Wireless Increases Productivity, Office Efficiency.

BUSINESS owners and office managers, no matter the size or nature of the business, are always seeking ways to make offices run more efficiently, increase worker productivity and improve service and relationships with customers.

What seems to be working well one month, may not be meeting your business or customers -- needs the next.

We all agree procedures and processes are key factors in efficiency studies, but how about the resources you provide for yourself and your employees. You probably have asked, "Would we be more efficient with newer office equipment? Would a leading edge telecommunications system help us to better serve our customers? Is the added expense worth it?" If you're being honest with yourself, the answers are "Yes."

At one Lucent Technologies' office in Southern California, we recently improved our overall efficiency and productivity by adding our Definity Wireless Business System for use by account executives and office personnel. It is an in-building wireless communications system that allows users to be mobile throughout a building or campus while remaining accessible by phone.

Users can roam in an area up to 2.4 million square feet with a pocket phone and the system can support up to 1,500 phones - each capable of handling three incoming or out going lines while making it easier for users to screen, forward, transfer and hold calls. They can even participate in conference calls and access and forward voice mail from remote areas.

Think of how much more productive you could be if your office telephone fit in your pocket and traveled with you throughout the workday. You could stay in touch with colleagues and customers without being tied to your desk. You wouldn't have to leave "reach" numbers for every destination, because a single handset could take calls wherever you happen to be.

You'd miss fewer calls and play less "telephone tag."

And with today's technology, you don't have to be a large company to enjoy the benefits of wireless applications. With some of the most advanced wireless products, your liberation from hardwired sets is at hand. Whether you need to travel within one building, or throughout an office campus, there are solutions to meet your needs. And you won't be trading functions for freedom, either, because systems such as Lucent's "FreeWorks" offer the same calling capabilities you receive on your traditional office phone -- like conferencing, hold and call transfer.

Such solutions can be customized to your workplace through a new computer-aided design program called the WiSE (Wireless Systems Engineering) Expert Design System. Developed and patented by Bell Laboratories, the WiSE system creates a model of your premises to pinpoint ideal locations for wireless transmitters. This helps ensure fast and effective setup -- so your wireless system is configured for exactly what you need and works correctly from the start.

So today, the focus for wireless users has changed -- from "can I use wireless?" to "how can wireless help my business?" There are many wireless strategies to consider:

* Strengthening customer relationships.

When customers can't reach you, they can't buy and may shop elsewhere. Wireless systems keep you in touch without chaining you to your desk. Wireless systems let you go where you want in the workplace, yet give you instant contact with your suppliers, business associates and customers.

* Convenience.

Suppose you are teller at a Los Angeles bank and often move about the workplace while talking on the phone. The cords cause problems, dragging papers and sometimes the phones off the desk onto the floor. Now suppose you have a Lucent Technologies' TransTalk Digital Wireless System integrated with your bank's communications system -- it's compatible with Definity Enterprise Communications Server, or for smaller systems including Merlin Legend and Partner. You simply pickup the handset and move about your work location at ease providing information to customers quickly and easily with no disruptions.

In addition to the convenience of the system, the teller -- and the customer -- get the benefits of digital technology as the system uses spread-spectrum frequency hopping -- meaning the phone continuously scans more than 150 channels, hopping between channels at a rate of 200 times per second to ensure a clear connection. During frequency hopping, noisy channels are detected and replaced and the chance of eavesdropping is practically eliminated.

* Savings.

With wireless, business people are reachable anywhere in the workplace, so they miss fewer incoming calls. That's not just more convenient for customers -- taking those calls as they arrive can save the time and cost of outgoing return calls.

So wireless is indeed getting down to business as we look to the 21st Century.

And wireless has applications for all business -- large and small. Sales people in auto dealerships can "walk the lot" and never be out of touch with potential customers or, through the best systems, there is mobility throughout a very large building or office campus by the use of multizone systems greatly expanding the distance you can travel from your base.

It all boils down to a very basic notion -- nothing could be simpler than a single phone for all of your business calls no matter where you happen to be physically located. For your customers, that means more accessibility to you or their contacts in your office.

I guess the question really is -- just how efficient do you want your office to be?

Let your imagination run wild.

Ingrid Fields is a Lucent Technologies area vice president overseeing sales of telecommunications equipment for moderate- and large-sized business customers in Southern California.