Business Mobile World

The Business Mobile World website is now listed at Free Index - http://www.businessmobileworld.freeindex.co.uk/

Free Index is an online business directory offering free listings to businesses with a range of features, all free of charge. We have added 2 services to our listings as follows:

• Business Mobile Tariffs
• Free calls to mobiles

These reflect our best current offerings to businesses of all types and size. The opportunity to reduce costs on your own business mobiles and to reduce your landline bills by making free calls to other people's mobiles.

We are always looking at ways of saving your business money, both at our initial review and on an ongoing basis. We also keep you up-to-date with the latest technology which could save your business time and money.

Whilst cost savings are always aimed for when renewing a business mobile contract there are other areas which should be looked at where improvements to your communications can be made.

The pace of technology means that new mobile phone handsets, particularly in the SmartPhone sector, now offer a range of features not available even a couple of years ago. If you are coming to the end of an 18 or 24 month business mobile contract it is likely you will need new handsets.

Could a new SmartPhone benefit your business? With so many apps around it is conceivable that there is one out there that could make your business life away from the office easier. There may even be several which, used in conjunction with each other, could save your business time and money.

Whilst the Apple iPhone is the market leader in terms of available apps other operating systems are catching up. The most notable of these is Google's Android OS which is rapidly increasing its market share. With it being open source Android is going to continue to grow both in popularity and available apps.

It is also worth considering a total business phones solution including landlines and broadband which has the advantage of reducing overheads, streamlining administration and ensuring seamless integration between business telecom products.

Whilst your other services might be bound by contract for the time being, we can transfer them quickly and easily once they fall due for renewal. We can also look at improving your technology for landlines with a VoIP solution, routing your calls via the internet, and free calls to mobiles via an integrated sim card.

Once we have set up your contracts we work with you at all stages to ensure that you always have the latest technology where needed and to continually deliver cost reductions whilst improving communications. Regular reviews ensure that you always benefit from the best business phone deal.

Mobile data usage has increased by more than 1,800% in the past two years, fuelled largely by the iPhone and subsequent SmartPhones in conjunction with mobile operators unlimited data tariffs. Whilst the end of the unlimited data tariff is nigh, the thirst for mobile data remains unquenched and the continual rise in its usage will cause the mobile networks to reach capacity without action being taken.

Reducing the data limits on tariffs will certainly have an impact, but will it be enough to solve the problem? That's unlikely and other methods will have to be employed to get traffic reductions that are necessary to avoid the slowing down or crashing of traffic.

One of the options being looked into is cognitive radio, whilst another is the usage of spectrum previously used for other services. As the UK goes digital for its TV services frequencies are left behind which could be used for data traffic. Ofcom has also explored how enabling phones to switch between service providers to find the strongest signal could be a solution in some areas where signal quality is particularly poor. 

The mobile networks are currently opposing plans to dish out extra spectrum as it is not clear how it would be done and whether they may end up losing out financially as a result. However, one thing is clear, there will soon be a genuine need to reduce data traffic on the networks in order to keep it flowing smoothly and provide a good service for the majority of users.

As technology advances and wi-fi becomes standard on all new phones this means of data transfer may be encouraged by the networks. It is also worth mentioning again that wi-fi usage generally does not come out of your tariff meaning that is free of charge to the end user. You don't have to worry about data tariffs or fair usage policies!

Changing your business mobiles from one provider to another can be a pain. It's a hassle, and one you can avoid by simply renewing your current contract regardless of cost. However, how much could your business save by getting a cheaper deal?

Sometimes the transfer is worth the effort when the cost reductions are significant. We have a page on our website with a few examples of how much you could save on your business mobiles.

All three examples show savings over a year in the £000s of pounds range. Hundreds of pounds each month! No business can say no to that level of savings. These examples are typical of the deals we can put together for medium sized businesses.

At the same time we aim to improve communications by providing improved handsets with extra features and capabilities. We can also help with BlackBerry set up and ongoing customer assistance where required.

We can offer similar savings on landline phones, broadband and other telecoms products. Get in touch with us to see what we can offer your business.

No two businesses are alike so your quote will be tailored exactly to your usage. We look at your past spend history by analyzing your bills and look to the future to see if there are likely to be changes to your business pattern over the course of your contract. We can also make suggestions regarding new technology and how it could improve your communications, both internally and with your customers.

All quotes for any of our products or services are free of charge and without obligation. You have nothing to lose by contacting us, the process of quotation is straightforward and will not entail any more work than passsing us a copy of your bills.

Although originally set up as a specialist supplier of business mobiles, over the years we have expanded our range of products and services to include a variety of business telecoms. It can make sense for businesses to place more than one of their telecoms products with us for a number of reasons:

• Cost savings - by taking out more than one product savings can be passed onto the customer
• Reduced administration - everything on one bill
• Better problem resolution - no more grey areas between suppliers or buck passing when problems occur
• Enhanced customer service - no call centres to ring or expensive numbers to dial
• Dedicated account manager - your account is pro-actively managed

We already have many clients taking multiple services from us. Some signed up initially for mobile phones and, impressed by our service, have subsequently taken advantage of our great landline and broadband packages. Just some of the services we offer......

• Business mobile phones - including BlackBerry
• Landline telephony - lines, calls and hardware
• Broadband
• VoIP - phone systems and call cost reduction
• Device and vehicle tracking
• Mobile Broadband - via dongle

We are currently promoting an innovative phone system which incorporates a sim card allowing calls to mobiles to be routed via the mobile network and thus coming out of your inclusive minutes. Making free calls to mobiles can seriously reduce your landline bills, allowing the system to pay for itself quickly. At the same time you improve your communications with the enhanced features a VoIP phone system can offer your business.

The main problem in consolidating your business telecom services is usually contract renewal dates. This makes transferring all of your services in one go difficult. Instead you can transfer the next due service, test out our customer service and our cost savings, and, if you are happy with our services, transfer more services as they become due.

We have previously commented about the exorbitant costs of using mobile data overseas. Unfortunately the mobile networks have failed to act, or at least failed to go far enough for the EU, who have now imposed a cap on data roaming within the EU.

The cap stands at €50 (just over £40 at today's exchange rate) which should stop the stories of mobile data bills in the thousands of pounds (see our post - businesses counting the cost of volcanic ash for instance). 

In addition mobile networks are obliged to inform their customers when they are approaching the limit and must stop their connection once the limit has been reached. This should stop people running up large bills inadvertently but there are a couple of problems.

Firstly, these rules only apply within the EU, so if you are travelling to a non-EU country or outside of Europe it is likely you will not have a limit. Secondly, your cap can be lifted at your command. So if you do decide you want to remove it make sure you don't go crazy with your downloading abroad!

The cap will also be helpful should your phone be lost or stolen in the EU. Anyone using it will not be able to run up large data bills although they will still be able to make as many calls as they wish. The cost of these calls is now limited to a maximum of 32p per minute following the EU decision.

This price does highlight the need to think in advance if you intend using your mobile phone overseas as there are many packages and bolt-ons that can reduce the amount you pay considerably.

The increasing popularity of smartphones, particularly the iPhone, has led to an even greater explosion in the use of mobile data. So much so that the mobile networks  now feel the time is right to take some action.

Up until recently there have been a number of "unlimited" mobile data tariffs (although these were usually subject to a fair usage policy). It looks like their days are numbered as the mobile networks now seek to impose limits, around 500MB or 1GB per month will likely be the norm.

The mobile networks themselves say that their networks are creaking under the strain of the increased traffic hence the need for restrictions. Others say that this is the networks attempt to increase profits as the amount they make from voice and text dwindles.

Whichever is the reason the new limits will need to be adhered to in order to avoid a nasty bill (out of bundle data usage is extremely expensive). Heavy users will be catered for but will have to pay substantially more for their initial tariff.

Most users will find 500MB of data is adequate for internet browsing and email. The problems come if you are downloading music/movies or streaming video/TV. The latest smartphone handsets will offer you better quality music/video services and this may tempt you to download/stream. Just be aware of your mobile data limits for your contract.

We are finding a number of customers with our fixed business broadband have recently started to approach their monthly 50GB limits. For the first time ever we are having to notify people to moderate their usage in order to avoid penalties. And the reason for this? The World Cup!

It looks like a lot of businesses are streaming the World Cup matches which has led to a major increase in internet traffic. If you are streaming matches to your phone beware - a 90 minute match will likely be up to 1GB in data usage (subject to the quality of the transmission).

Mobile phone talk and text bundles have been around for a long time now and the competition within the marketplace has driven down prices. At the same time the cost of handsets has been increasing as more and more people abandon basic phones in favour of smartphones.

This leaves the mobile networks profits squeezed, and their answer is to get some of this profit back via their mobile data charges. With smartphones now being the order of the day, and with predictions that mobile phones will at some point in the none too distant future overtake computers in terms of internet volume, charges for mobile data need to be factored in when choosing your mobile phone contract.

This is particularly so as the variance in pricing between networks for mobile data is considerable. The networks even have different pricing structures for different devices - per MB charges for mobile data accessed from a laptop via a dongle are usually considerably cheaper than for access via a mobile phone. Why?

The difference is so great that it does make you wonder about the actual cost price to the networks of providing the service and the margins they are making on mobile phone data charges - they are considerable!

While unlimited data bundles are available for consumer mobile contracts (beware fair usage policies if you take the word "unlimited" too literally!) within the business mobile world limits are more likely to be 500MB, 750MB or 1GB per month. This would usually be sufficient for a business user looking to check their emails and browse the internet, without streaming media or downloading lots of online content.

How much mobile data do you need?

For 500MB of data you could send and receive each day:

• 250 emails
• 35 Word documents
• 25 PowerPoint, Excel or Acrobat attachments

These are approximate figures as individual file sizes can vary considerably, but you can see the average business user is unlikely to exceed this limit. However there are things you can do to reduce your download amount if you are a heavy user. For instance you can just download email headers, rather than the full content of the email, and then access any emails in full if they require your immediate attention whilst you are away from the office.

For help and advice on mobile data charges and the best business mobile contracts get in touch with us by phone or online.

Mobile phone offers come and go quickly in the fast paced world of consumer mobiles. Within a couple of weeks the latest mobile phone is old news and another handset is taking it's place as the must-have, with plenty more ready to be released on the horizon, with better specs and improved features.

With business mobile deals there is a lot less variety of contracts, although ultimately more choices! The networks don't change their tariffs so often but because they pay brokers such as ourselves a commission for selling their deals, out of which customers can choose any handsets, this means that the number of different configurations is almost endless.

When looking for the best business mobile deals the first consideration is the type of handset. Think about the ways you will be using your mobile and choose a handset which offers you the features you need without the features you don't. Choosing less expensive handsets will allow you to enter into a cheaper and/or shorter contract without having to pay for the phones.

Then you will have to consider the number of minutes, texts and data you need. You need to have enough to cover your usage but not so many that you are wasting your tariff. Two important points to remember:

• Out of bundle services are always expensive - going over your allotted minutes/texts/data can incur serious charges.
• Minutes are not free - buying a 3,000 minute bundle is more expensive than a 2,000 minute bundle and the difference in monthly cost needs to be factored in to your calculations.

If you already have a business mobile contract you will have established a usage pattern which hopefully stays relatively steady from month-to-month. From this you will see how much of each component you need.

Finally you need to consider coverage. For most business users in UK cities coverage across all of the networks is good. In this case you can choose the network that offers you the best deal. If coverage is an issue in your area and you are more limited in your choice of networks shop around between business mobile brokers who will offer different handset choices and possible cashback in some circumstances.

For a free business mobile quotation give us a call or complete our online enquiry form.

Despatch figures for May are now in and the Top 10 business mobile handsets have been compiled. Only three manufacturers have made it into the list and there are no surprises they are Nokia, RIM (BlackBerry) and Samsung.

The number one business mobile for May 2010 is the Samsung M110. This tough phone is ideal for hard workers being shock, water and dust proof. It returns to the top spot after a three month absence, although it never seems to leave the Top 10.

BlackBerry have three mobiles in the Top 10. The first is the BlackBerry Curve 8520 at number 2. Always popular due to the cost effective nature of the handset this one appeals to savvy business users.

Nokia occupy the next three places with solid talk and text phones being the 6303, 2330 and the 6300. Reliable business phones these have mass appeal for businesses of all types looking for no nonsense mobile phones.

At six is the BlackBerry 9700 (the new BlackBerry Bold), and seven is the Nokia E52, a business mobile smartphone. At eight is the Nokia 2700 and nine is the final BlackBerry in the list, the BlackBerry 8900 (the new BlackBerry curve). Rounding out the Top 10 is the Nokia 2730.

No surprises this month with many of the usual suspects making the list. Expect to see many of them return when next month's figures are announced.

The cost of business mobile contracts could be set to come down soon as a number of networks launch new business tariffs.

Vodafone have launched Business Choice which is aimed at SMEs with 2 to 50 mobile phone handsets. This is a flexible tariff with a number of paid add-ons allowing companies to mix and match their requirements and build a tariff that reflects their usage.

Businesses can choose the number of minutes to be shared, data allowances and technical support, and the basic plan includes free calls to UK landlines, free UK calls to company mobiles on the same plan, 150 standard UK text messages and free voicemail retrieval as standard.

As an incentive a £5 monthly discount for all businesses signing up to certain options before August 15th is available. Contact us for more information.

At the same time the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile, Everything Everywhere, have announced their intention to launch an assault on the UK business market. The combined power of these two networks should produce better tariffs for business mobiles than are currently available.

With a merged network, coverage, which is essential for business users, should no longer be an issue meaning that both networks will be able to increase their business customer base.

Full details of any new business tariffs from Orange and T-Mobile will be printed here as they become available. In the meantime to take advantage of the enhanced coverage and low cost business tariffs currently available from these networks get in touch with us.

With the latest closure of UK airspace and no sign of the Icelandic volcano abating (last time it erupted for 15 months!) many businesses are suffering inconvenience, not to mention loss of revenue. With the announcement of higher thresholds for flying through the ash hopefully any future problems will be minimised and airspace kept open.

However, further costs of the volcanic ash problem are now coming to light in the form of mobile phone bills. With April's bills for call charges dropping on people's doormats come some nasty surprises for many.

For many of those that were stranded abroad for several days and unable to return to the UK as scheduled have run up sizeable bills. Several of these bills have been £1,000 plus, with the highest we have heard of being over £7,000!

This was due to a traveller stranded in Italy using his dongle to stream live radio on his laptop so he could keep in touch with what was happening. Mobile data roaming overseas is still extortionately expensive, but this traveller was either unaware of just how expensive or was relying upon his mobile network's cap.

