What's Next: Staying Connected

A slew of new gadgets can help you compete.

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For better or worse, most of us are now hostage to a constant stream of data, images, and conversations beamed at us via cell phone and Wi-Fi networks. To remain tuned in, you probably have a quiver of fancy gadgets, like a smart phone with a slide-out keyboard, Skype or Vonage (NYSE:VG) boxes in your home for making phone calls over the Internet, and a Wi-Fi detector in your hand to let you know which cafés let you fire up the laptop and burrow into the corporate network.

Indeed, it's taken for granted now that in an always-on economy, being connected is key to business success. But if that's the case, if connectivity confers competitive advantage, then what really counts is how connected you are compared with the next guy. In other words, by limiting yourself to standard communications technologies and applications, you're just keeping up. If you want to get ahead, you've got to take your connectedness to the next level. Fortunately, that's doable--thanks to a handful of new, slightly exotic products that haven't yet achieved much awareness.

One way of boosting connectivity is to increase the amount of time the network is available to you. For all the talk of being constantly wired, even your Batman utility belt's worth of gadgets probably leaves you stranded offline from time to time. That's not just an issue when you're entertaining clients on the catamaran or inspecting drainage at a backwoods site. Researchers have found that one-third of all cell phone calls suffer from quality problems. And outside urban areas, Wi-Fi hot spots are the exception, not the rule.

You no longer have to put up with that sort of detachment. For starters, there are now cell phone range extenders, which typically enlist a book-size antenna that can be stuck on a wall or a car roof to snag faint signals. A small box then amplifies and broadcasts the signal to the immediate area so you--and your employees or family--can use a cell phone in a spot that's normally a dead zone. One example of a range extender: the $399.99 zBoost, from Atlanta-based Wi-Ex, which rebroadcasts signals across an area of about 2,500 square feet. The company has been shipping extenders since 2005, but it's been gaining more attention for more recent models that are compatible with a wider range of cell phone networks.

As for your wireless network, once you're out of range--meaning as soon as you step out the door, and possibly well before you get there--you're dependent on Wi-Fi hot spots. But your network can cover a wider range than you might think, thanks to new technology that can push a wireless network signal not just across your office or house but across an entire town or beyond. The most impressive claims for distance, up to 40 miles, come from MaxStream's $299 9Xtend. You won't get a broadband connection at those distances, but it's fine for e-mail and transferring small files.

If you demand full-on multimedia all the time, you need a satellite phone. As recently as a few years ago, medium-speed satellite data links were the privilege of those willing to lug a suitcase full of electronics, take a course in how to use the device, and pay hundreds of dollars for a few minutes of connection. But new satellites put in orbit in 2005 by a company called Inmarsat have led to a new service called BGAN that brings a high-speed connection to a $1,000 laptop-computer-size device for $9 per megabyte of transferred data--enough for about 100 e-mails or webpages, if you skip attachments and photos. One downside: You may have to stand by a window to snag a satellite. But that's a small price to pay for the ability to flame your sales manager from a spa in Tibet.

Will being able to get that e-mail sent or return that call when your counterpart at Acme is temporarily stuck in radio silence make a difference in how you fare? There's no way of knowing for certain, but if you're absolutely sure the answer is no, then you're leading a far more relaxed life than most of us.

Another way to gain strategic connectivity advantage is to put your current communications capabilities to better use. Take Web conferencing. We finally have the bandwidth to enable a roving manager to get a good video fix on life back at the office, but hardly anyone takes advantage of it. I suspect one reason is that standard webcams provide a fixed, fishbowl image akin to what you'd see above the counter in a 7-Eleven; it feels more like peeping through a porthole than standing in a room and looking around. But some new webcams allow you to control the view remotely, to spin the camera around and zoom in for a sharp view of a new design, or even of someone's face to see how he or she really feels about what you're saying. Sure, you could spy on your employees with it, too, but that's a fool's opportunity. If you're torn between needing to travel more for business and not wanting to spend time away from the kids, consider putting one in your kitchen at home and ask your kids to show you their homework when you're on the road. A good option is the D-Link DCS-6620G, about $755 at Amazon.com.

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