Like all businesses insurance brokerages need to become ever more efficient to stay competitive in the global economy. In this column we often look at big breakthroughs in technology to assist brokers in this task. This week, we’re going to take a look at a hatful of cheap applications for mobile that can help you become more productive than ever before.
Any.Do – Productivity Suite
Any.do is a full suite of productivity tools but the best feature of them all is the “Moment Daily Planner”. It shows you any unscheduled tasks you’ve received during the day and where you can best fit them into your schedule. That’s very handy for the time-poor executive.
Clear – Organization Functionality
There are plenty of cool features of Clear but its stand out offering is its ability to compile to do lists quicker than any other package on the market. It’s also one of the few applications to have received the required facelift to look great on the new iOS.
Fantastical – Calendar Management
Calendars don’t seem to translate very well to the small screen; they often contain too much information and are laid out poorly so that it’s hard to work out what’s going on at a glance. Fantastical’s neat interface offers a simple, clear way to get a full-view of your calendar.
Keep – Note Taking
Keep is Google’s note taking service and it’s a lean, mean version that came out toward the end of the year. Unsurprisingly it’s compatible with all other relevant Google services which is a big plus for those invested in Google Docs etc. You may be tempted to kick Evernote to the curb in favor of Keep just for that simple reason.
Flow – Collaboration Management
Flow finally came into its own after a major redesign in 2013. It’s one of the better collaboration tools at the handset level and managing work between teams and functions has never been easier. It’s much easier to get project work done when you’re not always operating from your e-mail inbox. The Android release for Flow is expected very soon.
Dropbox – Cloud Storage for Collaboration
Dropbox isn’t new but the feature that lets you set up personal and corporate accounts which operate on separate tabs is. There’s also enhanced feature set of iOS7 users. Dropbox remains an indispensable business tool as cloud storage becomes increasingly important for sharing files and data outside of the in-house networked environment. There’s competition from Google Drive, the Box and Microsoft’s SkyDrive but we just find that DropBox is still considerably user friendlier than the rest.
Pocket – Content Collation and Reading
If you’re trying to keep up with several sources of insurance industry news it can be a pain to sort out the headlines you want to read from those you don’t. Pocket’s latest release made filtering much easier before and it identifies developing viewing trends for the information it captures. If an issue is becoming hot in your sector; you’ll know about it at a glance. The software also identifies short articles from in-depth ones. Which is very handy.
Combine all these applications and you might even find it easier to take a holiday this year; the time savings they offer do add up to something worth having.
