Tablets aren’t just cool gadgets – they have the potential to revolutionise how companies do business. Here are some creative applications that could drive sales, improve project management and enhance internal communications
1 Show off wares, replace the till
Retailers are using tablets as “shopping aids”. Store assistants can show items that aren’t in stock, suggest accessories or talk through the options for after-sales service. Some experts think that tablets could even replace cash registers.
“Retailers are asking themselves if Apple is the future of retailing,” says Duncan Stewart, director of technology research at Deloitte Canada. “It has assistants wandering around its stores with smart devices instead of standing behind fixed check-outs.” And being “hip and groovy” is not the only aim, he says.
“Apple is doing this because for $500 you can replace a device costing tens of thousands. It allows for a better customer experience and faster processing – usually.”
BestBuy, a US electricals chain, is thought to be experimenting with tablets, while several retailers are using point-of-sale applications created by Erply, an Estonian start-up.
2 Arm the sales force
Deloitte says that businesses will buy a quarter of all tablets in 2011. Most of these are likely to be used by mobile workers such as salespeople.
The devices enable them to check the availability of stock, play marketing videos to customers and change product information and price lists without printing new brochures.
German software firm SAP has bought 2,500 iPads for its sales and senior executives. Its chief information officer, Oliver Bussmann, says the devices also help to attract younger recruits.
Security fears have delayed many other firms from following suit. But Stewart says the risks are exaggerated. As users get data “from the cloud”, nothing is left on the devices when they are shut down. And IT teams can control devices remotely, wiping them if necessary.
3 Navigate electronically
Airlines are testing tablet-based “electronic flight bags” (EFBs), which provide access to in-flight navigation and airport information. Jeppesen, a division of Boeing, recently put its iPad 2 through a rapid decompression test at 51,000ft and has signed up private jet companies to use the product (it is not yet cleared for wider use).
Jeff Buhl, Jeppesen’s senior manager for enterprise solutions, says that the app is “seven to 20 times less expensive than traditional EFB devices”, has greater image clarity and, being Mac-based, is easier to use.
4 Enable on-site working
Manufacturing, construction and logistics companies are using tablets as electronic clipboards.
Turner Construction in New York has distributed iPads to quality-control staff who can review project drawings and note any problems. Other firms are using the devices to supervise factories or warehouses.
One benefit is that users no longer have to go back and forth from office to site and can spend more time in the field, Turner says.
Most firms will want to “ruggedise” tablets for use on construction sites, but Stewart warns that “if you wrap these things in rubber, people tend to use them as a football. If you keep them as they are, they tend to be treated more considerately”.
5 View patient records, visualise procedures
The healthcare industry sees big potential in tablets and is already using them in a variety of ways. Doctors can use them to explain procedures to patients, exchange clinical information or communicate with drug companies and equipment suppliers, for example.
“Healthcare is one of the early adopters of tablets. It’s going to be an active market,” says Neil Mawston, director of wireless device strategies at research firm Strategy Analytics.
There are already about 5,400 medical applications available for the iPhone/iPad and many more designed specifically for doctors and nurses. For example, Heart Pro, a training app from 3D4Medical, allows surgeons to open, rotate, label and “slice” through every part of a heart, and to test themselves in quizzes afterwards.
“Sharing radiographic data, showing information, talking about courses of treatment – there are lots of uses,” Stewart says.
“People are often terrified about procedures, so having a device that helps the doctors to explain to patients what these look like should be enormously helpful.”
6 Improve board meetings
Many companies have made their board meetings paperless in the past few years. Instead of handing out thick “boardbooks” (files containing information relating to the meeting), they have instead used PCs.
Now some are going further by adopting tablets. Services offered by the likes of New Zealand-based provider Diligent Boardbooks are becoming popular, with firms such as AOL, Brit Insurance, DirectTV and ExxonMobil signing up.
Users say that the iPad version is more portable than the laptop one and less of a barrier to conversation.
7 Brainstorm new ideas
The tablet is an excellent drafting tool – a sort of Etch A Sketch on steroids – and a useful brainstorming device.
With hundreds of tools and effects, Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro, for example, allows non-techies to flesh out their ideas.
Such apps are also useful for architects and designers to show off their ideas to clients, allowing both sides to make changes.
8 Buy or sell insurance
Last year Lloyd’s of London, the 300-year-old market for unconventional risks, brought its underwriting room into the 21st century.
Traditionally, deals between brokers and underwriters were signed on flimsy slips of paper. This system used masses of paper – an unnecessary cost in itself – but it was also inefficient: both parties would have to re-enter the details on their own systems and work out any discrepancies later.
Under the new system, iPads are being used as an “electronic slip case”, according to Lloyd’s director of market operations, Sue Langley. “By replacing paper with something that’s easier to carry, but which allows amendments and links to other services, we are continuing to support the face-to-face negotiation that makes Lloyd’s unique,” she says.
