Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

Your Virtual Wizard · #1 (**permalink**) 04-19-2009

I just started to investigate the usefulness of the iPhone as it relates to running a business. I saw a few advertisments on TV about the varying apps offered and I wondered if anyone uses an iPhone in conjunction with their business.

One of the apps featured was one which takes a credit card through the iPhone. I don't have any information as to how this would work or how much or what service might be needed to get this going but it was of interest to me.

Does anyone currently use the iPhone for their business and if so, I'd like some opinions regarding its use.

Thank you.

Janine

Samantha T · #2 (**permalink**) 04-29-2009

Hi, Janine. I'm really surprised that you never got a reply on this! I don't think that I'm the best person to respond (seeing as I'm not really in business yet, but I can try. Last week I kind of swapped phones with my husband (he took my Blackberry Pearl and gave me the iPhone he'd gotten for work but found too bulky to carry), and I've been playing with the iPhone ever since.

The interface is fantastic! It's super easy to use, and although the touch-pad keyboard takes some getting used to, that's pretty quick. As for applications, there are TONS of them out there, many of them free or really cheap. It can quickly become an addiction.

Email on it seems to be really good. I have both of my personal Yahoo and Gmail accounts going to it at this point. The Yahoo mail arrives on my phone faster than it appears on my PC - it's "push" so it's pretty much instantaneous. The Gmail is NOT push, and the phone will only go out and check for it once every 15 minutes. Kind of a pain, but not horrible. (Interestingly, it's the opposite of what I had on the BB, where the Gmail was push, but not Yahoo.) What I miss from my BB is having an LCD/visible notification when you have mail that you'd see when the phone is "asleep." I am actually searching around for information on that now.

Syncing with Outlook was seamless and a breeze.

The web browser is nice - much nicer than the BB's - and it's cool that when you hold the phone horizontally instead of vertically the view changes.

The only thing that seems to be glaringly missing is voice dialing. Odd... And one other thing to know is that, unlike other "smart phones," non-Apple native programs/apps cannot run in the background on the iPhone. What that means is that once you return to the home screen, the program closes. So each time you run your Twitter application, it asks for your login information and has to load from scratch. Also, if you load a different calendar application or PIM, I don't think alarms will go off if the program isn't actively running.

So again, I'm not using it for business yet, but once I get everything off the ground I will be, and I think it will be just fine. If you have any other specific questions about it, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

--Samantha

YourLeftHand · #3 (**permalink**) 05-19-2009

I love my iPhone.

I have the apps for Facebook and Twitter and can send updates from anywhere.

I can check my PayPal balance, history, etc. at any time, which is how I process payments.

I can check my business checking balance, transfer money to my personal account, etc.

There are lots and lots of apps out there that I haven't dived into.

It's just a fun, cool, "pretty" piece of equipment and is laid out well.

I can get my emails and use the web browser, BOTH of which are very beneficial to me and my business if I am on the go.

Perfect Solutions · #4 (**permalink**) 05-19-2009

I love my iphone! I use it all the time for my business. For instance, I can update my Wordpress blog, tweet, FaceBook, VAF, directions, Freshbooks for recordkeeping and time tracking, paypal for account transactions, milage keeping, video iPod demonstrations and so much more! In fact, I'm writing this post from my iPhone!

Best part, it's a tax write off!

Hope this helps!

Your Virtual Wizard · #5 (**permalink**) 05-19-2009

Quote:

One of the apps featured was one which takes a credit card through the iPhone. I don't have any information as to how this would work or how much or what service might be needed to get this going but it was of interest to me.

Hi,

Thanks for the info...do you know anything about the app that takes credit cards?

Thanks,

Janine

tsmith · #6 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009

Hi Janine,

I do not have an iPhone. Although, it sounds interesting with many benefits. I found some information regarding financial apps for the iPhone here. Please check it out. I find a lot of useful information on this site. You can also do a search for other iPhone apps too.

Let me know if you get one and your thoughts thereafter.

tsmith · #7 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009

Hi again.

I found one more link that may be useful. Check it out here.

Sue's Virtual Office · #8 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009

What is the monthly cost of using an iPhone?

I have no idea what these things cost.

Thank you...

Samantha T · #9 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009

On top of whatever you're paying for minutes, AT&T charges $30 a month for unlimited data.

--Samantha

Your Virtual Wizard · #10 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009

Tahneesha,

Thank you for thie iPhone apps link.

I may take the plunge and get one in August when our contract can be upgraded. I am looking to streamline some of my current equipment charges. Someone told me that they eliminated their home phone number bill and internet connection by using an iPhone so it got me thinking. I pay now for turbo-cable connection and the price will be going up so I wanted to see if there are any other options out there. I don't think I can totally eliminate the use of a laptop or a desktop entirely for now but I didn't see why one day I could connect my iPhone to my monitor, an external drive, a wireless mouse and use the phone connection. (Wishful thinking on my part!

)

But I am on a mission to streamline and centralize my work because some days I just feel like I'm paying too much and I'm all over the place!

Janine