Every business should always be on the lookout for ways to boost sales and productivity, and technology plays a vital role in achieving these aims.
Innovations in tech seem to be coming onto the market faster than ever and it can be hard to keep up with all the latest developments. However, if anyone wants to try to stay one step ahead of their competitors, it’s essential to know about the new ways of getting things done that might give a business a big boost.
Mobile is king
It’s hard to believe that smartphones are less than ten years old, because they are so widespread they can truly be said to have changed the way business is now done. An increasing number of people are choosing their phone as their preferred way of going online, and this means shopping now goes hand in hand with browsing.
However, “in person” purchases are also going mobile, as new payment systems such as Apple Pay allow users to pay for a transaction using their phone as a kind of digital wallet. Anyone with a brick and mortar retail presence should look into how an NFC terminal might streamline payments and speed up transaction rates.
Focusing your marketing efforts to that particular mobile-savvy audience and target market will almost always give you an edge over your competitors, as mobile tech has gone mainstream and will continue to increase its share as the preferred way of going online.
Biometrics
Soon, using a PIN number or signing a credit card slip could be a thing of the past, and even keeping note of many different passwords to log in to online accounts might be totally outdated.
Biometrics have long been touted as the ultimate way to prove identity, and new devices such as the Yubico FIDO hardware key are just one of many possible ways this could be put into practice, especially as identity theft and online security become even bigger concerns for consumers. Be warned, though – as the tech has gone mainstream in the identity protection arena, expect for more exposure to attacks, manipulations… and theft in the future. Do your due diligence right, and biometrics can be the life safer to many.
Phone tech
It isn’t just in the area of mobile devices that telephone technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. Hosted PBX is a business-grade phone system that makes use of cloud-based technology to allow all kinds of connections for a business, without paying for a traditional phone system.
Remote offices and workers can use one seamless phone system to stay in touch wherever they are. Session Internet Protocol (SIP) trunking allows a business to make calls over its IP connection. Companies such as Primus both manage and host this type of service, so everything is done in a “one stop shop” deal.
The best part is that a SIP trunking cost is competitive with even the best discounted traditional phone network deals, and PC, MAC, iPhone and Android devices and systems can all be fully integrated into one network.
Tech future
Whatever the needs of a business today, there is certain to be a new technology that can offer the perfect solution.
No matter if a business is operating in the most traditional field or has a particular brand image that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to cutting edge technologies, innovations are become more and more subtle in the way they transform the way things can be done.
One word of advice: Make sure that you understand that technology is not the ultimate game-changing, transformation agents to your business. If you want to make it work, you need to do tech adoption and implementation right. Otherwise, tech innovation implementation can backfire and put your business in danger.
So, how about you? How important is tech innovations for your business? Please share your thoughts.