When I was five years old I remember visiting my grandmother in central Ireland. Those were rustic times. She had recently installed running water and still burned a strange substance called "turf" for heat and cooking. Her world was small, rich and contained everything she needed. She was content and, at five, I certainly felt myself to be at the center of this small world. I never thought about change, and never thought it would become so important.

We all now understand how vital it is to recognize how much change has become a factor in our businesses. Our survival in the business world depends on it. Customers measure us on our ability to accept and use new tools that rapid change now offers. The reason is simple: they live in the same world and need as much support as possible in adapting to the same environment.

All companies must address the demand for products and services that reflect the integration of change. The rate of change in today's world has now exceeded even most liberal estimates. How many of us were regularly connected to the internet in 1995? That wasn't that long ago.

Companies in the repossession industry must embrace change to have a chance at future success. These companies put customers and employees first. What will taking this change culture to heart really mean? Very simply, it will mean putting communication in your company as the number one priority. Large or small repossession companies which build on communication will become innovative leaders in the industry. This is especially true for smaller companies who do their work in the field and often don't have access to up-to-the-minute data. It is imperative to focus on internal and external communication. We need to know the status of our own communication strategies. Often very simple changes in our operations can let technology do the talking.

• Are we reachable in the field with up to date information?
• Can we respond immediately?
• Do we have the tools to get the right information in the moment?
• Do we have a reputation with our clients for being informed and able to react?
• Are we losing time and money because we aren't able to react to developing events with a file?
• Do our own employees have a clear picture of what one another are doing at any given moment?
• Are our operations transparent enough so that we can know exactly what to do to respond in the best way to a situation?

These are critical questions, and without considering them, we may not only be out of date; we just might be out of business.

Today we can say with certainty that there is change in the air. That's exactly where it's all happening. When considering the current status of change in communication strategies, the newest and most important term in the corporate world today is wireless technology and "m-business" (mobile business).

Wireless technology consists of network architecture and standards that run across a new network called "3G". 3G is a non-physical network that is capable of handling all the voice and data that physically connected ones do. 'M-commerce' is a term that has been confused with m-business. M-commerce is defined as the buying and selling of products and services over the net using mobile devices such as laptops, PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) and cell phones. M-business has a scope that far exceeds this.

We are dealing with a whole new technology that is constructed on e-business capabilities within a company. If an organization is making new plans and directions to keep up with rapid change in the market, its ability to quickly adopt new measures will increase exponentially with a good m-business strategy. As always, information is power, and those who can manipulate and manage it in creative and efficient ways will be able to offer better products and services. The rewards for this are obvious.

'M-business' is all about getting the right data and information to the correct individual at the right time in an efficient and secure manner. What we are really talking about is the ability to notify someone of up to date integrated information that can be responded to quickly. Once again, timing is everything. It's not so much what you know these days - it's when you know it.

M-business and wireless technology has the most significant opportunity to impact our ability to serve our customers and remain competitive. We recognize that technology is available to give us more flexibility and efficiency in performing our widely varied operations. We have committed to including it in our corporate planning and development.

There is no turning back now. 3G Wireless technology that is currently available and under development will obligate companies to completely change the way they communicate. The degree to which companies will both serve their customers well and compete in their respective industries is generating requirements for an integration of new systems. These new systems must see voice and e-mail as seamless media that are linked by systems that locate users and deliver messages in the most convenient medium.

• What tangible changes will we experience in the repossession business given the rapid proliferation of m-business and wireless technology?
• How will this apply to you and your business?

The answer lies in one phrase: decision-making ability.

No matter what you are doing in the repossession business, the ability to make decisions quickly is what gives you the edge. You may need to locate someone with the most up-to-date information available. You might need to quickly respond to a situation based on the status of a debtor. Perhaps you might be called upon to receive information from a lender institution, or be required to give them feedback in a complete and accurate manner. Perhaps you are a service partner for a larger organization and need to be seen as more valuable to them by providing better field information.

No matter what it is that you do in the Repo business, wireless technology can greatly improve it and give you an edge over your competitors. You can serve your customers better and this means better business. Although there are certainly significant challenges, the tools themselves are simple and readily available. Enabled laptops, PDA's and internet capable cell phones will allow you to remove bottlenecks in your organization and create a much higher decision-making capability. This has an immediate impact on your efficiency and gives you visibility with your clients.

