With the highest rate of smartphone ownership in the world, and a world renowned work ethic, it should be no surprise that Aussie employees are using their personal smartphones for work as well as play.
Yet the creep of consumer IT devices into the work place poses as many opportunities for a business as it does challenges. So how can a business support a range of mobile devices and bridge the traditional IT services to mobile divide?
Enabling traditional print functionality from BYO mobile devices is one easy way that Australian businesses can empower mobile workers and provide enterprise services to increase productivity.
The greatest challenge is that mobile devices weren’t created to interface with printers, or vice versa, yet the need for a mobile worker to log on to a desktop to print seems a clumsy middle step in an increasingly mobile world. Mobile printing can sometimes be a complex affair, especially in a BYOD capacity where a multitude of handsets and tablets complicates the ability for IT to support print functionality.
Australian SMBs that understand the future is mobile are working with their print vendors to bridge the mobile and traditional IT divide. Print vendors that also recognise the power of mobility have created solutions that allow staff to print from their mobile devices. The good news though is that most iOS and Android devices have the functionality to interface with complex enterprise printing machines.
While seemingly simple, the power to print from anywhere using a mobile device can save time and increase productivity and flexibility for staff. A managing director can quickly print out a double-sided colour presentation for her board from her iPhone just as the final proof comes through the design team without being tied to a desktop, and an account executive can quickly whip out an invoice from their iPad before stepping into a client meeting.
Canon Business Services, for example, has created mobile apps for SMBs to make the most of the existing IT resources and extend mobile capabilities. As more and more SMBs enable BYOD strategies, companies will need to put traditional printing at the fingertips of their mobile workforce and examine mobile printing solutions that work best for your business.