Is your phone just a phone?

The recent difficulties faced by Blackberry have been well documented in the press. The Canadian company, Research in Motion (RIM) which makes the smart phones has its European headquarters in Slough and it is apparently here where the source of the trouble lay.

Whatever the reason for the failure, the fact that for several days Blackberry users were unable to access e-mail or instant messaging has raised questions both about the company as well as the way in which we now view our mobiles as something more than a plain old telephone. Communication devices they may be but ones which surf the web, e-mail, take photos and send instant messages.

For Blackberry, this service outage couldn’t have come at a worse time. The company is still recovering its reputation following comments about the role its instant messaging service played in the London riots earlier this year. However, this episode has highlighted the way in which businesses in particular now rely on being in touch even when on the move.

The advent of internet telephony, virtual switchboards and mobile telephones linked to internet systems means that there is no longer any excuse for being out of touch. Internet switchboards can seamlessly transfer calls to telephones anywhere in the world, including mobiles. For those who don’t want to interrupt important meetings to answer a call, there are a range of virtual assistant services which will take calls, pass on messages, send out brochures and so on.

International telephony is also well catered for via the internet with cheap VoIP calls, international telephone numbers and international toll free services. This means that a business in the UK could be as easily run from Spain as it is from Slough.

The only downside to this expansion to instant communication is that when instant communication is possible, it is expected. So when systems go down they can cause loss of reputation as well as severe financial consequences to the business. Those who have planned for this eventuality will have a good business continuity plan in place; those who didn’t plan must hope that clients and potential clients allow them some leeway in view of a known problem which eventually affected businesses worldwide.