General23.05.2013

The power of touch

The convenience of the touch screen lifestyle is prompting corporate users to question whether they should be considering going this route and it has become even more relevant with the arrival of touch-enabled notebooks. However, as with any IT purchasing decision, it depends on what the organisational and user needs are.

Yet, touch-enabled notebooks offer many advantages that should be considered.

“These notebooks are designed to be workhorses and typically have fast processors and offer support for large memory modules which give them an advantage when an organisation requires mobile devices to run enterprise-level applications,” says Mike van Lier, Business Leader for IT Solutions at Samsung Electronics South Africa. “A touch-screen notebook provides mobile workers with an intuitive way of interacting with the device as movements feel more natural and fluid, resulting in increased productivity.”

For additional mobility, corporate users need to look for models that offer slate PC functionality. This means that when they go to meetings, they can leave the keyboard part of the device behind and travel with the screen only and use the device as a tablet. The slimmer and lighter form factor still provide for all the functionality with some models including a stylus offering enhanced note-taking capabilities.

What’s more, the increasing availability of Wi-Fi hotspots provide the connection needed to quickly check for email or send data back to the office while in the field. When hotspots are not available, the connectivity options of these notebooks mean that a USB port can provide 3G access with the required dongle to make synchronising important documents or saving information to the cloud as painless as possible.

Van Lier adds: “With many consumers realising the benefits of the touch-enabled notebook, they will become more expectant of using these devices in a corporate environment.” These notebooks also have support for corporate security policies to make their integration into an office environment and corporate network that much easier for administrators.

“Touch screen notebooks are the way of the future. By providing tangible business benefits to organisations, the opportunity to increase productivity while managing costs more effectively are good arguments for embracing these devices sooner rather than later,” concludes van Lier.

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