My, how our dictionary has changed. Podcast, Skype,
Wikipedia, Googlebot and WiMax were all regularly used terms during 2005. VoIP,
WiFi, Blog, iPod, and SEO are in every day vocabularies. By the way, SEO stands
for Search Engine Optimization just in case you?re uninformed like the vast
majority of the populace, and I believe Podcast was Webster?s Word of The Year
for 2005.
That was then, and now it?s today. What was important and
functional yesterday may not be the case tomorrow. There has been exponential
change in relation to the calendar, in the field of communications technology
advancement. What I mean by that is that the changes that have taken place over
the past year or two have been far greater than the changes over the past
decade, which in turn have been far greater than the changes over the past 20
years.
The common thread among the terms above is that they
either relate to wireless or internet technologies, or both. The technology
advances, and public acceptance of those new technologies in the year 2005,
have been astounding. It would follow logic that the same will continue to
happen in 2006.
So let?s examine the recent past a little more closely to
see how our behavior has been affected. John Campbell, a Telecom Consultant
with Schooley Mitchell in Halifax wrote an article for The Nova Scotia Business
Journal that described the experience of a Marketing VP. She was booking a trip
through her travel agent and made a specific request for ?hot spots?. As little
as three years ago that probably would have meant the best beaches, bars, and
restaurants. However, she was requesting the hotels where she could access the
Internet through her laptop using wireless technology.
Whether it?s toll booth passes, debit transactions at the
gas station, or courier package delivery, the wireless world is upon us.
Consistent with evolutionary theory, teenagers have
sprouted a new appendage. It?s a wireless device referred to as a cell phone.
Except that cell phone isn?t for conversations in emergencies. It?s for text
messages, playing MP3s, and downloading videos - and of course, you simply
can?t be without one if you?re under 25.
In other developments, Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) has gained wide acceptance evidenced by the wide myriad of vendors that
have entered that marketplace to carve out a piece of the market share pie. The
variant flavors and options available in the world of VoIP seem to be
increasing everyday, to the point where it?s very difficult for the average
business person to determine whether they should or shouldn?t, and if they do,
which option do they choose.
Campbell mentions Advanced Call Routing, Unified
Messaging, and long distance toll bypass as some advantages of VoIP. The
Follow-Me feature makes it transparent to the caller in terms of whether the
call is connecting to a conference room in Orlando, a hotel room in Vancouver,
or a cottage on the Great Lakes.
Increased Internet functionality, including Intranet,
Extranet, Enterprisenet, and more, are all variations of Internet business
applications that have become widespread in the recent past to serve the needs
of global economies. More and more ?hosted applications? are being developed,
which means that you can work on the same General Ledger or Contact Management
Database in Salt Lake City and Singapore at the same time. In fact, in a book
titled ?The World is Flat ? A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century?,
Thomas L. Friedman talks about the widespread changes to world economies based
on technological advancements.
Friedman?s message centers around the fact that
web-enabled and wireless technologies are ?flattening? the world so that basic
business services such as call centers, back room accounting, and HR department
management can be provided from India or China, just as easily as Pittsburgh.
Restaurant reservations, income tax returns, and flower deliveries will
actually be completed through Shanghai or Bangladesh, as opposed to Boston or
Toronto.
His message is not one of dire straits, although it does
carry a warning that we need to be prepared, and educated to adapt to the
inevitable changes that a ?flat? world will bring. Instead, the message is one
of changing opportunities, and better efficiencies, if the reality is accepted,
and the reaction is proper.
So, where are we going? Well, those teenagers will be
watching TV on their cell phones next year on a regular basis. Actually, my
prediction is that the term cell phone will disappear over the next few years
because of the vast number of functions that will be available through a
wireless device that will be portable. Telephone calls will be just a minor
part of the mix.
At a recent presentation I attended that was hosted by
the Gartner Group, the predictions included the ability to take temperature and
heart rate with the wireless device that will soon be on the shelves, and
therefore attached to your belt. Diabetics will be able to monitor blood sugar.
You will be able to read bar codes, and check out right in the store, including
the monetary transaction. Your earpiece will talk to you to tell you to turn
left so you don?t get lost as you drive through the city. I don?t think the
device will make your lunch or tie your shoes just yet, but perhaps I need to
open my mind.
At a recent Conference for Schooley Mitchell Telecom
Consultants, Mikko Salminen of Nokia in Finland made a presentation describing
the migration of businesses to wireless devices as opposed to the desk phones
everyone has been using since telephone invention. The statistics from around
the world are astounding, but that?s the subject of another article. Suffice it
to say that businesses will benefit from the ability of their people to
communicate with customers, vendors, and coworkers without having proximity to
their desk.
Yes, it?s a brave new world. In order to prosper, we must
heed the message that no man?s knowledge here can go beyond his experience. In
other words, embracing new technologies, and accepting ?flatness? will lead to
opportunity. Opportunity, like oxygen must continually be exchanged. Once
oxygen is taken into your lungs it turns to carbon dioxide. So as oxygen is the
fuel of the body but has a limited life, opportunity is the fuel of success and
future achievement. However, opportunity must be used before it turns to the
metaphorical carbon dioxide.
So the message is to accept that these changes are upon us.
The world will continue to develop more and more Internet applications to make
the rudimentary parts of life easier to manage. Wireless applications will
continue to develop and will astound us in terms of what can be achieved. And
the world will be ?flatter?. If that?s a problem it?s also an opportunity.
Maybe it?s an even bigger opportunity than an economic
one for those wise enough to take advantage of the fluid and changing
environment. One of Friedman?s tenets is that as the world supply chains become
more intermingled and interdependent based on these technology advances, then
the likelihood to war with each other will become less. If companies are
dependent on companies in other countries to provide accounting functions, HR
management, and day-to-day services, then it will be an encourager to work it
out, instead of shoot it out. Now that?s a nice thought.
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Your Bio: Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley
Mitchell Telecom Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He
writes for publication, as well as for schooleymitchell.blogging.com and
franchises.blogging.com, in the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology
for the Layman. www.schooleymitchell.com,
888-311-6477, dschooley@schooleymitchell.com.
