Tech Bytes: SmartphonesMike VernonSmartphones, PDA, organization,
Mike Vernon is the National
Association of Mortgage Brokers Technology Committee co-chair,
as well as the vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of
Mortgage Brokers. Every month, Mike will be on hand to help
establish a baseline of knowledge, relative to technology, for
anyone within the industryfrom the tech-savvy to the
technologically challengedwho wants to know.
Weve come a long way since the 80s, when big hair ruled, Joe
Montana was winning Super Bowls and you could purchase a fake cell
phone as a status symbol to hold to your ear as you drove your car.
Remember Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street, walking down
the beach, carrying something that then looked totally high tech
but now looks like something that would appear in an old M*A*S*H
episode? And yes, they even used to come with their own portable
bag. As these ubiquitous devices have gotten smaller and better
over the years, you have to ask yourself whether you have caught
the wave of information technology or have been left in its
wake.
For years, cell phones kept getting smaller and smaller, and
then along came personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the need to
organize your information on the go. Imagine being on a sales call
with a client and first needing to check your laptop to review a
listing for a particular purchase and then needing to go into a
separate area to review an approval that has been e-mailed to you.
In order to schedule a viewing, you would then have to open up your
PDA and verify the activities you have set for the coming week, as
well as the phone number for a rarely used title company. Then, to
top it all off, you have to then make a call back to the office
from your cell phone to speak with your assistant and verify that a
particular loan has funded. In this example, three different
devices are needed to make your life more efficient and less
complicated & hardly.
If you are in this worst-case mode of action, it is time to
review some of the fantastic new products that are on the market
today and some that will be out in the coming months and years.
These smartphones combine the best features of all of your handheld
devices, as well as a few from your desktop workhorse, into one
sleek piece of techno wizardry.
Generally speaking, there are two different kinds of
smartphones. The more common and inexpensive version is a phone
that utilizes basic PDA functions, as well as other basic e-mail
capabilities. These enable the user to log into corporate
environments and servers, as well as access the Web with basic
mobility. You may be able to receive large files, but you more than
likely wont be able to view them.
The next level of smartphones mirrors the capabilities of your
desktop, and they will enable you to take your business up a notch.
With these little powerhouses, you may be able to review the
multiple listing service, run Windows-based software, browse the
Web freely, text message and view complex files. It basically
functions as a mini laptop computer you can carry in your pocket
and still make phone calls on.
The ability to take basic photographs and video is usually found
on both versions, but only where image quality isnt critical. You
would also, on some models, be able to attach sound to images,
which could be a fantastic feature when sending a picture of a
house to a client. After taking the leap from basic PDA functions
on your Treo or Blackberry to a more Windows-based environment, the
next steps get even more exciting. The technology that is currently
being used in highway toll-taking systems and in retailers
utilizing barcode scanners will soon find its way to your cell
phone. Radio frequency identification tags, which are tiny chips
with built-in radios and wireless scanners that pick up signals
from these radios, could someday enable you to stroll through a
supermarket checkout line without stopping and have the entire
contents of your cart scanned and then billed directly to your
phone. This technology is currently being used in Europe, where
commuters are able to use their cell phones as a mass-transit pass
or even to purchase tickets.
The opportunities are many, and even if people dont actually
embrace the idea of paying for everything with their cell phones,
imagine the possibilities if you were able to walk up to a pair of
running shoes in a large box store, stick your cell phone next to
it, get a reading from a barcode on the box and then instantly
being directed toward an unbiased product review of those same
shoes. Media companies are driving some of this technology, and it
wont be long before you will be able to scan a barcode from a movie
poster and immediately be taken to a trailer of that movie on your
high definition smartphone.
Sticking to applications closer to home, real estate
professional Robert Hamilton, owner of Re/Max Realty All Pros in
Greensburg, Pa., utilizes many of the features on his smartphone,
which enables him to operate much more efficiently. Not only is he
able to use his phone to open up a lockbox at a vacant house, but
it also updates him on any homes that are put onto the market, as
well as any time another agent enters one of his listings.
Utilizing Global Positioning System capabilities and some of the
basic street-finder software on the market, Hamilton and his
clients never have to worry about giving or receiving directions to
a listing.
This type of technology makes me more effective and more
productive, which, in the end, makes me a better agent for the
customers I serve day in and day out, said Hamilton. It also sets
me apart from those I compete with, which increases my referral
potential, and thats a win in my world every time.
So dont be one of those people who has to fumble with multiple
pieces of hardware before making his next move. Review your wants
and needs carefully, and make sure that your service provider can
handle what you are looking for in this next wave of smartphone
technology. As the technology advances, these little workhorses
become easier and easier to use. So lose that bag full of gadgets,
grab a smartphone and get back to selling.
Mike Vernon is the Technology Committee co-chair for the
National Association of Mortgage Brokers, vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Mortgage
Brokers and president of FollowYourCustomer
Inc. He may be reached at (877) 365-5692 or e-mail
[email protected].
