A PDA is an Indepensable Tool For The Advisor On The Go

The PDA (personal digital assistant)is gaining a lot of attention in the advisor business world these days. Of course there are still many people that still don't know what they are. Let me tell you Personal digital assistants are pocket sized mini computers.

The personal digital assistant has a lot of the same functionality as a PC, only it's small enough to fit in your pocket or briefcase. They are programmable and easy to carry.

Their light interface and colorful screens make them even easier to look at than in the past. If anyone asks, the personald digital assistant and Pocket PCs are basically the same thing, but there is one major difference; the pocket PC supports windows and other software modems whereas the Personal digital assistant doesn't.

Technology is moving into an exciting period, and we at Advisor Tech Solutions are keeping up to date on what's coming in the market. Personal digital assistants(palm) have some of the immediate benefits that your PC doesn't have, and more convenience than a laptop. If you're a busy business person whose time is valuable, then you would benefit greatly from owning a PDA.

A Personal digital assistant can keep your schedule handy, help you access your email, download and transfer your files, work in conjunction with your client management system (CRM), map your directions, and even make a phone call. The personal digital assistant is now equipped with cameras and cell phones built into them, along with the regular PC functions.

It's just like having a laptop without some of the extras that a business on the go doesn't need. The benefits to owning a personal digital assistant are endless.

They include a calendar, calculator, address book for all of your clients, and many can share an interface with your PC files on them. You can surf the net, check the stock market, even monitor your sales.

PDAs have gained popularity over the years since its first entering the marketplace. They are becoming more affordable, depending on your needs. A personal digital assistant is a great deal cheaper than pocket PCs as well. Some starting as low as $79.00.

PDA's are smaller and lighter than the pocket PC as well. Some of them are built to withstand various types of weather conditions. This makes them very versatile and easy to transport. At Advisor Tech Solutions we know how important your business is.

We are always on the look out for the newest technology at the best prices. The only thing that these little PCs can't do is give you a reason not to want one.

Personal digital assistants definitely offer the busy advisor a chance to keep up on what's going on. The PDA does not necessarily offer upgrades so it is best to buy the PDA that is right for you. It is better to purchase a PDA that offers the functionality that you are going to need.

Anyone that knows technology would tell you that the Personal digital assistant sells itself. It is a versatile piece of equipment that can help to raise any advisor's productivity in this fast paced society that we live in. Anything that can keep the modern businessman on the front line in his market is considered an asset. PDAs have certainly proven themselves in that area.

After doing some research and reading reviews I've found there are some great products on the market, all of them can be synchronized with your client contact system. Help you stay on track to reaching your goals among the other important practice management goals.

It's the time to find the digital assistant which suits you. Here is an example of one of the of the best online retailers which have great prices and lots of selections don't wait.

How Leading Finacial Software has revolutionized the PDA

Staying connected to the office when an advisor was on the road used to mean lugging around an address book, a day planner, a cell phone and even a laptop.

Today, wireless technology allows advisors to stay in contact with clients and office staff with a lot less paraphernalia.

The personal digital assistant —including Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry — is gaining in popularity, either as a companion or a replacement. The PDA performs much of the same functions as a PC, but it is small enough to fit into a pocket or briefcase.

Alan Panezic, director of the BlackBerry Solutions Group at Waterloo Ont.-based RIM, says the BlackBerry’s core strengths are its secure wireless system and its ability to synchronize information instantly. When a user sends an e-mail on the BlackBerry, it goes to the BlackBerry enterprise server, a software component installed next to the user’s mail server. All the communications end up in the “sent items” file on the server.

This allows full tracking and accountability of every e-mail message you send. This means that your e-mail goes through your corporate e-mail system, thus ensuring security and that you have an audit trail for compliance purposes.

The technology is easy to use. RIM has focused on ensuring that users don’t have to spend a lot of time with a manual, Panezic says, or need to have someone demonstrate how the device works.

Available through Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility Inc. in North America, BlackBerry’s prices range from $99 to more than $400, depending on the plan.

