Page 9 - July August 2014

July/August 2014
Telecom Reseller 9
A Phone by Any

Inc.
Connect and Communicate
Other Name

We continue to
redeine independent
distribution within the
Repairs telecommunications
Training Tech Support
and networking channel A
Installation
through an unmatched ll around the world, people today have
BYRD
Telecom & Networking SIP Trunking
dedication to quality fewer and fewer phones tethered to a
Products
We Buy Back Your Used Products
and service.
wall. At home, at work or on the road,
it is far more likely we use wireless technology
to communicate. Because of that, solutions like by David Byrd, CMO, ANPI – dbyrd@anpi.com
We’ll help you connect Hosted Uniied Communications are growing
and communicate.
DOES IT ALL
in demand. hese cloud-based technologies
provide users with even more options for staying woefully inadequate. he term “smartphone”
connected wirelessly, and let users accomplish also misses the mark, as it simply implies smarter
more tasks and activities than ever before.
communications rather than a device that can 800.797.2983
Since those devices in our pockets do so much access thousands of applications, most of which ISO 9001
www.a1teletronics.com
more than make and receive phone calls, calling have nothing to do with communicating. Even
AscdiNatd The global alliance of the it channel
them a “phone” seems erroneous or, at best,
the Supreme Court has acknowledged that our As an Independent Distributor, A1 Teletronics, Inc. is not afiliated with the manufacturers of the products it sells except as expressly noted otherwise. Any and all trademark rights associated with the manufacturers’ names and products are owned by the respective manufacturers.
smartphones contain so much private information,
covering so many areas of our lives, that the police
need a warrant to scan or search the devices.
In a post from my blog, Byrd’s Eye View
(tinyurl.com/jvoxt2y), I once referenced a study by
O2 (tinyurl.com/8t2zo2q) on smartphone usage
in the UK, where making phone calls represented
fewer than 10% of all smartphone activities.
Making calls came in ith behind browsing the I
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to music. Similarly, the Consumer Electronics Association measured smartphone usage for
Americans, and phone calls came in at only 20%
of total usage.
Even more surprising (or not, depending on
your perspective), Kinesis found that 15% of the
participants in a study examining smartphone
user activity – representing approximately 40
million subscribers – don’t use their smartphones
to make or receive calls at all. Kinesis surmises
that, although some of these users may make an
occasional call, it is clear they do not value the
device for that purpose.
Apparently, people are spending more time
looking at their smartphones than doing anything
else. Nokia and T-Mobile USA have each released
market data showing smartphone users look at
their devices about 150 times per day. “Looking”
dominates “listening” because the most important
purposes for the device require reading, watching, manipulating or typing.
As the device’s primary purpose is clearly
not to make phone calls, why has a major
device manufacturer, a marketing think tank or
innovative thought leader not coined a new name?
Obviously, since we have seen many instances of
branding unrelated words to technological devices
over the years, cost is not a factor. herefore, I
can only surmise that a better term simply is not
needed right now. Eventually, I believe, someone
is going to come up with a term that ultimately
replaces “smartphone,” one that better relects the
still-growing capabilities and uses of the device.
At ANPI, our smartphones are integrated
with our own Hosted Uniied Communications
solution, ANPI VIP. Every day, I use this device
to check my coworkers’ Presence, initiate chats,
transfer calls to and from my desk phone,
reference the company directory, participate
in conference calls and so much more. My
smartphone has never been smarter.
With this increased functionality, I have started
to call my device a “Personal Life Assistant.” Do
you have a better idea?

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