that it has a huge battery – bigger than almost any other smartphone you can buy. There’s more than enough juice for an extended working day. 

Samsung makes turning a phone into a PC a piece of cake, but you can do much the same yourself with other phone models. Apple iPhones can plug into large screens, but you will need to buy a NZ$50 Lightning Digital AV Adaptor or opt for one of the cheaper versions of the same thing on TradeMe. 

More keyboard options

Every modern phone can be used with a Bluetooth keyboard. There are dozens of options with prices starting as low as NZ$40 – but it might pay to spend a bit more and get something solid and reliable. Logitech has the Keys-To-Go keyboard which is about the size of a paperback book. You may need to shop around to buy one – they sell overseas for US$70 and come in a variety of colours. 

If you want something smaller the US$80 Zagg Foldable Wireless Keyboard (again you’ll need to shop around online) is small enough to fit in a jacket pocket.   

Bill Bennett is an Auckland-based business IT writer and commentator.
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