If you can see more of what you're doing, your clients will tend to see more of you. They want their service providers to either solve problems or make then go away. When it comes down to the everyday problems that crop up in the repo business, the true measure of how you are doing will be whether you are making excuses or making progress. You are going to make far more advances on any given situation if your communication tools give you up to date information and the ability to respond in minutes.

Consider some rather interesting statistics concerning the present use of wireless technology. Vendors across the world sold more mobile phones than cars and PCs combined in recent years. By the end of 2003, more than 1 billion mobile phones will be in use worldwide. There were more than 360 million wireless data users around the world by the end of 2001. In the United Kingdom alone, over 3.5 billion text messages were sent in the first four months of this year. SMS (Short Message Service) sent across GSM standard (Global System for Mobile Communications) is often a basis for a company's entry into the wireless world and m-business. Sending text messages to cell phones is an excellent way for people to be notified of urgent e-mails, information or meeting changes. If your company is doing this, or plans to, you are clearly entering the wireless world.

Every company is different and will face distinct challenges in setting itself up for mobile communication in the new wireless world. Industry expert Nad Nadesan recently came up with a series of check-points that any company that wants to take a look at m-business should consider:

Checkpoints for building a mobile data strategy

1. Change the 'corporate mindset'.
2. Decide which corporate applications should be 'mobilized'.
3. Adopt a permanent network connection to mobile devices.
4. Study the options of deploying technology that will provide access to mobile data.
5. Understand how to support multiple access devices.
6. Look out for potential security weak spots.
7. Investigate the total cost of conducting m-business.

I like this checklist because it is clear and straightforward. Applying wireless technology to your business could be considered as simple in many cases, but it often contains challenges. A company has to go beyond the technologies that are around today, namely WAP (Wireless Application Protocol: A standard that allows all mobile devices to talk to each other) and SMS applications running over GSM networks. It has to consider the realities of the developing GPRS (General Packet Radio Service: Information can go through whatever channel happens to be available, not just a dedicated network). Many of these are relatively simple technical issues for a company that can be solved as soon as the organization knows what it needs.

• Could your people use laptops in the field?
• Would they be connected in the right way to the information they need via their laptops?
• Do they get important text messages from support players within your organization?

You don't have to be technical to know what you need. You simply need to ask yourself when and where have you suffered headaches because of not having timely information.

Even the smallest companies can take advantage of wireless technology. In fact, they may even be able to enter a whole new category of business by being able to move information around quickly. Productivity is the real issue, not size. Small companies are those that can least afford to be intimidated by what appears on the surface to be "mumbo jumbo". You can solve 90% of the challenges which come with adopting wireless technology by simply entering the playing field and asking questions. The key for a smaller company is to refuse to be intimidated and to do its best to begin the process of becoming informed.

How do you small companies address youthful technologies at a low cost? At our small company, we enlisted the services of Brent Watson, a university student from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Toronto - he was eager to advise us with a no charge diagnostic of the possibilities for a low cost wireless solution. Watson is young, bright, technology savvy and enthusiastic about getting involved. He benefited too - our wireless solution needs was a prime subject for a required school project. Surely there are similar available local students across North America, grateful to assist and at little or no cost.

As mentioned above, one may need to confront a whole series of challenges in corporate culture within an organization. As much as change is a reality, people still resist it. They fear it. The main focus in combating this is to adamantly present benefits that support the discomfort of confronting change. You will almost always have to face risk and a certain degree of resistance in implementing cutting-edge solutions. As a company, you have to keep your focus on service and benefits to your customers. This has often carried the day in most various implementation phases. Many service partners naturally won't feel comfortable with being called upon to keep up with these changes. Ensure a good relationship with them and keep listening to what they need and how they need it. The rewards are many - partners can go on worry free vacations and, through their laptops, PDA's and cell phones be kept right up to speed. Applications can be delivered right to their devices, and they are able to respond with updates and key information that seamlessly becomes integrated back into your system. Once again, decision-making ability is facilitated and everyone wins.

The world has gone wireless. We are being called upon to change how we do business. This is best interpreted as a fact that has some very positive implications for our organizations. As wireless technology and m-business are adopted more and more, repossession companies can expect to enjoy greater productivity, a competitive edge, excellent customer service and ultimately, more mobility - which spells freedom.