How tablet computers help Convo’s CEO work smarter on the go

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Today we’re beginning a series of articles looking at how tablet computers are becoming an essential part of everyday business.

To kick off, we talked to Faizan Buzdar, founder and CEO of Convo, the San Francisco-based startup that offers a business collaboration tool that we are heavy users of here at The Next Web.

TNW: How do tablets fit into your staff’s workflow at Convo?

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FB: The hardcore use of tablets is the actual development and testing of our upcoming tablet apps, as well as keeping in touch with customer support queries.

The team also uses tablets a lot for consumption of research, study, news as well as testing out new apps. We also find tablets essential for video conference calls, especially after work hours.

TNW: As a busy CEO, how do you find that the portability of a tablet helps you in your work?

FB: It’s extremely useful during flights and on the Caltrain, as it’s increased my capability to stay in touch seamlessly beyond work hours. The ability to follow things like support queries, dev sprints, new features and UI designs even when I am not at my desk at home and /or at office is a big plus.

TNW: Can you give any examples of when having a tablet with you has helped give you the edge in your work?

FB: My tablet acts as a wifi hotspot for my laptop which at times has been a life saver before a few critical meetings. I had a customer meeting and they had mega issues with guest internet connectivity so I gave the demo on my laptop using the tablet wifi hotspot.

I have also migrated a lot of my book reading to the tablet. I recently forced myself to read some negotiation stuff on an hour long train ride to a meeting and that turned out to be really useful.

There are times when I would think twice about opening my laptop, but it would be a no-brainer to take out my tablet. I tend to do last minute reviews of presentations and legal docs much more comfortably on my tablet whether I am in a cab, train or in a coffee shop etc. Having a tablet makes me feel more connected and on top of my work when I am moving around a lot in a day, which is most of my days.

It also seems more socially acceptable to be scanning your tablet rather than your looking at laptop during a meeting. :)

TNW: Does a tablet help you balance your work life and personal life? If so how?

FB: That’s become a slippery slope since both areas now overlap so much. Tablets let me casually dip into relevant work related issues when I’m out of office or over the weekend, without having to “sit at a desk”. It’s great for consuming things that aren’t ideal for the phone but don’t necessarily require a laptop.

Having said that, with tablets on both sides, video calls with with my family are definitely more natural when compared with the same experience on a laptop or desktop. My parents seem to be getting increasingly more comfortable with video calls using their tablet.

Same goes for my coworkers as our team is in multiple timezones and frequently my calls with them are during their work hours but my evening or late night.

Image credit: Thinkstock