2. Saving and Backing up Files
Dropbox:
Storage service for documents which can be accessed on multiple
platforms. https://www.dropbox.com/
Evernote:
Save everything you need in one place. http://evernote.com/
Google Drive:
Store data and edit documents. http://drive.google.com/
HighTail
Send large files. https://www.hightail.com/
CloudOn
Create, edit and share Microsoft Office docs. http://www.cloudon.com/
Box
Back up, save and share files. https://m.app.box.com/
3. Productivity
Google Wallet
Buy and send money electronically. http://www.google.com/wallet/
CamScanner
Document scanner. http://www.intsig.com/en/camscanner.html
Camcard
Business card reader. https://www.camcard.com/
WiFi Finder
Instantly find FREE Wi-Fi Internet hotspots
4. Productivity
SignEasy:
Sign legal documents from a phone. http://getsigneasy.com/
Last Pass
Password Storage. https://lastpass.com/go-premium/
Brewster:
Online address book. https://www.brewster.com/
Trello:
Infused to-do list. https://trello.com/
5. Mobile Payment
Square:
Mobile payment app. https://squareup.com/
Authorize.net
Mobile payment app. http://www.authorize.net/
PayPal
Mobile payment app.
https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/mobile-apps
6. Social Media
Hootsuite:
Social Media Manager. https://hootsuite.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/mobile/
Facebook Pages Manager
https://www.facebook.com/help/
Google+
https://www.google.com/mobile/+/
Twitter
https://about.twitter.com/
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/mobile
Foursquare
https://foursquare.com/
8. Travel
Google Maps
Free maps, navigation and directions.
https://www.google.com/mobile/maps/
Waze
Community based traffic and navigation app. https://www.waze.com/
Uber
Connects user to a driver. https://www.uber.com/
HopStop
Provides transit directions. https://www.hopstop.com/mobile
9. Travel
Open Table
Make online restaurant reservations.
http://www.opentable.com/mobile/
Zipcar (car sharing service)
Find and book a Zipcar. http://www.zipcar.com/mobile
Tripit:
Travel organization tool. https://www.tripit.com/
10. Communication
Google Hangouts
Video chat service. http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/
Skype
Video chat service. http://www.skype.com
Viber
Call, text and share anyone anywhere. http://www.viber.com/
WhatsApp:
Multi platform real time group text/ chat messaging service.
http://www.whatsapp.com/
11. Smart Phone Usage
As of Jan 2014: 90% of Americans own a cell
phone
As of Jan 2014: 58% of American adults have a
smartphone
68% of smartphone owners use their phone to
access social media
60% of smart phone owners use their phone to
access the Internet
50% of smart phone owners use their phone to
download apps
12. Get Mobile!
Make sure you are serving the needs of your
mobile users.
Is your website mobile friendly?
Are you on social media?
Make your business available 24/7
14. Contact
Ellen Anderson
Virtual Reference
Librarian
Geneva Public Library
District
Geneva, IL 60134
eanderson@gpld.org
(630)232-0780x241
gpld.org
Editor's Notes
Hello and thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you regarding mobile apps for business. For the first part of my presentation, I have put together a list of popular apps dedicated to business productivity. For the second part, I will talk about why it is important for your customers and patrons to have a mobile presence for your business. So, now I will start off by discussing some apps you can use for your business. And a disclaimer before I begin regarding these apps. These are common apps that have been on the market for some time. Most of them have started out as online companies and have since come out with a way to use their product as an app. Thus, all of these apps are available for both Andriod and iPhone. These apps are free to sign up for and free to download. I cannot say, though, that they will always be free. Companies change their interfaces, their policies and thus sometimes there can be upgrade fees, full version fees, etc. But, for the most part these are free to inexpensive mobile apps.
Dropbox: Back up service you can back up files, pictures and share with others. Allows automatic back up of folders and you can access these files anywhere you have the dropbox app. You can share doc instantly with other ppl.
Evernote: This app allows you to save and capture your notes, ideas and important webpages, documents and pictures. You can store your ideas and access them from your computer and your phone and allows users to search by keyword to locate the information once it is saved.
