1 Small business group scheduling goes online
The web has legions of individual users but 2010 will see sites become more group-friendly – a boon for small businesses. Schedulicity.com lets them connect online with customers who can then book their services, while Timebridge.com helps co-workers schedule meetings.

2 Tools for hiring the best job candidate
In a downturn, finding a job candidate is easy; however, finding the right candidate is often a Herculean task. Sites such as Clearfit.com help businesses find candidates based on a larger set of criteria, including personality and targeted experience. (Say, a welder who has worked in foreign countries and gets along with management.) The site, which is experiencing monthly user growth of about 200%–300%, does all the heavy lifting for you by matching attributes to potential employees.

3 Mobile cheque mate
Most banks now have an smartphone app, that allows you to check accounts and transfer funds, but how about an app to deposit money. Last summer, USAA bank (the bank for US military and dependants) launched an app that scans a cheque to make a deposit. This year, the Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union is releasing one for any phone that has at least a 2.0 megapixel camera. The service uses secure email to send the scanned cheque using the Check-22 system.

4 Mifidevices for sharing 3G access
Novatel Wireless’s portable hotspot device, the Mifi2200, is a godsend for business users on a group trip. The device, which lets you share wireless 3G access with your colleagues, runs on battery power and covers an area about as big as a hotel room. The major perk: you can sign up for just one data plan with your carrier, but share the access with a group. The device even works in the car. In 2010, Mifiwill pick up steam as more business users realise the limitations of Wi-fifor connecting anywhere and the financial benefits of sharing one 3G plan.

5 Email servers in the cloud
It’s one thing to check email using Google Gmail or Windows Live, but this year, cloud business servers for email will hit full stride, with Microsoft Exchange Online, Cisco WebEx Mail and Zimbra just three of the major players. These email servers, which handle back-up services automatically and provide anywhere/anytime admin functions, are not stripped down versions of the data centre equivalent. In fact, Microsoft will improve Exchange Online so that it matches almost feature-for-feature with the decade-old platform.

6 Customer abandonment tracking
You know that using search engine optimisation and paid web ads will get users to visit your company website, but do you know how to keep them there or, if they are leaving, what is making them go? Services such as Tealeaf track customer abandonment and provide analytics about where a customer visited and what might have prompted a quick departure. For example, you might see that hundreds of customers left a site when they visited a page that lists a product or service that is poorly explained. Companies can then hold customer abandonment meetings where they view videos of how a customer connected, what they did, and why they left for greener pastures.

7 Employee monitoring by keyword
Short of standing over every employee with a wooden stick and striking them when they do something wrong, companies have not figured out how to monitor illicit behavior, especially for email. Nuix is one new service that scans all incoming and outgoing messages and flags any communication that could harm the company – helpful in the event of a legal discovery – while later this year, Microsoft will add a new feature to Exchange Online that also monitors email based on keywords.

“Auditors can regularly scan entire email servers looking for overlaps in how people use words and phrases like ‘I deserve this’ or ‘nobody will notice’ to get an idea of who might be committing fraud,” says Stephen Stewart, chief technology officer at Nuix. “By looking at any overlaps, auditors can find the ‘hint of fraud’ and, since employee emails are indexed and searchable, investigate it.”  

8 Twitter invades the enterprise
Along with the trend of making social networking more attractive for business use, another will be using Twitter for business purposes. Siemens OpenScape integrates with the company’s business communication product so if an employee tweets that he has just landed in London, the service will automatically update his contact info, set which mobile device he normally uses for trips, and adjust the time zone.

9 Customised search engines for specific users
It turns out not everyone uses Google. Wolfram Alpha showed how a scientific search engine should work and in 2010, searches will become even more targeted. For example, Redbeacon.com, finds users independent contractors who compete for the job and pay Redbeacon a fee once it starts. “We’re a sophisticated matching engine that pushes jobs for which you’re qualified directly to you via email and text,” says Ethan Anderson, Redbeacon co-founder.

10 Webisodes set to actually make money
Online novelty shows such as The Young Turks – a talk show/news programme – have proven one adage about the web: if you invent something new, people will come and drive profit. Revenue for 2009 totaled about €300,000, according to the show’s producers. Webisodic shows such as Funny or Die and Rocketboom are also finding a massive audience, mostly with the post-television generation who want instant entertainment and avoid traditional cable programming – and who also happen to buy products online. Marketers take note.

11 The network and telepresence become one
The downturn has prompted one money-saving tech trend for business: not having face-to-face meetings. Telepresence suites, as offered by HP Halo, mimic physical meetings and, critically, the systems are managed on the same networks as voice communication and data, making them easier to install and service. “For 2010, we’ll see how effective video collaboration will marry desktops to telepresence rooms,” says Paul Bradley, product manager for HP Halo.

12 E-readers at work
E-readers are growing in popularity and now larger devices such as the Plastic Logic Que and the Entourage Edge are set to make an impact in business, “E-readers and devices with e-reader functionality allow users to take a document from cradle to grave, and also maintain it in archiving, without ever having to print it,” says Doug Atkinson, VP of business development at Entourage. “In the long term, this allows businesses to save on printing and paper transporting costs, while also reducing their CO2 footprints.”