Although advisors have been slow to adopt PDAs, that changed with the introduction of the Blackberry, say Duane Nelson, chief software architect at QuoteMedia Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz., Until the BlackBerry arrived on the market, the available devices did not have phones, did not perform external communications and didn’t deliver e-mail. The advent of a single device that does all this and more was the turning point in the popularity of PDAs.

And thanks to those advances in wireless technology, companies such as QuoteMedia have been able to transfer technologies used on the Web to wireless device. QuoteMedia’s Quotestream product allows wireless PDAs to stream stock quotes, market indices, intraday and historical charts, market summaries and company news. Users can create up to five portfolios, with up to 45 symbols in each, and monitor stocks, funds and options.

Quotestream was designed for private branding by financial services Web portals, and runs on more than 50 devices, including many Web-enabled cellphones.

The application connects to Quotemedia’s large data farm in Vancouver. You can download the package by typing www.quotestream.com . on your wireless device and picking a user name and password. You’ll be connected to a server that will recognize you and know the stock exchanges from which you want to receive real-time data.

The data goes directly into your PDA without the need to refresh. Complete set-up and customization takes only minutes. Base price is $10.00 a month, but you can try out Quote Media's Quote Stream for free

With PDAs, you’re mobile but still in touch

Personal digital assistants allow you to check e-mail, access contact-management programs; they even double as phones

By Jim Middlemiss

Investment advisors are a walking contradiction when it comes to technology, according to Investment Executive’s technology survey. May - Aug 2004

On one hand, they are almost unanimous in their support for the statement that it is important to be mobile and to be able to connect to their office while on the go. About 88% agree with the notion.

However, only 35% say they use a personal digital assistant, a handheld device that can operate as a mini-computer. PDAs allow mobile users to check their e-mail, access their contact or address books and run applications. They even can double as telephones, depending on the device.

Instead, advisors seem to prefer a clunky old laptop — 71% say they own one.Talk to advisors who use PDAs and they rave about them. Take Drew Abbott, an investment advisor at TD Waterhouse Investment Advice in Toronto who uses a BlackBerry, from Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion Ltd. “I can’t live without it,” Abbott says. “I enjoy being connected all the time.”

Abbott jokes that it is his “executive GameBoy,” a reference to a popular handheld video game device from Nintendo. But for Abbott, it’s all business and no play: “Basically, I am in touch with all my clients seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”

He says that unlike voice mail, e-mail is “not intrusive.” If he gets a question from a client and knows the answer, he can get back to him or her right away; otherwise, he can dig up the answer and respond even if it’s a Saturday night. “It has definitely made me more efficient.”

Alison Keene agrees that a PDA can make an advisor’s life simpler. The senior vice president and managing director of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Calgary is always on the go. Not only does she manage clients’ money, she also has management responsibilities, and finds it critical to have a tentacle into the office while mobile.

She actually carries two handheld devices, a BlackBerry and a Palm Pilot from California-based palmOne Inc. She uses the BlackBerry because it’s piped into the corporate network so she can get her e-mails, and it also doubles as her cellphone. That’s important, she says, for her management responsibilities. “I need access to e-mail on a continuous basis.”

However, the BlackBerry doesn’t support Maximizer, the program that she uses as a contact-management and calendaring system on her desktop computer. Rather, the BlackBerry supports Outlook Express. Keene notes that the Palm provides her with mobile access to all her clients’ phone numbers and addresses that are in the Maximizer software.

Also loaded into the Maximizer system are her clients’ strategies and service pledges, which she can also access through her Palm. As well, her contact system has proprietary information that she has gathered about clients to helps her serve them — little things such as hobbies, favorite publications and names of kids and grandkids.

Also, her team is tied into that database and can tap into it when needed. She wasn’t prepared to abandon all of that for the BlackBerry.

“Outlook can’t manage what I want to manage in my client database. If I was just in management and didn’t manage [a book of business], chances are I could get away with Outlook Express in a BlackBerry. ” But for her investment advisory tasks, “I need everything else.”