This cap had been lifted by the network to help stranded travellers who needed to keep in touch. The sms message informing the traveller of this removal appears not to have been received. The network have reduced the bill to around £2,000 but this is still in dispute.

This story does show the need to be aware of all of the costs when entering into a mobile phone contract. If you are thinking of using data overseas via your mobile, or even calling and texting, you should pre-arrange it with your network and add a bolt-on if available to make it considerably less expensive.

Most of the networks offer packages for those going on holiday which offer reasonable value and can even include utilising your inclusive minutes overseas. Terms and conditions vary according to networks so make sure you read them carefully before using your mobile phone abroad.

As SmartPhones continue to sell by the bucketload and increase their market share month on month it brings another factor into the equation when buying your business mobiles - the operating system.

There are currently several different Operating Systems for mobile phones on the market including:

• Windows Mobile
• Android
• Symbian
• BlackBerry OS
• iPhone OS
• Maemo
• Bada

The OS making the headlines at the moment is Android, an open source operating system developed by Google. This features on a number of phones from a range of different manufacturers including HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG.

Being open source means that anyone is free to develop applications for the Android operating system meaning that the number of apps available is increasing daily. These can be obtained from the Android market which contains many free (and paid for) applications making your business life easier.

One factor in the choice of business SmartPhone is the need to sync it with your existing server for email usage. Many IT workers find it easier to get the Windows Mobile OS up and running with a Windows server leading them to recommend this OS. However all operating systems should be capable of delivering push email for business users.

The range of applications available could be another factor, particularly if you rely upon particular applications which make your life easier when out and about. Also familiarity will play a role - once you get used to a particular OS it can be a pain to transfer to another. Even if they largely work the same and provide the same features their GUIs (Graphical User Interface) can be radically different leading to confusion and a steep learning curve.

For SmartPhone advice get in touch with us and we will guide you through the various options, getting you both the best handset for your usage in combination with the best business mobile tariff.

Whilst Nokia always show up well in our Top 10 business mobile phone lists, April proved to be an even more successful month than usual for them with 6 entries, including all of the top 5!

At number 1 was the Nokia 1209. A no frills handset this one has not been seen before in any of our lists so it's a bit of a shock to see it go straight into the top spot. However fulfilling an order for a single large company can skew the figures a bit so don't expect it to retain its crown next month!

The Nokia 6303 shows up at number 2. Rarely out of the top 5 and the deposed number 1 business mobile handset from February and March. At 3 is the Nokia 2323 retaining its top 10 slot from March.

New entries at 4 and 5 for the Nokia E52 and Nokia 2600. And another Nokia E-series phone, the E55, rounds off the top 10.

In between are the usual suspects. Two BlackBerry phones in the form of the 8520 (6) and 8900 (9), the hard wearing Samsung M110 (7) and the Apple iPhone (all variants) at number 8.

No major surprises in the list overall in terms of manufacturers. Sony, LG and HTC are noticeable by their absences. May's top 10 business mobile phones will be provided here around the 2nd June.

We have added a new page to the website - business mobile phones. This page consolidates a lot of the other information from around the website into an easy to understand overview of how to get the best business mobile phone deal.

Regardless of your current mobile phone contract all businesses stand to benefit from a complete review of their mobile phones. This review can also look at landline phones and other communication methods. It's free of charge and without obligation.

To get a free telecoms review for your business simply contact Business Mobile World.

All businesses are welcome to apply from sole traders to large corporations. The opportunity to save some money and improve communications at the same time is available and within your grasp.

Is your business still stuck in the 20th century? Technology, particularly phone technology, is moving apace and if you haven't changed your hardware and/or software in a few years it is likely you are using obsolete equipment.

For many small businesses this may not manifest itself in noticeable problems. Providing the equipment works and does what you need it to then there is no need to upgrade. However, could your business be making more money by making an investment in new technology?

With the improved technologies has also come price reductions. Competition, particularly in the mobile phone sector, is continually driving prices down. This is particularly true for SmartPhones where they can now be obtained free of charge on even the cheapest of business mobile contracts.

So if your current telecoms equipment is reaching the end of its life span, or starting to show its age, now is the time to look into replacement - you might be surprised how cost effective a total business phone solution is.

Our telecoms healthcheck takes an overview of your current setup, the equipment used and how it is put to use, together with gathering your ideas (and our own) of possible improvements to your communications.

The review covers a number of areas including:

• Mobile phones
• Landline phones
• Telephone numbers and call management
• Broadband (both fixed and mobile)
• Device tracking and employee management solutions (where appropriate)
• IT

Your business can benefit from the latest technology (future proofing for several years), better integration of individual communication products, a more coherent telecoms strategy, and all of this whilst realising cost reductions overall.

Placing all of your communication needs into the hands of a single supplier may seem scary at first but when you see the cost savings available, together with the advantages in billing (single bill for all services) and customer service (one point of contact) you should be convinced that this is the way forward for your business in the 21st century.

We are able to provide business mobile deals for businesses looking for a single handset through to those looking for several hundred. The underlying principles of finding the best deal hold true for all businesses.

When you are only looking for one mobile phone for your business you need first to analyze how you are going to be using it. A builder will use their phone differently to a surveyor. Think about the following areas:

• Phone calls
• SMS messages
• Email
• Internet

If you are only looking for calls and texts you don't have to pay the premium for email and internet usage. You can choose a lower cost mobile, a cheaper tariff (dependent upon your usage) and get the best business mobile deal.

Once you have identified how you are going to be using your business phone you need to quantify how much you will be using it. If you already have an existing phone you are using for your business you will have an idea of your monthly usage broken down between:

• minutes
• texts
• mb of data

From this we can see what is the best business mobile tariff for your usage and combine this with your chosen handset, usually free of charge.

Those looking for larger business mobile phone deals should still go through the same process but there may be a number of different handsets and usages for different employees and the tariffs will usually involve shared minutes and free calls within the group. It is slightly more complicated for us but we try to keep it simple for our clients at all times.

Whatever the size of your business we can assure you of our best attention at all times and excellent ongoing customer service should you decide to become a client following your free quotation.

Whilst your sorting out your business mobiles why not also take advantage of our other services and get a free quote for your landlines, broadband and mobile broadband. Combining these services from one supplier usually leads to cost reductions and service improvements for business users.

It's been a while since we updated the latest business mobile phones available for business users. Here are some of the newest phones and "coming soon" handsets to give you an idea of the mobile technology currently available.

• Sony Ericsson Experia X10

The first obvious striking feature is the 4 inch touchscreen, one of the largest currently found on mobile phones. After that the internal features are just as impressive, including a 1Ghz processor, GPS, an 8mp camera, Android Operating System, up to 16GB storage, Wi-fi, 3G, bluetooth connectivity - it really is an impressive SmartPhone.

• Samsung Galaxy Portal

Also known as the i5700 and Spica. Not as impressively specced as the X10, but not as expensive either. 3.2 inch screen, 3.2mp camera, 800mhz processor, Android OS, GPS - it's still a pretty impressive phone with a relatively low price tag.

• Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two

Microsoft are the latest computer giant to get involved with mobile phones. As mobiles and computers converge, technology firms need to have a foot in both camps to try and ensure they are in the running when the next major development happens.

Due out in America in May, these handsets will likely come to the UK later in the year. Full specs are not yet available but they will both be utilising the latest Windows Phone operating system.

• Nokia N900

A side-slider with a 3.5 inch touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard. 32GB storage, 5MP camera, Nokia's Maemo operating system, 600Mhz processor, GPS - another powerful SmartPhone.

All of these phones are/will be available at Business Mobile World. To get one for your business get in touch with us and we'll get you the best tariff currently available.

Getting the best deal for your business mobiles can be an onerous task, particularly if you try and do it yourself. Although there are only five major networks, each one offers different business mobile tariffs and handset combinations making a direct comparison near impossible.

New mobile phone handsets are being released almost daily meaning large fluctuations in price for "obsolete" mobiles and a choice of a hundred handsets or more - how do you know you are getting the best deal? The answer is to use a business mobile comparison service like Business Mobile World.

Our sole aim is to get your business the best mobile phone deal. We work in a very competitive industry meaning that we have to keep our deals as low as possible to gain your business. This policy of cost reduction does not mean that we sacrifice service. We will not be giving you second hand mobiles or putting you on a network with no coverage - we value our excellent reputation.

You will benefit from having an account manager with many years experience looking after your initial quotation and ongoing contract as well as a dedicated customer service team. No call centres or hours spent holding on the phone.

Ultimately our service will mean that your business saves money on its business phones whilst at the same time improving your communication, both internally and with your existing/new customers.

We don't make any charges for our service, we receive payment from the mobile phone networks, so getting a quote from us should be at the top of your list when renewing your current contract. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by letting us show you our best deal.

Contact us on 0844 880 8116 or complete our online enquiry form to start saving your business money.

The latest business mobile despatch figures are in for March 2010. From these we have compiled a Top 10 business mobile phones.

No major surprises, the list is still very much dominated by Nokia, Samsung and BlackBerry, with one notable exception (can you guess?).

At no 1 is the perennial favourite the Nokia 6303. The successor to the 6300 this stylish little handset does the job for most business users in terms of talk and text. Reliable and easy to use it is a solid business phone choice.

The second best seller is another old favourite, the BlackBerry Curve 8520. Keenly priced yet providing most of the necessary business features and legendary BlackBerry email. This is destined to be in our top 10 for a while yet.

Third place goes to the Nokia 2700. Another solid Nokia business handset. And similarly in fifth is the Nokia 2323.

By contrast, in fourth place we have our old friend the Apple iPhone. We have lumped together all of the different versions to give a single sales position.

Will it ever make number 1? Certainly there is plenty of demand for it amongst business users and if the price drops significantly this will see the major barrier to ownership disappear and we will certainly sell plenty more. The current price for the 3GS is just a bit too high for most business users to justify.

Sixth place goes to the durable Samsung M110. This tough phone continues to sell well with business users needing reliability and toughness. Two more standard Nokias occupy 7th and 8th in the form of the Nokia 6300 and Nokia 1208.

At 9th is a new entrant, never been seen before in the lists - the Samsung Tocco Lite. And finally completing the 10 is the Nokia 6600i.

As mobile phones become more powerful the more uses they can be put too. A simple software download can turn them into trackable devices, working in conjunction with GPS and an online real-time interface allowing businesses to monitor employees out in the field.

Mobile phone tracking has come a long way in a very short space of time. No longer reliant upon triangulation between mobile phone masts it now relies upon GPS enabled phones to accurately pinpoint devices within 5 metres at any given time.

It is intelligent enough to recognise when a phone is travelling in a vehicle, indicating direction of travel and speed, or when a phone is being carried by an employee on foot. It can be programmed to notify of arrival, departure and when entering specific areas or zones.

All of the gathered information is stored and can be accessed at any time and compiled into a number of useful reports such as timesheets, expense reports etc. These can be viewed and printed at the touch of a button.

Knowing where everyone is within your organisation will improve your customer service and will help with health and safety compliance where lone workers are involved. Mobile phone tracking can also help with reduced mileage, reduced overtime claims and a range of other money saving benefits for your business.

If you already have a GPS phone you can take a 14 day free tracking trial allowing you to see the web interface in all of its glory and get a hands-on experience of how the tracking software could help your business.

There are no installation costs and you could be surprised how little mobile phone tracking costs. It could quickly pay for itself in savings alone whilst also improving efficiencies helping you retain existing customers and win new customers too.

Even if you don't operate your own fleet, but have employees using their own vehicles on your business, this system provides a grey fleet management solution. Think of it as an employee management system rather than vehicle tracking or mobile phone tracking.

What do we offer and how can we help your business? Using our services has a number of advantages over going direct to a mobile phone network for your business mobile phones. These include:

• More flexibility - full range of handsets to choose from
• Time saving - we find you the best deal in the quickest time
• Saving money - we can find you the best deals, better than going direct
• Communication integration - we can advise on your other telecoms requirements and how they will work with your mobiles
• No call centres - positive customer service if you need our help. We are on your side.

All of these advantages come to you free of charge and without obligation. If you want to approach the networks first and then see what we can offer in comparison please do. We thrive on competition and always offer our best price to win your business.

If you decide to go through us you will have the benefit of a dedicated account manager looking after your business. Any questions or problems and they are available to help you, backed up by our dedicated customer service team.

To get things started we need to know a little more about your business and your mobile phone usage. If you have a current business mobile contract we can use this as an initial quotation basis and discuss where changes might be made in the future. If new handsets are not required initially we can give you an allowance for use when your handsets reach the end of their life or get lost/stolen.

Where new mobile phones are needed/wanted we can advise you on the free of charge handsets available and even demonstrate them to you, giving you a chance to see if they meet your needs. We can also make suggestions as to the best handsets based upon your usage. For instance if you don't need access to the internet or email for the majority of employees there is no need paying extra for these features.

We can also help your business with a wide range of other telecoms services aimed at saving you money whilst improving your communications. Just let us know if this is of interest and we will provide you with a quote.

Assume you are starting a new business and would like a new mobile phone in the business name. You approach us to supply you with a phone. We can talk you through a number of different tariffs from the major phone networks. For instance:

• 500 inclusive mobile minutes
• Unlimited calls to UK landlines - 01, 02 and 03
• 250 texts
• 500mb of data
• £25 per month

The network pay us a commission for signing you up to a contract and out of this we pay for the mobile you need. So as long as the phone you require is less than the commission received, allowing us a little profit, then we can supply the handset free of charge for you. If not you may have to contribute towards the cost of the phone or choose a higher tariff.

As we source mobiles from a number of suppliers we are able to supply any UK handset and usually at excellent prices so we can keep our business mobile deals competitive.

Business mobile contracts are usually 18-24 months in length and you are committed to the network for this period of time. If you end the contract early they will expect you to pay for the remaining line rental until the end of the contract.

If you find that you need more minutes, texts or data or wish to change the contract in a way that increases the amount you pay each month the networks will almost certainly agree. However, reducing your tariff is not so easy and may be resisted if the reduction is particularly large.

Larger business mobile contracts work in a similar way, although there is usually one "main" number (the leader) and a number of sharers. The sharers use the same pool of minutes allocated to the leader.

So if you have five handsets on a 2,000 minute contract the 2,000 minutes are available for all numbers within the group. This does not always apply to text and data usage which may be allocated per handset instead. It is usual for calls between group handsets to be free of charge.

Minutes, texts and data over and above your normal contract will attract further charges and these are usually hefty so best to make sure you have a contract with a little bit of leeway built in. Similarly use outside of the UK is charged heavily, so make sure you add a package for overseas usage before you go or limit your usage whilst out of the country.

