Apps
for Business
There are an ever growing
number of apps available for business.
These are intended to provide individuals and businesses new
tools that will help to increase productivity, sales, visibility,
efficiency, team work, collaboration, and leadership.
In order to help you find the apps that fit your individual
needs, we have reprinted several lists of business-focused apps compiled
by professionals who have studied the app market.
Obviously, these lists are not exhaustive; rather they are only
intended to help you to initially scan some of the more popular
business-related apps.
List
One: 7
Business Apps Every Professional Should Download
Reprinted with permission from WorkIntelligent.ly
Written by Kevin Purdy https://twitter.com/
kevinpurdy
Smartphones have given today’s mobile
workers the ability to not have to worry about having everything they
need before they get moving. Which is great, until they end up in a
conference, airplane, or other no-reception zone without the crucial
One Thing I Need. Good smartphone and tablet tools don't just provide
access – they think ahead and plan for contingencies, like a
personal assistant. They’re the tools that can make your job a whole
lot easier.
Which apps do this? We happen to have seven of
them, linked and ready for installing. The best part: all of them,
except one category, are free, and the one that isn’t free is notably
less than a hamburger.
1. TripIt
TripIt is
a personal assistant for travel, especially if you give it access to
your email inbox and let it scan for tickets and itineraries. Afterward,
you literally don’t have to do anything except open the app to see all
the details: your confirmation number, your departure time, the address
of your hotel, the distance to the conference center, and the website of
the restaurant you’re supposed to eat at Friday night. Open it up at
least once before you journey and TripIt will hold your travel details
for offline viewing, in case you don’t want to spring for WiFi on the
plane. (iPhone/iPad, Android)
2. QuickOffice
There are all kinds of mobile business apps
that claim to work well with Microsoft Office documents, but only so
many offer only read-only access. Those that do offer
editing tools often want to tie you into their own cloud storage
schemes. Not QuickOffice.
This app was recently acquired by Google, but it still works as a
utilitarian open, edit, and save solution for quick views and
adjustments. We’ve talked about the importance
of information mobility, and this app provides a great way for
mobile workers to access documents on the go. (iTunes, Android)
3. Pocket (or Instapaper)
Which app looks and works better is a matter
of taste, but both Pocket and
Instapaper do
their jobs remarkably well. That job: take blog posts, news articles,
and other content on the web (including everything at WorkIntelligent.ly
– shameless plug), strip it down to just the text and necessary
images, and save them to your device for reading when you have time. Big
offices used to have such “clipping services” way back when, but
they didn’t let you choose your favorite font. (Pocket: iTunes, Android;
Instapaper: iTunes, Android)
4. Agenda (or Fantastical)
It’s odd how unhelpful the default calendar
on an iPhone or Android can be. With how much design has gone into the
OS of each, how can something as simple as a calendar cause so many
headaches? Why can’t you just get an agenda view of everything
that’s happening today when you start it up? Why does entering the
time and date of an event feel like unlocking a bank vault? My own fix
is Agenda
Calendar 4, which makes smart guesses about when you want to
schedule things, shows your day in a well-designed glance view, and
generally gives you more information and links from an event than
Calendar. If you frequently use the iPhone’s Reminders function, you
might instead try Fantastical
2, which ties directly into the iPhone’s alerts and reminders
systems. (Agenda: iTunes, Android;
Fantastical: iTunes)
5. Chrome
Chrome is Google’s own browser. Your iPhone
already has the Safari browser, and your Android phone likely has its
own default browser. So why would you bother to install a browser that
shows the same web pages as either of these? One big reason: if you use Chrome on
a desktop computer and sign in on both your desktop and phone with your
Google account, you can see and open any tab you had open on your
desktop browser when you left it. Or just start typing in a few words
from the page you already went to into Chrome’s search bar, and Chrome
should come up with it. It feels magical (and maybe a bit creepy). (iTunes, Android)
6. CloudCube (Android only)
Maybe you already feel backed up,
cloud-connected, and ready to grab your files from anywhere. So
cloud-connected, in fact, that you sometimes have a hard time
remembering in which cloud you stored that certain file, and where you
have room to put that next big one. CloudCube works
with all the notable syncing services: Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive,
Box, SugarSync, and more. Move files between clouds, see what’s inside
each account, and even sync folders between your Android device and your
services of choice. (Android)
7. IFTTT (If This Then That) (iPhone
only)
Wouldn’t it be neat if every time you took a
screenshot of your iPhone, that screenshot was automatically saved to
where you want it? Or if every time you completed a Reminder on your
phone, it emailed the appropriate person to let them know,
automatically? Or if you could see, on your phone, every photo you’ve
been tagged in from Facebook? With IFTTT (short
for If This Then That), that kind of two-step, non-thinking action is
entirely possible. The hardest part is thinking up the “recipes”
that you want for your phone, but after playing with the website a bit,
you should get a real sense of just how many things can be done without
your having to even think about it. Be sure to install this iPhone app
so you can take full advantage of that set-and-forget productivity. (iTunes).
