Communications stampede; enhanced features and improved technology continue to revamp business communications.

• Author: Gerhart, Clifford
• Position: Industry Overview

The electronic business communications net is everywhere these days. Like it or not, business is no longer confined to the office or to office hours. Cellular phones, faxes, pagers and new video applications put people in touch instantly. Voice mail allows sales people and others to field calls no matter where they are, and laptop computers are transforming cars and airplanes into traveling production centers.

But if the pace seems more hectic than ever, it's also true that technology is opening up new opportunities and increasing employee productivity. Voice mail, cellular phones, fax machines and other technologies are breaking the chains that kept workers bound to their desks and are offering new ways to transact business. Here's a look at several new developments.

CELLULAR PHONE POPULARITY GAINING

Using technology first licensed in 1983, cellular phones now number roughly 5 million nationwide. For Doug Green, owner of Arctic Mortgage Insurance in Anchorage, the cellular phone is a business lifeline. At the height of the last decade's real estate boom, the insurance firm had a staff of eight. Today the office is a one-man operation.

"I deal strictly with banks and financial institutions, and they might need to get ahold of me any time. I can't really go on vacation, and when I've processed a claim here in the office, there's really nothing else for me to do," says Green.

Green says when he's out of the office making sales calls, doing community service work and hiking or fishing, he forwards his calls to his car phone. If he's not there to answer, the message is recorded into a voice mailbox, where it can be retrieved by telephone from anywhere in the world.

According to Green, the time savings have been terrific. "The first couple of years, I spent eight or nine hours a day here at the office, and it was frustrating and boring. There was a huge amount of wasted time. Now I'm here just long enough to get the work done."

Green points out that a secretary would cost at least $1,200 a month, and the cellular phone and voice mailbox cost less than $200 a month. He also says he's never lost a message.

In cellular communication technology, signals are sent by transmitters over small geographical areas called cells. Because relatively few calls can be made in any one cell -- 840 frequencies are available per cell -- transmissions deliver a strong, clear signal. If more customers join the system, more transmission sites are added and the cells become still smaller.

Calls from moving vehicles are handed off from one cell to another by computer without the caller ever being aware of the process. Under "roaming" agreements, calls can be transferred to areas served by a different cellular phone system.

The cellular phone is everything a regular phone is without the cord, says Terrence Connor, general manager of Cellular One of Anchorage. Enhancements sold include a hands-free microphone set and a voice-activated dialing system. Cellular phones are available in mobile, portable and transportable models.

The original cellular phone, the mobile phone, delivers the clearest sound, but it can only be used in a vehicle. Most popular nowadays and the highest priced model is the portable cellular phone, weighing as little as seven ounces and small enough to fit into a pocket or purse. Portable phones can be equipped with car mounts that boost power by connecting the phone with the car battery and an external antenna, which improves reception.

The transportable cellular phone was introduced as a compromise between mobile and portable phones. Although too big to lug around, the transportable's lower cost made it attractive until prices...