Smartphones 'make SMEs more available'

07/09/2010

Smartphones have "revolutionised the office" for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it has been suggested.

"It enables them to always be available to their customers and improves customer relationship management so they can manage their business much better with the features and functionality that smartphones give them," said Heather Mclean, editor and founder of smartgorillas.com.

Ms Mclean believes the use of smartphones has the potential to help reduce the need for office space, which could in turn reduce business energy usage.

"Possibly in the future businesses might say that they don't need as big an office and people can work remotely," she said.

"There is potential for that to expand a lot and it will over the next three years."

Recent research released by the The Open University Business School, Barclays and ACCA showed that almost half (48 per cent) of UK SMEs are using smartphones to further their business prospects.

Posted by Tom Barnett