Tired of stuffing your wallet or handbag with all of those business expense receipts? Now with a few clicks, you can digitize your receipt, log it and forget about it. Shoeboxed has offered a mail-in service where clients can send in their receipts, travel logs, and even paper contracts and quickly convert them to electronic files. The new iPhone app streamlines this process to a simple email transmission and record storage on the go. Reviewers love the app’s version 2 and are “eagerly awaiting” the addition of business card scanning to the list of features.
For managing schedules and tasks on the go, Toodledo is an iPhone, iPad, iTouch friendly app that can streamline all of your tasks, communicate with your existing desktop task manager software such as Outlook or its own online task manager at Toodledo.com. It is customizable to the user allowing for data drilling in to do lists and filters. Additional functionality includes attachments, subtasks, sharing/collaboration and forums. Reviews of Toodledo are positive, calling it “one of the most comprehensive and rapidly-developing To Do tools around.” For a mere $3 it’s an affordable way to integrate tasking into your mobile device.
Part digital voice recorder (DVR) part task manager and note taker, Jott has both iPhone and Blackberry compatible apps available. The iPhone and BlackBerry apps are free with a paid Jott account. While the verdict is still out on whether this app brings its best technology to the table, it does provide some cool utilities for on-the-road sales people and those who just like to think out loud. There is even a feature that allows e-mail replies via voice. Check it out and see for yourself.
Track milage, expenses and other simple data entry for those employees on the road with MileBug ($1.99). Features include trip tracking, mileage, tolls, parking as well as light reporting. There is an ability to set presets in types and rates (such as mileage reimbursement from work, type of business, and locations). If you have multiple vehicles, you can also set up different accounts to track mileage for each. Once you’ve entered all of your mileage for a specific time period, you can pull up a report that includes all of the details of your trips. One word of caution, the back-up features are still a little rough, so be sure you back-up your data frequently.
Previously available for iPod Touch and iPhone only, the newer BlackBerry and Android apps offer even richer diving into the WhitePages’ (free) 40+ million listing database. Search work listings, track down important contacts with just a last name or business name.
If you are a QuickBooks Online ($9.95/mo.) subscriber who uses the software for business, you can now download the mobile app for free and check bank account balances, credit card balances, locate customer contact info and run reports all from the convenience of your iPhone or BlackBerry.
Easily transfer PDFs, Microsoft Office and iWork files to your iPhone from your Mac or PC over WiFi. Cool tools include FileMagnet ($4.99), AirSharing ($3,99) Box.net and Dropbox. Additional Apple MobileMe service may be required to run the software, but a free MobileMe iDisk app is available that allows files, folders and images to transfer directly from your phone.
Now that you’ve loaded your work files, you’ll probably want to make some changes. To accomplish this try downloading Quickoffice Connect Suite for iPhone ($9.99). Quickoffice Connect Suite allows you to not only view shared files, but create new documents and spreadsheets and save it to a cloud service of your choosing. Another viewing tool that may be a necessity is GoodReader ($0.99) which is ranked very highly for viewing PDF documents on the iPhone. One of the bonuses is the ability to zip and unzip files directly on the phone. It’s a must-have for anyone working with graphic design, image or large sized PDF files on the go.
If the toys on your iPhone or BlackBerry don’t have you feeling like a spy just yet, check out the scanner apps available today. JotNot Scanner ($4.99) is a good scanner for the money. Allowing you to customize page size, email scans and even send a document directly to your printer (using the Print n Share application ($6.99). Faxing is another story as you will need additional fax software that can lead to costly per-fax and even per-page fees to send faxes. If you are a realtor or someone who needs to fax documents around town, you may want to invest in an app from ScanR Business Center ($24.99). it is a pricey software download, but for the money, one of the best faxing software products out there.
Have you ever wanted to know if the price on that printer at Staples is the best price in town? With RedLaser ($0.99) you can scan a bar code and off and online pricing results will be flashed on your screen. Other features of the software enable you to find books at local libraries thanks to an integration with WorldCat, the world’s largest library catalog. Additionally, RedLaser can check foods for potential allergens and even receive a full nutritional label. How cool is that?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you have probably wished that there were two or three more of ‘you’ to do all of the work at hand. Download a copy of Siri (free) and you’ll gain a personal assistant that with voice activation can geolocate places of interest, find parking near the airport or even call for a cab in New York City.
There are of course, hundreds of thousands of additional applications available out there, but this should be a good starting place if you’re new to mobile computing. To learn more about how you can streamline your business and reduce costs, talk with a Fiducial Advisor by calling 866-FIDUCIAL or visit the web site at www.Fiducial.com.
