Mobile Solutions Including Mobile Technology, Mobile Business and Mobility Software - iStart.co.nz
Welcome to the Mobile Business research pavilion. Below you will find information from most of the leading vendors of these solutions and services in New Zealand, including contact details, case studies, articles, demos, web links, brochures and white papers to assist you research and locate the best solution for your organisation. Check also the iStart Diary for local seminars on this subject. All vendors showcased below will be glad to assist with your enquiries.
- Mobile Business Overview
- Mobile Business Solution Providers
- Mobile Application Buyers Guide
- Articles / Industry Reports
- Other Resources
Solution Providers
Run The Red is New Zealand's leading mobile solutions provider. The company's unique asset is its depth of understanding about what drives the mobile consumer's customer experience. Accumulated over five years through the analysis of several million messages for high profile clients, Run The Red has built up formidable specialist knowledge about SMS in particular, as well as considerable expertise in all forms of mobile data.
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Greentree (who were recently recognised as one of 25 global rising stars by MIS magazine) presents a real-time, modular, integrated business management suite, purpose-built to add-value to the midsized enterprise. The result is…empowering performance, underpinned by comprehensive functionality and robustness. With its partners, Greentree delivers rapid implementation services, helping customers with low-cost, low-risk deployment and very responsive ongoing support.
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Telecom's Mobile Broadband mobile data network has download speeds up to 15 times faster than the rest of our 027 network. Clear emails, surf the web and exchange files on the run, or use one of the many mobile sales, service or fleet management solutions showcased through case studies here.
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ICONZ specialises in providing internet solutions to New Zealand businesses of all sizes. With ICONZ Office Online you have the ability to use your email, share your tasks, contacts and other information regardless of where you are.
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Mobico is NZ's specialist wireless network and rugged handheld mobile computer provider. We have installed and support over 700 wireless networks across NZ and 20,000 handheld mobile computers.
For 20 years Mobico (previously known as Provenco Technology) has provided wireless networks, rugged handheld mobile computers, barcode scanners, RFID and Point of Sale solutions to NZ's leading retailers, distribution and transport companies.
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Let Vodafone help you get maximum business benefit from mobility. Whether it’s to share information instantly, service customers better or to put powerful productivity tools in the hands of your staff, Vodafone can help you manage an increasingly mobile workforce. As the Vodafone case studies site and the following case studies demonstrate, Vodafone has the expertise and solutions to deliver.
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TXT2GET's service provides marketers and advertising agencies a quick and easy way to set up mobile marketing campaigns. Adding text keywords to advertising and signage can boost response rates by 30+% and provides campaign measurement and leads. Set up now in minutes, or get TXT2GET to help.
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Increased usage of mobile phones, PDAs and laptops has meant that staff and managers are spending more and more time away from the corporate network and vital access to their email and the Internet. Consider this:
- 27% of e-mail requires immediate action
- 40% of the workforce is mobile
- 60% of senior management time is spent away from the desk
The following graph shows the potential time lost when employees do not have mobile access to the network or the Internet.
Data Usage Calculator
If you're using your mobile phone to access the internet (a bit like a mobile modem), but you're not sure how much data you might use in a given month, try out Telecom mobile's Data Usage Calculator. It can only provide a rough guide but should help you get a feel for your likely data usage.
Click here for more information.
Want to know more about mobile data plans?
Click here for Telecom mobile's data plans
Click here for Vodafone's mobile data plans
Significant dead time per mobile employee per day
(Source: Microsoft, 2002)
This trend has prompted IT companies to look at ways to enable these mobile workers to connect with the corporate network, receive email, access the internet and communicate with others.
The following diagram demonstrates an example of the infrastructure used by Microsoft's Mobile Information Server (MIS) to connect a company's mobile staff and management via the Vodafone carrier network.