What other business apps do you consider
critical to getting the job done either while on the go, or at the
office?
List
Two: 16 More Apps that the Contributors at Workshop Exercises Use
and Like
Google
Apps for Business
is a suite that includes email, online storage, scheduling tools, video
meetings, slides, and other business tools to transform the way you
work.
Google Hangouts allows
up to ten team members in remote locations to participate in team
meetings and sessions.
Wunderlist
2.
This nicely designed and flexible app helps you create shareable
to-do lists.
It includes alerts and pop up reminders when things are due.
Flow
is an easy-to-use straight-forward app that helps you to not only plan
and manage a task easily but also to share, expand, discuss, brainstorm,
and delegate it with colleagues.
CoudMagic.
This is a friendly and functional app for e-mail management.
Dropbox
is a storage cloud for file, video, and picture sharing.
You can access and edit your files from anywhere: your computer,
tablet or phone.
Skyscanner.
If your work requires you to travel, this free service app helps
save you time and energy by scanning for the best fares available.
Special discounts are also often available.
CamCard.
Have you ever misplaced a business card that you wanted? With
CamCard you can use your
phone camera to scan a business card, transcribe it, and file it neatly
for easy reference.
Pocket
is a sync able app to save web pages, links, videos, and articles that
you might want to check out later when you have the time.
Voice
Recorder HD.
This is a great audio capture app that has unlimited recording
time.
Record meetings, conversations, or save your own good ideas and
thoughts with high quality recordings.
Around
Me.
If business takes you to unfamiliar places, Around Me will pin
point vital locations such as restaurants, hospitals, ATMs, hotels and
other sites that a traveler might need.
Evernote
is an productivity app that allows you to save ideas and record text,
audio, photo, and video notes.
All of which is readily available by synchronizing it with your
phone, desktop, or tablet.
Expense
Tablet
helps you keep track of your personal expenses.
It gives you an easy-to-use format for following your
expenditures as well as providing budget reports and your spending
history.
SayHi
Translate
This
app will translate your spoken words or text into dozens of other
languages.
Wi-Fi
Finder.
Avoid the annoyance of not being able to find a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Wi-Fi Finder gives you a map of nearby hotspots where you can
make an Internet connection.
Tempo
is like having a personal assistant who takes care of the details so you
can better use your time: directions, drive time, phone numbers, fight
status.
It connects your calendars, contacts, e-mails, and apps.
Oh by the way it keeps your calendar and provides you with
reminders.
Feedly
gathers and sorts your apps, selected articles, podcasts, and videos.
List
Three: Best Apps to Boost Your Leadership
By Gabriela Rodriguez,
reprinted with permission from https://exhibitionscargo.com
The
best leaders will always be the most prepared ones. Attend to
conferences, take seminars and submerge deeper each time in your
company’s activities is undoubtedly the adequate way to reach the top,
but we know that any small push that may help us get what we want is
always welcome.
Nowadays, Smartphones are
a basic tool in any leader’s work, so making the most of them may be
the borderline between wanting to be a good leader and being it, in
fact.
Make your Smartphone
produce the maximum and increase your leadership abilities with these
apps we suggest you:
-
Asana. How many times have you been
handling a big amount of projects at the same time and you have had
to fight to establish the priorities for each member of your team?
With Asana you will easily forget about this problem, since it
allows a clear view and prioritizing, which means you are capable to
offer a timely support and get ahead of potentially stressing
situations without a scratch.
-
Leadership Development. Because you can
always learn something new, this app will become your own virtual
learning center, where you will find debates, seminars and all kinds
of topics which involve training and development of leadership
abilities. You will also find contents related to organizational
change and development, human resources strategy and talent
management.
-
Evernote. The perfect application for the
busy businessman. You can follow up the previous meetings with
customers and import information from social media like Facebook and
Linkedin immediately. It is also ideal to use your device to take
images of your bills, which saves time when you must find your
accountant.
-
Contactually. Connecting with employees,
mentors, customers and other people from your network had never been
so easy. For the majority of the businesses, relations are a key
component for growth. Contactually’s simple reminders will help
you to give firm steps in the world of public relations, keeping
your business objectives in movement at the same time.
-
INYpulse. Having happy and motivated
employees is also a priority for the good leaders. This application
allows you to monitor and be informed of the company’s matters
before they get out of control, through an anonymous weekly survey,
making you a more effective leader.
-
Dropbox. The last, but not least, is this
storage cloud that allows you to configure folders and synchronize
all your devices to have your contents always available. One of the
most important key benefits of this application, which you may also
find in the online version, is the capability to drag documents from
your computer’s desktop to your Dropbox folder, making much easier
the updating of your information.
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