While application developers and others in industry debate whether the enterprise or the consumer market will strike gold first, technology giants like Microsoft Corp. see much crossover between the two, perhaps suggesting they will develop alongside each other. The word “prosumer” has been embraced by a number of people in the industry, and it means those professionals who use a device for business during business time and use the same device for personal use during personal time-and vice versa. In other words, it’s a fancy word for many cell-phone users.
Certainly, purchasing a cell phone and a wireless plan is a personal decision. One person may like clamshell-faced phones while another prefers candy-bar style devices. Putting aside ring-tones, wallpapers and such, the physical size of a phone is often the first choice made based on personal preference. What is comfortable in the hands of a smaller person can be downright miniscule for a larger person. Choosing a wireless plan is also personal. One person may need 100 minutes per month, while another prefers to cut the cord and could use 1,500 minutes a month. Families tend to like family plans, while a single user doesn’t need the discounted second phone or bundle of minutes.
Because of those reasons and countless more, I doubt most people would like their company to purchase handsets for them. (Reimburse for handset purchases, yes, but make the actual buying decision? Two thousand low-end basic gray-screened phones for everyone in the sales department is not likely to be a popular decision at most companies.)
Yet, companies buy laptops and to a lesser extent PDAs for their employees and few complain (or complain loudly, at least). It is the access back to the network that makes employees value the laptop.
But phones are different. And as wireless devices become more complex, the issues surrounding them-including ownership, billing, software installed on the system, access beyond the corporate wall-become more difficult. What happens when you want a camera phone for personal use but camera phones aren’t allowed in the company for security reasons?
As businesses start to pay more attention to cell-phone bills, there may be a shift in how wireless is accounted for in the workplace. A recent study from Yankee Group estimated that wireless service accounts for 25 percent of a corporation’s telecom spending. That much of an expense is likely to garner tight scrutiny. About the time enterprises address all of these complex issues, both the consumer market and the enterprise market should be in full swing.