1 Show off wares, replace the till
Retailers are using tablets as “shopping aids”. Store assistants can show items that aren’t in stock, suggest accessories or talk through the options for after-sales service. Some experts think that tablets could even replace cash registers.
“Retailers are asking themselves if Apple is the future of retailing,” says Duncan Stewart, director of technology research at Deloitte Canada. “It has assistants wandering around its stores with smart devices instead of standing behind fixed check-outs.” And being “hip and groovy” is not the only aim, he says.
“Apple is doing this because for $500 you can replace a device costing tens of thousands. It allows for a better customer experience and faster processing – usually.”
BestBuy, a US electricals chain, is thought to be experimenting with tablets, while several retailers are using point-of-sale applications created by Erply, an Estonian start-up.
2 Arm the sales force
Deloitte says that businesses will buy a quarter of all tablets in 2011. Most of these are likely to be used by mobile workers such as salespeople.
The devices enable them to check the availability of stock, play marketing videos to customers and change product information and price lists without printing new brochures.
German software firm SAP has bought 2,500 iPads for its sales and senior executives. Its chief information officer, Oliver Bussmann, says the devices also help to attract younger recruits.
Security fears have delayed many other firms from following suit. But Stewart says the risks are exaggerated. As users get data “from the cloud”, nothing is left on the devices when they are shut down. And IT teams can control devices remotely, wiping them if necessary.
3 Navigate electronically
Airlines are testing tablet-based “electronic flight bags” (EFBs), which provide access to in-flight navigation and airport information. Jeppesen, a division of Boeing, recently put its iPad 2 through a rapid decompression test at 51,000ft and has signed up private jet companies to use the product (it is not yet cleared for wider use).
Jeff Buhl, Jeppesen’s senior manager for enterprise solutions, says that the app is “seven to 20 times less expensive than traditional EFB devices”, has greater image clarity and, being Mac-based, is easier to use.
4 Enable on-site working
Manufacturing, construction and logistics companies are using tablets as electronic clipboards.
Turner Construction in New York has distributed iPads to quality-control staff who can review project drawings and note any problems. Other firms are using the devices to supervise factories or warehouses.
One benefit is that users no longer have to go back and forth from office to site and can spend more time in the field, Turner says.
Most firms will want to “ruggedise” tablets for use on construction sites, but Stewart warns that “if you wrap these things in rubber, people tend to use them as a football. If you keep them as they are, they tend to be treated more considerately”.
5 View patient records, visualise procedures
The healthcare industry sees big potential in tablets and is already using them in a variety of ways. Doctors can use them to explain procedures to patients, exchange clinical information or communicate with drug companies and equipment suppliers, for example.
“Healthcare is one of the early adopters of tablets. It’s going to be an active market,” says Neil Mawston, director of wireless device strategies at research firm Strategy Analytics.
There are already about 5,400 medical applications available for the iPhone/iPad and many more designed specifically for doctors and nurses. For example, Heart Pro, a training app from 3D4Medical, allows surgeons to open, rotate, label and “slice” through every part of a heart, and to test themselves in quizzes afterwards.
“Sharing radiographic data, showing information, talking about courses of treatment – there are lots of uses,” Stewart says.
“People are often terrified about procedures, so having a device that helps the doctors to explain to patients what these look like should be enormously helpful.”
6 Improve board meetings
Many companies have made their board meetings paperless in the past few years. Instead of handing out thick “boardbooks” (files containing information relating to the meeting), they have instead used PCs.
Now some are going further by adopting tablets. Services offered by the likes of New Zealand-based provider Diligent Boardbooks are becoming popular, with firms such as AOL, Brit Insurance, DirectTV and ExxonMobil signing up.
Users say that the iPad version is more portable than the laptop one and less of a barrier to conversation.
7 Brainstorm new ideas
The tablet is an excellent drafting tool – a sort of Etch A Sketch on steroids – and a useful brainstorming device.
With hundreds of tools and effects, Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro, for example, allows non-techies to flesh out their ideas.
Such apps are also useful for architects and designers to show off their ideas to clients, allowing both sides to make changes.
8 Buy or sell insurance
Last year Lloyd’s of London, the 300-year-old market for unconventional risks, brought its underwriting room into the 21st century.
Traditionally, deals between brokers and underwriters were signed on flimsy slips of paper. This system used masses of paper – an unnecessary cost in itself – but it was also inefficient: both parties would have to re-enter the details on their own systems and work out any discrepancies later.
Under the new system, iPads are being used as an “electronic slip case”, according to Lloyd’s director of market operations, Sue Langley. “By replacing paper with something that’s easier to carry, but which allows amendments and links to other services, we are continuing to support the face-to-face negotiation that makes Lloyd’s unique,” she says.
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