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Mobiles 'ring around the blue collar'

Labour intensive

When it comes to using mobile phones in businesses, the phone wedged beneath the average worker's ear will be resting against a blue collar.

A pan-European survey from mobile services provider O2 found that, in the UK, blue-collar workers will soon to overtake professional staff in their use of mobile services at work.

Professionals are adopting the advancing technologies of mobile email and mobile data applications at a rapid rate, according to O2, but small businesses and blue-collar workers are upgrading even faster, as they aim to enhance their functionality and enabling themselves to spend more time in the field.

Nearly 30 per cent of grey- and blue-collar workers are active in providing wireless access to business systems, such as service management, inventory and logistics. Another 20 per cent plan to become active sometime this year.

"Historically, when people think about mobile data, they have thought about mobile email and corporate white-collar applications," said Helen Wylde, head of corporate marketing at O2.

"Now with mobile data devices in the hands of plumbers, maintenance staff, engineers and craft workers, customer service can be moved from the call centres to the doorstep allowing workers in the field to have access to the most up to date information and services helping to provide an overall better service for customers."

O2 found that over 30 per cent of companies had deployed specialised mobile devices for their blue-collar workers to use in the field, and about 20 per cent are planning significant wireless projects in 2005.

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