Mobilise your forces this year

This may be the year that breaks the mould for mobile resellers, according to Dan Hazell

Hazell: Opportunities in mobile bundles are burgeoning in 2009

This may be a year of consolidation and convergence as technology comes under pressure to deliver on the promises of utility and cost-effectiveness that have been made since the turn of the millennium.

Customers want the technical equivalent of the Swiss army knife – multi-function IT solutions and gadgets, application-rich and easy to customise by either the reseller or the customer.

Proof is in a steady rise in Wi-Fi shipments during 2008, according to In-Stat research. From laptops, Wi-Fi has spread to mobile handsets, gaming devices and even water-proof speakers for the bathroom.

This wireless soup we are now in will mark a shift to a looser association between handset and network provider. We will see more devices, such as the iPod Touch, used with wireless networks as a VoIP ‘mobile phone’.

Wireless applications will turn handheld devices without traditional telecommunications capabilities into instant VoIP phones, bypassing network operators and passing minutes on to lower cost networks.

The industry has reached a long-mooted moment; convergence has reached the point where wireless networks and associated hardware are mature enough to support functional diversity.

Users have long pushed a handset’s voice capability well down their selection criteria, preferring to ask whether the device is a phone with a camera, or a camera with a phone.

Now business handsets are veering further away from mere voice, with screens and form factors increasingly designed for visual applications and re-formatted corporate applications.

Mobile networks are no longer the first port of call when users are enhancing or personalising a phone.

Business customers are ready to take advantage of the sophisticated personalisation that accompanies these developments.

The traditional one-to-one relationship users have with their mobile provider is being challenged by VoIP applications as Wi-Fi technology gives users a viable alternative, just as music downloads from iTunes are an alternative to buying a CD.

A focus on data applications has given voice services a new lease of life in the form of VoIP, and it won’t only be the cost savings that drive adoption.

Resellers must give corporations more personalised mobile IT bundles at lower rates, and they need to do this in a way that cuts their own costs.

Why not consider the traditional triumvirate of network, phone manufacturer and reseller, and then add wireless applications into the mix?

Resellers could then offer Wi-Fi-based services that don’t depend on the networks to function.

By making these new services easily customisable and demonstrating the inherent savings, resellers can enhance their appeal.

Wi-Fi calling applications can form part of a customised service offering from resellers to customers. These could be distributed and managed on a self-care basis and would allow more personalisation for less effort.

Technology trends towards instant connectivity, multi-functionality, and omnipresent colleague networking are creating looser associations between providers and users.

New avenues bypass long-established orders, often created not only by R& D but by online users.

Many established conceptions around what constitutes a ‘mobile’ and a ‘mobile network operator’ will be challenged this year.

And disruptive technology is an excellent chance for resellers to provide appropriate complimentary bundles.

Dan Hazell is UK manager at Freshtel