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The use of mobile devices has changed the way we do business. With current technology you can virtually extend a handshake to potential clients and never have to hang the “out of office” sign on your door. The pressure is on business owners to stay connected 24/7 and to find applications that save time, money, and valuable relationships. Here is how three women: Anayancy (a lawyer), Roz (an artist) and Peggy (an interior decorator) use their smart phones to keep their business going, facilitate communication and become the masters of their domains.

• Anayancy Housman (http://www.anayancy-housman.com) has been a lawyer with a successful practice since 1998. She doesn’t have time to log in and out of platforms to tell the world what she is having for lunch. She often has burning thoughts or pieces of news she wants to share with her clients though this happens while she is waiting for a hearing, at a conference, or researching at home. Anayancy uses her cell phone to post messages about the latest legal developments, comment on relevant news, share links, and direct people to her website. With one text message or email she can post as easily as writing a reminder on a sticky note. This a wise use of the iPhone, it keeps her connected to her office and her clients.

• Roz Weinberger tells me that she rather be at the studio, creating! She spends countless hours completely incommunicado until her energy is depleted. When Roz emerges from her “zone” reality hits… she needs to focus on the next exhibit, peer reviews, guild news, negotiations with galleries, meeting customers, and her family! Both of her worlds have merged through her cell phone. She takes photos or video clips of her work in progress and posts them simultaneously on her Roz Potz pages on Facebook and Twitter. When she steps out of the studio, she doesn’t feel the need to apologize or tell a number of people what she’s been up to. She keeps everyone abreast of the work in progress… Take a peek! (http://www.rozpotz.com/home.html)

• Peggy Moreno-Jones is always on the road and I mean always! 25 years of non-stop networking and running around purchasing supplies, attending trade shows, visiting clients, or working at project sites. She is giving Peggy’s Distinctive Interiors website an overhaul (http://www.peggysdesigns.com) and is excited about social media. Peggy recently dumped her old flip cell phone and acquired a Blackberry. These days you will find her uploading before and after photos, taking pictures of samples and sending them to clients for approval, keeping track of her email communications or simply posting updates on her current project. Although she is never at her office, she is constantly directing traffic to her homepage and giving tips to clients and strangers alike.

True, we can use our phones for music, videos, and web browsing but when we have to do business on the road, it takes it to a different level. There is a wonderful feeling inside when your handheld device can help identify the street in front of you, locate the nearest supply store by name, and check if an item is in stock. I think that smart phones rule business communications. I’m standing on the lookout checking out what is coming our way: The Samsung Epic 4G has a nice suite of applications and options to choose from. But for us, business women, it’s a different set of priorities. We don’t care to know which operating system it carries, that it is another Android ™ with access to over 70,000 applications, or that it can serve as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. At the end of the day, we want our smart phone to save our business day, not to mention help us nurture our personal and business relationships.