The current generation of wireless technology provides a vital link for small business owners, keeping them in touch with their businesses—and with key employees—no matter where they are. Cellular service comprehensively blankets every major, and most mid-sized, metropolitan areas, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find even remote locations where no level of cellular service is available. Many of today’s phones offer advanced capabilities including Internet browsing, text messaging, push-to-talk, walkie-talkie features, and even email reception in ever smaller sizes. Motorola’s RAZR series of phones, for instance, has become enormously with business people.

Mike Dougherty runs a small plumbing and bathroom repair service in Boston. In addition to himself, he has three other plumbers/carpenters working for the company. “My office is my van,” Dougherty says. “I take calls from customers directly on my cell, which is always on my belt. Then I parcel out the jobs to the other guys, depending on what each job requires.” Dougherty says he couldn’t run his business without the cell phone. “If I had to keep calling back to an office to get new assignments, or couldn’t reach my guys while they are out at other jobs, I just wouldn’t be able to do enough work to keep everyone occupied—and the business running.”

Once upon a time, small business owners and their employees were chained to their offices—by copper phone wires. Once outside the office, the businessperson was dependent on finding a telephone at his or her destination, or worse, seeking out that increasingly forlorn symbol of days past—the public phone—in order to make contact.

In a world rapidly going wireless, those constraints simply don’t apply anymore. The increasing ubiquity of WiFi networks—which use radio signals, broadcast and transmitted along what is known as the IEEE 802.11 standard, to ferry data between computers and connect to the Internet— allows small business owners to link their laptops, via the Internet, to their office networks. All that is required is a WiFi Internet adapter, to receive and send wireless data signals, and access to a WiFi “hotspot”—a location equipped with a wireless router that transmits and receives data and connects to a local network or the Internet. WiFi hotspots can be found in most major hotels, public facilities like city parks and libraries, and a wide array of coffee shops, shopping malls, and restaurants. Some of these offer WiFi connections for free, others charge for access. Most new laptops come with a wireless adapter already installed. If you have an older laptop, a variety of wireless adapters are available in the form of PCMCIA cards, which slide easily into the PCMCIA expansions slots found along the sides of most laptops. WiFi adapter cards generally cost between $50 and $100, depending on the data transfer speed of the card, usually denoted in megabits per second (Mbps).

While WiFi networks are enormously popular, they are also considered highly vulnerable to hackers with sophisticated decryption software, who can intercept and decode critical data broadcast wirelessly. When using a public WiFi hotspot, make sure your laptop is equipped with Internet security software like Norton Internet Security, including a firewall, and that you have kept both the operating system and security software properly updated. Also take care not to transmit highly sensitive information including passwords and credit card numbers when using a public WiFi hotspot.

If you are unwilling to use public WiFi networks, many cellular phone providers now offer some level of high-speed WiFi connectivity— known as “tethering”—over their cellular networks. For example, AT&T’s EDGE network covers almost all of the U.S. In larger metropolitan areas, connection speeds reach broadband levels (400-700 Kbps), but that speed may decrease substantially in suburban or rural areas. You can connect your laptop to the EDGE network with either an adapter provided by AT&T, or by connecting your laptop to an EDGE-capable cellphone via USB cable or Bluetooth signal. Cellular WiFi service will add anywhere from $20 to $80 to your monthly cellular bill, depending on the speed, amount of bandwidth usage, and type of device you use.

Regardless of whether you access the Internet from a free WiFi hotspot at your local coffee shop or through a cellular wireless plan, accessing your company’s network online requires that you establish some form of network access to your company’s computers. For small businesses the easiest way to do this is to create a virtual private network (VPN) that will allow authorized users to access the company’s network—or even individual PCs—through the Internet. VPN systems of varying size and complexity are available from large network companies like Citrix, D-Link, and Cisco. For professionals and very small business owners Citrix also offers GoToMyPC, a low cost, web-based solution that allows remote access to any Internet-connected PC for about $20 a month. For those who want to manage the system themselves, Symantec’s PCAnywhere software, priced at about $200, allows you to connect with your office or home PC or network from remote locations over the Internet.