Despite having to carry around two devices, Keene thinks it’s still better than her old system — a binder with note pages. “That weighed about five pounds and took up the bulk of my briefcase.”

For more on PDA and the advisor visit Investment Executive click here

Palm vs. Pocket PC-The Great Debate

Talking PDAs is a lot like talking Politics. Everyone has their own opinions and sometimes it's easier to respect those opinions than to argue them. But what makes a person so passionate about their PDA? A lot of it has to with how you use it and how much you rely on it. Power Users sometimes have their lives so interwoven with their PDAs that to lose it or have it break can be downright gut-wrenching.

Now don't smirk, I bet the last time your computer crashed, you remembered a few choice words from your college days. If you've ever lost your Day Runner you know what I mean--you thought it was just a binder till everything was gone. The great thing about a PDA is that it's a Day Runner that has the ability to be backed up, saving all of your valuable information.

What truly brings out passionate conversation is the question: What's better: Palm or Pocket PC. Heck, that question alone has resulted in some scenes reminiscent of those infamous Thanksgiving get-togethers (of course you've never had one of those have you?).

To read more on the Palm vs. Pocket PC go here

PDAs and Mobile Phones

As Text Messaging Explodes in Popularity, Tips for Getting Started and Staying on Top of the Trend

(ARA) - The latest electronic gadgets, including mobile phones and PDAs, will surely top wish lists this holiday season. Whether friends and family are clamoring for the newest flip phone, the latest clamshell design texting device with a full keyboard or even an all-in-one device, one thing’s for certain, text messaging and mobile instant messaging are going to be hot this holiday season and in the new year.

Texting has experienced an explosion in popularity all across the nation, so it’s no surprise that the latest mobile devices head up holiday wish lists this year. Everyone from trend-setting teens to busy professionals and on-the-go moms are texting colleagues, friends and family, in large part because texting lets you communicate anytime, anywhere.

Whether you plan to start texting once you unwrap that new phone in December or you’re looking for ways to text more quickly using a trendy new texting device, the following tips can help you to take hold of the texting trend this holiday season.

How-To: Send Text Messages from Phone to Phone. It’s easy to exchange text messages with anyone who has a text-enabled mobile phone (nearly all phones are these days) or PDA. Even if you and your friends have different wireless providers, you can just enter the 10-digit wireless phone number into the “to” field and text away.

How-To: Send Instant Messages from Phone to Phone. If you and your friends or co-workers use instant messaging (IM) on the desktop, it’s easy to continue the conversation on-the-go. Many mobile phones and PDAs have built-in “Mobile IM” features, and most phones can download mobile versions of popular IM services like the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service (found at www.aolmobile.com). Be sure to set up IM forwarding when you leave your computer to re-direct IMs to your phone and stay in touch wherever you go.

How-To: Send Mobile Messages from Your Computer. It’s a snap to send messages from your computer to friends on mobile phones or PDAs via your instant messaging service. If your buddies have activated IM forwarding, you can simply carry on your IM chat as usual. If not, you can send a text message to anyone by entering +1 and the ten-digit wireless phone number into the “to” field of the IM window where you normally enter their IM screen name.

How-To: Save Money on Mobile Messaging. Check with your mobile service provider to make sure you have the right service plan. Whether you send a few or a lot of text messages each month, you should have the text message plan that meets your needs.

How-To: Send All Mobile Messages Faster. If you want to speed up your texting experience, activate the predictive text input feature on your mobile phone or PDA. This helpful tool, most often provided by T9 Text Input software, enables you to enter words with just one key press per letter -- including slang phrases like GR8 (“great”) and LOL (“laughing out loud”). Twice as fast as multi-tap, T9 is also smart. It learns new words and adapts to the way you text. Available on 800 popular models, T9 is probably already on your phone or PDA.

To help texters stay on top of the latest slang terms, Tegic Communications, makers of T9 Text Input, put together the “Lingo Dictionary,” a resource for today’s texters. Available as a free download click here to download expert texters as well as those new to sending messages from their mobile phones and PDAs can get up to speed and take advantage of this great time-saving tool.