25 Jun iOS 6: Pretty Cool But What Are The Benefits For Business Users?
Despite iOS 6 being dubbed by many as Apple ‘catching up to Android and Windows’ with some of the features (e.g turn by turn navigation, Facebook integration etc), the announcements are certainly welcomed by owners of iOS devices. iOS6 is great for consumers who use iPhones for everyday things, but does the new iOS hold any benefits for business users?
While none of the announced features seemed to target business users specifically (with the exception perhaps of the VIP email feature), a few of the features could be utilised to make the iPhone a more business friendly smartphone.
“Do Not Disturb”
For those of you who seem to live in meetings or if you find yourself constantly on the phone , this feature will be fantastic. The ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature will block incoming calls while allowing text messages and alerts through. This feature will also prevent the screen from lighting up, allowing you to continue undisturbed. Additionally, you will also be able to filter calls by group and set the phone to allow only the second call if someone rings twice within three minutes.
Auto Reply
Following on from the previous feature if you can’t take a call right away, you can do one of two things: either auto-reply with a text message saying something to the effect of “can’t talk right now, will call later”, or you can set a reminder to call the person back later.
VIP Mail Feature
Many of you would be receiving large quantities of emails a day on your iPhone, which makes sorting out the most important ones from the rest a frustrating and time consuming task. iOS 6 will feature a “VIP” option, which alerts you when e-mails arrive from highlighted contacts you really want or need to hear from. This will help you read and reply to the important stuff among the large amounts of clutter in your inbox.
Passbook
Keeping all of your travel information together is a hassle, particularly when you required to travel frequently for business. Passbook acts like a virtual wallet by storing all of your airline tickets, loyalty cards and other tickets in one place in a simple interface. That’s pretty neat, but what really sets this apart from similar apps already available in the app store, is that Passbook is location-aware, which mean your boarding pass will pop up on the screen when you arrive at the airport. If there have been changes to your flight such as gate changes or flight times your boarding pass will be updated automatically.
FaceTime Over 3G
While the impact of FaceTime over the cellular network on data bills is still in question, the addition of this feature will be great for those who find themselves without a Wi-Fi connection frequently.
Offline Reading Lists In Safari
If you’re an avid reader of online content but limited on time, iOS6 will bring with it an update to Safari that will allow you to save a web page to read later. This feature was designed to rival ‘read it later’ service Instapaper by caching full websites for offline reading. Great for those with large amounts of web based company resources to plow through.
App Permissions
This feature benefits businesses more on a security or privacy level, in that users will now be explicitly warned when the app they are trying to install asks permission to access their contacts, calendars, reminders and their photo library. For most of us, having our address book floating around in another company’s servers is definitely not desirable, especially if it occurs without our knowledge and permission.