Guest Blogger
Kenneth Davis
Educational Consultant
Peoria, AZ
623-398-5669
educationalplanning@hotmail.com
Most Educational Consultants would not admit their smart phones may be smarter than they are. However, Educational Consultants we have spoken to “eventually admit that smart phone technology is much faster than they are.” We have had a chance to ask this question of several fellow consultants, and usually the verdict is still out on whether consultants really know much about smart phone devices. Some claim they own a smart phone, while others admit they really don’t know the difference between a smart phone and their older version cell phone. Smart phones might surprise you with their numerous applications as well as usefulness to your practice.
Some consultants would say “I am still learning how to use my smart phone,” or admit they have not been able to keep with the rapid changes in smart phone technology. Technology is rapidly changing, which has made it hard to “keep up to speed” in this growing and changing market. Many consultants are finding smart phones have more applications than even their lap top computers. Besides having multiple use, they are simpler to carry than a lap top.
But the jury is still out whether smart phones are smarter than consultants. Some would say they are, others would say, not so! Some still say “word of mouth” is better than any smart phone. In the past, however, consultants have used multiple phones or devices for many different functions. They now are finding the smart phone can do all these functions. Some of the reasons for choosing a smart phone seem very practical, especially since technology is faster than we are. The trend is definitely moving to devices with multiple applications.
Most smart phone may be smarter than most consultants because of all the things they are capable of doing: sending email, texting messages, having conference calls, uploading files, or even using it as a modem for a computer. Many consultants, unable to track calls, are finding their smart phone can do the tracking for them as well as function as a business calendar. These phones even have an alarm clock.
Smart phones may be sitting in boxes in our home offices, but they are still leaving us behind. Slowly smart phones are finding their way out of those boxes simply because a regular cell phone is just “not cutting it anymore.”
Some consultants have made the switch to a smart phone by default, because the old one simply doesn’t work well enough any more.
Long gone are the days of having a personal secretary to manage files in an office, or saving information on a floppy disk. Gone are the days of the simple mobile phones, and your thinking : “ that’s pretty neat. What will they come out with next”. What’s next could be a sleeker lap top like the one just introduced by Apple, or a new i Phone2, smarter and having more applications for users.
Today consultants will find “you don’t have to miss a client while having a conference call, you can be smarter and wiser by using your smart phone and save time”. Many are now finding using their smart phone is much easier than going to their computer. Now you can upload photos on your smart phone, have a video posted on your Facebook page, link your social networking sites to video blogs, receive text messages in an instant, and check your schedule and appointment book, blend your comment on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In and watch a movie trailer in a wink of an eye. While some consultants have resisted this change, even they are finding voice mail may be considered passe compared with the applications (Apps) used by a smart phone.
Those consultants who are challenged to become smarter or as smart in the use of as the devices are moving in a lot faster speed in their practices and keeping pace with the global world. Now consultants are becoming smarter in text messaging clients, often spending more time in their practices communicating faster with other consultants and connecting globally with families around the world. Those consultants who are learning their smart phone can schedule a conference call, text a client, schedule a flight, confirm an appointment, get a destination for a tour, arrange a meeting with a family in minutes. While some consultants are still finding it difficult to use their smart phones for all those purposes, most find it clearly a help when they are more familar with the devices. Many consultants these days are using smart phone technology devices in airports, rental cars, hotels, in route to schools, at conferences, and tours. Some consultants may have a conference call while an incoming call is being logged on their smart phone. They might have to arrange an appointment and speak to a parent at the same time. Unless they spend the time to learn about the phone, Educational Consultants may find a smart phone is smarter than they are.
To the surprise of many consultants, calling parents from another state or country is easily done on a smart phone device. With an unlimited text plan you can send unlimited messages to clients in seconds or you might find yourself “texting in the middle of the night” . This craze in smart phones may offer more advantages to your office, saving you time and money.
With more ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic traditional cell phone, smart phone devices are sometimes smarter than all of us, let alone educational consultants. A smart phone may be thought of as handheld computers integrated within a mobile telephone device. A smart phone allows the user to install and run more advanced applications than ever before. Smart phones run complete operating system software providing applications which are very broad.
Growth in demand for advanced mobile devices boasting powerful processors, abundant memory, larger screens, open operating systems, and sleeker devices , has outpaced the rest of the mobile phone market for over a decade. According to a study by ComScore, in 2010 over 45.5 million people in the United States owned smart phones and it is the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone market, which comprised 234 million subscribers in the United States- Wikopedia.
Smart phone users are becoming more sophisticated in choice of smart phones and more savy in its use. Many consultants will find in their own practice having a smart phone is smart business. Most mobile phones have personal PDA ( Personal Data Systems) which stores information like: telephone numbers, files, and calls, among other features. A consultant losing data can retrieve this data from a SIM card or Data Device within the smart phone. A SIM card is a part of a smart phone device, which is used to store data, which information can be transferred from one phone to another.
Educational Consutants using smart phones will find it a smart investment for their business and for their clients.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, coming from some IT experience, I would suggest that a “smart phone” is a computer and, as such, is not smarter the a consultant because it is in the hands of each person where any tool finds it’s true potential. In my case, I would say I need to hone my skills using these phone so I can look “smart”.
The concept reminds me of the story of the Tortoise & the Hare. The hare is much faster but the tortoise is dedicated, focused, thoughtful, and sticks with it until the race is won. When working with kids and families speed is less important than getting it right. On the topic of getting it right a smart phone is not there to provide support and has no ability to help things go right. In short, I love my smart phone but if my family were in crisis I would trade it in a nanosecond to have an Educational Consultant by my side. A good Educational Consultant with a smart phone is efficient but I think it is a mistake to remove the human element and to think that technology alone will be able to solve your problems or help you make the best choices. Smart phones are great but when you get down to the human element the consultant is much smarter.