Work is an activity, not a location.
January 27, 2008
I pinched that phrase from AVST.
We’ve been dreaming about usable mobile working since forever.
Anyhow, having been wandering around with a Mobile Broadband connection from Vodafone for a couple of weeks, I now think that working anywhere is finally a reality!
- at least for us in the UK - I’m not entirely sure where else this might be available at such reasonable cost - £25 per month according to the website.
Vodafone’s website also lists further down the page that it limits users to a 3 GB monthly total. It then refers to the terms and conditions - but I defy anyone to find the T’s and C’s that apply.
Typical huge company website - completely useless to navigate.
I reserved judgement for a while, but everywhere I’ve been for two weeks has been fine. No mountain tops or anything you understand, but Burton on Trent was ok, a typical middle england place. So, hence this mini review.
Everything is great with Mobile Broadband.
My only small gripe is a nagging system tray piece of software that displays 7.2MB at all times, even if a speedcheck does show most places to be giving me 250kb download.
It almost looks designed to hoodwink the user, which is probably not the intention, although, when you look at the marketing spiel on the website….you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.
There is no need to hoodwink us Vodafone.
That’s because 250kb download is enough for most everything, including picking up voice messages via Outlook and VPN (although I would stay away from web development, as your browser will choose to fool you by showing a reduced bandwidth version of your site).
So, finally I am free from those useless wireless hot spot business models that drove my irritability through the roof. Why on earth wouldn’t Hotels provide their guests with broadband access, when it is obvious to the casual observer that it would attract more business for them?
Beats me. And now, Mobile Broadband will be beating them.
Edit: Comology (run by my friend Rob) provides mobile solutions - and he looks way cheaper, so I promised him a plug
Here’s me in a hotel room testing a You Tube video across the modem…..no problem!
The absence of mobile presence is really useful
April 3, 2007
The place to start thinking about presence is with the most simple change of status.
If I’m logged in at the desktop, I may be available, but if I’m not logged in, then I may only be contactable by the telephone.
So, call me if you need to.
The ‘need to call me’ part is of most significance here, and there are two sides to the benefit of being logged out;
1. Calls from my contacts are now more sporadic, because with them knowing I’m away from my desk, it allows them to re-schedule that item of middling importance for when I AM at my laptop screen, and hence more able to deliver.
2. So, logic says, and experience bears out, that when people now call me, they have already made a decision not to wait until I return to my desk. Which means my calls are nearly always more important.
The result is that when I’m mobile, I get less calls, and they’re more important
What this means is that when you roll out presence tools, it’s important that management communicate the importance of not hiding behind the ‘make it seem like you’re offline’ tool. Instead, use busy, or not interruptable wherever possible. The distinction is important for others in their decision making.
Equally, if I log on to some mobile presence element of the tool - there needs to be distinction between mobile and desk, for the reasons above.
The fact is, managing my mobile ’status’ will probably interrupt my attention, and therefore isn’t worth the effort. The only mobile status of interest to me is whether we’re on the phone or not - which we will have to spoof, awaiting desperately needed innovation.
With that in mind, I am still a fan of the iotum approach, especially from a subject driven conversation point of view.