If your current business mobile contract is coming due for renewal soon and you would like to get a quotation please contact us by phone or online.

At Business Mobile World we specialise in providing business mobile phones. We deal with all types of businesses and all sizes from a one-man band with 1 mobile phone handset to large companies with hundreds.

We recognise that your main focus is running your own business and that you do not have the time to be getting lots of different quotes and negotiating with the mobile phone networks. Doing it yourself is unlikely to get you the best deal, the best option is to utilise our expertise to find the best business mobile tariff based upon your usage and requirements.

Getting a quote is easy. If you already have a business mobile contract you can send a copy of your current bills. This will allow us to see exactly how many minutes and texts you are using, your data usage and any extras such as international usage and calls to non-geographic numbers.

We can instantly compare your current deal with those available from the major mobile networks, and see if your current tariff is still the best for your business. Over time usage changes and what might seem the best tariff when you take the contract out may become less suitable after several months if your usage has changed.

If you don't already have business mobiles, either because it is a new business or your business has expanded and you now employ staff who need mobile phones, estimating usage is much harder. It could be worth taking out a tariff at a low-level and monitoring usage to see whether you need to increase it. It is always easy to go up a tariff or two but much harder to reduce your tariff.

We can provide a full range of business mobile handsets. These are usually supplied free of charge, depending upon your chosen tariff.

Once you have your new business mobile contract in place we keep an eye on it with regular reviews to make sure that everything is running smoothly and you are happy with it. As well as your itemised bill each month you will also receive 6 monthly overviews showing you trends and allowing you to spot excessive usage in any particular area.

Any problems and we are only a phone call or click away. We have a dedicated customer service team who not only help you with any issues but also monitor our own internal service standards to make sure we are always giving the best service possible.

If your business mobile phones are due for renewal in the next 3 months or so it would be worth your while to get in touch and see what we can offer you. There is no obligation to proceed if you don't like our quote and if you prefer your current deal you have the peace of mind that you already have the best deal available.

We've relaunched two websites this week following a brief break. These are:

• 21c Vehicle Tracking
• 21c Business Mobiles

We had a change of server late last year which led us to re-evaluate all of our websites. It was decided that these two could be put on ice temporarily whilst we concentrated on our main site.

However there have been some developments in the vehicle tracking arena which are exciting and need promoting so the 21c Vehicle Tracking website was chosen as the perfect vehicle to promote the new products.

And whilst we were reviving this site it was easy to put the business mobiles site back online too. This site won't be updated too much in the near future as we concentrate on the vehicle tracking developments.

Vehicle tracking, as a term, is pretty old now. Many businesses, who do not see the need for vehicle tracking, are missing the point. This is about employee management, protection and compliance.

The new breed of device tracking via GPS smartphones can do so much more than just keep track of a vehicle. Because it is not vehicle-fixed and remains with the employee it allows you to keep track of them and ensure that they are safe at all times whilst on your business. It also allows them to alert you if they have a problem with a simple press of a button. You can then see online in real-time where they are and get help to them if needed. This type of solution is ideal for lone workers.

It also allows you to keep track of your "grey fleet", vehicles owned by the employee but used on your business. This is important as your duty of care does not stop because they are in their own car.

Issues relating to privacy, particularly tracking employees outside of working hours, are now easily addressed via the online interface giving the employee complete peace of mind that they are not monitored 24/7.

And the best bit? The price. Businesses are always surprised that such a fully featured system costs so little. For your free quote please contact us or get in touch for a FREE, no obligation 14 day trial to see how this tracking solution might help your business. 

Originally this site was started solely to sell business mobiles, and products and services related only to this category. We worked closely with 21c Telecom Ltd, our main supplier, and had good success supplying businesses with phones on contract terms.

However, the telecoms market has moved on, and more and more businesses are sourcing all of their communication products from a single supplier. The advantages of this approach include cost savings, reduced administration, better customer service and enhanced fault resolution.

We are also able to offer a full range of business telecom products including:

• Business Landlines

This includes line rental, reduced call charges, telephone systems, telephone numbers, maintenance contracts, call management and more. Easy to understand monthly billing and a single point of contact for questions and problems.

• Business Broadband

Business grade broadband with low contention ratios giving your business a greater share of the available bandwidth. High speed, reliable broadband with routers supplied and installed where necessary.

• Mobile Broadband

USB dongles supplied to give you 3G mobile internet via your laptop or netbook. Speeds up to 7.2mbps.

• Vehicle Tracking

Track your vehicles or employees via hardware or a mobile phone. Live view of current position via real-time web interface.

All types and size of business can benefit from taking out a range of services with us, achieving large savings over a multiple supplier solution. Quotes are always free and we aim to save you money whilst simultaneously improving your business communications.

The figures are in for February. Based on our despatch records these are the Top 10 most popular business mobiles:

At number 1 is the Nokia 6303. A good, solid business phone, great for calls and texts and keeping you organised. No frills but a reliable business tool.

Coming in at number 2 is the BlackBerry 8520. This budget BlackBerry remains popular as it can do the majority of functions that its bigger, more expensive stable mates can at a fraction of the price. Great entry level BlackBerry mobile phone.

At 3 is the Samsung M110. We call this the builders phone, or the tradesmans phone, as it is a rugged, rubberised mobile designed to withstand shocks, dust, water and pretty much anything you can throw at it. In a similar vein is the Samsung B2100 which makes its entry at number 4.

Number 5 brings the Nokia 2700. Another no frills handset but reliable and easy to use. These features are often overlooked by those looking for a more flashy mobile.

Which brings us to number 6 - the Apple iPhone. We've actually lumped all of the variants 8GB/16GB/3GS together which brings it the no 6 ranking. We're sure we don't have to explain much about this phone, you will all have seen the adverts and the hype! We're not going to knock the phone, as many people seem to love it, but before you order one for your business do think about whether you need such an expensive phone when others can do the same job for less.

The last four places are all ocupied by Nokias. In order 7-10 are the 2330, 3110, 5800 and 6300. Not the most exciting of phones (or names!), with the 5800 standing out as a touchscreen phone with a lot of media features which we haven't seen in our list too often.

And that's it for February. No major surprises again with Nokia, Samsung and BlackBerry dominating. It's hard to see their dominance being challenged in the near future as they seem to best understand the needs of the business user.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of interesting mobile news currently, certainly not since we last posted on 10th February. The most interesting news from the world of mobile phones, both business mobile phones and consumer mobiles, is posted below.

Firstly it looks like the Orange/T-Mobile merger is going to go ahead without regulatory inspection in the UK. The decision is with the EU and it would appear that the companies involved have made enough concessions for the OFT to withdraw its objections and the EU to approve it. The decision is expected early next week.

Hopefully once regulatory approval is granted we will then get a timescale for the merger and perhaps more details of the direction that will be taken by the newly-merged network. Fingers crossed it will bring lower prices and more innovative products but don't hold your breath.

Vodafone would appear to be the fastest network for web browsing on mobile phones according to a recent independent survey commissioned by O2. The figures are general across the UK rather than region specific and the actual differences in speed between the major networks is unlikely to be noticeable by the average user.

Vodafone have also launched what is thought to be the world's cheapest phone. The 150 should sell for around £10 and is aimed at the developing world. The developing world is seen as the main growth area in the coming years as phone sales in the developed world fall.

TalkTalk are looking to enter the mobile phone arena by becoming a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) later in the year. This service is in addition to the home phone, broadband and digital TV products it already offers.

Sony Ericsson have been censured by the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) over claims it made in a TV advert with regard to it's Satio handset and its ability to connect to Facebook. The handset does not come with a Facebook app and initially could not even run the app due to software problems. However the Facebook app is now available for download onto the Satio.  

We have been looking at how we can make it easier for you to get in touch with us to get a quotation for your business mobiles.

The first solution has been to reduce the size of our online enquiry form. A number of fields have been removed and now it is just basic contact information we require and we will contact you from there to obtain anything else we need.

We have tested the new form out and it takes less than a minute to complete, typing in every field. If you have any sort of auto fill for forms enabled on your browser it will be even quicker!

We have also changed the telephone number displayed on the website from an 0844 number to a local 0115 number. This means that callers from mobile phones can get in touch cheaper (and usually free from inclusive minutes). Call us on 0115 944 8977 for a business mobile quote.

Remember our quotes are free of charge and without obligation. We can quote from one handset to two hundred plus and our aim is to save your business money whilst improving your communications.

In addition to business mobiles we also offer a number of related telecoms products including landlines, broadband, tracking and more. All of our services are designed to work in harmony together, streamlining both your internal and external communications, not to mention your administration and billing.

So visit our new look business mobile enquiry form and take a single minute out of your busy day to save your business some money.

A collection of stories, snippets and interesting information from the world of mobile phones.

• Some of the latest mobile phone apps include one from the AA listing 14,000 places to eat, stay and drink in throughout the UK. This guide will also tell you about local points of interest based upon your location. For those that regularly misplace their phone or have terrible memories where they last put it down a new app called Where's My Phone could be the answer. It allows you to whistle and the phone rings in response, allowing you to locate it.
  
• SmartPhones represent 25% of the mobile phone market yet nearly half of all phone based web traffic comes from them. The average SmartPhone user utilises around 300 minutes per month. Facebook is the most popular website accessed by mobile phone users.
  
• New mobile phones - the Sony Ericsson X10 is due to arrive in April, although it could be earlier. This phone makes use of the Android operating system and features a full touchscreen, 8.1mp camera with auto focus and 16x digital zoom, Timespace (a social networking aggregator), 1GB built-in memory expandable up to 16GB and GPS.
  
• Business Mobiles - companies, particularly corporate users, are spending up to one third of their mobile phone communication bill on personal calls made by their employees. This represents a total spend of £1bn which could possibly be saved by better management and procedures for company mobiles.
  
• The OFT are lobbying for an investigation by UK authorities into the Orange/T-mobile merger. The deal will already be scrutinised by the EU but fears of reduced competition and increased prices for consumers have led to the call from the OFT. A UK investigation could further drag out the merger timescale for several extra months.
  
• Apple - O2 have sold their 2 millionth Apple iPhone in the UK despite losing their exclusivity late last year. The next big thing, the Apple iPad, due for launch later this year, is also on the radar for all of the networks looking to tie up deals with Apple. No news yet of an exact release date or pricing.
  
• O2 continue testing on the 4G mobile network. Speeds of up to 150mbps are potentially available using this technology, however this has not been achieved yet and a full rollout of this is a little way off still.
  
• Nearly 97 billion text messages were sent in the UK in 2009. This represents an hourly rate of 11 million! These figures show a steady increase from 2007 and 2008 despite competition from social networking sites such as twitter and facebook.
  

We have a number of websites promoting our products and services. Some are specifically tailored to a particular category, such as business mobiles, whilst others are more generalised giving an overview of many of the different communication areas we can help your business with.

We have today updated Best Business Phone Deals with another three pages. These are as follows:

• Small business phones
• Business phones in Derbyshire
• Business phones in Nottinghamshire

These all emphasise that whilst we are able to provide a national service, our core business is working with local businesses throughout the East Midlands to provide them with a full portfolio of communication and IT products.

The advantages of dealing with a local company are many. Firstly, if there is any element of call-out, a local company will almost certainly be cheaper than a centralised national company. For instance if you need a small telephone system installing.

Secondly, if anything goes wrong, particularly with hardware, we can come out quickly to put it right. Finally we provide a much more personal service. No call centres and a dedicated account manager to contact.

We are right in the heart of the midlands, ideally placed to service Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. There are no businesses too large or small to take advantage of our services.

Quotes are free and without obligation and as well as looking at ways to save your business money we also look at how your communications can be improved and new technology incorporated into your existing systems.

Fill out our simple enquiry form and we'll contact you and show you how much your business could save.

Have you reviewed your business phones recently? A phone review should cover not only cost reductions, where possible, but also communication improvements. Ensuring that your mobile phones and landlines work together to provide optimum performance and smooth lines of communication.

Too many companies fail to review their arrangements and renew their contracts without giving consideration to how much they might save by looking at alternative ways of organising their business phones.

In fact savings of several thousands of pounds are possible for medium to large users. This is money that should not be wasted, particularly in the current economic climate. No business should be paying over the odds for their telecoms.

Some of the areas to look at with a review include:

• Business mobile tariff
• Mobile network
• Changes of usage (more/less mins, sms, data)
• New mobile handsets
• No of lines/extensions
• Line rental costs
• Landline hardware (system/handsets)
• Cost per minute of most used destinations
• IT integration

By ensuring that your business communications are on the optimum plan you should not only save money on your basic monthly costs but should also benefit from increased new business and business retention by improving your communications both internally and externally.

You have nothing to lose with a business phone review from Business Mobile World. They are free of charge and take little time out of your business. After a quick fact find we can put together a proposal showing you where improvements and savings can be made.

According to a recent study only 24% of mobile phone users in the UK access the internet via their handset. There are several reasons cited for this low figure:

• Actual cost of data when known
• Unknown costs related to downloads and fear of a big bill
• Difficulty in viewing websites on small screens
• Slow download speeds and unwieldy navigation

Many of these problems can be overcome, particularly if you are looking for a new handset. If the internet is going to be a factor in your choice of mobile phone you will likely want as big a screen as possible. This means a touchscreen or slidephone are the best options.

A QWERTY keyboard enables you to email better and also to type long URLs into your browser getting to the website you need faster. A 3G enabled phone is a must and look out for whether it supports standard web programming such as java and flash. Wi-fi phones keep your costs down if you have a wireless access point.

A smartphone enables you to download different web browsers and applications to suit your taste and preference.

When looking at tariffs there are some different options for data usage. These include:

• Pay as you go for amount downloaded
• Include a data usage amount within your tariff (eg. 500MB)
• Pay per day

Which one works out best for you depends upon how often you are likely to access the internet/email. For instance if the daily access charge is 30p and you are likely to use it half a dozen times per month it works out better to pay daily than paying £5 for inclusive data within your tariff.

Beware the high costs of downloading data on a pay as you go basis. It is easy to run up a sizeable bill if you surf the internet without a special data plan of some sort. Also note that your data plan applies only in the UK. When overseas the cost of data usage is usually enormous.

These days most businesses of all types and size will use mobile phones in some capacity or other. Some of the reasons why your business benefits from utilising its business mobiles include:

• Accessibility 24/7
• Making and keeping appointments
• Checking details/information whilst away from the office
• Saving time, being able to communicate during "dead" time (eg. travelling)
• Accessing emails and internet
• Call forwarding from your landline
• Keeping in touch when overseas
• Lone worker protection
• Tracking employees by mobile device

There are numerous other reasons why using mobiles in your business and making them a key part of your communication strategy makes sense.

