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Steve Babb runs the
Verus Group, a small,
qualitative market
research company, based
in Evergreen, Colorado,
but he's not in the
office very much.
Verus Group's business
is setting up and
conducting online and
offline focus groups and
one-on-one, in-depth
interviews. His
customers are in the
U.S. His vendors—focus
group facilities,
moderators, and
recruiters—are
international. This
means that Steve spends
his days making
time-sensitive decisions
across many time zones.
He and three of his four
employees travel
extensively.
"We can't be out of
touch. We wouldn't be in
business." E-mail is
Verus Group's primary
mode of communication
with clients. "My
clients love us because
they know we're minutes
away from responding,"
says Steve."
"We're consultants. By
the nature of the job,
we're not in the office,
at a computer or laptop;
we travel
internationally non-stop
for a living. The ratio
of the amount of time we
spend connected to a
computer compared to
connected via mobile
device is 80/20. Eighty
percent of the time
we're connected via
mobile device".
Device of choice
Everyone in Verus Group
carries the I-Mate K-Jam
Windows Mobile powered
device, which is similar
to the device T-Mobile
sells as the MDA
Professional. He
particularly likes the
slide-out keyboard.
Steve also appreciates
the MDA's wireless
connectivity and his
Bluetooth headset*,
especially using
Microsoft Voice Command
while driving. With
Voice Command, he can
ask for and listen to
calendar information,
find Contacts, and place
phone calls without
taking his eyes off the
road.
Running on Mobile Office Applications
Steve reports that he
does not download many
third-party applications
onto his Windows Mobile
powered device. "We have
what comes resident on
it. They come out of the
box so finely tuned,
with all our core
business needs."
"Everything you do needs
a contact and e-mail;
and your calendar is
flipping all day long."
Then Steve adds,
laughing, "If these
applications can wear
out, we're going to wear
them out." Steve also
uses Microsoft Word
Mobile, Excel Mobile,
and to a lesser extent
PowerPoint Mobile. For
example, on more than
one occasion, he has
received a focus group
script as an e-mail
attachment just hours
before the event. With
Word Mobile, he could
not only open and review
the script, but also
make changes and send an
e-mail response—just in
time"
Responding to Time-Sensitive Issues
Near real-time is
crucial for the fast
pace of the Verus Group.
They depend on getting
information they need
for on-the-go decision-making
"We recruit people for
focus groups non-stop.
There's always a
time-sensitive question
that needs a response."
Steve cites a typical
situation when a
recruiter reached him on
his mobile device and
needed to know
immediately whether or
not one prospective
participant should be
included in a focus
group that same evening.
"It's the kind of thing
we need to turn it
around and say 'Yes' or
'No.' It's the
difference between a
successful focus group
or not. An unsuccessful
focus group means an
unhappy business, which
means lost business. A
single e-mail has very
profound effects on a
time-sensitive basis."
Productivity Travel Tips
Steve always has a
current set of documents
on his storage card,
just in case he gets a
question about a
project. He keeps a
folder on his desktop to
pack documents he needs
for a trip and uses a
512 MB storage card on
his device as a
briefcase. He has
configured ActiveSync to
include synchronizing
that folder on the
storage card and the
desktop.
If they get a cost
estimate or a focus
group script, and they
need to make a decision
in the next three hours,
and in the next three
hours they're not going
to be at a computer;
they can access the
Microsoft Word or Excel
document on a storage
card or open it in an
e-mail attachment, make
changes, and e-mail a
response—all from their
Windows Mobile powered
device. It takes less
time and trouble than
booting up and using a
laptop, assuming they
could even get e-mail
connectivity with the
laptop.
While traveling he uses
MSN Messenger for
instant messaging as a
low cost alternative to
voice. It’s quick, and a
fun way for his kids to
keep in touch while he's
away. Steve also uses
Hotmail with Pocket MSN
to access his personal
Hotmail account.
Staying Up to Date via Hosted Exchange Service
To gain the immediacy
they need, Verus Group
shifted from the POP3
e-mail accounts, which
retrieve e-mail from a
remote server over an
Internet connection, to
a hosted Microsoft
Exchange Server
arrangement provided by
Mainstreet.com.
The main reason Verus
Group made the switch
was to take advantage of
the improved
synchronization via the
hosted Exchange Server.
This means, for example,
that any changes in
Steve's Outlook data
store on the Exchange
server—such as Steve
sending e-mail from his
device or someone
changing the time or
place of a meeting—are
updated automatically on
his Windows Mobile
powered device and his
desktop computer.
In addition, Steve or
his other employees do
not need to come into
the office and cradle
their devices to
synchronize e-mail,
Contacts, and other
Outlook data. On the
road or in the office,
Verus Group employees
receive changes in
real-time.
End of the Day
Steve told me a
story about a large
project that took long
hours. "You go home
thinking you're done for
the day and you're never
going to check e-mail
again." But then on the
way home, he got a quick
e-mail back from the
customer. One last
thing, it was a little
thing, but vital to
them. "We were able to
do a quick edit on a
document, attach it to
an e-mail, and send it
off while pulled over on
the side of the road.
Then I went home and
unplugged with my
family."
It's a little hard to
imagine Steve unplugged,
but even the best
devices need a little
time to recharge now and
then.
*Bluetooth headset sold
separately
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