Happy Birthday, Mobile Phones! What Do You Get for the Phone That Has Everything?

by Ron Daly 

This month marks the 38th anniversary of the first mobile phone call. Martin Cooper, a Motorola employee (below, photo via thenextweb.com), stood on the street with a gigantic (by today's standards) cellular phone and had a conversation. And in 38 years, we've come a long, LONG way. 

The phones got smaller, they got more functionality, and they went from being a convenience to a "necessity". I'm not one of those people that sleeps with his phone under his pillow at night, but my iPhone is my GPS, my on-the-go email inbox, my research assistant and, occasionally, my phone. It's a businessperson's tool, and the thought of going back to waiting for all my "get it done" information is a little frightening. I'm not alone, obviously. From Kottke: 

Once someone has an iPhone, it is going to be tough to persuade them that they also need to spend money on and carry around a dedicated GPS device, point-and-shoot camera, or tape recorder unless they have an unusual need. But the real problem for other device manufacturers is that all of these iPhone features -- particularly the always-on internet connectivity; the email, HTTP, and SMS capabilities; and the GPS/location features -- can work in concert with each other to actually make better versions of the devices listed above. Like a GPS that automatically takes photos of where you are and posts them to a Flickr gallery or a video camera that'll email videos to your mom or a portable gaming machine with access to thousands of free games over your mobile's phone network. We tend to forget that the iPhone is still from the future in a way that most of the other devices on the list above aren't. It will take time for device makers to make up that difference.

When it comes to credit unions, mobile might be one of the next big mountains to climb. Many CUs aren't running a fully capable website right now...how can they be expected to come up with a useful mobile app for a smart phone? And more importantly - how important will that be in a member's decision to stay or a potential member's decision to join? 

Some very insightful information on mobile apps and credit unions: 

Wash Your Hands! Tattling or Giving Feedback?

by Ron Daly 

Did you wash your hands? 

I know you've had to visit the restroom at least once today. On your way out, did you wash your hands? Come on, be honest. 

There's a company in Reston, VA (a stone's throw from DigitalMailer's World Headquarters) called Ekahau that has created a soap dispenser that, via WiFi, can notify your workplace when you don't wash your hands after the bathroom. 

Crazy, right? What an invasion of privacy! Well, sure - but in a hospital, it makes sense. From the article: 

Ekahau Wi-Fi-enabled "SmartLink Series" dispensers from GOJO can link up a hospital’s wireless network and location-enabled staff badges. If employees don’t wash their hands when their badges come in close contact with the dispensers, a signal is sent to a computer monitoring system. Along with tracking each employee's personal hygiene, the system can send an alert to the employee reminding them to wash their hands.

"Hand hygiene is a significant concern, particularly in the healthcare market where, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital-acquired infections add more than $30 billion to annual healthcare costs and result in almost 100,000 deaths," Tuomo Rutanen, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Ekahau said in a statement.

We keep coming back to the topic of feedback loops. Technology is making processes that previously went untracked easy to study and change. Sometimes, it's as simple as split-testing your marketing campaigns. Sometimes, it's as complex as seeing when users abandon the funnel in a sales process. And sometimes, it's about how your internal processes work. 

What are the things your credit union is doing that might need a bit of work? Technology can help you round off those corners and make those processes stronger. Start looking into how feedback loops can affect your branches, your online banking, your marketing, and your member interactions. 

How have you used feedback loops to make your credit union better? Leave us a comment and tell us about it.