iSAMMobi after a month of use

Its always been a vision of mine to be able to work from anywhere, and to have access to all the key information so that I can still be an effective asset to my business even when I’m on the move.

That might be because I’m travelling between meetings, am out on site with a client, or climbing a rock face somewhere in Devon ! The net result is the same, I want to manage my work life balance by blending both into a seamless continuum, at least tha’st what I keep telling myself.

I won’t go banging on about the uses and cool things that iSAM can do, there’s a time and a place for that, but I do want to you about some of my experiences using iSAMMobi over the last month or so.

The first thing that really struck me was the disparity between how I thought I would use the app, and how I actually use it. You see, when we were developing this app, I had the idea that I’d be busy adding meetings, calls, and sales leads onto the system and using it to sync all this info, that I’d be gathering in the field, back into our main iSAM system, and keeping it all up to date. The reality is very different, I would say that 85% of the work I do on iSAMMobi is reading information, that might be referencing a clients case notes, or looking up their history of sales with us. The killer features for me haven’t been adding information, its been retrieving it. The Global Search, and Call / Txt features, have been given a thorough workout, and have worked brilliantly.

Of late, I’ve been working with Rebecca Weaver from Gumshoe UK, planning the launch event for iSAM 007. Being able to just type Reb into the search box pull up her contact record, and then send an email, an SMS txt or simply call her has proved really useful.

Recently, I returned from a Holiday with my family, and like all busy CEO’s a holiday doesn’t usually mean your completely incommunicado from the office, but a camping trip in the valleys of deepest Devon meant there was no internet access, and only a faint GPS mobile signal. That 2 bar shimmer of connectivity was all I needed to keep iSAMMobi in sync with our main iSAM system, which meant that I was still able to respond to the emergency situations that sadly arose to interrupt my Pimms and Lemonade by the pool. The real treat though, I was still able to remain by the pool  Pimms & Lemonade on ice, iPhone in the hand and iSAMMobi keeping me linked in to the company. A far cry from past experiences that usually began,  “Oh waiter.  I say,  is there an internet cafe nearby ?”

Whilst out and about during our holiday, I happened to start a conversation with a chap also on holidays from the north of the country, we got to talking firstly about Motorcycles and road trips, but as with all business types the conversation turned into a discussion about HR problems and business development. Standing on the key at Dartmouth in my shorts and Flip Flops, with Brian saying “iSAM sounds like just the tool we could do with to get more sales and do a bit more marketing, its a shame Terry my Sales Director isn’t here.”

“Not a problem” I said, “Why don’t I take a couple of details from you Brian, and I will have Achim, our head of business development, contact Terry in the next couple of days, and let him know you and I have been talking”

Out came the iPhone; I deliberately flashed the animated loading screen at Brian (We’ll it’s a bit of a boys toy isn’t it?). I took down Terry’s details and Brians’ company contact details into iSAMMobi, scheduled a call for Achim to contact Terry, hit Sync and let iSAM do the rest.

Needless to say, I’m flying out next week to review Terry’s requirements for a full iSAM Pro system, and to do a little more posing with iSAMMobi of course

What a cool App.