In the 21st century people have little patience to wait around for a slow response to a problem or complaint. Companies that recognise this and are able to keep communication channels open and active at all times will benefit in retaining existing customers and also gaining new business.

It is not enough to simply have mobile phones in your organisation, you need to use them to their best advantage and integrate them with your landlines, broadband, IT to get the best possible communication solution.

As experts in the telecoms field, offering a full range of products and services designed specifically to work together, we would love to help your business function better and help you improve communications, not only with your customers but also internally.

A converged telecommunications solution does not have to be costly or overly-complicated, it just needs the right products working together in the best manner. Quotes are free and we welcome enquiries from all types of business and all sizes from 1 mobile handset to 100+.

Increasingly the biggest differential between companies is the standard of customer service. Those that provide a quick follow up to enquiries and problems will find it much easier to retain customers and prompt replies to new leads will also put them at the front of the queue for gaining new customers.

When thinking about contact with your customers you need to be aware of all of the different devices and means of communication that are available. Not everyone wants to deal with things on the phone, many now prefer to email. The more channels of communication you offer the more people will be able to interact with your business.

When offering multiple communication avenues you also need to make sure that they work together to give the customer the optimum service. For instance if an email is left sitting in an inbox without being read or dealt with for several hours you are immediately risking the ire of an impatient customer.

Much better for a copy of that email to be forwarded to the recipients mobile phone when they are away from the office so that it can be read instantly. If it's urgent it can be dealt with straight away and if not it can be actioned at a later date.

Making it easier for people to contact you will result in gaining more business. Yes it will also mean that people with problems and gripes can get hold of you but it is better to sort these out in a timely manner so as to avoid losing customers or getting a bad reputation.

Small businesses need this more than they think. If someone is looking to get a product or service quickly they will almost certainly go with the first provider they can get hold of (providing the cost is not extortionate). So being unable to contact you could result in losing business. Having an answerphone does not always help if you cannot return the call until several hours later. By then the opportunity has often disappeared.

It is possible to have a single non-geographic number that tries all of your devices in turn until it can get hold of you. In the event you are uncontactable it can send a message straight to your mobile phone alerting you that your attention is required.

For larger businesses with dedicated staff answering the phones during office hours the need might be for out-of-hours services, forwarding calls to on-call staff, or home working options for people with families or in the case of bad weather.

All of these scenarios can be catered for by integrating your landlines, business mobiles and IT to provide seamless connections between departments and between your business and its customers.

It's all very well wanting the latest mobile phone free of charge on contract but this usually means signing up to a hefty contract. Whilst this will usually get you a fair chunk of minutes and texts, if you don't use them then you are pouring money down the drain.

Moneysupermarket estimate that up to £13 billion is being wasted by British mobile phone users each year in unused minutes and texts. In fact nearly half of the inclusive deal is being wasted. This is a 40% increase on the 2007 figures and is driven by high cost phones (iPhone anyone?) which require huge tariffs to be obtained free of charge.

Whilst a free phone might seem like a tempting offer, if you are wasting £20 of inclusive minutes each month over a 24 month period it would be much cheaper to take out a lower tariff and part-pay towards the cost of the phone.

Whilst these figures refer to the whole of the mobile phone market, and are largely a consumer problem, business users also need to be aware of the cost of unused minutes, texts and data. It's very important that your business mobile contract accurately reflects your usage in order to get the best deal.

If your usage remains fairly steady each month it should be a simple task to look at your current usage and get the right tariff that includes what you need but no more.

If your bills vary widely each month then you have a decision to make. Do you take out a contract based upon the highest monthly spend and waste the minutes and texts in low spend months or take out a contract on a lower tariff and pay for calls etc. above your tariff as and when they are made. You might need to get out a calculator at this point and see which works out best for you!

On the other hand get in touch with Business Mobile World (that's us!) and let us do the hard work for you. We can analyze your bills and produce figures showing you the best options and how much you could save by switching tariffs and/or networks.

We can also propose other money saving communication options including your landline phones, taking over your current lines and reducing your line rental and telephone call costs, and business broadband with low contention ratios giving you great speeds without great costs.

One call does it all, just pick up the phone and dial 0844 880 8116 for immediate attention or fill out our online enquiry form.

The figures are in for December 2009 and we can now reveal the best selling business mobile phone for the month. And the winner is........

The Samsung M110. Back on top after a four month break, although it has never left the top 6. This hard-wearing phone, ideal for those in manual trades, is dustproof, water resistant and shockproof. Free on even the lowest of tariffs it makes sense for businesses where breakages of "ordinary" mobile phones are commonplace.

A re-entry at 2 for the Nokia 6303. A solid unit for business users everywhere, this no fuss handset sells by the bucketload to businesses with basic mobile needs of talk and text.

Third place was occupied by the Apple iPhone. The intuitive nature of the iPhone's user interface is catching on with business users who like their touchscreen phones. Plus the constant media attention means that this handset is never far away from the thoughts of many looking for a new phone.

RIM take fourth and fifth with their BlackBerry 8520 and BlackBerry 9700 respectively. We have no problem selling BlackBerry phones to businesses where email is a prime driving force behind their choice of handset. Still the first choice manufacturer for many business users.

Nokia fill four of the remaining places with their 6300, 2700, 6600 and 7100. Samsung break in at 7 with their B2100. Another phone built along the lines of the aforementioned M110 this is a rugged phone for hardworkers.

A top 10 filled with sensible business mobile choices (iPhone excepted!). Each month is becoming fairly similar with only 4 manufacturers represented. No sign of LG or Sony Ericsson, they seem to be very much concentrating on consumer mobiles.

No entries for HTC either. They make good phones for the business user but many seem to shy away from them as they are not a household name. Their recent TV advertising may address these issues so look out for them making an appearance in the top 10 in the coming months.

Finally a reminder - we can help your business with its mobile phones and we don't only stock the phones shown in our top 10 listings. We can get you any handsets on a variety of business mobile tariffs with all of the major mobile networks. Contact us for your free quote.

Reports are that over the Christmas period Samsung have been outselling Nokia and have gained the crown of most popular mobile phone manufacturer. This is for all mobile phone handsets, including consumer phones, rather than just business mobile phones, where Nokia are still the best sellers, at least according to our own in-house figures.

The rise of Samsung is led by a series of fun and funky handsets, often low cost, that appeal to the generation buying the most handsets. For business users the colour and design of a phone is less likely to impress. It's the phone features at the top of the list when choosing a handset.

Samsung do make mobile phones for business users, notably the durable and hardwearing "builders" phones. The Samsung Solid Extreme is one such example offering water and dust resistance and compliance with MIL-STD-810F. This means it can survive military standard testing including exposure to high and low temperatures, rain (including wind blown and freezing rain), humidity, sand and dust exposure, shock and random vibration.

Nokia, on the other hand, are still producing good, solid phones, ideal for business users but without any great innovation or fanfare that is going to rival Apple's iPhone or Google's new Nexus One. They persevere with series phones, such as the N series, even though they are tarnished by bad reviews and software problems in the past. Once people become aware of such problems they are less likely to trust such phones in the future, even when the problems have been sorted.

Expect a fightback from Nokia soon, although with a host of non-traditional manufacturers such as Apple and Google entering the market as competition with their own USP it is going to be hard work to win back a sizeable chunk of market share in the consumer arena.

The business mobile market is moving too and new technologies will be adopted by business buyers looking for better ways to interact with their customers. It moves much more slowly but it is definitely moving. BlackBerry and Nokia need to be on their mettle if they are to keep up with the young guns, particularly if Google do decide to aim their next handset at the business user as is rumoured.

Business mobile buyers also need to keep their eyes on the new technology and think how it could help improve their business efficiency. For some free advice get in touch with us and let us show you how the latest handset technology can help you connect with your customers and make more sales.

Technology moves on apace and no area is moving faster than mobile phones. With the continuing rise in sales of SmartPhones, including GPS and always-on connectivity, the possibility to provide location-based services combined with mobile phone payment will be here soon.

This will allow you to receive information, offers and discounts on products and services based on your location. You might be walking along the high street nearing a large retail store and suddenly your phone beeps and a discount voucher appears on your screen. You visit the retailer, swipe your voucher to receive your discount, and swipe again to pay for your goods.

This will undoubtedly make life easier, particularly in paying for small items when you don't have any cash in your pocket. However the temptation to overspend will definitely be there for some. Also a lot of small impulse purchases can soon add up to a tidy sum at the end of the month.

It is also be possible to use your phone as a shopping assistant, taking a photo of an item in a shop and using an app to find info about it and get the best price. Apps could also be involved in money transfer between phones, so you could see car boot sales where the goods are bought by a shake of a couple of mobile phones and the money transferred from buyer to seller.

The security of the mobile payments will need to be excellent and combined with transaction limits to limit spending if people are going to adopt this technology. But any minor objections from people are likely to be overcome and many of the iPhone generation are going to want to get involved with this straight away.

They are the same people who will be using the new features on social networking sites which will enable you to see where your friends are and broadcast your location to your friends to meet up. The issue of privacy here is paramount but not insurmountable. There may be plenty of people who you don't want to know where you are!

Business applications for location tracking are already in use by many businesses who use device tracking systems to keep track of vehicles and employees during working hours. This enables the business to make savings and efficiencies and the systems can pay for themselves within a relatively short space of time.

By obtaining a free review from Business Mobile World you will find out how much you could save. Not only that but we can provide you with advice relating to the latest technology and handsets and how they could improve your business communications.

We appreciate that your time is precious so we make it as easy as possible for you to get the best current deal and move seamlessly to a new network provider if necessary.

We can provide quotes and savings illustrations by phone, email or face-to-face whichever is easier for you.

With one of our small business plans you can get:

• Between 100 and 3,000 inclusive mobile minutes (dependent upon chosen tariff)
• Unlimited calls between all company mobiles
• Unlimited calls to all 01, 02 and 03 landlines
• Rollover unused minutes for 30 days
• Dedicated account manager
• Latest handsets free of charge

We can also provide small businesses with landline telephone services saving you up to 40% on your call charges, as well as a range of other services designed to help small business users. Get in touch with us for your free quote.

For larger business users we have a range of plans from the major networks and can provide integrated communication solutions bringing together mobiles, landlines, broadband and IT.

The use of wi-fi hotspots is set to treble within 2 years, fuelled mainly by the popularity of the Apple iPhone.

Wi-fi enabled mobile phones can access the internet and email via hotspots, often free of charge. They can also access these services in your home if you have a wireless router. The advantage of this is that wi-fi access falls outside of a standard contract and does not incur data charges.

However, not all mobiles have wi-fi capability and you need to check before you buy. Some cheap phones do have it yet some more expensive phones don't. It is likely that the vast majority of new phones will feature wi-fi.

The free public wireless network in Swindon, allowing all of the towns inhabitants free wi-fi access, is due to be completed in April. Should this prove successful it is likely other towns will follow suit. Access to Swindon residents will be time-limited each day with a charge for use beyond their initial limit. Visitors to the town will also be charged.

A solid choice if you are looking for a wi-fi mobile phone with internet and email is the BlackBerry Curve 8520 (pictured right). Ths features a full QWERTY keyboard which is useful for email and also for entering URLs for web browsing.

It doesn't cost a packet either. Contracts start at £25 per month with 500 mobile minutes, unlimited landlines, 250 texts and 500 MB of data. This includes a free handset (this deal is for business mobiles users).

Other features include:

• 2.64 inch screen
• full QWERTY keyboard
• touch-sensitive optical trackpad
• memory expandable up to 32GB
• Bluetooth
• 2MP camera
• BlackBerry OS (512mhz processor)
• BlackBerry's legendary mobile email
• Organizer
• MP3/MP4 player.

We offer a full range of wi-fi mobile phones for business users. Get in touch to find out more and for a free quotation.

The start of a new year is an ideal time to take stock of your business and plan your success for the coming 12 months. As well as gearing up to sell more of your products and services you should be looking at ways of saving money on your costs in order to maximise your profits.

A telecoms review from Business Mobile World will analyze all of your current communications including mobile phones, landline phones, broadband and mobile broadband showing you where savings can be made.

Additionally we can also help with new products and services including telephone systems, VoIP systems, website hosting, design and promotion - we offer a fully converged telecoms solution.

The benefits of a review for your business include:

• Saving money on each product
• Ensuring all products work together optimally
• Simplifying your billing (one monthly bill)
• One point of contact

At the moment you will probably have a number of different contracts for each of your communication components with different renewal dates. We can arrange for a smooth transition for each of these as they become due for renewal.

And the downside of getting a review? If we cannot save you money or improve your communications then you have total peace of mind that your current deal/s are the best available in the market. It's a win-win situation.

Best of all it's a free service. It won't cost your business a penny to see how much you could be saving and how your communications could be improved. Just contact us for your individual quotation.

This may be the last post before the 25th so a Happy Christmas to all of our customers, new and old, and a prosperous New Year.

Talking of New Year, the date for Vodafone's iPhone launch is now known. It will be on the 14th January 2010. Pre-orders are now being taken direct via their website although there don't appear to be any tariff details as yet.

Don't expect to see any startlingly different tariffs from either Orange or O2. It is likely that they will follow the other two networks both in terms of pricing and length of contract.

For the cheapest iPhone deals the best option could be Tesco Mobile who are offering 12 month contracts. It does mean that you have to contribute towards the cost of the phone initially but you are better off in the long run in terms of total cost. It also allows you to upgrade after 12 months which could be useful as it is likely the next generation iPhone or a variant will be released by then.

These are the deals for individual customers. For iPhone business mobile contracts get in touch with us for your tailored quotation. We have a wide range of business mobile tariffs from all of the major networks and can assist with a single iPhone or multiple iPhones for all of your employees.

The New Year is an ideal time for businesses to take a look at all of their outgoings. Remember we can help with a wide range of telecoms providing your business with an integrated solution and saving you money in the process. Our quotes are free and without obligation.

What is the best business mobile contract for your business?

There is no easy answer to this question as all businesses are different and will use their handsets in different ways. Some will want a contract with lots of inclusive minutes but little else, others will be more focused on data and a mobile email solution.

Getting the right business mobile contract is especially important as contract terms get longer and longer. Very few 12 month contracts now exist and the norm is 18 or 24 months, with 36 month contracts also available.

If you are paying over the odds for your business mobile contract you could be stuck paying too much month after month for 24 months. This additional expense could add up to several hundred pounds, or even more for large users, over the course of a contract.

