Quick Query: Quickoffice’s David Brennan on Mobile Office Applications

The days of being tied to a desktop computer are long gone. Ecommerce merchants can work wirelessly with laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and increasingly, smart mobile phones. Quickoffice is a Texas-based software company that focuses on providing mobile office software. David Brennan is Quickoffice’s director of ecommerce sales and marketing. He joins us today.

Practical eCommerce: Tell us about Quickoffice. I understand it provides office software for mobile phones. Can you give us some examples of the software you provide?

David Brennan: “Our core focus is mobile office productivity software for mobile devices. That includes multiple platforms across Symbian [operating systems], like, for example, Nokia phones and Apple iPhones as well as BlackBerrys and the latest is the Android-type [from Google] of platforms.”

PeC: When business owners hear the word “quick,” it’s natural for them to think of QuickBooks. Any connection?

Brennan: “Absolutely not, just the prefix ‘quick,’ but definitely different in focus.”

PeC: Ecommerce merchants are no longer communicating through a desktop computer or on a laptop alone. They oftentimes have to reach their customers via mobile devices. Can Quickoffice help them do that?

Brennan: “Absolutely. We definitely have quite a few customer stories about how to utilize Quickoffice, especially for the small to medium business sales reps that are out in the field, [as well as] educators and teachers alike. They utilize our mobile solution to get the document, make quick edits, share the information, access email attachments so they can continue to be productive through their day no matter where they’re at whether or not they’re in the office or out on the road.”

PeC: Can you tell us about some of your most recent products?

Brennan: “Our recent launch was on the iPhone and we were the first mobile office productivity tool to go on the iPhone platform and ever since our entry within iTunes, which is the distribution channel for iPhone apps, we pretty much have been leading the charts there in terms of being the top application for mobile office productivity. So, we’ve had really great success there and we just continue to expand our customer base and have been working directly with schools to see how they utilize our application as well.”

PeC: Give me an example. If I’m an ecommerce veteran and I’m on the road a lot, maybe I need to write some stories, maybe I need to manage my books or communicate with some of my customers, how would I use your services?

Brennan: “Well, it’s a license that you would purchase with the software and, once you install that, depending on what platform you’re on. On the iPhone currently, we have Word and Excel in terms of functionality. So, as a use case, let’s say somebody had sent you an Excel spreadsheet and you want to be able to make some quick edits to that spreadsheet, you can do that with our software, save it and send it back to others to review.”

PeC: Can you tell our listeners a little bit about pricing for your products?

Brennan: “That varies depending on the platform. Right now, on the iPhone, our [suggested retail] pricing is $19.99 and we’re currently having a sale that’s 50 percent off and that is $9.99. In terms of BlackBerry, we have a $20.99 price point and currently for Symbian it’s $39.99, but there’s a 50 percent discount if you go to Quickoffice.com.”

PeC: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers today?

Brennan: “I’m sure that most business owners can identify with juggling the multiple activities and being able to meet clients and having access to data. Having access to Microsoft Office tools that our solution enables them to stay productive and, ultimately, that can affect their ROI and bottom line.”