Small fry hop app train

For many smartphone users around the globe, mobile applications, known as apps, are a way of life.

Businesses, many of which have been under pressure from the economy to survive, have been slow to jump on the bandwagon until recently, according to Bo Ferger, a partner with Chattanooga technology firm Nextxt.

“Mobile devices are becoming more like computers, and the beauty is that they are always where a person is,” he said.

According to AMI-Partners, a New York market research firm, the smartphone device and data services market for small businesses will more than double from $2.5 billion to more than $5 billion from 2009 to 2013.

Allwired Technologies, a Chattanooga company that specializes in custom audio, video and automation installations, has seen the need for mobile device integration skyrocket since it was founded in 2004, according to Bill Resides, president.

“We saw the industry change from tape to CD player,” he said. “Now we’re doing lighting control and home automation using an iPhone.”

Using a program made by Crestron, Mr. Resides and his team have set up elaborate automated networks of devices, all of which can be controlled through a customer’s iPad device, with Android functionality to follow.

“If you want to open your garage door, turn your TV on and start the coffee with the press of a button, we can do that,” said Robert Mullins, project manager at Allwired.

The company can duplicate the functionality of a $5,000 remote control simply by tweaking the Crestron iPhone app, Mr. Mullins added.

“Anything that’s Internet protocal-based, be it a refrigerator, an oven or a hot tub, we can turn it on and off from anywhere,” he said.

Other companies are getting into the app act, too.

Donald Caughran, lead radiologist at Diagnostic Imaging Consultants of Chattanooga, uses an app called OsiriX to view patient X-rays when he’s not in the office.

“Apple had a commercial that said, ‘If you want to read an MRI, we have an app for that,’ and so it looked like a great technology,” Mr. Caughran said.

The technology is still evolving and is not ready to serve as a substitute for a larger screen, he added, but it’s still perfect for dealing with situations in a pinch.

“It’s handy when you leave work, and something comes through after you walked out the door, or you just sat down to eat, and that’s how we’re really using the OsiriX the most,” he said.

While medical professionals have often embraced key technology, lawyers have traditionally shunned it, according to Amanda Buchanan, chief operations officer for Dale Buchanan and Associates in Chattanooga.

“I don’t think lawyers and law firms are known for being on the cutting edge of technology, but because it’s so inexpensive, especially with the iPad, it’s gotten to the point where you can use so much information remotely,” Mrs. Buchanan said.

The law firm uses MobileMe on all iPhones distributed to employees as a way to both give access to and protect client information. The company can wipe all the data off a lost phone, or send important information to a lawyer in the middle of a trial.

“At first they thought of it as more of a toy, they didn’t realize there was a strategic reason to get an upgraded company phone,” she said. “But now I don’t think you could take any of our attorneys’ iPhones away.”

Cathy Lewendowski, AT&T spokeswoman, said that there are more apps on the horizon for small businesses. The newest, called Apriva, can be combined with a miniature printer and magnetic strip reader to conduct mobile credit card transactions using a cell phone.

Market research firm Generator Research reports the worldwide mobile payments market will grow from $68 billion in 2009 to more than $600 billion by 2014.