So how do you find the best deal for your business? Whilst there are only 5 main networks each of them have a wide range of business tariffs. If you multiply the number of networks by the number of tariffs by the number of available handsets the total you come up with is staggering.

Whilst you could trawl through all of the options yourselves it would be extremely time consuming and you could not guarantee getting the best deal. This is because dealing direct with the networks can be more expensive than using a third party broker, such as ourselves, in many instances.

Additionally if you deal direct you are likely to be provided with a lesser level of customer service, particularly if you are a small business user. We don't have call centres and you speak to real people, including your dedicated account manager, when you need to contact us.

All we need from you is some idea of the type of handset you need - we can advise on the best ones for your usage based on your current bills or we can discuss handset options with you. If we have a copy of your current bills we can also tailor a contract based on your exact usage.

If your usage fluctuates greatly month-to-month we can analyze a range of different tariffs to see which one would work out the best option for you in terms of monthly spend.

Taking out a contract with us need not involve changing networks. We can take over your existing contract at expiry providing you with new handsets where needed and adjusting your tariff to the optimum.

If you need/want to change networks we make sure that your changeover is smooth and trouble free and help out with obtaining PAC numbers for you to keep your existing numbers if required.

Basically we make your life easier whilst saving you money! If that is something your business would consider a useful service please contact us for a free discussion and quote.

After a few days without posting we are going to catch up on some of the latest news from the world of mobile phones.

Aino and Satio back in business?

Sony Ericsson have been suffering some software problems on two of their latest handsets, so much so that they were withdrawn from sale by some retailers. The software update fixing all of these issues is now available for current users of these phones.

Too early to tell if this will help with sales in the run up to Christmas which must have been severely affected by the much publicised problems. Would you buy a handset with known problems when there is so much choice out there and plenty of reliable and proven phones?

Driving whilst using mobile on the increase?

It's hard to believe that people still haven't got the message. Apparently mobile phone use whilst driving has doubled in the last two years according to a recent study. This is despite the increased fines and penalties and the easy availability of hands-free kits such as bluetooth headsets.

If you know someone who is regularly driving whilst using a mobile, do them a favour and wrap them up a hands-free device for Christmas. They're cheap and easy to find and most of them work very well.

Can prolonged use of mobile phones give you brain cancer?

Whilst it is still very early days, it would appear that the incidence of brain tumours has not increased (in Scandinavia at least where the report comes from) since the 1990s when prolonged usage of mobile phones first started.  

It's always better to be cautious and limit use of mobiles where possible, particularly for children, but it would appear that the risks are relatively small for the time being. Longer studies need to take place and manufacturers need to continue to reduce radiation from their handsets where possible.

Smartphones continue to dominate people's wishlists

With SmartPhones getting smarter and cheaper all the time it is very likely many will be making the switch in the run up to Christmas and getting an operating system on their phone, similar to that on their computer. This allows the easy download of applications, synching with your desktop or laptop and using software that is already second nature.

In the same way that computing power has increased exponentially in recent years SmartPhone technology is likely to do the same. For those that haven't dipped their toes into the water a budget SmartPhone can be free of charge on a monthly contract costing a few pounds. This will get you used to how they work, ready for the jump to a more powerful model in the future as the technology evolves.

If you are due your upgrade in the coming months get in touch to see how we could help you take your first step with a new SmartPhone for both business users and individual consumers.

Well, the best sellers for November 2009 despatched by us in any case.

We start with the best selling business mobile, which was also the best seller last month, and that is the BlackBerry Curve 8520. This "budget" BlackBerry has a full QWERTY keyboard and offers the usual BlackBerry email and data experience which is why business users love them so much!

In second place is the Nokia 6300. This has occupied a top 3 spot in 5 out of the last 6 months and in the other month was the fifth best seller! Again a solid performer for business users looking for a phone that does what they need without any frills.

Making its debut at 3 is the BlackBerry Bold 2 (9700). A new phone which builds upon the already excellent BlackBerry Bold and adds new features. At 4 is the BlackBerry Bold 9000.

Rounding out the top 5 is the "builders phone" the Samsung M110. It retains a position in the top 6 which it has held every month so far since we started reporting the top 10 business mobiles.

At 6 is the phone people seem to love or hate - the Apple iPhone. Very much overrated for business users, and thus overpriced too, it retains a following with business people choosing style over substance!

Nokia fill three of the remaining four places with the Nokia 2330 (7), Nokia E72 (9) and Nokia 3110 (10) with the Samsung S5230 spoiling the Nokia run at 8.

Orange have reported that they sold more than 30,000 iphones on their first day of offering the handset to their customers. There is no stopping the momentum behind the iPhone, particularly now that Tesco Mobile have announced they will be selling it online and in their mobile shops.

Tesco currently have around 100 mobile shops within their stores, a number which is set to grow to 200 during 2010. No tariffs have been announced but they claim they will be offering a little "Tesco value" to their customers.

Does this herald the start of a price war? Orange getting the iPhone certainly didn't, with tariffs set almost exactly the same as O2. Vodafone come into the market in 2010 and this extra competition may start the prices heading ownwards.

However, how much room for manoeuvre is there in the price? If you are paying £30 per month over 24 months your total outlay is only £720. With an iPhone GS costing in the region of £500 (probably a bit less to the major networks) there isn't much of a profit margin.

Whilst we can supply the iPhone to our business customers, we find that other handsets from Nokia and RIM (BlackBerry) are much more popular. It did pop into our Top 10 business mobile handset chart for August 2009 but hasn't been seen since.

As a business phone it doesn't offer any extra features above many considerably cheaper handsets. Businessmen with their heads screwed on understand value and understand that every extra penny spent on their mobiles is a penny off their profits.

So if you are looking for a business mobile phone and are considering the iPhone get in touch with us for some free advice and some cheaper (and better) alternative handsets that will save your business money month after month.

How easy is it to carry out crimes on the streets from behind bars? Well first of all you need to know the right people and you need around £400.

This is why there has been a call to jam mobile phone signals from an inspector. This would stop crimes on the streets, including drug trafficking, and bullying within prisons.

It is believed that there are 3 times as many mobile phones in circulation than have actually been seized. So going on figures from 2008, 7000 mobile phones where seized, with a black market value of 9million.  This means that there are potentially 21,000 mobile phones in circulation in UK prisons.

The prison service say that blocking signals is a slow and costly process but the technology is out there. For each prison to have the technology would cost £250,000 per prison.

But…will signal jamming affect the public outside the prison? Is the technology there to be specific with the signal blocking? Or will they have each individual network track signals from inside the prison and maybe get an imei block? Would that be possible and more cost effective? Or would that be too much work for the networks?

Interestingly at this moment in time it is not against the law to be in possession of a mobile phone in prison, the only law is on smuggling the phone into jail.

The new UK Mobile Phone Deals website is now live and ready for you to visit.

As well as offering business mobile phones, it also has links to consumer mobiles with a mobile phone shop offering free mobiles, the latest deals, offers and mobile phone extras.

There is a blog, online polls, mobile broadband section and there will be plenty more to come in the near future.

We intend to keep it updated with the latest mobile phone news on a daily basis, at least during the working week, and it will have different content to the stuff posted here on Business Mobile World.

It is based on the MojoPortal content management system and is an experiment in terms of its effectiveness in search engine optimisation. We will be keeping a close eye on it in the search engines to see if it does better or worse than the old site.

Further to the meeting held by Peter Mandelson with all 5 major network providers to have a Spectrum reframe (to hit Labour's Mobile broadband targets by 2012).

T-Mobile and Orange are now telling the UK regulator that they do not want to give up spectrum in exchange for regulatory approval of their planned merger. This isn’t going to please OFCOM as the merger will have 37% of mobile customers and over 50% of all available spectrum.

It will be unlikely that Vodafone and 02 will give up any of the 900mhz bandwidth if T-Mobile and Orange are not going to let go of any of their spectrum to meet Mandelson's 2012 targets. It should be remembered that there is a General election coming up next year which could change things!

What is Spectrum?

According to Wikipedia it is "the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation". For more information read the Ofcom pdf relating to the Frequency Allocation Table which contains 224 pages of further info.

Author: Simon Hunt

Position: Telecommunications Consultant with 21C Telecom

It's been a bit quiet here with our blogger and website updater away for a couple of weeks. However, he's back now and raring to go!

So what's been happening in the world of mobile phones and business mobile phones in the past 14 days? This is a chance for you (and him!) to catch up with the latest mobile phone news in the UK.

• Firstly it looks like some staff at T-Mobile have been selling-on data on its customers to third parties who then contact the customers in advance of their upgrade date to upgrade their phones. This illegal activity is likely to result in a criminal prosecution and even some jail time. However there is no suggestion that details such as financial information/bank accounts have been compromised or sold on.
  
• Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, looks like being prosecuted for being involved in a road accident whilst using a mobile phone. There is no excuse for using your handset whilst driving, hands-free kits are available and are very cheap. We can supply any of our existing customers with the kits and can even arrange for installation where a fixed kit is required.
  
• Arriva, the bus company, has become the first in the UK to launch a mobile phone ticket service. Prepaid tickets can be sent to your mobile phone. The ticket is then activated by the user on the day of travel and shown to the driver in the same way as a paper ticket.
  
• Recent research suggests that UK businesses could potentially be wasting up to £264 million each year on mobile call costs. This is mainly due to employees simply picking up the phone and ringing without thinking about the cost of the call and whether there are cheaper options available (after all it is not their money they are wasting!).
  
  Many of these calls are made from within offices where alternatives are available. However, employees are not the only ones to blame. Many businesses fail to make the best use of their resources, such as Wi-Fi networks, which could enable cheap/free calls over the internet from their business mobiles.
  
  If your business is looking to save money on its phone calls get in touch for a wide range of options available to small businesses and largeer users alike.

That's some of the news from the mobile phone world. To keep in touch with developments bookmark this blog, which will now be updated a bit more often!

Following on from our recent blog post, Mobile Phone Form Factors, the differential in exterior design is becoming less important than the internal operating system and software for customers who know their mobiles.

There are still consumers who just want the latest "in" gadget, or a phone because it "looks pretty", but more and more people understand how mobiles work now that they are becoming more like computers. This is particularly so for companies looking for business mobiles.

The latest SmartPhones can run operating systems that are already familiar to anyone who has had a computer for the last few years. So if you are a fan of Windows on your PC it makes sense to hunt down a Windows Mobile device which will provide you with an OS that you can quickly understand and are broadly familiar with.

Using similar operating systems on all of your devices will also make it easier to integrate them and to transfer documents and files between them.

With so many manufacturers making similar looking devices, and with physical limitations to just how different mobiles can be, plus only a handful of different operating systems out there, how are they going to make their handsets stand out?

Firstly they can add to the OS. Open Source operating systems such as Google's Android can be customised by the manufacturer's development teams. So whilst you would broadly expect to be getting a similar experience with all Android based handsets, there could actually be quite a bit of difference with interfaces and usability dependent on your handset choice.

The next step could also be niche handsets. Rather than trying to be all things to all men new handsets could appeal to different sectors. For instance in Korea they have released a "golf" phone with maps of 280 golf courses built in and a host of other features to appeal particularly to the golf market. This is definitely a way to differentiate handsets based on the users lifestyle.

When comparing handsets the first thing to look for is if it has an operating system (ie. it's a SmartPhone) or not. If you only want to make calls and texts then you don't need an OS and should go for a basic model, there's no point paying for features you don't need.

Next look for which OS it's running. You are likely to come across the following systems:

• Symbian
• Android
• Windows Mobile
• BlackBerry
• iPhone
• Palm Web OS

You may not have a preference initially, but if there is specific software (apps) that you want your phone to run you will need to make sure the Operating System can handle it and do some research to make sure it works OK. Online reviews and blogs from real users will usually tell you how well it works!

If you have family/friends/acquaintances who are already using a phone with your chosen OS see if they will let you give it a try to see how well you get on with it. All UIs (User Interfaces) calim to be intuitive yet work in different ways. What is intuitive to me may not feel intuitive to you.

For company mobile users give us a call for a chat about the different handsets and operating systems. We can supply business users with a single handset or multiple handsets as required.

When choosing a mobile phone there are a number of different designs which offer variable user experiences. The one you choose may be decided by specific reasons or a good experience with a particular handset in the past.

• Candy Bar

The "standard" form factor, used on the very first mobile phones and still popular today. With this type of phone there is no protection for the screen or keyboard. Be careful not to keep it in a pocket with keys or other items that could scratch or damage the screen. Also make sure that the keyboard is locked as accidentally dialling someone or accessing the internet (many browser keys seem to be placed deliberately in a position where accidental use is encouraged!) could incur extra charges.

• Slide Phone

Usually the top part of the phone containing the screen slides over the keyboard. This means that the keyboard is protected but the screen remains exposed. They can be prone to screen damage due to broken connectors in the slide mechanism.

• Flip Phones / Clam Shell

Very rare nowadays to see a flip phone. The advantages are both the keyboard and main screen are protected. Outer screens remain at risk of scratching and breakage. When opened the phones should give a decent call experience with earpiece and microphone naturally in the right place.

• Touchscreen

More and more modern mobile phones are touchscreen. They can be used by touching with your fingers or a stylus. Keyboard use is via a "virtual keyboard" that appears on the main screen. Different manufacturers utilise technologies that give a different feel to their touchscreens. Some users swear by them but others cannot get on with them. It is easier to make a mistake than with a traditional keyboard.

• Hybrids

Some phones are now being released that feature more than one of these technologies. For instance they have a touchscreen top panel which slides out to reveal a standard keyboard. The best of both worlds or just more things to go wrong??

Sales of SmartPhones continue to soar and are predicted to exceed those of PCs by 2012. The average SmartPhone is now so packed full of features that they could possibly replace a number of devices in the fullness of time.

When you invest in a SmartPhone you are likely getting a

• camera
• media player (MP3/4/Radio)
• computer
• satnav
• TV
• communication device (phone/sms/mms/email)

All of these features are rolled into one device that you can carry around and, as processing power and memory increase, the potential for replacing all of your other gadgets with a single SmartPhone are being realised.

As more manufacturers enter the SmartPhone market prices are coming down and obtaining a free SmartPhone can now be done with even the most basic of business mobile contracts. For consumers, SmartPhones can be obtained free on contracts as low as £18 per month including data usage.

Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry device manufacturers, now have units available on £25 per month contracts. These include minutes, texts AND data, giving you everything you need to use all of the phone features.

If you do intend using the email and internet features of your SmartPhone make sure you have data usage included within your package as charges per MB out of bundle can be very steep and it doesn't take much browsing to run up a big bill.

