News from across the pond

Each year in May, along with many of our industry peers and users from around the world, we visit our partner RIM in the USA at the largest exhibition of its kind, the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), to find out how BlackBerry is empowering workforces worldwide.

With our fingers firmly on the mobile data pulse, we are then best placed to keep you up to date of what’s new and what the vision is for the future.

‘Despite the economic downturn, this year’s event was extremely well attended, with a distinct balance of both end users and suppliers alike’ says Stuart Baikie, Total’s Managing Director ‘This suggested to me there was real value in being present and indicated the strength of BlackBerry as a solution. There has been a surge in awareness that investing in mobilising the workforce and enabling them to work smarter is vital, especially during these tough times.’

It was no surprise then to find BlackBerry applications were also a popular talking point this year. Again, identifying their rapid return on capital expenditure, in order to streamline working practices and increase productivity was a given. However, whilst this statement was widely accepted, it can only be truly realised by matching the right application to the user.

And that’s where we come in. At Total we like to take the time to get to know your business and only then, do we feel we can best advise you which solutions, in this case applications, will work best for you and bring you optimum return on investment.
 
Furthermore, as we move closer towards an era where communications and technology combine, it’s understandable why the terms, Convergence and Presence were also key topics of WES conversation.

But wait, although it’s now possible to locate and identify someone, wherever they might be and for them to give an indication of their status, what happens if they’re unavailable?

What’s actually needed, in this situation, is a deeper understanding of Convergence (the combination of various media into one operating platform) and Presence (a status indicator that conveys the ability of an individual to communicate). In fact, to ensure real value and return, it is vital these tools are integrated within a company’s business processes and procedures. It is only then that their usefulness and full business benefits can be realised.

For instance, with the adoption of a group’s presence, rather than just being able to identify the availability of an individual, users can access an area of expertise. Communication channels are, therefore, not limited to just one person and issues are far more likely to be resolved within a timely manner.

Stuart concludes: ‘WES is always an invaluable resource of information to us and having talked at length with administrators from a range of organisations during my visit this year, it has become apparent that the UK is now seen as leading the way in the development of mobile technology and its associated applications. Total are part of this, empowering UK businesses and helping them to work smarter locally, nationally and globally.’