AT&T (News 
- Alert) has released the results of a poll concerning the use of mobile technology by small businesses. The Small Business Technology Poll, a nation-wide survey, asked businesses with anywhere from two to 99 employees to describe their mobile technology usage. The results show that similar to regular consumer sales, small businesses rely heavily on mobile technology and its use is on the rise.
According to the survey, 96 percent of the businesses polled said they use wireless technologies in their business operations, with almost two-thirds indicating that they would not be able to survive without their technological devices.
“More than ever, we’re seeing small businesses leverage the benefits afforded by wireless technologies, whether they be smartphones, tablets, mobile apps, or 4G speeds,” said Ebrahim Keshavarz, vice president of AT&T’s Small Business Product Management.
“There’s no doubt that with ‘virtual offices’ and remote workforces becoming more and more prevalent, AT&T will remain committed to offering innovative and affordable mobility solutions, helping small businesses reduce costs and increase productivity over both the short- and long-term,” said Keshavarz.
Apple’s (News - Alert) CEO Tim Cook also said that tablets would begin to outsell PC’s. “From the first day [the iPad] shipped, we thought that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market. I feel that stronger today than I did then,” said Cook during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco.
Cook attributes the overtaking of the PC market to the portability of the tablet and the integration the tablet has with other devices making it a seamless transition from one technological device to another.
The AT&T poll backs up Cook’s statements. The results show that despite being a newer technology, two-thirds of small businesses surveyed, about 67 percent, said that they use tablet computers, with 50 percent of businesses expecting employees to use wireless technology out of the office by the end of 2012.
Given the increasing popularity of wireless technology and working from home, it makes sense that the poll results also show an increase in smartphone usage, as well as an increase in mobile application downloads. The most popular apps are GPS and mapping apps with nearly 80 percent of small businesses using them.
AT&T collected this data in November 2011 by polling over 2,000 small businesses in 12 cities across the country.
Edited by
Jennifer Russell