Alternatively you can use a Wi-fi enabled phone utilising your home or office wireless network to download data. This should not incur any charges from your network.

If you are looking for a free iPhone you are going to have to pay a fair bit more, particularly if you want the latest model. However for a business user there are many handsets available free that offer better features without the need for an expensive tariff.

Researching handset models is easy, we use the GSM Arena website which details of all of the handsets released throughout the world. You can see photos, reviews, full specs and user comments.

When doing your research on this site make sure the model is released in the UK as some phones are US or Far East only. Once you have a model in mind give us a call or let us know the features you require and your budget and we'll let you know the best combination of handset and tariff giving you a free mobile SmartPhone.

The despatch figures for October are in and the winner is...........

The BlackBerry 8520. This the best selling business mobile phone for October across our range of websites. This is the choice of users looking for a budget BlackBerry as it can be obtained free of charge on tariffs from £25. This INCLUDES data usage too.

In second place is the Samsung M110. This is also known as the "builders phone" as it comes in a rubberized casing making it shockproof. It is also dust proof and damp proof.

Keeping up Nokia's excellent record in the charts is the Nokia 6300 in third place. This is a solid business phone with a durable metal casing, ideal for all "road warriors" and those looking for a good quality, functional and inexpensive phone.

Another BlackBerry occupies fourth place, the BlackBerry 8900. Offering the usual quality expected of RIM and the excellent business tools including email and organizer.

Fifth place goes to another Samsung, the Samsung B2100. Another solid phone designed for those working in tough environments. Expect this to take over from the Samsung M110 in future lists.

Three Nokias occupy positions six to eight, namely the 3110, 6303 and 2680.

Bringing up the rear are the Samsung S5230, aka the Samsung Star, and the Nokia 6600 slide.

Only three manufacturers make this months list of the best business mobiles, no room for Apple, Motorola, Sony, HTC and a host of others. We have to conclude that, at this moment, if you are looking for a business mobile go for a Nokia, BlackBerry or Samsung!

With the release of the BlackBerry 9520 (aka Storm 2) Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry manufacturer, are focusing on a competitor to the iPhone with an all-round aptitude for both business and leisure uses.

For the dedicated business mobile user which BlackBerry should you choose?

If you are looking for a BlackBerry device it is very likely that email is on your mind. From an email point of view can you manage without a full QWERTY keyboard? Most BlackBerry phones now provide this as standard either via a touchscreen interface or regular buttons. Older models can have half-QWERTY keypads but if you are going to be emailing regularly these are probably best avoided.

Remember that data usage out of bundle is extremely expensive so a BlackBerry Internet Solution (BIS) or BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) need to be included within your package. These will be charged extra and start at around £10 per month for 500MB of data for BIS.

As BlackBerry phones tend to be aimed squarely at business users some features, such as a camera, tend to be rather basic. A standard 2.0 or 3.2 MP camera is all that you are likely to get. Compare that to the latest 12MP camera phones now available.

If you want to access the internet via your own router, at home or in the office, then you will need Wi-Fi connectivity. This is becoming standard on newly released models such as the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Most also include GPS as standard.

In fact the latest models are remarkably similar in features, it is up to you whether you prefer the look and feel of the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm 2 or the more standard BlackBerry Bold 9700. You are unlikely to be disappointed with either model.

We can supply your business with either handset, or a choice of other BlackBerry mobiles, and these can be free of charge subject to the tariff you choose.

As a business user you are very likely to enter into a contract for your business mobiles rather than pay as you go. How long should your business mobile contract be?

If you are dealing direct with the network it is likely they will want to tie you to them for as long as possible. 12 month contracts are becoming a thing of the past and you are more likely to be offered 18 month, 24 month or even 36 month contracts.

Wherever possible you should keep the contract term as short as is available. This allows you the flexibility to change tariffs earlier and to replace equipment when it becomes obsolete.

Occasionally there are reasons why a longer term is necessary. For instance, if you want a large quantity of expensive phones free of charge you are going to have to take a long contract to allow the networks to recoup the initial purchase costs of the phones over the full duration of the contract.

Rather than take out a long contract in these circumstances you could opt for a shorter contract and put an amount towards the cost of the handsets.

Alternatively you could opt for a shorter contract with less expensive handsets. It is often possible to find cheaper mobiles which still do the same job equally as well. A bit of research can pinpoint the models which offer all of the features you need.

Longer contracts can also offer lower monthly payments. Some tariffs will have different monthly payments for exactly the same amount of minutes and texts depending on the contract duration.

Every business is different and has different requirements for their mobile contracts. Whatever your requirements we can put together a business mobile package that suits you and offers the best balance between handsets, usage and contract length. Contact us for your free quote.

It's not easy keeping up-to-date with all of the manufacturers, networks and companies providing operating systems and apps when they are announcing new developments on a daily basis. Here are some of the developments we've spotted which should be coming to the UK soon.

Projectors

Projector technology has now advanced to such a degree that there are projector units available of a similar size to a mobile phone. The next logical step is to integrate the projector within a mobile phone handset.

This has already been achieved within a Samsung handset available in South Korea (the home of the latest mobile phone gadgets) but will inevitably be coming to these shores in the fullness of time.

The projector could be used for business presentations but could also show live TV and stored media via the handset.

Free SatNav

Many mobile phones already include maps and sat navs, however there is usually a subscription charge for using the service. Google have now introduced a free service offering turn-by-turn navigation integrated with Google Maps as part of their Android 2.0 operating system.

This offers most of the features available in the average sat nav unit like live traffic data plus satellite imagery from Google Maps and real pictures of destinations via the Google street view service.

Currently available in the US, this technology will no doubt be making its way across the pond very soon.

Going green

As well as mobile phone handset manufacturers jumping on the green bandwagon with new models such as the Samsung Blue Earth - using recycled plastic, a five-star rated energy efficient charger, plus additional solar chargers on the rear of the phone - you will soon be checking your home energy use via your mobile.

Smart meters showing energy consumption within your home will soon become mandatory. The data they produce can then be sent to your phone so you can keep track of how much energy you are using and how much it is costing even when you are at work or on holiday. It may even be possible in the future to turn off appliances and lights remotely from your mobile!

These are just a few of the developments currently being made in the mobile phone world. We will keep you posted as and when new stuff appears which may help business mobile phone users.

Many people are now more likely to forget their wallet/cards/cash than their mobile phone when they leave the house. So the ability to pay for small items of shopping or travel fares via your mobile phone is going to appeal.

Already available in the Far East, trials continue in the UK to get the mobile wallet up and running and accepted by retailers. With many supermarkets already offering self-checkout, the ability to scan your phone to pay for the goods would seem reasonably straightforward.

No doubt there are a number of technical and payment problems to iron out, but the day you can start paying with your mobile is coming soon.

There are also many shopping related apps coming onto the market. Retailers are realising that the mobile is an ideal device to help them market themselves and sell more product.

For instance Amazon have released an app that allows you to place orders and keep track of them, in the same way as you would use their website. They also offer a special feature whereby if you see an item you like when you are out and about you can take a photo of it and upload it to their site and if it can be matched with a product they sell you can find out all about it and then order it from your phone (or just keep it in your visual shopping list).

Dominos Pizza have also launched an app to enable you to track your pizza delivery. It lets you know when the pizza is in the oven, when it is ready for collection or on the way to being delivered.

These apps are examples of how big business is embracing new technology and using it to keep in touch with customers. Small business users can also take advantage of mobile technology. Not necessarily by the use of apps, but by sms marketing which is relatively low cost and provides instant results.

If you can think of a way that using mobile phones could help your business from a marketing or sales perspective please contact us and let us show you how cost effective mobile phone marketing could be.

As a small business it can often be difficult to compete with much larger businesses on a level playing field. They can buy all of the technology they need, regardless of cost, and have deep pockets to pay for marketing their products and services.

However, with even the most advanced mobile phones available from only £35 per month, your small business can be equipped with the latest in SmartPhone technology without breaking the bank.

Armed with the latest SmartPhone you can download apps, often for free, that will make your phone perform exactly how you need it to. You can also find a lot of free software for your computer that emulates the performance of very expensive software and systems that can keep you competitive.

Being a small business means that you can also respond more quickly to new technology, getting the latest gadgets to help your business as soon as they are available.

What is the ideal mobile phone for small business users?

That depends on how you are going to use it and what you need it to do. With a bit of research you can find a cheaper alternative to the headline-grabbing phones that will do exactly the job you need.

Before plunging headlong into buying your new phone think about exactly which features you NEED (not want) for your business. All phones are going to give you similar performance for voice and texts, but the difference in browsing and email between handsets can be large. QWERTY keyboards and larger screens are the order of the day if you need email and internet usage on a daily basis.

If you need your phone to be durable, either because you work in a tough environment or because you are just clumsy, then a rubberized phone would be a good buy. They tend to be cheap and cheerful with few features but you will know you made a good decision in buying one the first time you drop it heavily onto a concrete path and it bounces back still working.

They may not be the most glamorous of phones but they could save you a lot of money in replacing your mobile time and time again. Remember, getting a replacement phone is likely to cost your business at least £100, and up to £500 for the most advanced phone, each and every time one is broken.

The array of mobile phones available to small business users can be daunting and research can be time consuming. If you prefer to talk to an expert in the field of business mobiles then pick up the phone and call us. We will happily talk you through all of the latest phones and features that could help your small business.

The latest news on the release date of the iPhone on the Orange network is that it will be 10th November, a day after O2's exclusive deal expires. This will make them the only official competitor in the run up to Christmas as Vodafone will not be carrying the iPhone until next year and neither 3 nor T-Mobile have officially announced that they will carry the phone.

3 are rumoured to be considering carrying the handset, with no offical announcement, whilst T-Mobile have ruled themselves out, although they are importing iPhones on an unofficial basis for some of their high spend and valuable customers.

So if you are looking for an iPhone on contract this Christmas your choice is likely to be O2 or Orange. This could drive prices slightly lower although a real price war is unlikely until Vodafone start their iPhone sales in the New Year.

If you are an Orange customer looking to upgrade to an iPhone and your contract is due for upgrade in the next couple of months get in touch with us as we also offer consumer upgrades on the Orange network in addition to our core business mobile sales.

Similarly if you are on O2 customer we can help you with upgrading to the Apple iPhone. You just have to be nearing the end of your contract.

The tariffs for a free iPhone on O2 start at around £35 for a 24 month contract. This includes 600 minutes, 500 messages and "unlimited" data. This is for the basic 3G 8GB. If you are looking for the iPhone 3GS 32GB you are going to have to pay around £75 per month to get one free of charge.

There are no details of tariffs yet on the Orange website but there is the option to pre-register for news of release and the opportunity of getting one as soon as it is released.

If you are a business customer we can help you with a new iPhone on a wide range of tariffs. Just contact us for a free no obligation quotation.

Businesses should always be looking at saving money. After all every penny saved is added to the business profits. Keeping an eye on all of your expenditure and making sure that you always have the best deal is one way of ensuring your costs are as low as they can be.

But is the cheapest deal always the best deal? Sometimes it is. For instance the gas and electricity that your business receives will be exactly the same regardless of which distributor you use. Prices between distributors vary greatly.

With business mobile phones there are a number of variables which mean that sometimes the cheapest deal is not going to deliver the results you want.

For a start there are handsets. The very cheapest handsets should deliver you a reasonable voice and text service, and if that is all you need then sourcing the cheapest business mobile deal is right for you.

Businesses who need durable phones with few added features, such as builders and other tradesmen, will find that their chosen handsets will be relatively cheap allowing them to choose from a full range of tariffs and get their handsets free.

However if you are going to need data use (email and/or internet), gps or camera functions then you need to think carefully which handsets will deliver all of the necessary functionality. If you need the latest handsets you are not going to get them free of charge on the cheapest tariffs, but if you use a lot of minutes, texts and data you could find that the tariff you need allows you to get the best handsets too.

Of course keeping a close eye on all of your expenditure is time-consuming and could take your focus away from your core business. That is why it could be a wise move to employ a broker to handle all of your telecoms requirements. They don't have to worry about running your business, they focus solely on your communications, how they could be improved and where money can be saved.

At Business Mobile World we can handle all of your mobile phone, landline and broadband infrastructure plus the necessary IT to make it all work together seamlessly. A converged solution offers your business full integration between fixed-line and mobile devices, offering improved communication and reduced costs. Get in touch to find out more.

Many of us have mobile phones lying around in drawers unused. Often a family could have several handsets belonging to family members which are no longer in use. These could be turned into easy cash by recycling.

There are now many websites offering mobile phone recycling. You enter your phone make and model and whether it is working or not and they give you a price. Or they could make a similar donation to charity (Children in Need this year are encouraging people to recycle their phones in order to help them).

However, be aware that may of these phones could end up in Nigeria or China, hotspots for cyber crime and fraud, and make sure that you delete all of your information from the phone memory.

This does not mean simply clicking on the "delete" button on your phone. Your mobile phone memory works in the same way as a computer hard drive. When you click to delete the data is not actually deleted but that portion of memory is available to be overwritten in due course.

A recent problem with a camera memory card which had apparently deleted some photos in error turned up 417 photos which were recovered using a bit of free software downloaded from the internet.

If you are thinking of recycling your phone make sure you use software to wipe the memory. Apart from embarrassing photos and texts there could be bank details, addresses and other info useful to fraudsters.

A recent poll by Consumer Focus found that nearly 70% of people think there are too many mobile phone tariffs available. The figure they quote for the total number of tariffs is a staggering 1.3 million!

As a result many people are not getting the best deal available and are finding hidden costs, for instance for accessing voicemail, after they have signed up to a contract.

With business mobile tariffs you can experience similar problems. There are so many different tariffs offering voice and texts, plus a huge range of bolt-ons for data, extra texts etc. Getting the right tariff that exactly meets your needs is difficult and, if you don't, your business is going to be overspending.

Rather than do the hard work of contacting all of the networks individually yourself, let us make it easy for you. We have access to all of the business tariffs plus all of the different mobile phone handsets allowing us to tailor a deal that exactly suits your business needs.

Our service is free and we are available at all times to discuss any changes plus advise you about other ways of saving money and utilising mobile communications that you may not have thought of.

We can start from a blank slate or can analyze your current bills to see exactly where your money is being spent and where savings could be made. A free review costs you nothing and will at least let you know if better deals are out there.

If you are not yet ready for a review but would like a quick chat about your business mobile contract just pick up the phone and call 0844 880 8116.

