Drill Bits

So you’ve managed to convince your boss of the business ‘necessity’ of a tricked-out smart phone, and you’re looking for some solid applications to keep yourself from being a complete liar.  Fortunately, there are some great apps out there, several of which are particularly useful in the agency context.  One important disclaimer: I am a devoted iPhone user and scoff at most of its competitors; so many of these clowns have claimed their new model is the ‘iPhone killer,’ and every time the product’s grand entrance to the marketplace is little more than a sickly thud.  As a result, I am writing this about iPhone apps, with the caveat that Droid may have some comparable features.

Agency life and client support involve many tasks: researching, writing, editing, events and more.  The true business utility of a smart phone lies in the user’s ability to perform the greatest possible number of these duties while away from the office, sometimes while traveling.  Here are a few of my faves and why they make my short list:

Know where you’re going.

Arguably, the most important, mission-critical aspect of being out of the office is being at the right place.  You may also be called upon to navigate between multiple unfamiliar destinations or to locate food, wireless or other resources your first time in a brand new city.  There are plenty of apps which can help you grab directions or locate restaurants, but MotionX GPS Drive is a cheap ($.99), versatile GPS application which locates nearby restaurants, stores, WiFi hot spots, coffee shops, emergency services, and more.  Browse by category, pick a destination, and go – use is intuitive and easy.  In addition to addresses and driving directions, it automatically imports your contacts, so getting directions from la cantina to Grandma’s assisted-living community is a breeze (think of how happy she’ll be to see you!).  If you are trying to put more serious thought into your cuisine, I’d also recommend you download Urbanspoon to search for restaurants of all varieties, check their menus, and get both snapshot and detailed reviews.  Plus, if you have a lousy experience, you can warn future prospective diners by leaving your own scathing appraisal.

AAA members should download the free AAA Discounts application to locate nearby participating businesses and the AAA Roadside app for, well, roadside assistance (and yes, they can track your location).  Many insurance companies also have handy apps for reporting claims and other tasks, such as the GEICO GloveBox.  Inrix TRAFFIC! lets you check on the flow of traffic on your route to the airport, and FlightTrack Pro lets you know whether your flight has been delayed, giving you valuable minutes to scarf down overpriced airport food.  Bon appétit!

Know what you’re talking about.

It’s a 24/7 world so your client responsibilities don’t suddenly cease to exist simply because you’re out of pocket (even the old ‘I’m in the air’ excuse is no longer valid thanks to SkyFi on most flights).  But hey, that’s why you have a smart phone.  Now make sure you also have fast access to on-the-road research.  Many popular research and reference sites, including Wikipedia, Google and Dictionary.com have outstanding apps that present data from the main sites in a quick-loading, optimized format.  If you ever find yourself bewildered by business jargon at sales/marketing meetings, download Dr. Shim’s Dictionary of Sales and Marketing Terms – also a great resource for green team members.

Remember what you’ve experienced.

If you have a job where live human-to-human interactions are still valued (gasp!), you should probably use that camera on your iPhone.  Look beyond the default camera app and consider getting Camera Zoom (which lets you…zoom in) and Camera XL (to effectively capture higher-resolution images).  Thanks to iVideoCamera, the 3G can now capture video, though it’s not stellar.  Speaking of video, we’ve all seen media outlets toot their own horns for providing ‘live, late-breaking’ coverage on everything from celebrity marital infidelities to hotdog-eating championships.  Assuming you are attending or doing something people actually care about – and if it’s client-related, you want to make sure it’s something people care about (remember to bill!) – you can show the world with Ustream Live Broadcaster!  This nifty app lets you broadcast and record live video footage and notify your potential Twitter audience.

For those who frequently use whiteboards for note-taking or brainstorming sessions, look into Whiteboard Capture Pro.  Forget about furiously scribbling or trying to recreate diagrams – this app lets you snap, clean up, and organize digital photos of whiteboards.

If you are the type of person who likes to take notes and create voice memos, you should download QuickVoice2Text, a decent voice-to-text program that lets you quickly email them.  I say ‘decent’ because there is a 30 second limit for converting a voice recording to text, but it’s pretty useful for emailing reminders and recording and automatically transcribing statements.

By the way, if you ever have to shop for company supplies, get RedLaser, which allows you to scan barcodes and compare prices between nearby and online stores.  It really cuts down time spent bargain-hunting, maybe even enough to free up a little time for playing around on your iPhone.

Enjoy your down time.

No doubt you are one of the disciplined few who use their iPhones strictly for business purposes, and never to blackmail coworkers for their lack of composure during Happy Hour, but some folks try to have a little fun on their iPhones.  You can let these people know they should snag the Facebook app.  For those of you who crave the constant contact of Twitter or who are managing multiple accounts, take a look at TweetDeck for iPhone, which is probably the most powerful tool out there (and it’s free).  Pandora Internet radio is awesome – create all sorts of playlists and tell it what songs you like for a rich, targeted musical experience.  ESPN ScoreCenter will keep you up to speed with scores and recaps from a wide array of professional sports (it would be nice if they had an MMA tracker).  There are hundreds of games, from arcade classics like Pac-Man to brain-friendly Sudoku and crossword applications, to more sophisticated offerings like Metal Gear Solid Touch which deliver an exciting gaming experience unique to the iPhone.

There’s an arsenal of other cool applications out there, and many more to come.  Have you come across any other must-haves, or have you had a different experience with any of my personal favorites?  If so, let us know.

- Andrew Saluke