Guide to business smartphones

Whether you're a multinational corporation or a one man band, it has become pretty much essential to include smartphones in your telecoms budget if you want to stay at the top of your particular trade or profession.

Today's successful businessmen and women need to be contactable 24-7, whether at home, in the office or on the move. And not only for a quick phone call - email, the internet and sat nav have become vital tools in everything from sales to the building trade and from lawyers to farmers. That's where smartphones come in.

What will smartphones add to my business?

Essentially, a good smartphone is a mini version of your office PC, with GPS sat nav bolted on for good measure.

With the right network and the right device, you will be able to make calls (including conference calls) and send text messages, send and receive emails as well as look at and work on attachments, use GPS to find locations, look up information on the internet and sync your phone with your diary and calendar back in the office.

The keyword here is productivity. Where previously journeys could simply end up as downtime, or a forgotten detail meaning wasted hours as you scrabbled to find the information, now time can be well used wherever you are, and details quickly accessed.

On top of that, when you want a break, you'll be able to use your new business smartphone as a Walkman/MP3 player, a television/mini cinema, games console and camera.

But which smartphone should I buy?

The smartphone market has boomed in recent years, with all the major handset manufacturers entering the smartphone arena. So how do you go about choosing?

Firstly, you should decide whether you're going to use the device more for business, or pleasure. The good news is that the majority of smartphones now handle both pretty well; you'll find a good quality screen, strong connectivity, email, the internet, multimedia, GPS and a camera on pretty much all of them. 

As a rule of thumb though, let the manufacturers give you what they do best. If you want a more office oriented smartphone, your first thoughts should turn to BlackBerry or perhaps a HTC or Samsung. If the fun side is more important for you, consider the likes of Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and LG.

Office oriented smartphones will offer you a proper QWERTY keyboard, push email (where your email is automatically delivered, without you prompting) across multiple accounts, heightenede security and encryption plus tools enabling you to work on office documents.

However, if you are more concerned about a big screen, high-quality camera, or extra multimedia or social networking options, the likes of Apple's iPhone range may be better options.
For information on operating systems and other details, see our guide to handsets.

Get the right business smartphone network

There are two big decisions you'll need to make, which can be as important as each other: which handset, but also which smartphone network.

To be used to their full potential, smartphones need to be receiving a good 3G (preferably HSPA) signal, or a Wi-Fi connection. If you're not sure what these terms mean, check out our smartphone glossary. But, in short, a smartphone needs this type of connection to be able to receive data (email, internet) at a good speed.

Unfortunately, not all mobile networks are created equal and it's not as simple as saying one is better than another universally. Each has its own network it can access and they have differing coverage depending on where you are. O2 and Vodafone may be great in one place, while just down the road 3 Mobile or T-Mobile might get a great signal.

Your best guides here are experience, but also be sure to check each mobile network's coverage checker. If you or your team have had mobiles before but not smartphones, you will have only had to rely on a 2G network. This means you may think coverage is fine in your area, but as soon as you try to use the data functions of your new smartphone, things will crawl to a near halt. Check out our connectivity guide for more details and links to coverage checkers.

Business smartphone pitfalls

Your smartphone decision, especially on which contract to go for, should be thought about very closely before you go ahead. 

For example, do you need unlimited data or calls, or can you trust yourself - and your colleagues - to stay within tighter contract limits? Perhaps a prepay option may be better. By offering people smartphones, you need to realise that on top of an office extension you're also handing out a gateway to the internet.

It is worth looking at what extras each network offers too. Some may not charge if you go over your data limit, while others may have better Wi-Fi networks. And then of course there is customer services to consider.

Also, it is worth asking if you, or some of your staff, really need a smartphone? They are fantastic gadgets, but make sure you need the extra functionality - they're not cheap and all the bells and whistles can be a distraction, rather than just a boon for your business.