The Paperless Office is (almost) Here

Take note
The phone rings. Do you reach for pen and paper or take notes direct onto your PC? Writing is still the most convenient way of taking messages, jotting down memos and doodling reminders. It needs only one hand – so you can take notes standing up or while doing something else – and is cheap and portable. The down side is that you have to transcribe, file or re-enter the information to be able to search it electronically.

All that is fast becoming a thing of the past. Tablet PCs are laptops with a touch-sensitive screen operated by a stylus which replaces the keyboard. Using the stylus like a pen you can write on the screen, taking notes and accessing the various menus. Your handwritten notes can either be saved in manuscript or converted to typescript for insertion into more formal documents. Manuscript notes can also be printed, organised and searched using advanced handwriting recognition technology. Tablet PCs cost around £1,500, are light, portable and, unlike traditional laptops, have a fairly long battery life.

All talk?
Writing is convenient for note-taking while on the phone, but speech is quicker and easier. Speech recognition technology has come a long way in the last few years. Modern programs cost about £70 and work with the natural rhythms of speech, ignoring pauses or stumblings. You. Do. Not. Have. To. Speak. Like. This. Speech recognition is not only about dictating documents, either. ‘Talking’ to programs controls the cursor, menus and other functions by voice alone. Synthesis programs or text-to-speech allows your PC to talk back to you, reading the screen aloud to you in your office or even while you’re on the other end of a phone. Of course it’s not perfect. Programs get about 17% of words wrong, which would be equivalent to about 28 words in this paragraph, but how many of us type perfectly?! Speech recognition leaves your hands free for other work and Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), sometimes called Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD), might become a thing of the past.

Talking about talking, a mobile phone has become an essential business tool. Smartphones, however, allow you to do much more than merely talk. Using a smartphone you can take notes, send and receive text, pictures and e-mail messages and access the internet. They can also synchronise information with your PC when you’re away from your desk, record extensive contact details, and even allow you to view pictures or listen to music. They cost about £250, although the price can vary tremendously, but are a whole personal digital assistant (PDA) on their own.

Staying mobile, staying in touch
Combine a smartphone with a pocket PC and you add a whole new set of features. As well as all the functions you can expect from a smartphone, a pocket PC/phone combination allows you to read and edit documents and spreadsheets and even has wireless access to the internet.

PDAs – personal digital assistants – are designed to make life easier whether on the move or in the office. Handheld organisers can be invaluable providing you’re prepared to ditch the paper diary and address book, etc., get rid of your old mobile and use them to their fullest capacity; you’re likely to be less efficient if you’re trying to run your life from more than one place. PDAs are compatible with group diaries held on a network and some also store images and music. Like everything else there’s an initial learning curve but they can pay dividends, and PDAs needn’t cost the earth. Pocket PC phone editions cost about £300, palmtops perhaps a little less at around £200. Any portable device is vulnerable to thieves, but even this needn’t be a problem if you back up the information by frequent downloads to a PC and protect it by password to insure against unauthorised access.

Cutting the strings
Many of us spend a lot of our working life on the move and having to ensure compatible cables, plugs, electronic connexions, etc. is needless worry. Wireless applications provide true mobile flexibility when you need to stay in touch. Bluetooth is the standard for providing short-range wireless connexions for and between mobile equipment, while Wi-Fi is the popular name for a wireless local-area network allowing very fast transfer of data. Such networks, sometimes called hotspots, are being installed in hotels, airports and other public areas, as well as some public transport, while Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi capability is becoming increasingly standard in new mobile equipment.

Virtual help
Even the best office equipment can’t help if you just don’t have time to do everything you need to. One solution might be to get somebody else to worry about it for you – and that doesn’t necessarily mean employing extra staff. A virtual office service includes telephone answering in your company’s name, postal forwarding, office/meeting room hire, etc. and can be far cheaper than hiring additional secretarial staff or renting traditional office space. The amount you pay depends on the services you choose to use, but usually starts at around £40 per month for the telephone answering service, which includes taking a a certain number of calls free of additional charge.

Many of us think of office equipment as a necessary evil, but fewer consider it a tool to make their job faster and more enjoyable. Yet the right equipment can be just that – and in today’s business world, time is money.