A recent survey by small business virtual phone service provider eVoice found several evolving trends in the way that small businesses use mobile apps. Mobile apps are increasingly popular in business settings, and small businesses are no exception to the rule. Even though the survey only affected eVoice customers, the general consensus is that small business professionals are picky and fickle with their choices in apps, and those with glitches or don’t meet expectations are often left behind in the dust.

The survey that eVoice gave to their customers is still expected to be a good representation of small business practices, and it found that almost half of their customers said that apps that facilitate communication take top priority above other app functions. Although business apps are useful for optimizing employee workflow and green business practices, communication apps are still more valued among small business professionals. Communication is important in small businesses because it allows for a connection between the business and their customer base, as well as helping make more efficient supply lines and collaboration between employees.

In addition, more than a quarter of all survey respondants (27 percent total) have more than 6 but fewer than 10 business apps installed on their mobile devices, yet almost half (44 percent) have fewer than five on their phone. In general, it appears that small business owners don’t have the resources to fiddle with various apps on their phones that may or may not work, and remain skeptical of integrating new elements into the workplace.

Determining whether or not an app was useful took only one week at most for 37 percent of the respondents to the eVoice survey, indicating that small business owners don’t want to spend valuable time trying to get an app to work when they could simply find a different solution that meets their needs instead. In fact, the survey reported that the number one reason small businesses delete apps from their mobile devices is because the app has major glitches or does not perform as advertised. For business app developers, that means that they will need to clearly advertise exactly what their product does for small businesses, and that exaggerating the truth to get a sale is actually a bad strategy in the long run.