Naturally, the big news of late has been the launch of Apple Maps for iOS 6.0, thanks to the release of the iPhone 5. Google Maps has also been in there thanks to its connection to the iPhone line. But making a much more quiet release just a couple days ago was the Scout mobile navigation app from Telenav.
The Scout navigation app seems reasonably simple on the surface, complete with a customizable dashboard so that the features you want on hand are always front and center. Scout is geared toward playing equally well with drivers and pedestrians, something that not every navigation app will do. Immediately seen from the start screen, you’ll have a map, a tab marked “Places” that lets you put in all the important places in your life (favorite restaurants, ATM locations, gas stations and so on) and a tab marked “Drive”. Pushing the “Drive” tab will allow you to input your destination and get a handful of different potential routes for you to choose from, and should you know something about a particular stretch of road you’d rather avoid–construction, high traffic, or the like–just select the “Avoid Segment” option and the app will recalculate the routes accordingly.
But that’s not all; there are icons for the dashboard, for maps, places, and customizable extras. There’s even a voice recognition feature so that you can tell the Scout app just what it is you want, and the Scout app will do the rest as best as it can.
The down side here is that new users will have to set up an account, which involves mostly an email address and the option to upgrade to premium accounts, which start at $2.99. The basic app, of course, is free, so users will have plenty of room to upgrade as they like.
Having a good navigation app on hand can save big money for small businesses; with gas prices still high and expected to come down sometime around the heat death of the universe, making the shortest hops possible with the least amount of idling in traffic is a move that will save big money on gas. Additionally, the added efficiency that comes from making all your necessary trips in the shortest possible time frees up more time to focus on profitable endeavors, and that can result in a boosted bottom line as well. Scout looks to provide all that in a package that’s simple to use and free besides, with the option to expand outward accordingly.
Naturally, just a good navigation app won’t be all your small business needs to succeed. Cloud-based telephony tools can also play a significant role in improving the operations of a small business, with call hold and transfer functions as well as live agent consoles providing a lot of extra utility that can give a small business the extra edge in communications that it needs to succeed.
So while the Scout app alone may not take your business to new heights, for those who need to get out on the road every so often, it certainly will go a long way toward making it better.
Related keywords: cloud-based telephony, navigation app, iPhone 5, Apple