Monday, June 27th, 2011
Stephani Lewis, Marketing
Are you a mobile worker? Tell us about your mobile life. Take our Mobile Workforce survey and let us know how your company supports your work away from the office – or not! Besides the satisfaction of telling us what you really think, you have a chance to win an iPad 2.
In our Q3 survey you have the opportunity to tell us things like:
- How flexible IS your work schedule and what does your boss really think about this?
- Does your manager love the fact that you are a mobile worker and expect you to be available night and day?
- Or does he/she wish that the ability to work remotely would vanish from the face of the earth?
- Where do you work and have you had to work in any very unusual locations?
- How does being a mobile worker intrude into your personal life? Or does it mean that work intrudes less?
- Do you work more or less hours because you can connect remotely?
If you work remotely, from a mobile device, telecommute or travel, we want to hear from you! We will share the report in August. You can also sign up to request the report to be one of the first to get it every quarter.
Personally, I was a mobile worker before it was the popular thing to do, by virtue of the fact that my jobs required a lot of time traveling and at customer sites. I’ve had to figure out how to get online despite the obstacles, wherever I was. So to me, it just makes sense to be able to work online anywhere, anytime.
The fact that I can connect remotely does mean that I work more – but it also means that I don’t have to be in the office when duty calls at 9 pm or 6 am. This means that my family has to understand that I am working sometimes, even when I am home – but it also means that I am home, and not away at the office. And yes, my stress level is less due to the fact that I can ensure critical work is completed, even when I am away.
What about you? Tell us what you think by taking the survey, and enter for a chance to win an iPad 2.
Tell us about your mobile worker life – new survey >>
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Stephani Lewis, Marketing
Which carrier services are the “real” 4G and which are the “faux” 4G? It’s interesting to note that many carriers tout their 4G networks, but not all of these are using true 4G according to the authoritative definition published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
In December, the ITU loosened its definition of 4G to include LTE, WiMax, and HSPA+ which helped some carriers to meet the standard.
ITU Redefines 4G. Again by Sara Yin of PC Magazine
Forget the 4G marketing argument, ITU acknowledges US carriers have 4G by Matthew Miller of ZDNet
ITU blesses U.S. data networks as 4G by Kent German of cnet
But according to Jordan Crook of Mobile Crunch, some are still falling short of the bar.
If you are confused about this, you are not alone. And to help U.S. consumers, Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, this week introduced the Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act, which would require wireless companies to provide complete and accurate information about the speed of 4G service before locking customers into a service plan. Specifically, the legislation would provide consumers with the following information:
1. Guaranteed minimum data speed
2. Network reliability
3. Coverage area maps
4. Pricing
5. Technology used to provide 4G service
6. Network conditions that can impact the speed of applications and services used on the network
This bill has sparked some conversation and there is no shortage of opinions on who is providing the REAL 4G experience.
New bill could finally reveal 4G speed by Athima Chansanchai of Technolog on msnc.com
New bill would require carriers to clarify 4G speeds by David Goldman of CNN
New Bill Will Stop Carriers from Lying about the iPhone 4G by John Brownlee of Cult of Mac
Does your carrier provide true 4G capability? Soon, U.S. consumers may not have to guess.
Will the real 4G please stand up? >>
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Stephani Lewis, Marketing
Mobile employees were initially considered as employees at remote locations, telecommuting from a home office or a shared office space, or traveling, usually working from hotels, cafes, and airports.
Mobile employees are no longer working at a fixed remote point, but are more often mobile while they work, using smartphones, iPads and tablets.
Growing numbers of knowledge workers, 80%, will work one or two days from their office at home, as we found in May’s Mobile Workforce Report. However, there’s another segment of mobile employee — those that don’t have a planned telecommute schedule but will find themselves in situations requiring remote access – access on the weekends or evenings, waiting for an appointment, during child pick-up or activities, or waiting for a meeting at another location.
In these instances, IT needs to consider additional use cases and technology for these occasional mobile workers to increase the mobile workforce productivity. This will become a more common scenario as the mobile workforce continues to grow and expects to be able to get online whenever necessary, with the tools that they prefer.
For example, I experienced an emergency, requiring remote work and access to all corporate systems. During a four day span (including the weekend), I used a variety of devices and online applications. My connections included:
- Home Wi-Fi, using my company laptop for email and other work, with iPass OpenMobile providing secure access to our internal systems
- Home Wi-Fi for my personal laptop
- At home with my company laptop, using an iPass-issued 3G card to do streaming video, with chat, to participate in a company meeting
- Smartphone email access and texting while standing in line or walking
- Phone calls
- Restaurant free Wi-Fi access for my laptop, using OpenAccess
- Coffee shop “pay” Wi-Fi that was part of the iPass network
- Laptop with 3G card while sitting in the parking lot, waiting for a scheduled appointment and no free Wi-Fi
As a mobile worker, I found myself very productive because I had connectivity and data access when needed. I was able to keep my projects moving and stayed in constant contact with team members. Because I use the iPass services, I was able log in seamlessly, consistently and safely, getting directly to our corporate systems. For every connection, I suspect that IT could breathe easy because their automatic controls and policies made sure to run the anti-virus protection each time I logged in. But all that mattered to me was that I was online.
I’m sure that everyone has an experience like this. Let me know yours!
Mobile employees use any means to stay productive >>
