Five helpful Android apps for business users
The number of Android apps has surpassed 50,000, but start with these five that tout unique and useful features for the office
The number of Android apps has surpassed the 50,000 mark, and is increasing daily. With so many options, it's difficult to know which ones are applicable to your organization and its employees.
These five business programs for Android phones tout unique and useful features. Although no one plans to give up their laptop and start working full time on a cell phone, these tool could provide adequate functionality, when necessary, such as those days you're waiting for a flight or commuting to work on the subway.
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1. DataViz Documents to Go -- Free Reader, $14.99 full version
This mobile office suite looks like a handy addition to a smartphone. Documents to Go for users of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF files lets you view corresponding files on your Android device with the free version. You can view, edit, and create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files -- plus view Adobe PDF files -- with the full version. This means employees and executives can make changes to a proposal, spreadsheet, or slideshow presentation at the last minute while riding the elevator to the 27th floor or grabbing a coffee at Starbucks.
If you discover that your assistant has entered the wrong sales quotes on a bid sheet minutes before you enter a big meeting with clients, you can open the spreadsheet, make the change in seconds, then send the new document as an attachment to your boss before the meeting starts.
2. Google Voice -- Free except for international calls
With this service, you and your employees can forward all of your phones -- home, work, cell, and others -- to a single Google phone number, which you can manage through a Web-based application similar to Gmail; that is, Google's e-mail service. Google Voice could save companies and their customers time and effort, and it's free for all domestic calls. International calls are charged according to a fee structure on the Google Voice Web site.
What's so great about that? Well, you can give all your clients and associates one Google number, forward all your phones to that number. When they call, all of your phones ring, and you can answer the call on the phone in your current location. In addition, voicemails are transcribed to text and sent to your e-mail address. Other features include listening in on a voicemail before answering the phone, conference calling, call screening, call blocking annoying telemarketers, and call history.
