University Business - March 2011 - (Page 1)

ADVERTISEMENT Is Your Campus Ready to Mobilize? The Future is Calling R emember when the first students of the Internet Generation started showing up on campus? At many colleges and universities, these students were surprised they couldn’t enroll in classes, download course materials or pay tuition online. Today’s students want to do all that and much more on a mobile device. Internet instant gratification isn’t enough anymore, not with the anytime, anywhere capabilities of mobile technology. Students, like the rest of the world, are going mobile at a breakneck pace. Campus commerce must follow. for a “computer.” That’s only scratching the surface of the touch screen, however. Here’s a glimpse at some mobile-specific capabilities that are coming soon – or have already arrived: • Paper, plastic or phone? – We can pay with paper cash or checks, a plastic credit or debit card, and soon an app will exist to turn phones into payment cards. • Ticket, please – Airlines have been issuing e-tickets and boarding passes for years, but passengers still have to print them. With a smart phone, why print? The concept works for transportation and events, too. • Bar codes are so yesterday – Quickresponse (QR) codes are popping up everywhere. Zap them with your phone and info is instantly given and/ or received. (See the bottom corner of the opposite page.) • Pay me now – Imagine the personal point of sale. Instead of slipping the maitre d’ a $20 bill, you point your phone to his and shoot $20 into his bank account. All are examples of the “contactless” wave sweeping over the world of near-field communications, smart cards, radio-frequency identification (RFID), payments, transit and security. All are increasingly geared to and dependent on the mobile device. The Mobile Imperative Smart phones are taking over at astonishing speed, almost as fast as mobile technology evolves. Consumers can get up-to-the-second news, stay on top of their e-mail, text friends and family, update their social networks, navigate with GPS, listen to podcasts, comparison shop, keep and follow their calendars, document their lives in photos and video … and actually make a phone call every now and then! The financial sector has been quick to dial in. Nearly 20 percent of U.S. consumers have conducted banking transactions on a mobile device; double the percentage from just 18 months ago, according to KPMG’s Global Consumers and Convergence survey. Banking apps rank among the world’s most frequently downloaded. USAA customers deposited 2.5 million checks via mobile device last year, more than $1.6 billion worth. Online retailers are tapping in too, of course; 74 percent either have in place or are developing mobile commerce strategies, while 20 percent have already implemented their complete plans, according to the National Retail Federation. Amazon recently surpassed the $1 billion mark in products sold through mobile phones; eBay will soon top $1.5 billion. It’s all happening today. What about tomorrow? The Mobilized Campus So what can mobile do for the business office? Today, it can deliver to smart phones the self-service payment center students and parents have been enjoying online for years. Doing so can reduce costs and staff burdens even further. Likewise, administrative users can do more of their jobs without being tied to the office. Again, Higher Ed is only scratching the proverbial surface today. Think what mobile technology can do for parking, e-commerce, donations, athletics … all the merchants on campus. Not only does it satisfy the tech-heavy expectations of today’s college students, it gives institutions a way to save, make and manage money like never before. That alone may be more than enough reason to go mobile. Imagine the Possibilities Initially, mobile functionality consisted mainly of things we already do online at a desktop or laptop, only without the need http://www.TouchNet.com/Mobile

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - March 2011

University Business - March 2011
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Universities and Investment Fraud
Going the Distance
Meeting the Transparent Pricing Mandate
Community Colleges
What’s New
End Note

University Business - March 2011