- Some 98% of small businesses use some form of wireless technologies in their operations.
- On the device front, the poll revealed that more than half (56%) of smart phones used by small business employees for business purposes are 4G, a 70% jump in usage from last year when only 33% used 4G smart phones. Also, nine in 10 (90%) of the businesses using 4G smart phones are satisfied with the speed.
- More than four in ten (41%) small businesses report that all their employees use wireless devices or wireless technologies to work away from the office
- Fully two-thirds (66%) of those small businesses polled indicate that they could not survive – or it would be a major challenge to survive – without wireless technologies.
“For small businesses today, wireless solutions have become part of their DNA,” noted Cathy Martine, AT&T’s executive VP of small business solutions. “With the ongoing growth of remote workforces and with virtual offices gaining in popularity, mobility solutions … are becoming more important than ever in helping small businesses work better, smarter, and faster.”
[Like I said, do you think any truck driver or fleet manager would be surprised by any of this information in any way? I didn’t think so.]
Here are some other interesting findings from AT&T’s small business poll:
- More than two-thirds (69%) of small businesses surveyed indicate that they use tablet computers, with the larger the business is, the more likely that tablets will be deployed, with 90% of those with 51 to 99 employees using them, compared to 69% of those with 50 or fewer employees.
- Newer businesses are more likely to use tablets, with 80% that are less than 2 years old using them, compared to 69% of those two years and older.
- 85% of small businesses reported using smart phones for their operations, more than double the usage five years ago (42%).
- Nearly one-third (31%) of small businesses surveyed use mobile apps, with top three reasons being to save time, increase productivity and reduce costs.
- Slightly less than half (47%) of small businesses that use mobile apps say they could not survive – or it would be a major challenge to survive – without them.
- Of small businesses using mobile apps, GPS navigation and mapping are by far the most popular with 74% of business owners using them, followed by location-based services (43%); document management (35%); social media marketing (32%); and mobile payments in the field (30%).
If anything, this poll pretty much shows that wireless technology is here to stay for the duration; meaning even old curmudgeonly technophobes like me better resign themselves to that salient fact.