A recent survey of over 7,000 SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) reports that over 60% of businesses said faster broadband speeds had a positive impact on their business. Other beneficial technology included mobile devices (mobile phones and mobile broadband) and remote working tech.

Nearly 70% of those businesses that were embracing new technology were experiencing a "better" recession than those who lagged behind.

Not surprising to us, we have been blogging regularly about how new technology can help your business improve its communications and ultimately make you more money. Any initial investment can soon be overtaken by ongoing savings or increased profits.

And that is just the current scenario. Going forward into the future new technology will become ever more important in businesses that rely upon communications.

Even traditional trades, such as hairdressers, where actual technological advancements are unlikely to replace their core business (you cannot get a haircut on the internet!) need to embrace technology to make sure that their marketing remains relevant and accessible.

Letting customers (and potential customers) know about new styles, products and special offers by email or sms could keep all of their current customers happy and get people who may never have thought of using them in the past through the front door. 

All businesses should be thinking of how they could use technology to improve their communications inter-office and with customers. We can help you with advice about the latest technology and how it can be used to boost your business. Just get in touch.

With mobile phones becoming more like computers, offering storage for documents, personal and work data, the need to keep this data safe for business mobile users is paramount.

Most phones offer a PIN code security system. This locks all of the data but leaves the phone enabled to make emergency calls. The pin code is usually 4-8 digits. In common with your bank pin code you should make it memorable, not make it easily guessable and should not write it down and keep it with the phone!

If for any reason you enter an incorrect pin code three consecutive times the phone and/or sim card will be locked and you will be unable to use the phone or access its data. To reactivate the phone you need to know the PUC code (Pin Unlock Code). This is also known as the PUK code (Pin Unlock Key).

Should you enter the pin code wrongly 10 times in succession you will permanently lock your phone and need a new sim card, for which the network will charge you.

For O2 users the PUK code can be obtained from their website. Find an O2 PUK code. For all other networks you will have to get in touch with their customer service departments by phone (not easy if you only have your mobile with you and you've just locked it!).

As well as PIN protection SmartPhone users can download software apps that offer password protected storage facilities for all of their contacts and data. There are also apps for the safe and secure back-up of mobile phone data in the event of a lost/stolen/damaged phone.

By using a cloud storage facility and keeping your data safely online, it can be retrieved easily and downloaded to your new phone in the event of any problems.

Many manufacturers of mobile phone handsets and mobile phone networks are having tough times making a profit. This is ideal for the end user as the business mobile deals on offer currently are excellent.

Lower handset prices, plus tariffs with extra minutes, texts and data mean that if your current mobile contract is coming up for renewal in the near future you are almost guaranteed to find either a cheaper alternative or get a lot extra for your current spend.

Finding the best business mobile phone deal is where we come in. We save you the time of dealing with all five networks and can advise you on the best handsets for your business.

All you need to do is provide us with a few basic details:

• Coverage - are there any networks where coverage is problematic in your area
• Landline minutes - how many minutes do you need to call landlines
• Mobile minutes - how many minutes do you need to call mobile phones
• Texts - how many texts per handset each month
• Data - do you need data bundles for email or internet. Do you need a BlackBerry solution
• Preferred handsets - How many handsets do you need. Do you have a manufacturer or handset type preference

From this we can find you the best combination of network, tariff and handset/s to give your business the lowest monthly cost without compromising on quality of service and making sure there are no nasty surprises when you get your first bill!

We don't stop there. Become a customer with Business Mobile World and you benefit from your own account manager helping you with any problems, additions, technical advice and letting you know about new technologies that might help your business.

Once you've sampled our customer service you might want to save money on your landline bills, broadband and mobile broadband. Arranging them all with us gives you one point of contact should there be any issues and will save your business money each month.

For a free quote for any or all of our services please contact us.

The days before mobile phones are long behind us and it seems nearly impossible to imagine how we used to live without them, even for those of us who spent many happy years without a mobile.

The range of features on the average modern mobile phone gives you a variety of things to do for business and pleasure but how much of the stuff you do on your phone is really necessary and how much is down to boredom or stress?

On several occasions I have left my phone at home when going to work. Half way there I realise and start to panic. Why? When I'm at work everyone can call me on the landline, I have internet access and constant emails. There is little reason for me even to carry a mobile at work.

OK, I could break down on the way home when it would come in useful but my irrational anxiety about being without my phone really hit home. It's getting harder and harder to switch off and relax.

I was waiting in a beautiful hotel lobby recently and admiring the art and decor around me when I noticed how many people were glued to their phones oblivious to their surroundings. Some may well have been important calls, but as I walked around I would catch snippets of some of them and they were as banal as the average twitter post.

There was a recent survey of people with internet access that found 50% of them would experience anxiety if they were not connected all of the time. This is the same thing. Mobile phones are incredibly powerful business tools if used correctly but many users need to know when to switch them off and relax.

Whilst I do take my mobile phone on holiday, it is only "for emergency purposes". It stays switched off and I'm pleased to say I've never had to use it overseas. I'd much rather be on the beach and forgetting about all of the work issues which may (or may not) be happening.

Whilst business mobile phones can help your business life run smoother, make sure you get some downtime too. Staying permanently connected seems to be addictive and is not going to improve your work/life balance.

New handsets - BlackBerry Storm 2 is coming (26/10). This touchscreen smartphone is another attempt by RIM (Research In Motion) to compete with the iPhone. In a similar vein the much vaunted Palm Pre has now been released. "The first phone on the new Palm webOS™ platform allows you to keep multiple applications open at the same time so you can flow effortlessly between the people and events that make up your life" - well that's what it says in the blurb anyway.

Sony Ericsson have released the Satio with a staggering 12mp camera. It's not just a camera phone though as it also incorporates Sony's Walkman music features making it a great all-round entertainment phone.

None of these phones are going to be cheap with long-term contracts starting from around £35 per month if you want one free.

Spectrum Auction - The Government has cleared the way for the 5 major UK mobile phone networks to bid for the airwaves best suited for mobile broadband. This will not only help dedicated mobile broadband access (eg. via dongle) but should also improve data connections for SmartPhones.

Currently around 80% of the population have access to the 3G network, mainly in urban areas. For business users on the road increased coverage will mean less chance of signals "dropping out" or being stranded with no signal at all.

Emergency Calls - should you get in trouble up a mountain, or indeed anywhere where coverage on your own network is not so good, calls to 999 or 112 will now use the best coverage available from all 5 networks making it easier to get in touch with rescue services.

iPhone on all 5 networks - It won't be long now before the Apple iPhone is available on all 5 major UK networks. T-mobile and Three have not announced deals with Apple but are believed to be sourcing sim free iPhones from Europe to keep hold of their best customers. Expect monthly contract prices to fall by around £5 once all of the networks are involved.

Do you currently give out a landline work number and your mobile number for when you are away from the office? If you work from home some of the time you will likely give out this number too. So when someone is trying to reach you they could conceivably be ringing three different numbers, leaving messages on each and getting nowhere!

Make it easier for people to contact you and save time listening to duplicate messages. You can give out one number and technology makes sure the call finds you. This also enables you to be contacted at home (when it is convenient) without having to give out your home phone number.

Wasting time retrieving voicemail? Get it sent to you by email as an attachment. The subject line tells you who it is from so if you don't want to hear from them just delete the email! You can also forward the message to others if you need to.

These are just a couple of ways that modern technology will help your business keep in touch.

New internet telephone systems utilising VoIP will also be a means of improving communications and providing enhanced telephone features whilst also reducing call costs by routing calls over the internet. As internet connection gets faster and the technology matures it is likely that traditional phone lines will decline in usage, particularly amongst business users.

Did you know Business Mobile World can help you with VoIP communications technology? Remember, we not only offer business mobiles but also a full range of business telecoms designed to integrate seamlessly together to make your business communications easier.

Dictionary definition of the word UNLIMITED: limitless or without bounds; unrestricted.

So when you see that companies are offering you unlimited calls, unlimited texts, unlimited browsing, you are entitled to think that no limits apply and that you will get exactly what is promised by the word unlimited.

Sadly not. There has never been (to the best of our knowledge) or is ever likely to be a genuinely "unlimited" tariff. Read the small print. Likely you will find there the limits that actually apply.

It could be 5GB of data, 3,000 texts, £500 mixed credit - all of these limits apply to deals we have seen advertised as unlimited. The limits placed upon them are often referred to as "Fair Usage" policies.

Clearly if everyone took up unlimited tariffs and used them 24/7 the networks would not be able to cope with demand. That is the reason for the restrictions. That's fair enough, but if a limit applies don't refer to it as unlimited!

It's a pity that companies who advertise their products genuinely are put at a disadvantage by this tactic which is clearly disingenuous, although not apparently illegal. So when comparing tariffs make sure you check out the limits that apply.

At Business Mobile World we do not offer unlimited tariffs. We are very clear about the limits that apply and set out everything in an easy to understand manner.

For a better way of doing business contact Business Mobile World for a free quote or give us a call with your requirements.

Nokia are releasing a Windows 7 Netbook. Initially available in the US, but shortly available in Europe, this netbook release shows that mobile device convergence is continuing apace.

With Apple, a traditional computer company, gobbling up its mobile phone market share with the iPhone, Nokia are switching the tables with their new hi-spec netbook. Bridging the gap between the SmartPhone, which offers a limited browsing experience, and the full-blown laptop which is so much larger to carry around, more netbooks are being released and sold daily.

Convergence is the new watchword in the telecoms marketplace. There is no sign to the end of device convergence and increasingly the line between phone and computer is becoming blurred.

To keep your business ahead of the curve you need to be thinking about how you can best use the new technology and how your fixed and mobile devices connect with each other. The days of having mobiles with one company, landlines with another, computers supplied by someone else are disappearing fast for companies that want to embrace new technology.

Even the big networks are getting in on the act. Vodafone have, in recent weeks, announced a rollout of landline services for SMEs plus a deal to offer online cloud storage to its existing business and consumer customers. They realise that convergence is inevitable and offering a fully-integrated telecoms solution will help preserve their market share in the future.

At Business Mobile World we can tell you how your business can best take advantage of new technologies to ensure that your communications keep up-to-date. This may be across continents, work sites, or just across the next desk.

Shopping around for all the seperate parts of your business telecoms no longer makes any sense - it could cost you a lot more in the long run. An integrated telecoms solution will save your business money, in terms of reduced tariffs for packaged deals, enhanced problem resolution and better customer service.

Technology is moving at such a pace that it is difficult to keep up, never mind stay one step ahead. Things that were once only thought of in sci-fi movies are now being developed and brought to life.

For instance, Tom Cruise's character in Minority Report wandered the streets with targeted ads appearing as he moved through the cityscape. This is now being developed, and with SmartPhone technology and GPS it is possible that this will be happening very, very soon.

Businesses that embrace new technology and can see how this can help them improve their interaction with new and existing customers will be the winners going forward into the next decade.

Of course all of the technological infrastructure will need building and maintaining, not to mention updating as new developments and breakthroughs are made.

The news today that Rentokil Initial plc have signed a landmark deal with Google to improve the communications of its 78,000 employees across 50 countries shows that forward thinking companies are already looking to new technology to integrate their systems and keep ahead of the competition.

You don't need to be the size of Rentokil Initial to get your business involved. We can help SMEs with a range of new communications technology making their business life easier and reducing costs at the same time.

To find out how we could help you get in touch with us for a free communications review.

As you may know we have a number of websites within the telecoms arena. One of these, Best Business Phone Deals, has had a number of pages added today.

The pages added are:

• Business Phone Systems
• Business Phone Numbers
• Business Phone Lines
• Business Phone Services
• Business Phone Packages

This site gives a broad overview of the types of services we can offer rather than get bogged down in great detail. Every business is different and, as a consequence, the solutions that we offer are likely to differ in each case.

It is exactly the same within the business mobile world, two businesses who are neighbours in the same building will want different handsets and use them in very different ways dependent upon their business type.

Similarly the landline solutions for these companies would also likely differ based upon the number of employees, whether call traffic is mostly inbound or outbound, the numbers they are ringing (local, national, international) etc.

So rather than dryly listing a number of phone systems with all of their features, which only telephone system anoraks are likely to appreciate, we explain how we can help your business improve its communications and reduce costs and invite you to contact us for a free quote or review.

Business decision makers have nothing to lose by contacting us. For a few minutes of time your business could reduce its costs, improve communications and receive ongoing help and support including the integration of new technology as it becomes available.

Some of the new releases and mobiles that are coming soon.

First up is the Sony Ericsson Naite (GreenHeart). A candy bar phone with 2mp camera and relatively basic features for a phone these days. However its main selling point is its green credentials.

It is made from eco friendly materials, has an e-manual on the phone instead of a paper manual, and contains Ecomate, a CO2 calculator pre-installed on the phone. It also has a low power consumption charger and reduced packaging.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Samsung B7620 Giorgio Armani. A SmartPhone running windows mobile with a 5mp camera plus most of the features you would expect from a just-released SmartPhone in 2009. It is Armani-badged and contains Giorgio Armani fashion applications, whatever they might be!

There is no news on a UK release at present, so don't get too excited, especially as it would cost a considerable amount to get your hands on one!

Breaking the mould is the newly released Nokia 6350. It's a clam-shell design that most of us would be familiar with from a few years ago before slide and touchscreen became all the rage. Again, this one is not available in the UK but it is interesting to see a manufacturer going back to this old design style.

It could herald a few more calm-shell type phones coming onto the market as there are customers who swear by their old folding phones.

For more details of the latest phones and business mobile news please contact us for a quick chat or to find out how much your business could save with a new deal.

Lack of mobile coverage for users has lead Ofcom to suggest that consumers should be offered a "try before you buy" period in which, if you are new to a network, you can try out the coverage at home and in your local area and if it is not up to scratch return the phone without further charges.

At the moment you have to sign up to a contract, often for 18 months or more, "blind" without knowing how the coverage will be. If it's useless then tough luck! You are locked into the contract and if you want to get out of it you will have to pay ALL of the remaining monthly payments.

The figures quoted by Ofcom are quite startling - up to 91% of small business users are said to have had difficulties with mobile coverage. Reception at your workplace or in the office is absolutely imperative for running your business.

Going direct to a network for your business mobiles might seem like a good idea but when problems like these arise you are likely to get little sympathy. They are not going to make it easy to move to another network no matter how bad your signal is.

By using Business Mobile World you have a choice of networks. Forget the rather unreliable "coverage checkers" on the mobile networks websites, let us demonstrate the signal strength of a variety of networks and handsets at your place of work.

It doesn't cost you any more, we can get the best business mobile tariffs from the networks and they pay us, not you. It's a win-win situation for your business.

