Apple for small business

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Level 1

0 points

Apple for small business

Hi,

I have a small group of users who all want to use Apple (iPads / iPhone's i think)

They mainly want to be able to share documents across devices so i was going to advise Dropbox or Box as a file store / collaboration tool.

Whilst looking on the internet though i found iCloud, which looks a good cloud based system, however not built for business.

Has anyone any recommendations for both a file store / collaboration tool that works well with Apple and also a cloud based system (like iCloud) that will allow online access to applications including word processing, email, sharing of contacts, calendars etc.

I would be interested in real life experiences instead of reading reviews.

Appreciate your help.

Posted on Feb 19, 2015 7:43 AM

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Answer 1

Kenny42

Level 1

39 points

Feb 19, 2015 7:53 AM in response to mbitr2d2

You should look into Google Drive as far sharing documents and being able to collaborate on iOS devices. The Drive app would allow you to keep your files in the cloud and the Docs and Sheets app would allow you to edit documents on your iOS devices. You can also have multiple people editing one document at the same time.

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Answer 2

Mar 4, 2015 3:31 AM in response to mbitr2d2

I was in the same boat about a year ago. Before you make an investment you may want to just try out 1 ipad yourself and see if it fits your overall needs. For my companies use I hit brick walls with the ipad due to restrictions they place on software and hardware. Want to print something, buy a special printer. Want to project on a large monitor, buy special devices. Want to plug in a usb or manage files, forget about it. I ending up spending as much on adapters and work arounds as I did on the ipad itself. To add insult to injury apple came out with an upgrade that made the adapters worthless and would have forced me to buy all new had I made the change over. If you search this site enough you will see what I'm talking about.

There are many options on the market today that come with usb, HDMI and SIM card ports along with docking keyboards that have 500 gig hard drives. Had I not test drove an ipad myself first, I could have been out 10's of thousands of dollars. Unless your running a web based "Can I take your order please?" operation you are best to check out other systems. As far as cloud storage goes, check out Google Drive. It works on any operating system.

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Answer 3

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Mar 4, 2015 1:38 PM in response to mbitr2d2

Microsoft/Dropbox announced the integration of Office into Dropbox. Microsoft has a free version of Office for the iPad/iPhone

Printers...

List of supported AirPrinters.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4356

for existing printers look at:

iPad Print Applications supplied by printer manufactures -- usually free.

Helper app -- /print n share

Print directly to the widest range of network or WiFi printers available in any app. Alternatively print via your computer to ALL printers including USB & Bluetooth printers. View read and display large PDF, Office & iWork files. Easily transfer & store files from the Cloud or your computer.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/print-n-share/id301656026?mt=8

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