Bring Your Own Device: In 2013 There Will Be More Mobile Devices Than People On Earth

First, the interesting stuff:

• An Apple a day: 40 percent of respondents prefer doing business on the iPhone, iPad, or iPad mini.
• Who Shares More?: Of the respondents, women are 8 percent more likely than men to share their personal mobile phone number.
• The Business of Texting: Texting is on the rise for small businesses, as 58 percent of respondents text for business at least once a month.
• Voicemail – Over, and Out?: Only 33 percent of survey respondents still listen to voicemail from business contacts.
• No Time for Mystery: Only 18 percent of respondents will listen to voicemail from an unknown number.
•  “You’re Fired”: 20 percent of men who responded said they would fire a full-time employee to cut their monthly cell phone bill by 50 percent. This one is rather startling.

In this recent survey (commissioned by eVoice, a virtual phone number service for small businesses NASDAQ:JCOM), more than one in three business owners (36 percent) use three or more mobile devices to run their business. 

Privacy, Please!

75 percent of respondents won’t share their personal mobile phone number with staff. This one made me wonder how you run a small business if you don’t tell employees how to reach you after hours. 81 percent with partners or investors and 82 percent with vendors, reinforcing small businesses owners’ desire to filter their personal phone numbers for business contacts. I read this as they will not share their personal number with any of these people. Fair enough on this front.

The report goes on to explain that a virtual phone system can help you filter. That’s what I do – my Google Voice number is what screens my calls. With a virtual phone system, small businesses can keep their personal number private and routing other calls by using an intelligent system.

Overall, the survey results seem to underscore the need for small businesses to stay productive and competitive. They also appear to highlight small business preferences and pain points for mobility and mobile technologies.