5 Essential iPhone Business Apps

When the Apple iPhone was introduced by the late Steve Jobs to the tech-hungry masses back in 2007, the thought of the gizmo becoming an essential business productivity tool was initially shunned by naysayers who pointed to the supremacy of the BlackBerry as the only mobile device suitable for business. That argument may have held some ground in the early days of the first-generation iPhone; after all, the new king of the smartphones couldn’t even be added to an AT&T business account in the United States until 2008. But once third-party app developers began to make business apps that truly took advantage of the iPhone’s versatility, companies of all sizes adapted to the new paradigm of doing business on the go. The following five apps are essential iPhone tools for doing business:

Dropbox

If there is one Internet service that can justify the advent of wireless broadband internet, Dropbox would be the first choice. Dropbox is one of the better examples of how cloud computing can empower mobile Internet users with its award-winning file storage and sharing system. The free version of Dropbox offers lots of features and plenty of storage space, but for medium-sized and large businesses, the enterprise edition is a must. With Dropbox, the seamless sharing and storage of any file with coworkers and business partners is just a simple drag-and-drop operation. The Dropbox app for the iPhone works better when the program has been previously installed on a desktop workstation, since it can be synchronized across devices.

Square

This amazing device has been praised for its highly innovative approach to processing credit and debit card payments. Square essentially transforms iPhones into sophisticated credit card terminals, complete with card swipe functionality to keep merchant fees low and reduce the possibility of fraud. The combination card reader and mobile app transforms an iPhone into a full-blown Point of Sale terminal without any hardware investments or complex software installations.

Tripit

Small company owners and individual professionals who frequently travel for business purposes can often have a difficult time organizing their schedules. Receiving different email messages and confirmations for flights, hotels and rental cars and fishing pertinent information therein can be an exercise in confusion and frustration. Tripit is a very smart solution to the problem. Instead of cutting and pasting, Tripit collects all emails related to travel plans and displays them in neat itineraries that can be accessed and shared with clients, coworkers and business partners at anytime.

WebEx Meeting Center

Video conferencing software has revolutionized the way business is conducted around the world. The iPhone is a natural device for making video calls and sharing information, but it requires the right mobile app to turn it into a powerful business platform for communication. The WebEx Meeting Center is an app by Cisco that leverages the power of wireless broadband Internet access by providing business users with an online conference room. Multitasking can be easily accomplished with WebEx, as it allows users to join ongoing conferences, hand off control of the meeting, and share documents with all attendants via a simplified login procedure.

This is a guest article by Ruben Corbo, a writer for the website Broadband Expert where you can find broadband internet in your area and compare prices on different deals for your mobile broadband needs.