Agents take note: within the small business environment, wireless has become almost ubiquitous. According to the 2013 AT&T Small Business Technology Poll, which surveyed 1,000 small businesses nationwide, 98 percent of small businesses use some form of wireless technologies in their operations.
Further, two-thirds (66 percent) of small businesses polled indicate that they could not survive – or it would be a major challenge to survive – without wireless technologies.
“For small businesses today, wireless solutions have become part of their DNA,” said Cathy Martine, AT&T executive vice president of small business solutions. “With the ongoing growth of remote workforces and with virtual offices gaining in popularity, mobility solutions from AT&T are becoming more important than ever in helping small businesses work better, smarter and faster.”
On the device front, the poll revealed that more than half (56 percent) of smartphones used by small business employees for business purposes are 4G-enabled, a 70 percent jump in usage from last year when only 33 percent used 4G smartphones.
More than two-thirds (69 percent) of small businesses surveyed indicate that they use tablet computers. Results indicate that the larger the business, the more likely they are to use tablets, with 90 percent of those with 51 to 99 employees using them, compared to 69 percent of those with 50 or fewer employees.
Additionally, newer businesses are more likely to use tablets, with 80 percent that are less than 2 years old using them, compared to 69 percent of those two years and older.
The borderless office is also on the rise: more than four in 10 (41 percent) small businesses report that all their employees use wireless devices or wireless technologies to work away from the office. Additional findings from the national survey of small businesses include:
Of small businesses using mobile apps, GPS navigation and mapping are by far the most popular with 74 percent of business owners using them, followed by location-based services (43 percent); document management (35 percent); social media marketing (32 percent); and mobile payments in the field (30 percent). Nearly one-third (31 percent) of small businesses surveyed use mobile apps, with top three reasons being to save time, increase productivity and reduce costs.
