By Justin Powell

Family obligations may impact your business schedule on a moment's notice. Your child may get sick and need to go to the doctor or it's a sunny summer day and you want to take your children to the park for the afternoon. Managing a business with a constantly shifting schedule can make for a delicate balancing act and you may often find yourself wishing you had a personal assistant to help you manage it all. Enter the smartphone.

A smartphone is a sophisticated mobile device that combines a cell phone with the functions of a PDA. This integration results in a device whose usefulness is greater than the sum of its parts. For instance, you can look a client's contact information up in the smartphone's address book and immediately place a phone call to them to set up a meeting. While you're on the phone, you can enter the meeting into your calendar. Once you've completed the phone call, you can send the client a quick e-mail to confirm the appointment and while you are in your e-mail you can scan to see if any inquiries arrived from your web site. All of this can be accomplished using a single device - while you're on the go.