5 ways to use your smartphone on the job
If you're a working technician you probably have a smartphone tied to your hip (if you don't, welcome to the 21st century). Most people love them for their business tools and of course the apps and games. But as a piano technician, I've found 5 ways that these "smart" phones enhance my daily life in a unique way.
1. Piano Tuning Apps
This is an obvious but monumental one. The smartphone explosion has blessed us with no less than 3 top notch piano tuning apps: Reyburn's Cybertuner, Real Times Specialties' Tunelab, and Veritune's Verituner. All of these offer a convenience unmatched by conventional hardware machines. (Stay tuned for a full review of the top 5 ETDs)
2. Built in Flashlight
Most smartphones these days have great cameras. More importantly they flashes too. I've got a good LED flashlight in my tool case but sometimes I need something a little different. My HTC HD2 has a dual LED flash that I can use as a nice flashlight in a pinch.
3. Camera Zoom
If you wear glasses or think you're heading that direction (I can just feel it coming) carrying a magnifying glass seems like the logical choice. Or is it? You're smartphone is loaded with a good camera, one that probably has some level of zoom on it. Use the camera app to zoom in on anything that you want to see closer but can't. Turn on the camera flash to shed some light on it too.
4. Checking a piano's pitch over the phone
This is a good one for quoting tuning needs over the phone. Ask your customer to go to the piano and play A4. While they fish around the keyboard to find it, put them on speakerphone and switch to your tuning app. The app will be able to register the pitch coming over the phone and you'll be able to tell them if their piano will need several days worth of tuning.
5. Get Social
This goes without saying but, social networks have greatly changed the way people communicate. I now get tuning requests via Facebook. Since modern smartphones are taylor-made for social networking, make use of it. Phone calls take you away from tuning and emails are essentially slow-motion conversations. Give your customers some new avenues to quickly communicate with you. Text messaging is good but Instant Messaging is better. Setup a Facebook page for your business and ask customers to contact you via the built in Instant Messaging system. Most people are on Facebook all the time anyway. With your trusty smartphone you can take advantage is the social trend.
You may not see yourself as a tech geek, but using your smartphone in a smart way will definitely make you tech savvy.