Well no, not just yet, but there will certainly be fewer of them in the coming years.

The merger between Orange and T-Mobile UK, if it goes ahead, could see up to 8,000 masts decommissioned as the two networks share infrastructure. The 3 network have also agreed a deal with T-Mobile to use their network which could see up to 5,000 masts disappear.

Now O2 and Vodafone are looking to cut costs. With 24,000 masts between them, a deal to share masts means several thousand could go over the course of the next few years.

If this trend continues it could well mean that, in the fullness of time, the mobile phone infrastructure will be shared by all networks. Differences in coverage would no longer be an issue and with all of the major networks sharing the investment, coverage could well improve in more remote areas where it is currently problematic.

A shared network would also help with the rollout of future technologies such as 4G which will become necessary to increase mobile data usage amongst customers who currently are sceptical about coverage and speed on mobile devices.

Did you know...

...that almost 70% of the worldwide population now have some form of mobile phone subscription?

...that by the end of this year mobile broadband will have overtaken fixed line broadband?

The modern business needs to embrace this trend and ensure that it remains in touch with the latest technology and is able to move quickly with industry developments.

As the distinction between phones and computers becomes more blurred, with each device able to do the other's job, business users will need to make a decision - are you staying fixed or are you getting mobile?

Make the SMART decision, get a SmartPhone and release your business from the fixed telephony shackles. Better still, get an integrated solution from Business Mobile World involving your mobiles, landlines, broadband and IT.

Bundling them all together not only saves your business money but it improves the overall communications of your company by ensuring that all of your devices interact with each other seamlessly.

When there's a problem (modern technology doesn't always work correctly ALL of the time!) it's just one phone call to speak with a human being, not a robot, and the solution is at hand.

Want to know more? Let us show you how it all works. We can quote you for any or all of our many telecoms services, just get in touch.

Microsoft are going all out to increase their share of the SmartPhone market with their new operating system Windows Mobile 6.5. It's been a while coming and in the meantime Google's Android and Apple's iPhone have gained a chunk of Microsoft's market.

Up to 30 phones running the new OS should be launched by the end of the year, and these should demonstrate the improvements that have been made to their best effect. Ease of use and better browsing are two key elements of 6.5, plus their MyPhone service enabling users to remotely back-up their data, track lost/stolen phones and lock them against unauthorised access.

Microsoft's new OS should look and feel familiar for all of us using Windows based computer systems. Already a solid choice for business SmartPhones, the new Windows Mobile OS should appeal more to consumers, backed up by a new app store, Marketplace, with around 250 apps available at launch.

Expect some great deals in the run up to Christmas as networks and handset manufacturers battle to corner as much of the SmartPhone market as possible. Sales of SmartPhones this year are expected to be up over 20% on 2008 and continue to climb into 2010.

Sales of "cheap and cheerful" phones are also set to remain steady with the middle-market phones the big losers.

Although the iPhone has only been around for a couple of years (it seems like longer) it has established itself, in its various guises, as the top selling handset in the UK and US.

This is mainly due to individual customers impressed by the TV ads, and it is undoubtedly a very good entertainment phone. But can it be used for business?

It made it into our Top 10 business mobile phones at number 6 in August but has disappeared in September's chart. More "sensible" phones occupy the top 10 positions, providing solid voice and data options at a much more reasonable price.

However there are many business users who swear by their iPhones. They find the intuitive nature of the operating system and touchscreen much easier to use than other SmartPhones. Plus there is a range of apps now available for business users, up to 75,000 in total (business and leisure) via the App Store.

The large screen and excellent built-in web browser make it particularly useful in businesses where "proper" internet access is needed. Plus the native email client is certainly up to the job of handling business email.

The battery however is a letdown. Plus the processor, although reasonably powerful, does not compare to recently released phones and is unable to run simultaneous applications.

If an iPhone is the apple of your eye then we certainly won't put you off buying it (providing you can afford it!) but before you jump in give some thought to the many other business mobile phones available which may offer you exactly what you need at a fraction of the price.

We've compiled the despatch figures for September 2009 to give you a picture of the handsets that are requested most by our business mobile customers.

1. Nokia 6300

2. Nokia 3110

3. Nokia 2630

4. Blackberry 8520

5. Nokia 2680

6. Samsung M110

7. Nokia 6220

8. Blackberry 8110

9. Nokia 6303

10. Nokia 7100

No real surprises for last month. Nokia dominate with 7 entries, BlackBerry remain popular with 2 and the remaining phone is the Samsung M110, also known as the "builders phone" as it is made for tough conditions - splash, dust and shock proof.

The Nokia 6300 (pictured) is a solid business phone with no frills. Excellent voice and text functions without any of the costly extras making this a good choice for business customers.

It's only 80 days to Christmas now! Some people will already have started their Christmas shopping or making their Christmas lists. Have you thought about a mobile related gift for your family or friends?

Have you ever run out of battery on your phone when you are nowhere near a charge point? A wind-up mobile phone charger is what you need.

There are wind-up torches that also charge your mobile phone so you get two gifts for the price of one! Ideal for camping trips. They will also provide charge for iPods via the many inclusive adaptors.

You could also try a battery powered charger, perhaps to keep in your glovebox, and all of these gifts cost less than a tenner.

For a little more you could buy a bluetooth car kit. They attach to your sun visor and work with any bluetooth enabled phones for a hands free in-car solution.

Or protect your phone with an invisible film that is resistant to scratching. It can protect your phone body as well as the screen. For a little more buy a leather case which gives a more stylish protection.

Sim free phones are now cheap enough to be bought as Christmas gifts, and memory cards make ideal stocking fillers as they can be used in so many different devices now including mobiles, mp3/4 players, digital photo frames and digital cameras.

The choice of mobile phone networks is farly limited, and set to become more so if Orange and T-Mobile UK merge. If you fall out with one and have limited coverage on another you are going to have little choice where you can arrange your contract and limited tariffs.

However, there seems to be a rise in "virtual" mobile phone networks offered by MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) which will give you a better choice. For instance Virgin Mobile does not have its own infrastructure or masts, it utilises the T-Mobile network but can offer a range of different phones and tariffs.

Other virtual mobile phone networks include BT mobile and Tesco mobile, and new ones that we could see soon include Red Bull mobile and GiffGaff.

So if your best coverage is with T-Mobile, you don't have to restrict yourself to their tariffs, check out Virgin Mobile, Fresh or Easy, all of whom piggy-back on the T-Mobile network. They might have better tariffs or the handset you want, lower prices or shorter contracts.

Wise advice for consumers is always to shop around and don't jump at the first deal you see. For business mobile users the choice of network is much more limited.

The MVNOs above focus only on individual consumers with one handset. For business users the best plan is to utilise the services of a business mobile specialist who can find you the best deal. Their services are usually free of charge and they are likely to save you money on your mobile bills, adding profit to your bottom line.

Yes, you read that right, you can now get a free USB modem stick with 5GB download limit per month on the Vodafone network for only £10 (plus vat) per month.

This tariff is normally £18 per month. There must be a catch?

Well, yes, there is! The £10 mobile broadband is offered as part of a bundle package. Take out a mobile phone on the Vodafone Total Business Tariff (24 months) and you are entitled to this offer, saving you 44% each month.

Other bundles include BIS (BlackBerry Internet Solution) and BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) saving you around 35% on each.

Other reasons to take out a Vodafone Total Business tariff:

• Free calls to company mobiles (when you have more than 1 handset)
• Free calls to UK landlines (not out of your inclusive minutes)
• 50 texts per user included
• Tariffs start from £20 for 300 minutes

Is the Total Business Tariff the best for your business? Contact us for a free quote on a variety of tariffs from the major networks.

We will find you the best deal free of charge. Speak to one of our friendly staff members on 0844 880 8116.

Are your current business phones and business mobile contract fit for purpose? Do your handsets do what they want them to and are you on the correct tariff?

It is likely that when you last renewed (and reviewed) your mobile phones you entered into a contract of 18 months or more. During this time technology has advanced to such an extent that it is extremely likely that your current handsets are obsolete or incapable of doing all of the things you need to propel your business forward.

During this time business mobile tariffs have changed considerably too. More minutes are available as standard, free landline calls are on offer and large data bundles can be included/added for internet and email usage.

If you are approaching the end of your current contract it is worthwhile sitting down and compiling a list of all of the mobile phone features that could be of use in your business.

Similarly take a look at your current bill and see where your minutes are being used and charges racked up. Break them down between:

• Landline calls (01, 02 and 03)
• Mobile calls (07)
• Non-geo calls (08)
• Texts per month
• Data usage (MBs)

Then give us a call or contact us online! We can analyze your bills and obtain the best tariff for you. Then we can give you a choice of handsets that satisfy all of your criteria.

Our aim is always to save your business money whilst enhancing your communications. We don't charge for our services so get in touch for a free review for your business.

The choice of SmartPhone for your business is getting larger day-by-day. Each phone offers slightly different features but behind the glossy screens the operating system will largely determine which is best for your business.

The most popular operating systems for business mobile phones are:

• Symbian - used to power the majority of Nokia SmartPhones
• Windows Mobile - found across a variety of phones from different manufacturers
• Android - Google's linux-based open source operating system is slowly being adopted by more manufacturers 
• BlackBerry - the BlackBerry OS from RIM (Research In Motion) powers their range of BlackBerry mobile phones
• iPhone OS - used solely for the different versions of the Apple iPhone

So which one should you choose?

The iPhone OS only applies to the iPhone and is aimed more at the individual consumer with its range of music and games although it also has push-email facilities.

The BlackBerry OS does without many of these frills (although more are included with each new release) in favour of providing a solid business phone, particularly for email.

Android powered devices are harder to find and the operating system is in its infancy so is evolving fast with each new update. Many people have complained of "teething problems".

The Symbian S60 OS restricts you to a Nokia device, but is an excellent choice if Nokia is your favourite manufacturer as there are a large number of applications available to download.

Finally there is Windows Mobile. A solid all-rounder which is available on a number of handsets from a range of manufacturers. Its user interface is a little tired now by comparison with others but this should be addressed when version 7 of the operating system is released.

We all live in a fast-paced business world, particularly those of us based in the world of mobile phones and telecoms.

Take mobiles for instance; processing power doubles every 18 months, storage capacity increases, and faster download speeds and higher bandwidth are available.

In the next couple of years the standard mobile phone will have the processing power of your average PC of today. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

With so many SmartPhones being sold, more and more customers have powerful operating-system based devices in their pockets. New apps are being released daily offering new services to both consumers and business mobile users.

When planning your next business mobile contract you not only need to think about what you need today but what is going to help your business in the future.

How are new mobile devices and the range of services they offer going to help your staff be more productive and, where they are used in a customer facing situation, improve your customer service?

For instance, I recently had a few estate agents around my house to value my property. Several of them brought around paper print-outs of similar properties in the area to show me. Not very interesting.

The one that stood out from the crowd whipped out his iPhone and connected directly to the Right Move website. He scrolled through similar properties and from there could click on any details of interest, show me all of the photos, provide an interactive service which offered so much more than a flat piece of paper. He got my business.

Think about how technology could improve your presentations to customers and prospects. Utilising the features of a modern SmartPhone will save you time, money and, ultimately, increase your profits.

If you are looking for your first business mobile, or an upgrade to your existing business mobiles(s), it pays to do some research to make sure your new phone is going to do everything you want it to.

First you need to make a list of the features it must have. Then you can list features you might like if they were within your budget, and finally features you are not interested in.

We recommend contacting us in the first instance with your list from which we can compile all of the available handsets offering the features you need.

Some of the things to think about include:

• Screen size and type - you need a bigger screen for internet usage and you could consider a touchscreen method of entry.
• Memory size - do you need to store music/photos/documents - if so choose a phone with large expandable memory.
• Camera - Do you need a camera in the course of your business? Resolutions up to 12mp are now available.
• Email - receive emails on your handset. Also think about input type (QWERTY, half QWERTY, touchscreen keyboard)
• Connectivity - bluetooth, Wi-fi, 3G
• GPS - do you need full satnav or just a basic mapping program.
• Business tools - document viewer, organizer
• Operating system - do you need computer-like processing power and access to apps to help your business

This is not an exhaustive list. There may be other features you need or want - just let us know and we will find you the right business mobile handset for your usage.

The Apple iPhone has been an incredible success amongst individual consumers. For business mobile users the pull is not so great. The need for the "gadget of the moment" is less and functionality is far more important than style.

Most of the iPhone features can be performed just as well, if not better, by other phones on the market. Apple are also going to have trouble retaining their current advantage in the future as all of the major manufacturers are "out to get them" with every new SmartPhone release offering something to make it an "iPhone killer".

Not only that, but by signing exclusively with O2 they also have the other networks gunning for them. Vodafone, whilst being the largest network globally, are only second in the UK (and shortly to be third with the merger of Orange and O2).

They need something to entice the iPhone buyers onto their network. Or alternatively the many people who would like an iPhone but just cannot afford the hefty monthly bills or handset price!

Their answer, at least in the short term, is Vodafone 360. This service aims to pull together all of the social networking people do now, both on mobile phones and computers. A common address book will span email contacts, Facebook and Twitter friends and other online communities.

There will also be a store for Vodafone apps for music, games and mapping plus new content drawn from a range of developers. New phones will be launched to take advantage of this new service and to show it off to its full potential. Samsung are rumoured to be manufacturing two of the new handsets.

The first we are likely to see of Vodafone 360 is in the run up to Christmas. Watch this space.

On local radio a couple of days ago was a debate on what age should children be given mobile phones. Whilst the host was rather unrealistically saying he thought around 14 years old, many of the listeners were advising their kids had mobiles at 7 years old.

More as an emergency aid and to keep track of them rather than for them to make calls or texts. There are a couple of reasons why mobile phones could be harmful to kids.

The first is the health factor. Whilst there has been no major research which can conclusively confirm a link between prolonged mobile phone usage and cancer the technology is in its infancy and therefore long term risks have not had time to be assessed.

Many cancer experts believe the radiation from mobile phones could pose a significant risk for long term usage over a long period (say 10 years). The dangers for children are that much greater, so caution is advised.

The second is the effect it could have on their education. Recent reports suggest increased use of mobile phones (and the internet) leads children to copy homework directly from websites and use text-speak in their written schoolwork.

This is in schools where mobile phones are banned. In the USA there have been trials where mobile phones have been integrated into pupils learning and have shown achievement scores increase by 25% on average.

We can conclude from this that it is not the mobiles themselves that are harmful, more the way in which they are used. Used sensibly and sparingly mobile phones can be of great benefit.