In the 21st century, a connected workforce is almost expected. Every industry seems to have found ways to incorporate some types of gadgets to make the job being done more efficient. From fast food workers to the mailman, employees are equipped with technology designed specifically with their jobs in mind. How is a small business to decide what gadgets your company should be equipped with? Check out these suggestions to see if one of these hot new tech tools would be a fit to your company.
Beam
Beam is one of the coolest gadgets to hit the market over the last few years, and will make your Skype meetings seem like a thing of the past. Beam is a Segway-type robot that has a place to mount an iPad, where your smiling face can roam around the office, via controls on your screen, and chat it up with any colleagues or coworkers where your Beam may be.
If your company conducts business globally, think of the travel costs you could save by shipping a Beam device to a meeting location, instead of shelling out thousands on airfare for your team. With a $16,000 price tag, the Beam may be a bit outside of a small business’ budget, but the developers are discussing ways to rent them at major trade shows.
Verbatim Tuff-‘n’-Tiny USB 32GB Drive
Flash drives have been around for years now, and I’m sure that after attending countless conferences and trade shows, most of us have amassed a drawer full of oddly shaped flash drives. Not exactly flattering to a client when you have to break out a neon orange flash drive in the middle of a presentation to upload the PowerPoint.
Verbatim changes the USB flash drive game for good with their Tuff-‘n’Tiny 32GB drive. When they say tiny, they really mean tiny. This drive isn’t much bigger than a penny, but can hold thousands of documents and hours of video, with some room to spare. Your company’s sales team will love having these, so the next time they have a presentation, they can whip out their flashy wallets and pull out the smallest flash drive that anyone has ever seen.
LG G3
One of the hottest Android devices on the market, the G3 follows up on the success of its younger brother, the G2, released in 2012. With a 5.5-inch QuadHD display, the G3 is almost large enough to take on the road and leave the laptop at home. The device comes ready to sync with Google accounts, so getting your employees all linked up should take no time.
Android devices seem to have began to take control of the smartphone market, with their ability to run a multitude of apps, both for business and pleasure. The G3 is available for free with a contract from T-Mobile, which should have you running to the store to stock up on these for your employees.
Docusign
This San Francisco-based startup has revolutionized the way that you handle documents. Gone are the days where you had to email a document to a client or vendor, ask them to print, sign, then fax the document back.
With Docusign, the recipient receives an email that there is a document requesting their signature. Then, on a tablet or smartphone, the user simply signs with their finger, removing cumbersome steps to the process, and making your life much easier. Accounts for Docusign begin at $15 per month, and should be something that all small businesses begin to incorporate into their daily practices.
PaySaber Point-of-Sale
iPhones are one of the most versatile gadgets on the face of the Earth, and PaySaber has found, yet another way to make use of the popular Apple phone. With PaySaber Point-of-Sale, you simply place the iPhone into a dock that is equipped with a credit card reader. A quick download of an app that connects you to PaySaber’s back-end software, and you are off and running, ready to conquer the world of retail.
Most small businesses that handle a moderate to large amount of transactions in a day would benefit from a program like this, that would allow cashiers to move away from behind the counter and right out onto the sales floor to check people out. PaySaber accounts vary depending on the amount of monthly transactions, but with a very professional and flashy monthly report, never having to handle your receivables again will be worth it.
These are only a few of the hundreds of gadgets that can be found in the workplace. It seems that every few weeks, something new comes out and completely changes the game. If your company has had success using a specific gadget that isn’t listed above, feel free to drop it in the comments so we can discuss!
Photo credits: prnewswire.com, hitechreview.com, fiercewireless.com, thecloudreview.net, paysaber.com