(Source: Microsoft, 2002)
This allows mobile users to:
- Syncronise Exchange data for offline use - Microsoft Server ActiveSync (SAS)
- Contact people in real-time - MSN Instant Messenger
- Get access to the right information - Intranet and Internet access
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Device Review: Motorola MC75 - rugged enterprise digital assistant |
When it comes to getting serious about your mobile computing needs, Motorola’s MC75 EDA is a rugged piece of equipment you can’t ignore. |
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Pimp your smart phone |
You've got your smart phone and you know there are lots of applications you can download that can really make the most of its capabilities. The question is: which ones are the most useful? |
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Device Review: Bluetouch |
Thanks to all of the media coverage of late, we’re all aware that driving whilst talking on your mobile phone will soon land you a hefty ticket, so what better time to introduce a car kit that can ease your pain? |
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Why TXT' changes everything: advertising 2.0 |
With today's advertising budgets expected to stretch further than ever before, smart media buyers are taking another look at the mobile phone's 'killer app'. David McNickel investigates. |
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Mobile ad spending set to soar |
Marketing trends research firm eMarketer.com is predicting global spend on mobile advertising will more than quadruple over the next four years to hit more than $US19 billion by 2012. |
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Notebooks have it tough |
Laptops have a higher failure rate than desktop PCs, but it’s not the manufacturers who are to blame, it’s clumsy users. |
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Mobile safety |
For years people have speculated and worried about getting cancer from cellphone radiatio, or untimely phone calls setting petrol stations alight. But what is becoming tragically clear is that the biggest danger of mobile phones is their apparently innocent and disturbingly widespread use behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. |
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Putting coupons in mobile users' hands |
More than one-third (37%) of US consumers surveyed who received text-message-based advertising were more likely to respond to an incentive such as a retail coupon or free song or ringtone, according to a September 2008 study by ABI Research. Only 11% of respondents said such incentives would not influence them. |
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Get smart! Get out of the office |
Smartphone capabilities and options are constantly evolving. We investigate what today's technology can offer the mobile executive. |
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Time to embrace mobile advertising |
After a number of false starts mobile is shaping up as an exciting medium for advertising. Here's why brands should embrace this new medium and how they can start to learn what works and what doesn't. |
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Mobile broadband picks up the pace for business |
Technology advances mean mobile broadband is becoming a must-have business tool. We look at the devices you need, the deals you can get, and the reasons for calling 3G. |
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Converged services: worth a bundle |
In a competitive business environment, loyalty should be rewarded, and telecommunications companies get this. So what can you get if you put all your telecommunications business with one provider? |
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Get smart(er) |
Most phones these days can access the internet and send and receive basic emails, so the concept of a smart phone is somewhat confusing. |
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Field force automation delivers the goods for courier companies |
Despite encountering a range of problems with early hardware, two of New Zealand's largest logistics companies have remained firmly committed to mobile technology. |
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Mobile email evolves beyond Blackberry |
Since Blackberry first hit the market in 1999, other handset vendors, Microsoft, telcos and hosted service providers have all risen to the challenge of making mobile email an attractive business proposition. Vikki Bland finds out first hand how simple and convenient it has become. |
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2007 battle lines drawn for SOHO telecommunication market |
The days of having to take business calls from a desk-bound landline are long gone. But what does the near future hold for small business telecommunications? What mobile phones, devices and services will be used – and who’s going to offer them? |
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Making tracks... |
Security, productivity, cost savings and fleet logistical management are all key drivers behind the latest range of vehicle tracking solutions – David McNickel profiles the options. |
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Mobile channel cast in starring role |
When one of the entertainment industry’s big names moved into mobile marketing the company immediately increased promotional response by a staggering 500%. |
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What can you do with 1GB |
Fancy 50 hours of videoconferencing each month? How about sending or receiving 2,500 photos, 100,000 emails or 1,000 PowerPoint presentations? Vikki Bland discovers what’s possible when you have a gigabyte of mobile data to play with. |
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Sales on the move |
Closing the deal on the spot and having sales transaction information flow straight into backend systems is the sure fire way to get greater revenue and productivity from your mobile sales staff. David McNickel investigates the inherent power of today’s mobile sales applications. |
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7 steps to making your network wireless |
Wireless networks allow SOHO users to work anywhere in their homes or offices, while larger companies can save on infrastructure costs or even change the way their staff work. But where do you start, and what about security? Here is our seven-point guide to setting up a wireless network whether for small business or corporate scale. |
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Device Review: Motorola L7 SLVR |
If you like Motorola’s RAZR design but would prefer something that doesn’t bend in the middle, the SLVR (short for ‘sliver’ we think) offers the RAZR’s design flair in solidstate format. |
