Insight

Apps - September 2014

Picking your favourite mobile apps for your business is never an easy task. This month Mobile Business takes a look at some of the best business apps available in 2014. If you can’t find something in here to help you then you need to ask yourself some serious questions! 

CloudMagic

I have heard many people raving about the email clients CloudMagic on the iPhone. It supports up to five email accounts including Exchange, Gmail, Office 365, Google Apps, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo or any IMAP account. It allows you to view your mail as separate accounts or all in the same stream. With a handy colour coding scheme it’s easy to determine which email account the mail came from. The snazziest feature is that popular tools such as Salesforce, OneNote, MailChimp and Evernote are all integrated with into the app. Oh, and it’s free!

Splashtop

This app allows you to access your computer from your phone by turning your iPhone screen into the screen on your computer. This isn’t your usual desktop sharing app as it comes with encryption to make sure your data is secure. As a consequence prices start at about £35 per user per year. All you need is internet connection and you can access your desktop from anywhere.

CamCard

Are you always coming home from conferences with bundles of business cards from people you can barely remember? CamCard is a business card scanner which scans and stores business cards in your contacts handily separated from all your personal contacts. If the contact you are scanning has a CamCard profile with newer details the app will automatically update the details for you. Probably the best business card contact apps out there.

Workshare

Workshare is a collaboration app with security benefits, perfect for businesses. Multiple workers can use the app to work on documents and a unique colour coding system let you see who did what which is handy if you need to congratulate them on a great idea...or call them a moron!

Payhere

This is the ultimate solution to those needing to accept card payments on the move. It requires a card reader to work, which you have to buy separately and then PayPal will charge 2.75 – 3.4% transaction fee for every payment made using the service. When considering the flexibility of being able to collect payments from pretty much anywhere the transaction charge is a small price to pay. The app is free but the card reader will set you back a one off £99.

Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader enables you to alter PDFs by adding, highlighting, underlining, or even strikeout text. It also allows for drawing and adding signatures to PDF files. After you have completed all your revisions Reader allows you to send the finalised document by email, or to other apps like Dropbox or Google Dive for storage. Sign up for a free Adobe account and you can store and sync your documents in the cloud for free.

Citrix GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is the extremely simple, extraordinarily powerful way to hold unlimited online meetings with up to 25 attendees. Start a meeting and share your screen with just a click. You can invite others via phone, email or instant message. Prices start at £29/ month.

For Fun

Ultra Voice Changer

Are your colleagues too familiar with your voice? The Ultra Voice Changer allows you to alter your voice when talking on the phone. Imagine the fun you could have with the work experience kids... “The boss needs his cappuccino sprinkled with hundreds and thousands before his next board meeting”