More and more travelers – whether for business or pleasure – are using tablets and cell phones to stay connected instead of dragging around their laptops. Here’s a quick look at some apps that can keep you as connected as you want.
Evernote is our particular favorite among all the mobile connectivity and synchronization apps. In addition to having two-factor authorization for accessing files, it has just about every capability you need for working with documents of all kinds while away from home and the office. You can use either free or paid “premium” service across all mobile platforms.
It allows you to add notes by keyboard, voice or even camera to files or notebooks. You can make it your travel diary, and you can use it to add notes to business files, such as sales call reports. Whatever you upload to the cloud, you can access from any type of device.
Documents To Go has been a long-time program for viewing and editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files online. It can work with Apple, Android and Blackberry devices, and it allows you to synchronize with your desktop or laptop computer through cloud-based storage services, such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud. You can get more information through the app store for your device. There is a charge for it, but you can get a free app for synching with your computer.
Microsoft has renamed SkyDrive as OneDrive. It’s built into the latest versions of Windows, Windows Phone and Office, and you can make it your default storage option. It also works with an iPhone or Android phone or an iPad, Android tablet, Windows device or Mac. You and collaborators can work on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents simultaneously. It’s available in home and business versions, with the latter giving you enterprise-grade content management, compliance, and administrative controls.
Android users can get note-taking capabilities from Google Keep. It’s an emerging program, and with Google’s backing, you can look for progress at a fairly rapid pace.
Whichever app you choose, set-up is really important – especially if you will be using your app over public Wi-Fi networks in other countries. Each app has numerous variables, including security settings. Contact us – phone: 973-433-6676 email: [email protected] – with questions about mobile apps and for set-up help. You don’t want an “uh-oh” moment while you’re halfway around the world.
This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.