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Vehicle tracking: dollars, sense and big brother |
Rocketing oil prices are making vehicle tracking systems easier to justify in financial terms, but what will your drivers think? We asked three vehicle tracking solution providers to state their business case. |
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2006 New Zealand Mobile Business survey – could do better |
New Zealand's businesses are geared up for mobility, but are yet to make the most of the functionality and services available, according to the 967 respondents to New Zealand's first mobile business survey. There are, however, some notable exceptions with certain technologies, industries and organisational sizes. |
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Taking Skype for a test drive |
Internet telephony and a new breed of powerful personal digital assistants are revolutionising communications. We took the internet telephony application Skype for a test drive on a Telecom Apache PDA/Smartphone. |
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WiFi your house |
What does it take to WiFi your home, and what can you do once you’ve done it? Vikki Bland has all the answers. |
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Text means business |
While it is clearly the communications method of choice for teenagers, to dismiss text messaging as ‘something kids do’ is making a big mistake. David McNickel takes a close up look at the new face of texting – commercial applications that matter. |
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Mobile email - the easy way |
If email was the killer application of the nineties, mobile email must be this decade’s must have business tool. And it’s not rocket science anymore. These days even modest mobile phones are capable, and getting email to and from them is much simpler. Vikki Bland reports. |
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Download the Enterprise Resource Kit today! |
Do you need to find out how your business will benefit from a mobile solution? Download Microsoft's Enterprise Resource Kit for all the information you need -- white papers, tips, deployment guides, and customer success stories will help you make the right decision for your business. |
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Understanding the security challenges of mobile devices |
Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Security360 with Mike Nash: Understanding the Security Challenges of Mobile Devices. |
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Escape the office this summer |
Will your smartphone allow you to escape to the beach this summer – and stay there an extra week while still editing and dispatching docs, emails and spreadsheets like you’re actually in the office? The answer is yes. David McNickel explains how. |
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Sir Bob Jones: cellphone addiction |
I do not understand, to the point of bafflement, why people carry telephones around with them for commercial purposes. They got along much better before these things turned up. |
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Overcoming mistrust in the mobile workplace |
Research by mobile computing manufacturer Toshiba suggests that the slow uptake of flexible working is due to mistrust of employees rather than a lack of technology. |
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Share the Know How |
The Linc Group used Pocket PCs to help their workers share information and expertise with their co-workers spread across 43 states. Find out how they did this! |
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Mobile email for business |
Email is perhaps the most important functionality in current mobile devices – be they PDAs or mobile phones. But with security now all important, business users need enterprise grade mail solutions for their people in the field – offering a combination of pull and push techniques to give the always-on email experience. |
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Super 12 text messaging campaigns build fan loyalty |
Super 12 fans either kept warm at matches or busy on the sofa by thumbing their way through 500,000 text messages this season. We look at the results of another successful TXT campaign hosted by RunTheRed. |
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Run The Red announce Telecom Super 12 partnership |
The cementing of the Super 12 account continues Run the Red's successful partnership with Telecom NZ, following on from the America’s Cup promotion, which broke through one million texts in just 77 days, making it possibly the most successful SMS competition of its type in New Zealand. |
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Massive response to America's Cup TXT competition |
The Telecom $100,000 America's Cup text challenge developed by mobile enabling company Run The Red has generated nearly half a million text messages in just two weeks, said Director Ben Northrop. |
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TXT competition to take 2 to TUAMAN training |
Award winning Wellington based wireless marketing firm, RUN THE RED, announces the successful launch of the first “Official” David Tua text messaging campaign in partnership with www.tuaman.com and Sky TV. |
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'Game On' has lessons for successful SMS marketing |
Run The Red Director Justin Boersma has a word of advice for anyone planning to harness the power of SMS-based text promotions: If you intend to run your campaign for any length of time, plan to introduce new game features to maintain player/subscriber interest and attract new players. |
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Labour trials SMS technology to 'reach' youth |
In what is believed to be the first example of its use in New Zealand, the Parliamentary Labour Party has enlisted the expertise of mobile enablement company Run The Red Ltd to trial an SMS-based text service to provide information to, and seek feedback from, young people on issues of interest. |
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Mobile business - the case becomes compelling |
Kiwis love being mobile and now businesses are enthusiastically catching on. Vikki Bland investigates the social and economic trends driving increasing numbers of local companies toward mobile technology and what they can expect once they start digging. |
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Device Review: Falcon PDA/Mobile Phone |
Ah, true convergence - a Pocket PC and a mobile phone in one. The Falcon comes with an Intel 400MHz processor and 64MB of RAM which, when you think about it, is about as powerful as desktop computers were 10 years ago. |