Google Drive: store and edit your documents, share documents with others but also acts as a cloud service giving you the first 5GB of storage for free
HighTail: Free to send docs up to 500MB over that you can buy a plan which allows you to send and store large files. They rival Dropbox an have said they are a more secure service and allows users the option of having legal documents virtually signed securly.
CloudOn: Get set to create, review and share Microsoft Office® docs
Box: lets you store all of your content online, so you can access, manage and share it from anywhere.
Google Hangouts: Helpful for video conferencing
Last Pass: You can set up and download this app for free but to actually be able to use the Password storage you will need to sign up for a pro account which is $12 a month. I did go to their website and they have all their details listed, they are very nice about telling you upfront you do need a pro account and what they do.
Google Wallet:
CamScanner:
Camcard:
WiFi Finder:
Tripit: Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
Expensify: record and scan receipts, import any credit card transaction, log travel plans, track mileage, log hours earned, also gain analytics of spending and types of spending
Square: Mobile payment app that allows you to scan a credit card on your phone to pay for a purchase. This app is free to sign up for, but is not free to use. They offer different pricing an plans, upgrades, but really was made to record and accept credit card payments via smartphone. This allows you to accept quick payments and keep track of your payments while you are in or out of your physical building.
SignEasy: enable the employees to sign documents or get in-person signatures from any mobile device
WhatsApp: WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. This app using your data plan instead of counting against your incoming text messages. This is helpful if you have an unlimited data plan. You can talk to your friends from different providers for free.
Hootsuite: allows users to manage posting to several social media platforms at the same time. You set up times for future posting dates to automatically update your statuses. Through Hootsuite you can manage Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Foursquare.
If you are only on one social media platform and don’t want to worry about having a manager, get the social media app you have on your phone. This will allow you to update your status, answer messages and posts from your customers from your phone. All the social media tools have mobile apps and your customers and patrons will have them too, so you need to make sure you are keeping up with them by having the social media apps on your phone.
Facebook:
Facebook Pages Manager:
Google+:
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
Foursquare:
These are just a few examples of social media. Depending on what your business is on, you may want to find that specific app such as Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram just to name a few. There is a lot of social media out there
Brewster: Brewster is your personalized address book that replaces the age-old A-to-Z contact list with one that understands your relationships.
Brewster re-imagines what an address book should do for you. It shows you who's trending in your life and who you are losing touch with. It also allows you to search
Trello: Infused to do list. You can share, create and organize the things you need to get done. Allows to break down your tasks into steps.
Mint: Organizes and categorizes your spending for you. You can see where your money is going by creating charts and graphs that are easy to understand
InDinero: Pretty popular right now for businesses also only available for ios
GoogleMaps:
Waze:
Uber:
HopStop: Helps with directions around cities in the US and international cities in Canada, Isreal, United Kingdom, France Australia and more. Most include transit maps and help to find the closest stops. Right now this app is available for ios only. They seem to be relatively new company bc they don’t have every major city’s maps available yet
OpenTable:
Zipcar:
Smartphone usage in 2011 for the first time surpassed regular cell phone usage. More adults now have smartphones than regular phones. It is now more important than ever to be online and be accessible by a smartphone or tablet.
This means you must make sure you are serving the needs of your mobile users. Make sure your website is not only friendly to a desktop or laptop computer but also the page can be usable and readable when accessed from a tablet or smartphone. If you would like an example of this, please visit the Geneva Public Library District’s webpage at gpld.org. You can see how our website looks from a desktop PC, a tablet and a smart phone. Our website automatically resizes based on what device you are accessing our site from. We have designed our webpage so when it does automatically resize (responsive design) it is readable from all platforms.
Are you on social media? If not, think about making a presence on social media. Like I discussed before, customers use their phones to access their social media. Being on these tools that are already web and mobile friendly gets your message to more users.
Also, another reason for being mobile friendly is that customers and patrons can find your site, find your information, and contact you 24/7. Whether this is through your social media platforms, your mobile site or your app. You can be interacting with them and making it easier for them to find you.
