More and more organizations are realizing that wireless technology can significantly increase operational effectiveness. Many companies want to give their employees the ability to make decisions 24/7, and employees like having access to information wherever they are. Moreover, a wireless strategy can be especially efficient in the management of almost any kind of field work and in positions that operate primarily outside a traditional office environment.

Within your own organization, supporting a move to wireless should no longer be a question of whether or not to do it, but rather, when to do it, where best to apply it, and which applications are well-suited to your organization’s goals.

Working without a wire

From cell phones and pagers, to personal digital assistants (PDAs), to laptops, people have become increasingly mobile in their lives. By one estimate, 425 million cell phones have been sold worldwide. That desire for mobility has spilled over into the workplace and many companies have armed their employees with wireless technologies. Still others have adopted successful telecommuting policies.

The least of your wireless offerings can include equipping staff with cell phones or laptops, and giving them mobile access to e-mail, calendars, and scheduling. But there’s much more to putting a wireless strategy to work than just connecting workers to e-mail. Having successfully integrated personal productivity applications, companies are now engaging business process applications that promise even greater productivity.

A smarter way to do business

For a mostly out-of-office workforce, staying connected used to mean spending a few days a week tethered to a desk completing paperwork, accessing reports, and retrieving company information. Organizations long acknowledged that the desk time, while necessary, was also ironically unproductive--any time spent out of the field meant time away from core responsibilities. It also meant that opportunities were likely left open to the competition.

With emerging technology, the potential of a wireless workforce to conduct business more effectively is clear. Whether your workforce consists of salespeople, home health-care nurses, service technicians, or front-line employees, anywhere decisions are being made and critical customer contact occurs, having speedy access to real-time data increases productivity. Mobilizing your workforce with the simplest-level of service, like text messaging, or with an application that can track and report inventory in real time, can yield genuine efficiencies. Such a wireless approach will also enhance customer value, as well as customer service. 

Going wireless, then, has its obvious advantages. But determining which wireless projects are mission-critical and designating support for them can be an overwhelming task given the multitude of technologies, devices, and investment levels.

Develop a strategy

It is not practical to expect that your every employee be equipped with mobile technology. Likewise, it is not necessarily prudent to invest in the latest and greatest high technology for your entire mobile workforce. Therefore, it makes sense to first identify which workers in your organization are indeed “mobile,” and secondly, to test wireless projects that will likely reap the greatest efficiencies.

Any employee who spends a certain percentage of time away from their primary workplace can be defined as a mobile worker. In many organizations, that magic number is 20 percent or more. In some environments, a mobile workforce can also include employees who “roam” their workplaces--health-care workers, for instance--spending little time at their desks, therefore largely disconnected from immediate access to potentially vital information. Once you’ve identified your mobile workforce, you can look for ways to improve their performance through wireless technology.

But which technology? With so much innovation, it’s easy to get excited about unique, high-tech devices. But decisions about the technology should be your last consideration. The focus here is not on how high-tech, but on what level of use will work, for what kinds of users, in what types of instances. To determine the right wireless architecture and projects for your organization, and to keep reigns on your wireless investments, try small-scale pilot tests to establish what’s truly valuable.

Great potential

Wireless technology can fast pay for itself. It increases productivity, streamlines processes, and boosts user satisfaction. Having a clear wireless strategy will ensure maximum ROI.