Top 5 Free Smartphone Apps for Businesses

You may recall our article: Can Your SME Benefit From Smartphones? In follow up to this we bring you the Top 5 Free Smartphone Apps for Businesses. It would be great to hear what apps you find the most useful, please place your recommendations in the comments section below.

1. Skype

Make your business more efficient and reduce your overhead costs through Skype. Skype provides video calling and instant messaging from anywhere in the world; it does this at a low cost and in many instances for free. Switching to skype will not only reduce the cost of your business calls, but can also reduce your travel expenditure. With Skype you do not need to travel to meetings, you can instead video call your employees, customers and suppliers. It also gives you the option of having a group meeting, allowing you to add up to 10 people, as well as more personal one-on-one meetings. Skype helps make businesses more efficient, giving you more flexibility and saving you time.

Availability

Skype is available on Android, Blackberry, Apple iOS and Windows devices.

Cost

Skype is completely free to download and register – the majority of the services Skype offers are free too.

2. HootSuite

Another time saver, Hootsuite enables you to monitor your company Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts, and allows you to post to all platforms in an instant. This is great for small businesses that need a social media presence, but do not have the time to spend updating each and every account. With Hootsuite you can update on the move. You can also monitor what people are posting about your company and respond instantly to them, keeping your business accessible. Through HootSuite you can also monitor your social media performance daily with its analytics on: number of clicks per day, geographical information on the people clicking through, top referrers and your most popular links and posts.

Availability

HootSuite is available for download on Android and Apple iOS devices.

Cost

The Hootsuite app is free for the basic version, or can be used as part of the Business or Corporation package, which is from £6.99 per month.

3. TripIt

TripIt is ideal for any frequent business travellers. With the app, you simply need to email all of your travel, hotel, car hire and restaurant confirmation emails to a TripIt email address. The app will then collate the details in one place, allowing you to access them instantly when required. It will also give you a full itinerary as well as directions, maps and weather information for each of your destinations. There is also an option to upgrade your account to TripIt Pro, which will provide you with flight alerts, seat tracker, flight finder and refund notification services.

Availability

TipIt is available for download on Android, Blackberry, Apple iOS and Windows devices.

Cost

Free to download and use the basic version. However, a charge will occur for the TripIt Pro.

4. Asana

Asana is a great communication tool for small businesses, not only keeping you connected to your employees, but also allowing you to manage your team’s tasks and organise projects while on the move. For projects, no matter how big or small, you and your employees can keep up-to-date with the progress. You can assign tasks to your team and can be alerted when one of these tasks is complete. You can also upload documents to specific projects that your team can access immediately. Asana is great for project managers or small business owners who wish to keep all of the details of a project in one place, and who wish to be updated frequently and at any given time during a project lifecycle.

Availability

Asana is available for download on Android and Apple iOS.

Cost

Free to download and use for businesses who require 30 or less users.

5. Expensify

When it comes to dealing with company expenses, not only is it time consuming for the individual, but also for the company to process all of the expense claims.

Expensify cuts the time it takes to fill out expenses through allowing your employees to take a picture of their receipts on their smartphone. These pictures can then be instantly uploaded to the ‘receipts’ folder of the app, meaning that when they come to fill out their expenses they already have an electronic copy of their receipts in one place.The app can then produce expense reports, which your employees can email to an approver’s account. The app is great for small businesses, allowing you to log expenses, keep a record of receipts and manage reports.

Availability

Expensify is available for download on Android, Blackberry, Apple iOS and Windows devices.

Cost

Free version available.