Of course, as the wireless technologies have grown more sophisticated, so has that most ubiquitous symbol of the wireless age: the cell phone. Evolving from the brick-like phones of the 1980’s, cell phones slimmed down in the late ’90s, ultimately folding in upon themselves and slipping comfortably into the average pocket. But miniaturization hasn’t been the only technological development. As cell phones have become smaller, they have also become smarter. But as useful as cell phones are, their small screens and limited keypads limit the traditional cell phone for Internet or email use. In order to overcome those obstacles, and to provide additional capabilities of particular interest to businesspeople, the cell phone evolved into something more: the smartphone.

Rise of the Smartphone
Smartphones typically combine a much larger screen—usually about 320 by 240 pixels—and keyboards that resemble, if much more compactly, a traditional QWERTY computer keyboard. The latter innovation is a critical boost for writing email and lengthy text messages and for surfing the Internet, and it has made smartphones very popular with businesspeople from companies of all sizes. Yet, smartphones still only account for about three percent of all cellular phone products sold in the U.S. in 2006, according to Gartner Dataquest analyst Todd Kort. High prices—$200-$500, depending on the make and model—have kept smartphones largely a businessperson’s choice, according to Kort, but falling prices are expected to increase their prevalence.

The increased volume of Internet access and data transmission by smartphone devices has led to continual upgrades in cellular data serices. While many smartphones use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellular networks for voice and data communications, Sprint and Verizon have constructed third generation (3G) networks to provide high-speed data transmission for smartphones across the U.S. 3G networks, originally developed in Japan, can handle voice data (a telephone call) and data (email, video, text, etc.) simultaneously at speeds comparable to DSL standards. Other U.S. carriers are building 3G networks, including AT&T and T-Mobile.

Smartphones run off three primary operating platforms: BlackBerry, the Palm OS and the Windows Mobile OS. Two other platforms—Symbian and Linux—exist; however, Symbian-based smartphones, while overwhelmingly popular just about everywhere else in the world, occupy a very tiny share of the U.S. market and Linux phones remain almost exclusively limited to Asia at this time.

The Ubiquitous BlackBerry
Introduced in 1999, by Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry quickly became synonymous with wireless communications and even spawned its own popular, if mocking, sobriquet, the “CrackBerry”—a reference to the near-addictive attachment of BlackBerry users to their handheld devices.

“People in my office sometimes joke that I spend more time typing on my BlackBerry than I do talking to people,” jokes Nancy Poskey, director at a New York-based marketing firm. Poskey uses her BlackBerry to read and send email while riding in taxis through mid-town Manhattan’s gridlock and return calls to clients. “I spend a lot of time out of the office,” she explains. “If it weren’t for the BlackBerry, I wouldn’t get done half the things I need to do every day.” Her BlackBerry also holds her list of contacts and daily and weekly schedules. “There was a time I was always making sure I had my keys with me,” Poskey says. “Now I find myself patting my pocket every so often just to make sure the BlackBerry is there. I’d really be stuck without it.”

BlackBerrys come in a variety of designs, all offering Internet browsing, email service, cellular telephony, text messaging, and wireless data services. The BlackBerry keyboard is designed to be manipulated via both thumbs; navigation through the BlackBerry’s system is achived through a trackwheel, also operated by thumb. BlackBerry is generally considered to hold the edge in terms of ease of sending and receiving email due to RIM’s proprietary BlackBerry Internet Service, which allows users to merge personal and business e-mail accounts in one place with an easily navigable interface.

BlackBerrys are most commonly used for telephone and email service, but advanced data services are available through a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) available from RIM. BlackBerry has been mostly known as a popular tool for businesspeople, but the recent introduction of the Pearl suggests that RIM is positioning the BlackBerry to compete with other smartphones among non-business or quasi-business users. According to research firm IDC, more than four million BlackBerry devices were sold in the U.S. in 2006, more than twice as many as the Blackberry’s nearest smartphone competitor, the Palm.