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Wireless field force management made easier |
The Smartphone is set to challenge the screwdriver and hammer as the most valuable tool used by trades and service people. |
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Device Review: i-Mate Smartphone2 |
Vodafone now offer the i-mate Smartphone2 through its branded stores, and is actively promoting it as part of their 'Mobilise' campaign (which includes the i-mate Pocket PC Phone Edition and the Mobile Connect Card). |
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Device Review: BlackBerry 7230 |
After using the BlackBerry it’s easy to see why more than a million people (business people in particular) now carry one. It’s easy to use, keeps the user always in contact with email and it’s a mobile phone too. |
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Phone Review: Sony Ericsson K700i |
In terms of its size and overall presentation, the K700i sits somewhere in the mobile phone middle ground. It’s not the smallest handset we’ve reviewed, but while being larger than the Panasonic X300, for example, it is considerably smaller than the Nokia 2280. |
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Device Profile: Siemens S65 |
The S65 is the latest in the Siemens ‘S’ series of business phones. Elegant looking with a black plastic and brushed aluminium finish, the S65 comes with a solid suite of business and connectivity tools and also features a 1.3 megapixel camera. |
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Email to mobile - here’s how |
Are you one of the thousands who’ve heard about email to your mobile – but still haven’t got a clue how to do it? Vikki Bland tells you how. |
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JetStream roll-out gaining ground with business |
Telecom say Stewart Islanders have been quick to give JetStream a try after the Half Moon Bay exchange was upgraded for broadband last month. |
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Broadband roll-out hindered say TUANZ |
While TUANZ says NZ is lagging behind in broadband uptake, Telecom say they’re doing all they can. |
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WiFi explained |
Everything you ever wanted to know about the latest communications revolution. Keith Newman answers the WiFi FAQ's. |
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Which mobile device for your business? |
Where once our mobiles were lovingly referred as bricks, they've now morphed into a range of different devices operating on quite diverse networks. So which mobile solution is right for your business? Vikki Bland investigates what's on offer - and talks with business people about what they're using and why. |
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Work from the beach? yes it's possible |
Working from home is a good idea, but working from paradise is better - David McNickel looks at the emerging reality of hi-speed access from (somewhat) remote locations, and how it's changing the face of work in New Zealand. |
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It's time to unleash your road warriors! |
In today's world, whether for business or fun, wireless communication is where it's at. It is, in the words of Vodafone New Zealand, - the future. But there's more to it than that - data is a more complex beast than voice and you need to know the differences between the networks. Vikki Bland speaks openly with Vodafone and Telecom Mobile about their strengths and weaknesses so that you can make more informed decisions this year. |
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To 3G or not to 3G, what was the question? |
To understand where mobile data is going, it helps to understand how mobile networks have progressed. Vikki Bland explains what the "G" means, what "G" we're up to and when we can expect the big "3G". |
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What the analysts are picking |
Worldwide wireless enterprise interoperability revenues should rise from $9.5 billion in 2003 to over $80 billion by 2006 according to Kinetic. That's a big call, so what exactly is "wireless interoperability"? |
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Making mobiles multi-modal |
When having to drive somewhere new, exactly one-half of wireless internet users would like to view a map on a mobile device, rather than hear directions through the device, reports In-Stat/MDR. But how safe is it to drive with such a device? |
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TVNZ's BCL has Broadband strategy for all NZ |
TVNZ-owned Broadcast Communications (BCL) wants to help the nation's telecommunications carriers provide fast-internet access into rural and regional New Zealand, a task which has been in the 'too hard' basket for several years. |
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Understanding Bluetooth |
This article explains technology characteristics and workings of Bluetooth, a short-range wireless connectivity technology that lets devices automatically recognize, connect and transfer data between each other. |
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Sales Force Automation |
Customer demand for instant information and faster service whilst demanding competitive prices and narrower margins, continues to pressure your sales force for higher productivity at lower costs. Yours company's ability to equip its field sales team to more efficiently handle customer requirement is determining competitive advantage between it and its competition. Your deployment of mobile computing solutions to your field sales force may be the difference between winning or losing business in today's fast-paced marketplace. |
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Deliver us from dial-up |
Let's just change the name of Northland to Broadbandland and be done with it - because life for the telecommunications user in the North is gonna to be just peachy, if you believe all you hear. |
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Mmmmmm...Payments |
M-Payments – the TV ads are running and the media machine is in motion – but should we be expecting to turn our ‘cell phones into buy phones’ anytime soon? Vodafone says of course, but Telecom isn’t so sure. Vikki Bland investigates. |
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Getting your emails onto your mobile - here's how? |
Are you one of the thousands who've heard about email to your mobile - but still haven't got a clue how to get it? Vikki Bland explains the steps. |
If researching in Australia, go to the iStart Australia Mobile Business Research Pavilion
