5 apps for your next business trip

March 20, 2013 at 11:05 AM
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You're so jet-set you don't know what time zone you're in right now. You brushed your teeth with one of those mini travel toothbrushes this morning. And you're on a first-name basis with multiple hotels' housekeeping staffs. 

Many successful advisors adopt a "See The People" mantra, but seeing them usually means travel — and all the hassles that come with it. Fortunately, there's an app for that. Several apps, actually.

We've tracked down a few of the best apps for producers on the go … whether you're two blocks away from the home office or half a globe.

For more app advice, see:

Here On BizHere On Biz

For: Apple devices

Cost: Free

The innovative Here On Biz app allows you to put all those LinkedIn contacts you've accumulated to real-life good use. Here On Biz lets users, whether they're at the office or an out-of-town business conference, know when members of their LinkedIn network or groups are nearby. See that a prospect you've been trying to land is down the street? Use the app's chat tool to invite him to lunch. Want to talk shop at the hotel bar after a long day of conference sessions? The app can help you find fellow pros to meet up with. Avoiding loneliness and building business relationships? Sounds like a win-win.

Fresh Xpense CaptureFresh Xpense Capture

For: iPhone, iPad

Cost: Free

If filling out reimbursement reports isn't your kind of welcome home party, try Fresh Xpense Capture. The free app allows users to capture expenses, take pictures of their receipts and send all the info to their Xpenser accounts. (Bare bones Xpenser accounts are free; more robust options cost about $9 a month, per user.) From there, the recorded meals, mileage and other expenses can be organized, exported and reported, no Xeroxing of wrinkly receipts needed.

BumpBump

For: Apple and Android devices

Cost: Free

Say you've just met a prospect, but you're fresh out of business cards. Or you want to share some important documents with a client at lunch, but you forgot to put them in your briefcase. Tough luck, right? Not if you have Bump. Bump users can share contact info, documents, photos and video by simply knocking their devices — phones, tablets or computers — together.

DropboxDropbox

For: Apple and Android devices

Cost: Free

Still emailing documents to yourself so you can access them from different devices? You might as well be wearing pantaloons and pedaling one of those old-timey bicycles with the giant front wheel. Thanks to Dropbox, you can now save documents, photos and video to the cloud and access them anywhere, anytime on whatever device you happen to be using. In fact, when I asked advisors to tell me about their favorite apps, Dropbox made more than half their lists.

LogMeInLogMeIn

For: iPhone, iPad, Android devices

Cost: Varies — free and paid versions for Apple products; $29.99 for Android version

You're out and about, meeting with clients, working efficiently on your iPad. And then you realize you forgot a super important document that's saved on your desktop at work. Before you rush back to the office, tires squealing, try LogMeIn. The app gives users remote access to their desktop computers, so they can TCB, worry-free. Also cool: The app can wake up your sleeping computer and promises a high level of security.

For more apps, see:

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