Palm
Created originally for personal digital assistant devices like the Palm Pilot, and later adapted for use in smartphones, the Palm OS is widely considered to be easier to use than the BlackBerry interface and offers greater flexibility in adding third party software and functionality to smartphones. Palm OS-based devices feature a calendar, address book, notepad (capable of recording written messages, depending on the device), calculator, an application for tracking expenses, and HotSync, which allows the Palm to easily connect with and transfer data between the Palm device and the user’s laptop or personal computer. Unlike BlackBerry owners, Palm OS device users have a wide range of third party applications that can be installed to run on their smartphones. According to ACCESS, owner of the Palm OS, there are more than 20,000 third party applications available for Palm OS devices. Over one million smartphones using the Palm OS were sold in the U.S. in 2006.

Currently, the most popular line of Palm OS devices are the Treos, produced by Palm itself. The most popular model, the Treo 680, allows users to download, view, and edit Word and Excel documents, and even view PDF files on its relatively large screen, in addition to reading and sending email, text messages, scheduling and, of course, making phone calls. The Treo 680 can even be connected via Bluetooth to your laptop for use as a wireless modem.

The most commonly heard complaint about Palm devices is their inability to multi-task. Users are limited to running one application at a time. Many experts consider this to be a serious shortcoming for Palm-based devices, particularly when compared to the third largest, but growing, smartphone platform from Microsoft.

Windows Goes Mobile
Unwilling to be left behind as many traditional desktop functions like web browsing and email move increasingly to handheld devices, Microsoft introduced its first mobile platform in 2002. The current generation of Windows Mobile devices use a substantially upgraded version of Windows Mobile designed specifically to mimic the traditional Windows desktop, while providing a wide range of applications and functions for smartphones. Windows Mobile includes a version of Microsoft Office, including condensed versions of Powerpoint, Excel and Word, GPS compatibility, caller ID, Windows Media Player, and limited Bluetooth support.

Windows Mobile is available on a wide range of Smartphones from various manufacturers including the Motorola Q, HP iPAQ hw6920, T-Mobile Dash, Sprint PPC-6700, and Cingular 8125. Numerically, Windows Mobile-based smartphones remain far behind BlackBerry and Palm OS-based models, selling under one million units in 2006. Most experts expect Windows Mobile devices to increase in popularity as Microsoft adds new functionality and seeks to integrate Windows Mobile with its PC operating systems. Microsoft’s market position will also be boosted by Windows Mobile’s enhanced multimedia capabilities—a feature that will be of increasing importance as smartphones are increasingly used for watching video (like streaming video-based entertainment, news, and sports) and possibly for on-the-go video conferencing in the future.

Apple Enters the Market
Few products have generated more buzz or garnered as great expectations as the iPhone, which Apple finally announced at the 2007 MacWorld conference. The iPhone should just be hitting the market as you read this article, but its general feature set has already been announced. The iPhone will offer a camera, a unique touch-activated full-feature web browser, email and text messaging, multimedia capability, and Bluetooth connectivity. The iPhone differs from other smartphones by completely replacing the traditional touch-button keyboard with a virtual keyboard on a large 320 x 480 pixel touchscreen that runs almost the entire length of the device.

As announced, the iPhone will run on the conventional GSM network, but Apple has indicated the possibility of creating a 3G version of the phone in the future. The iPhone will be available only from AT&T in at least two versions.

Anticipated demand for the iPhone has been so strong that in late April investment research firm PiperJaffray reported that AT&T’s first quarter sales for high-end smartphones had dipped significantly as consumers awaited the iPhone’s launch. “Therefore, our checks suggest that demand for the iPhone will be high at launch and will continue to grow as Apple expands the product into international markets,” PiperJaffrey analysts Gene Munster and Mike Walkley noted in their analysis report.

Faxes Anywhere
For those who simply cannot live without a fax machine somewhere in their vicinity, there are several services that make it possible to receive a fax anywhere you happen to be on your smartphone. eFax, founded in 1995, provides users with their own unique fax phone number. Any fax sent to that phone number is received by eFax’s servers, converted to a compact digital image file and sent to the user’s email account as an attachment. The fax can then be viewed in the eFax browser, which is easily downloaded and is available in formats compatible with PCs, PDAs, and all smartphone platforms. eFax numbers are also capable of recording voice mails, which are also sent to users as email attachments, playable on PCs and smartphones. Priced at $19.95 per month, users can create multiple fax numbers—which is particularly useful for small businesses, which can assign an eFax number to all critical employees who work from home or spend a lot of time on the road.