For all the things your Smartphone can do, it can’t read your mind (well not yet anyway!) but it could soon read a lot more than you think.
I’m a bit of a gadget freak, and I try to stay in touch the latest technological developments by reading a number of blogs and tech reviews. My own expertise of course lies in Telecoms Cost Management so I know how important it is that I have a view of not just the actual costs incurred by customers but also future advancements that could impact upon the telecoms budget of an organisation.
This week I came across an eye-opening article posted by TelCon Associates on the Telecom Expense Management blog.
What struck me most when I read this is that for all the planning we do to predict the spend patterns of telecoms expenditure; there are always new devices, network developments and applications that can impact on costs in ways that haven’t even been considered.
As if the Smartphone wasn’t clever enough it seems that it’s all set to enter a new class of intellectual capability. The article; RFID and NFC: Coming Soon to a Cell Phone Near You examines the claims that Apple are looking to build RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) into the next generation of iPhones. Essentially, when the phone is passed over an item, the tag triggers content associated with that product. This offers up endless opportunities for useful applications and could include for example:
- Trouble shooting guides embedded in printers/external hard drives/peripheral pc items for easy and instant access
- Tags placed in parking meters/vending machines/travel machines that enable one click purchase of tickets or small cost items with payments linked back to the mobile bill
With plenty of scope for business linked applications, your telecoms budget (in particular mobile spend) could increase beyond current forecasts making it even more imperative that you ensure you have an accurate and up to date view of your inventory and the expenditure associated with it.
It’s a given that we may not be able to predict the future but perhaps we can do more to ensure that we are prepared for the changes it will undoubtedly bring. Maybe they should develop a tag for that?
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